Chapter 383: Daecheon Tourism Association |
“What is this...?”
Ryu Min, wiping away his tears, hurriedly left the place.
Although he was invisible and no one could see him, he didn’t want to cry there. He always needed to be the strong older brother in front of his younger sibling.
“Reading Ryu Won’s thoughts made me cry.”
Ryu Won had lived alone in the 100th timeline without Ryu Min. The anguish and pain he felt from the death of his brother were immense.
How much sorrow must he have felt to decide to hang himself...
All those intense emotions clearly transmitted to Ryu Min, who couldn’t hold back his own feelings.
“I’m sorry, Ryu Won. While you were suffering like this, I was calmly living in timeline number 102...”
He couldn’t criticize the angels for being selfish. He was too. He had abandoned his brother in the 100th timeline to move to another one.
He never imagined his brother would try to commit suicide out of despair over his death.
“I was worried about leaving him alone, so I came to see him, but I never thought something like this would happen...”
He had put out the immediate fire. Although he heard his brother’s voice calling him, he knew he wouldn’t think of doing something like that again. After all, he had given him a good scolding.
“I’d like to talk more with him, but our meeting will have to wait.”
Now, his priority was finding the Deorant Seed. That’s why he had traveled to the 100th timeline.
“I have no idea what it looks like or if a seed is really a seed.”
The only thing he knew was that this seed would be the beginning of the collapse. To stop it, he had to find and eliminate the Deorant Seed.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, but there’s no other way. I’ll have to search on foot.”
Eventually.
Flash!
Ryu Min’s body moved at the speed of light.
3 seconds.
That was the time it took for Ryu Min, with his Rune of Light Speed, to search the entire planet.
———————
Beneath the podium, a crowd had gathered.
There were thousands of people, at a glance.
They weren’t ordinary believers. All had a red symbol drawn on their foreheads.
“The world is rotten.”
An old man dressed in a white robe shouted from the podium.
“Corruption, crime, selfishness, and greed kill people, not just today. History has shown that humans have fallen as slaves to their desires.”
The believers clasped their hands fervently, attentive to the leader’s words.
“The world will have no peace as long as humans exist. Wars won’t cease, and the world will be destroyed by human wickedness. Look! In the last survival game, how many died as an example! 1.8 billion, 1.8 billion!”
The leader’s voice rose, and the believers, murmuring, responded with, “We believe!”
“After the death of so many, did humans improve? Did they pass the trials and improve?”
The leader solemnly shook his head.
“No. Even in these difficult times, crimes and the selfish pursuit of personal gain continue. Some are even trying to start wars by taking advantage of the situation. What happens then? What will happen?”
There was no response from the believers to the leader’s question.
“A new punishment will be imposed. Another survival game will begin because humans have no chance of improvement.”
The leader’s words, like thunder, left the believers in shock.
“Two years ago, you saw it as something distant. But now it’s not. From ages 30 to 59. 3 billion people worldwide will face the game of death.”
“Now it’s our turn...”
“Oh, no...”
The believers wept and despaired as if the leader’s words were the truth.
But even in despair, there was hope.
“The world will soon come to an end. But don’t worry. If you repent now and believe in the Celestial Emperor, you won’t be taken into the survival game. There’s still hope.”
The crying ceased.
The believers’ eyes, once full of tears, now shone with hope.
“The Celestial Emperor has granted His grace to this land for the unsaved humans. He has chosen me as His representative to convey His word and lead you to repentance.”
“Ooooh!”
“Do you believe in the Celestial Emperor?”
“We believe!”
“Do you believe in me?”
“We believe!”
“Then prove your faith at this moment. Show your devotion to the Celestial Emperor.”
Immediately, believers with offering bags passed through the crowd.
The believers pulled out wads of cash and cheerfully placed them in the bags.
No small bills were seen.
Most were 50,000 won notes, totaling hundreds of thousands without hesitation.
To them, paying that amount for the possibility of avoiding the survival game was a small price.
The leader smiled in satisfaction at seeing the believers willingly offering their money.
‘Haha, another day of fools handing over their money.’
While serving as the leader of Daecheon Sunrihoe, he had deceived countless believers, but never had he earned as much as in these times.
The number of believers had exploded, and the income was at its peak.
‘Everyone is scared. They fear that the Celestial Emperor will choose them this time.’
An unprecedented event where everyone aged 15 to 29 died. That happened just two years ago, and now the next generation feared for their lives.
The leader took advantage of that fear, creating a scenario where those who didn’t offer their money would be taken. The result?
A resounding success.
‘Haha, the money keeps pouring in like never before.’
How much would he have earned today?
The mere thought made him grin from ear to ear.
At that moment, not even the president of the Ohsung Group envied him.
However, the leader soon had to stop smiling.
‘What is this?’
On the podium, he saw a black mass the size of a fist.
For a moment, he felt puzzled, then furrowed his brow.
‘Who threw a stone...?’
He thought, unsure of what had just happened.
Whoosh.
“Ugh!”
The black mass suddenly rushed into his nose.
It all happened in an instant.
“Gah, ugh, ngh... argh...”
The religious leader staggered, twisting his head from side to side before regaining composure.
No, his eyes had turned black for a moment, but no one noticed. Everyone was too busy donating and praying.
“Oh? Religious leader, are you alright?”
When the leader suddenly descended from the podium, a devotee collecting donations approached him.
“We haven’t finished collecting the offerings yet... have you come to check how much we’ve collected?”
“No. Stop wasting time with that nonsense.”
The devotee’s eyes filled with confusion. How could he call “nonsense” the actions meant to show faith in the Celestial Emperor?
However, the religious leader ignored the devotee and headed towards the crowd.
“Everyone, close your eyes and pray! I will save you from hell!”
His voice resonated with incredible power. He didn’t need the podium’s microphone.
The religious leader closed his eyes and began to pray. The believers, following his lead, clasped their hands fervently.
At that moment, the religious leader opened his eyes and observed the crowd praying.
Everyone had their eyes closed, as if they were one.
The religious leader smiled, and his body began to swell.
2 meters... 3 meters... 4 meters...
Crack!
The clothes he wore tore, and his ballooning body began to rise into the sky.
The first to notice the anomaly were the believers closest to the podium.
“Huh...? Oh my God! What is that?”
“What... what’s happening?”
“A monster?”
The cries of surprise from the front rows made those in the back frown. What kind of disturbance was this during such a sacred moment?
However, when they opened their eyes, they couldn’t hide their astonishment at what they saw.
“What is that in the sky?!”
“Isn’t that the religious leader?”
“The religious leader!”
The leader’s body had swollen to nearly 6 meters tall.
It looked like a joke, but the surprising part was that the “balloon” could speak.
“Don’t be alarmed. I will save you.”
As he spoke these words, the leader’s skin began to ooze black drops.
Face, hands, feet, body, buttocks. From every part of his body, black droplets oozed as if he were sweating.
He looked horrifying, like an insect.
“Don’t be afraid. You will all be my sacrifices.”
With these words as the signal, Splash, splash, splash!
The black drops began to scatter everywhere.
At first glance, it was obvious they were dangerous. The black drops, upon touching skin, Hissssss!
“Aaahhh!”
“It burns!”
“Aaaahhh!”
They were extremely corrosive, enough that just a few drops could melt skin and expose bones.
Splash, splash, splash!
“Ahhh! More are coming!”
“Everyone, run!”
“Aaaahhh!”
The rain of black droplets, like a toxic shower, caused many believers to be unable to escape death.
The place became chaotic with screams and people trying to flee.
“Save me!”
“I don’t want to die...”
The number of corpses quickly increased, and the screams began to dwindle.
Splash, splash, splash!
Splash, splash, splash!
In no time, there were no more screams, only the sound of black drops falling.
It didn’t take even a minute for the thousands of believers to be annihilated by the deadly rain.
“Have I cleaned everything up?”
The religious leader, now with a dry voice, returned to his normal size.
The body that had inflated like a 6-meter balloon shrank back to a human form.
Standing among the corpses, he raised both arms.
And then...
Chhh, chhh, chhh!
The bodies of the dead deflated rapidly, and black droplets formed from them.
It was as if their lives were being drained. The black droplets rose and were absorbed by the religious leader.
He smiled in satisfaction.
“Hmm, delicious.”
Now standing naked, the religious leader looked around.
“I need more humans. Where should I go?”
Closing his eyes to sense his surroundings, he realized there was a place filled with people not too far away.
“There’s a shopping mall nearby.”
It was information he had obtained from the memories of the body he now possessed.
“Should I go?”
Licking his upper lip, the religious leader’s body began to rise into the sky.
———————–