GSGW c238

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Chapter 238

Fear.

Terror.

An emotion that was once familiar to me is revealed in the words of the twin members of the Happy Ending Sect.

I cannot feel it now, but because I know what it feels like, the shocking realization sinks into me as if my mood is cooling endlessly.

'They’re afraid of Ireum-nim.'

So they’re doing all this just to curry favor with the wiki authors?

The Happy Ending Sect itself?

[My, my. But merely currying favor is something only amateurs do! A true entertainer must have their own vision.]

Even so, that makes it feel even more desperate.

The desperation of being forced to do something you do not want.

And the more horrible that thing is, the more desperate it becomes.

Crushed beneath an uncertain and malicious divine being, struggling so that at least they themselves might escape that malice.

'Who… am I even supposed to blame for this?'

If this world ended up like this because the wiki authors wrote it that way— No, but even then, the creators of ghost stories were just writing stories.

Who on earth writes a ghost story thinking it will become real?

How am I supposed to accept this situation, and how should I act?

Splash. Splash.

Even in the middle of this, the sound of human bodies falling into the alcohol does not stop.

Initiates of the Happy Ending Sect, contaminated by ghost stories, line up and leap into the liquor.

A mad scene.

“Alright, let’s make some liquor!”

The one playing the role of the older twin sister has already gathered up the desperate expression she showed earlier and shouts brightly again.

“What fun things should we do with this liquor? Aren’t you excited? Right?”

My breath nearly catches.

“No.”

…!

“Wow. A cult acting exactly like a cult.”

I turn my head.

Assistant Manager Eun Haje stands there with an indifferent expression.

'Assistant Manager?'

“Deceiving the ordinary believers and exploiting them down to the marrow, while the leaders say something completely different—that’s the textbook definition of a cult.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje steps forward.

“And the way you leave your decision-making standards up to someone else.”

……

“Roe Deer. There’s no grave without an excuse.”

The reporter who once succeeded in revenge looks toward the cultists showing fear.

“You might think those people are victims brainwashed by a cult and feel some sympathy for them. That’s understandable.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje points.

At this underground bunker, the place where dozens of people have died so far—and where people are still dying behind us.

“Don’t forget the situation.”

I realize something.

Assistant Manager Eun Haje doesn’t know the deeper meaning behind the twins’ words—the details I noticed.

She doesn’t know about the relationship between the Happy Ending Sect and Ireum-nim, or about the wiki.

But precisely because she isn’t buried in those details, there is something she sees more clearly.

The essence.

“They’re killing people right now just because they want to.”

And I know people who, even in similar circumstances, would never make that choice.

……

My head clears a little.

But…

'Did you really have to provoke them that openly…'

I turn back toward the twins.

The smiling head turns toward Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who currently looks like an old woman.

Creeeak.

“You’re not actually a grandmother, are you?”

……

Damn it.

“I knew it. I’ll let you taste the liquor first! Learn about Ireum-nim and witness a happy ending.”

“Everything’s already exposed and you’re still pushing that. Hey, Roe Deer. There’s no need for that.”

I immediately step between the twins and Eun Haje, but Assistant Manager Eun Haje shakes her head.

“We’ve stalled long enough.”

Crack.

The sound of something splitting.

And then—

Boom!

Not thick porcelain, but the cheap white plastic body of the container explodes as liquid bursts out.

The jar brewing the liquor shatters.

'…..!'

The human bodies and parasites inside spill out onto the floor.

I hastily catch the people who are still throwing themselves through the air with mist and sweep them roughly downward.

While at the same time confirming that Assistant Manager Eun Haje is unharmed.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Eun Haje quickly signals to me, as if planning to escape. But—

“Wow. It burst nicely.”

Ho Yuwon steps forward.

An empty vial sits in his hand.

'Explosion: D Grade.'

…A Daydream-manufactured potion.

The director of Daydream Inc. smiles faintly.

“No matter how much you value entertainment, leaving suspicious individuals alone in an important place like this… your judgment is rather unfortunate. Isn’t that why something like this happens? Ms. Seoyu, Mr. Seobin.”

The twin executives stare blankly at the scene.

The half-destroyed liquor jar and the infected bodies.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I didn’t do it. This grandmother over here did… I merely picked up the empty bottle.”

“Ha.”

“Anyway… judging from your actions, it seems you feel fear toward the unknown. So then—”

Joy appears in Ho Yuwon’s eyes as he looks at the twins.

The joy of someone who has discovered something.

“Your identities… are still human, aren’t they?”

The conditions for a binding taboo are met.

The plague approaches.

“Could you make a promise with me?”

And the twins, who had been staring blankly…

Smile brightly.

“Hey. What if we just turn this entire space into a liquor jar?”

“That sounds good.”

What?

“You gather the initiates. I’ll stay here and introduce Ireum-nim to the dragon and the fox! Let’s brew dragon soup and fox liquor too.”

“Alright.”

[So you’ve chosen a frontal assault. Oh, from here on, a splendid scene of blood and terror will unfold…]

[If any initiates flee, a rather interesting horror tale might be passed down! Liquor, a cult, and the Fox Plague!]

Ho Yuwon wants to place a binding taboo on the executives and turn them into puppets to extract information.

The executives of the Happy Ending Sect want to throw us into the liquor.

The problem is that I’m stuck in between them.

Ho Yuwon has essentially dragged me into his provocation.

“Then I’ll start with the dragon!”

Lee Seoyu’s head falls.

Drawing a long red arc, it rolls across the liquor-soaked floor, while a flickering projection of a strange crimson cloth-like space appears around it.

'Damn it.'

And the sparks from this madness could hit anyone.

Even Assistant Manager Eun Haje.

'No.'

In that case—

…I end up grabbing the rolling head first.

“Huh? Huhhh?”

The head opens wide, smiling as it tries to swallow me.

At that moment—I cover it with smoke first.

And then I read.

Lee Seoyu

Real name: Lee Yunseon. A member of the Happy Ending Sect, Rank-5 ability holder, one of the “Death Directors.”

Using this ability, she desperately reconstructs her name and individuality to present a form suitable for the Happy Ending Sect. The emotion supporting this foundation is fear.

A person who fled from ■■■■■. She entered the Church of the Luminous Unknown through the teachings of the Fixed Number Praise Sect, but after feeling madness and terror in those teachings, she swallowed the scriptures of the Happy Ending Sect.

The contaminated ghost stories total up to seven. Among them, the one she can skillfully use is ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■, the ability to dismember her body.

I endure.

'Not erase it—just enough to place a burden on the opponent.'

I endure.

I force myself to endure.

'You did it to Ho Yuwon too.'

Endure.

'Hold on.'

But then—

What does it mean to endure? Why did I have to endure? What does it feel like to question something? What is a feeling? And why am I doing this—I need to return to the isolation room—

“What is this, what is this, uh, familiar, uh, what is■■■■■■■■■■.”

The voice fades, leaving behind something like a final scream.

“…Ireum-nim?”

……

I release the smoke.

The head rolls across the floor.

Lee Seoyu’s body, separated from the head, collapses over there, while my brain feels crushed. My mind turns blunt and rigid, unable to function.

[Oh dear. Try shaking your head, Roe Deer.]

My head?

……

The sound of a bell.

A bell’s sound.

It restores me.

Jingle.

I take a deep breath and regain my senses.

'Thank you.'

[Not at all, my friend!]

Ho Yuwon claps beside me.

“Wow. That was really fast!”

……

I ignore Ho Yuwon and look at the Assistant Manager.

“Let’s go.”

Yes.

I’ve already located the exit.

We just have to go straight there.

“Now.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who was already standing near the exit, moves quickly.

We slip behind the rows of coffins.

Pushing aside the strong liquor that has already begun flooding the corridor with our feet, we head all the way to the far end.

Before long, I hear Ho Yuwon’s footsteps moving beside us. Which, of course, is exactly what I expected…

“They’re following us.”

The twin younger brother.

As if unable to understand the situation, the one who had been standing there blinking slowly leaves his sister behind and begins walking steadily toward us.

Ripples spread across the surface of the liquid pooled in the chamber.

……

'Let’s subdue him.'

This won’t do.

I’ve already used it once—one more time won’t matter.

'And if we report it to the Disaster Management Bureau…'

The initiates will be dealt with as well. It would be an informational gain for the Bureau in many ways. With that decision made, I turn my body.

Of course, the opponent won’t be easy either.

'I think he was the serial-killer type ghost story.'

…It feels like I can hear someone breathing heavily from somewhere.

The twin younger brother has already reached almost the center of the chamber.

He passes beside the black box used to dispose of corpses. One of the drowned bodies in the liquor drifts into it, bumping against the box.

At that moment—

Thud.

The alcohol-soaked box opens on its own.

A number is written on the top.

三

/tn. that is the chinese character for three

……

Wait.

[Oh? Is something special happening, Roe Deer?]

“Where are you— huh?”

The one playing the role of the twin younger brother steps in front of the box and turns—

—and disappears.

As if it were a lie.

"......"

Then, soon after.

三

二

From the open space of the black box—an empty black void where nothing can be seen—two hands emerge.

They place themselves on the ground, palms facing upward.

……

Ah.

Run.

I grab Assistant Manager Eun Haje and start running toward the exit.

“Roe Deer!?”

I know what that box is.

That thing is…

'It doesn’t belong to the Happy Ending Sect.'

It is something far older than that.

Back when the early ghost stories of the Church of the Luminous Unknown were first being posted on the wiki, one ghost story would often appear at the top with overwhelming recommendations.

A ghost story of the Fixed Number Praise Sect.

The Seeker in the Box.

No.

 

Countless early believers of the Church of the Luminous Unknown tried to contemplate the true meaning of this world. Among them, a few devout individuals chose long and grueling meditation and ascetic practice as their method.

To suppress their madness, they sealed themselves inside bronze bells, attempting to maintain a clear mind without drugs or hallucinogens—relying only on the intense pain of the bell being struck.

Years passed.

Among dozens of bells, only one still contained a surviving believer. That person eventually declared that they had understood several of Ireum-nim’s intentions. The meaning was this:

I run.

Toward the exit I had already located.

Ireum-nim desires pain.

The brief comfort, peace, and joy given to the beings of this world are merely arrangements meant to create greater shock and fear.

Even this realization itself is madness and pain, which proves that it cannot be the wrong answer.

But the pursuit of knowledge never stops. Those who follow this revelation seal themselves inside various devices, seeking their own understanding. Soon, within pain, they come to understand.

Ireum-nim places greater meaning not on large quantities of simple pain summarized by numbers and charts, but on the unique and individual suffering of each person.

The slower, more desperate, and more detailed it is, the better.

Thus they too decide to praise Ireum-nim’s will by displaying long, prolonged suffering.

That is—

The Fixed Number Praise Sect.

They believe that, rather than stories with countless casualties, detailed records of a small number of selected characters enduring long and extreme suffering are what truly please Ireum-nim.

They praise the fixed number.

The exact number of participants suitable for turning pain into a story. A ghost story with a predetermined cast.

A ghost story that inflicts terrible suffering upon its characters.

And that thing—no, that author—

The Seeker in the Box

An ability of the Church of the Luminous Unknown appearing in Dark Exploration Records. Ranked Tier 6, belonging to the Fixed Number Praise Sect.

According to the sect’s laws, the practitioner cuts off their own legs and undergoes long ascetic meditation inside a box, eventually awakening their power and becoming a creature inside the box that secretes digestive fluid.

They are Fixed Number Praisers who focus on the most fundamental form of suffering.

After devouring the number of sacrifices assigned to the box, once the box closes it never opens again until the sacrifices die.

The victims who come into contact with the digestive fluid inside the box become connected to the ascetic practitioner and turn into penitents.

Inside the sealed box, the penitents undergo a long and slow process of being digested alive. During this time, the practitioner recites refined descriptions of their suffering directly into their minds. The longer, more grueling, and more detailed the process is, the more doctrinally correct it becomes.

Penitents cannot die until they are completely digested and erased.

The average digestion period is 27 years.

When the exhibition ends, the practitioner enters a resting period, consuming large amounts of fabric.

 

And when the rest period ends—

If new sacrifices enter the box, the seeker ends their meditation.

The Seeker in the Box extends their hands to recruit the proper number of people, then displays their suffering.

This hand cannot be refused.

So do not approach the hand.

Your ascetic suffering will begin.

"....."

We stop walking.

At some point—

A box stands beside the bunker’s exit.

With both hands stretched outward in the posture of invitation. A practitioner of the Fixed Number Praise Sect.

二

The fixed number is announced.

'......'

Request: a method to move from this position without passing through the exit.

“If you mean tools that allow immediate escape through darkness… I know a few, but I don’t have any right now.”

Damn it.

Then there’s only one option.

Request: fall.

I release the smoke.

…It’s fortunate that I cannot feel intense fear right now. Because I’m not afraid of losing my sanity, I can act immediately.

'I have to.'

Confuse the Fixed Number Praiser as much as possible and open the exit—

Knock, knock.

……

“Excuse me?”

A voice comes from the door.

A strangely familiar voice.

And then—

“Oh, here it is.”

Bang.

The entrance door opens from the outside.

Surface air floods through the corridor, pushing aside the alcohol fumes, and someone appears beyond it.

“Ah! Finally found you, employee!”

…Assistant Manager Lee Songhae?

'How on earth did she find this place?'

“Nice to meet you! And here—there were some people who really wanted to meet you, employee-nim…”

Assistant Manager Lee Songhae steps aside.

…and I realize who is standing behind her.

“Look, agents!”

Agents of the Disaster Management Bureau.

Black Tortoise Team 1.

 

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