Chapter 316

"Cult Leader?"

Ji-Ah quickly got up. She instinctively felt it would be dangerous for her to continue lying down.

Sun-Woo slowly limped toward Ji-Ah with weak steps, like a zombie.

Ji-Ah had never genuinely felt scared of Sun-Woo before. Sun-Woo sometimes showed a creepy side, and she felt fear when he used the power of the Loa. However, Ji-Ah eventually developed sympathy toward Sun-Woo.

Now, it was different. She was genuinely afraid of Sun-Woo. Until now, she could somewhat predict Sun-Woo’s actions, but that wasn’t the case. He was currently in a state where it wouldn’t be strange for him to do something abnormal.

"..."

However, Ji-Ah's fear of Sun-Woo did not last long because Sun-Woo's feet had stopped moving.

He kneeled down on the spot and then collapsed, laying his whole body flat on the ground. Sun-Woo was muttering something inaudible while curled up. All she could hear were muttering, sobbing, and rough breathing.

Ji-Ah approached Sun-Woo and said, "Cult Leader."

As she got closer, his breathing, sobbing, and muttering became clearer. However, she still could not clearly hear what he was muttering.

When Ji-Ah got even closer, Sun-Woo suddenly raised his head. Then, he stared at Ji-Ah with hollow eyes for a long while.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Nuna."

His eyes contained a variety of emotions as he spoke. He seemed to be afraid of something and sad about something.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Someone keeps coming into my room. It wasn't you, right?"

"..."

Ji-Ah silently nodded—only Ji-Ah and Sun-Woo were in the underground chapel. Soo-Yeong and Soo-Hyun had returned to the Chungcheong Branch’s underground chapel, while Jin-Sung and Anna had gone out because they had things to do.

Ji-Ah had not snuck into Sun-Woo's room tonight, so who could have visited Sun-Woo's room? Ji-Ah didn’t know, and Sun-Woo probably didn’t either.

That must have been the reason why he suddenly visited the storage room where Ji-Ah was sleeping.

As if he had expected it, Sun-Woo smiled wryly when he saw Ji-Ah nod in response.

"Dead people keep coming."

"..."

Ji-Ah silently listened to Sun-Woo.

"Dead people keep coming to me and they speak to me, but I don’t understand what they are saying. When I try to ignore them, they whisper into my ear. I’m so scared of them...” Sun-Woo said as he trembled.

It was painful for Ji-Ah to watch Sun-Woo tremble like that.

‘What should I say? What should I say to make it even a little better?’

she thought.

However, no matter what she said, it wouldn’t change anything, and that realization made her feel bitter inside. So she just continued to listen to Sun-Woo. Instead of replying, she nodded her head quietly and listened.

"I beat them all to death. Because when I do that, the sounds stop for a brief moment. I thought it was a nightmare.”

"..."

"I thought it was a nightmare, but... when I wake up, the morning arrives, and then I have to go to school, and then go to work, and then...” Sun-Woo rambled in a disorderly manner, then suddenly fell silent.

Then he grinned at Ji-Ah and said, "Actually, it's a joke. There's nothing like that."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's a relief."

"Yes," Sun-Woo said with a nod.

A tear rolled down his face. More and more tears began to roll down until they eventually began to pour out.

Sun-Woo collapsed on the spot and cried. He cried in such a sorrowful, wretched, and pitiful way.

Ji-Ah embraced Sun-Woo as he trembled and cried. He appeared vulnerable, like a small child, and she felt relieved that Sun-Woo could finally express his sadness.

At the very least, she had to believe it was a relief.

***

The end-of-term practical exams were over. This time, the practical exams were also conducted simply in consideration of attacks from Satanists.

In-Ah received a decent score on the practical exam, but thanks to her overwhelmingly excellent scores on the written exam, she finished at the top.

Not long after, there was a vacation ceremony.

"Don't get too excited about the vacation. Those who have already been admitted will probably do fine on their own, but those who haven't been admitted yet should continue to work hard during the vacation to at least make it into a local clergy branch. Also, it's dangerous, so don't go too far to play..."

The homeroom teacher's nagging continued until the vacation ceremony, but no one bothered to listen.

For the past few months, Satanists, demonic creatures, and demons had not appeared at all. Some scholars warned that they should not let their guard down, but most scholars were optimistic and said that peace had finally come. Therefore, no matter how dangerous the teacher said it was, the students did not take their warnings seriously. They were too busy being excited about the upcoming vacation.

"That’s all. Don't wander around and go straight home!"

With the homeroom teacher's words, the vacation ceremony ended, and the vacation began. It was then that people started to gather. They were members who planned to go on a trip to the beach during the summer vacation. They were In-Ah, Dae-Man, Su-Ryeon, Min-Seo, and Jin-Seo. Sun-Woo was not there, as he did not come to school even on the day of the vacation ceremony.

At this point, the travel plans were already somewhat finalized. They had already planned when they were going to go, what they were going to take, where they were going to go, and what they were going to eat. Except for a few minor details, the major plans were all set, so all that was left was to go on the trip.

"How much money were we planning to spend again? It must have been over 100,000 won per person," Min-Seo said.

"I'm so excited! By the way, Dae-Man, do you know how to swim?" Su-Ryeon asked.

"Of course. I can even scuba dive," Dae-Man said.

"I can't swim... If I fall in, save me, ok?" Su-Ryeon said.

"Understood," Dae-Man replied.

In-Ah was double-checking the plan until the end. Jin-Seo seemed to be looking for someone, and she approached In-Ah. Jin-Seo seemed to have something to say, but after approaching In-Ah, she seemed to hesitate as she chewed her lips.

In-Ah noticed her and asked, "Why? Do you have something to ask?"

Jin-Seo hesitated and then said, "Is Sun-Woo coming?"

Jin-Seo didn't want to ask In-Ah this question because knowing whether Sun-Woo would attend through In-Ah was a blow to her pride.

In-Ah did not respond to Jin-Seo's question and instead stared at her phone screen. There, a brief text message from Sun-Woo popped up.

—I’m coming

In-Ah nodded. "Yeah, it seems like he's coming?"

***

The director of the Central Paladin Order revisited the underground prison because he had a sinister and uneasy feeling. Although this feeling was purely instinctual and unfounded, he was someone who trusted his guts.

Thanks to his trust in his instincts, he had risen to the position of director at the Central Paladin Order without any special abilities.

"Is everything okay?" the director asked the clergymen who managed the underground prison.

The clergymen, tense and stiff, nodded with rigid faces.

"Yes, everything is fine. What brings you here?"

"I don't have any specific business... I just came here to conduct an inspection. Can I go into the underground prison now? I want to check something."

The clergymen said it was possible and took the director to the underground prison. The underground prison was as hot as usual, and a terrible stench emanated from it.

Several inmates in the underground prison had died. However, their bodies had not been removed yet. Perhaps that was why the stench in the underground prison seemed even more intense than usual.

"Thank you! See you again!"

At that moment, a strange voice reached the director's ear. The voice was small and faint, but it had a very unpleasant tone.

"He was saying that the last time I was here as well. Is he still saying the same thing?” the director asked the clergyman.

"Yes. It has been like that for a few days now. I wonder if they have gone mad because of the torture..."

"Nonsense. Do you think that lunatic still has room to lose more sanity? Have you checked?"

All the inmates in the underground prison were extremely dangerous criminals. They had to be detained underground because there was a high possibility they would escape or gather together and plot a riot if they were detained on the surface.

Koo Jun-Hyuk was particularly dangerous, even among those dangerous inmates. One time, Jun-Hyuk attempted to escape when he was moved from the detention cell to the interrogation room for torture, and he had once planned a riot by communicating with the other inmates in the underground prison through an unknown method.

It was not the first time the underground prison had almost collapsed because of Jun-Hyuk.

"I called for support to confirm, but there was no response. There is a lack of manpower due to the conclave and the protests..."

Therefore, in order to torture Jun-Hyuk or confirm his status, they had to request support. Jun-Hyuk did not attempt to escape or rebel when many clergymen were guarding the underground prison.

However, due to reasons such as the conclave and protests, clergymen from other factions were not responding to support requests.

“...”

The director gnashed his teeth after hearing the clergyman’s words. They were ominous—so ominous that they were difficult to bear.

The director strode toward Jun-Hyuk's cell. On the way, the director picked up a knife from the torture chamber. It was a knife mainly used for cutting the flesh of sinners during torture.

Upon arriving at Jun-Hyuk's cell, the director opened the cell door without a moment's hesitation. The clergyman following behind widened their eyes in shock.

"Director, you can't do this! He is...!"

"Shut up!"

The director silenced the clergyman and approached Jun-Hyuk with the knife in hand.

"Thank you! See you again!"

Jun-Hyuk kept repeating the same words, but his face showed no expression. His gaze was empty, as if it was frozen. The director raised the blade.

"Thank you! See you aga―!"

Rip!

The director precisely stabbed Jun-Hyuk's forehead with the blade and ripped open Jun-Hyuk's skull.

Boom!

As a result, Jun-Hyuk's head exploded like a firework. Sawdust and cotton shot up into the sky, then cascaded down like snowflakes.

The director watched the scene in disbelief. Jun-Hyuk's head, which had been repeating the words ‘Thank you, see you again,’ finally closed its mouth. No, to be precise, Jun-Hyuk's taxidermied creature closed its mouth.

"Surprise-zz..."

With those words, the taxidermied creature slowly melted away and disappeared. Sawdust and cotton were piled thick on the floor of the operating room.