Serve Lord Name.
Serve Lord Name.
Serve Lord Name.
Serve Lord Name.
Serve Lord Name….
Even though my ears are buried in flesh, they echo. The language of the fanatics of the Happy Ending Cult, a sect of the Nameless Brilliant Cult, vibrates the space and shakes the elevator….
....
Suddenly.
The elevator I was in was somehow in another space.
Tok.
A dark space where the sound of dripping water is heard.
A basement.
An unknown ominous air. Damp coolness and gloom, moldy wood, and….
A corpse.
It is Kim Heo-un's body, split in two.
They have somehow been neatly arranged and displayed in the dark basement. In coffins containing dozens of dried chrysanthemums and sunflowers, and children's Origami paper.
I became happy.
Blood drips down the chrysanthemums.
Do you want to be happy too?
The corpse in the coffin approaches. Fear, the scream of one forgotten and disappearing, resignation, the only escape, the last happiness a human can bestow upon another, death without pain, the cessation of narrative….
Do you want to be comfortable too?
However….
It would be terrifying. The end of the story, the instinctual fear of death, ah, it would have been better if I hadn't known. How peaceful my heart would have been if it were a death of ignorance met unknowingly.
But you have learned. Death chosen by oneself fades the meaning of happiness.
Therefore, there is only one salvation for you….
Lord Name!
Sparkle.
The basement ceiling door opens. Bright and majestic light pours in from beyond it. Lord Name knows all your narratives and stories. Only He is the answer to the truth of this world, and only His will has meaning in this world. May Lord Name look upon us, may He bestow His grace, may we fully understand and follow His will, and become a meaningful story to Him. Then perhaps He might pity us within it, might feel attachment toward us, and finally, the rest we have been waiting for, the happiness, might be granted to us who survive beyond the end….
Happy Ending!
As the basement grows darker and gloomier, a piece of parchment glitters under the beam of light descending from the ceiling….
It looks familiar.
The Nameless Brilliant Cult Sacred Law Scripture. The Happy Ending Scripture Chapter ■ ■■■■■■—that ritual parchment, still blank, is calling to you.
As if asking you to willingly swallow it.
As if asking you to perform the ritual.
Make your existence into scripture.
Let your strangeness, mystery, and unknown eeriness, cruelty, and terror blossom into Divine Power.
A powerful light, as if pulling you in.
It calls you.
The basement is gradually becoming a darker and more unsettling place. The temptation of the single shining light source flickers like a lamp attracting a mayfly. And….
'Hmm.'
I just stood still.
'So this is how it is.'
[Oh, you know how to gaslight a potential convert quite cultishly. Light, olfactory, and auditory stimulation. It's typical, but quite impressive!]
It's a bit much.
If I were in a state where I felt emotions as richly as before, I might have been extremely agitated.
It stabs at fundamental human fear, creating compulsive anxiety from the hallucinatory effects… it's a phenomenon close to brainwashing using hallucinations.
But that's because I know.
'Lord Name isn't like that.'
It's no different from encountering the centipede in Jisan Village.
In the end, I was just standing blankly in this underground space clearly drawn in by someone, looking at a piece of scripture.
I could have escaped using my 'reading' ability… but perhaps there's no need to.
The person who dragged me here must be here.
"Oh? You're not going to write?"
As expected, something pops out from behind the coffin where the corpse is placed.
The perpetrator of this act, someone who appears to be an executive of the Happy Ending Cult, casually turns around and dusts off the skirt of his school uniform, stained with basement dust.
The light of 'Lord Name' illuminates the dust particles floating in the air.
He speaks while showing his back.
"This is really good… why aren't you writing? Why aren't you writing, then…."
Thud.
From the figure standing straight.
He turns only his head to look at me.
C o m e . . . w i t h . . . u s . . .
Thump, thump….
The head attached to his back falls off and rolls toward me.
The moment it touches my feet.
I was looking at the underground passage of the Daydream Inc. Main Building again.
But this time, the underground area has a bizarre appearance. A passage made of strange, pulsating red flesh.
Veins attached to the head stretch out long and reach the end of the passage. That sight seems to possess its own suction force, trying to pull me in….
C o m e . . . w i t h . . . u s . . .
There's something on the head.
'A dream?'
I instinctively realize. This is the type of ghost story where one 'falls in' the moment they react to those words.
…It seems that the ghost story of that Nameless Brilliant Cult has properly targeted Ho Yuwon and me as subjects for new proselytization, or perhaps management….
Sigh.
'What should I do?'
The bizarre sight can no longer cause me much agitation, but is it okay to just wait until the Security Team arrives?
'It's better not to get entangled with the Nameless Brilliant Cult, though.'
Regarding the person in the school uniform from the Happy Ending Cult… I think I read about them in some Exploration Records mentioned a few times.
However, since the Nameless Brilliant Cult has so many varied, insane individuals, I can't be certain just based on the school uniform, but I should be able to respond.
And.
'…They just killed someone right in front of me.'
...
I decided.
'I'll subdue them.'
I will handle it even if my brain collapses a bit.
I reached out my hand.
That was the moment.
"That's fine."
Something grabs my arm.
I turn my head.
Ho Yuwon, who was riding the elevator with me, is smiling and responding….
To the head belonging to the Nameless Brilliant Cult.
"Let's go together."
…!
Wait, you—
Y o u . . . r e s p o n d e d ?
A tongue sticks out from the head.
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahabojimahaahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
The head grows enormous and swallows the elevator.
What has been answered cannot be taken back.
I tried to tear away the one holding my arm, but I felt my body, already swallowed, growing distant as it moved….
....
[Oh dear, it's too late to say you need help!]
[And, oh, sad news… my friend said that this Brown's arbitrary judgment is hard to trust! Very well, let's see what happens…]
Blackout.
In the first place.
I never liked the Nameless Brilliant Cult ghost stories in the
Of course, they were popular.
The appearance of the Nameless Brilliant Cult was certainly the turning point where the
But… I don't know.
'Too… primal, should I say.'
A feeling of lacking restraint, perhaps.
It was mainly strengthened by using the ability to mass-produce victims and elements that make people uncomfortable as selling points.
And what the feeling of encountering such primal discomfort in reality would be like….
....
Reality.
"Mr. Noru?"
I opened my eyes.
Indoors, darkness, metal.
And Ho Yuwon.
"You're awake! That's a relief. You shouldn't be able to sleep in that body, you weren't conscious…"
He grabbed my chin.
'He crossed the line.'
I increased the force in the grip holding Ho Yuwon's face.
"Mr. Noru."
However, Ho Yuwon continued speaking.
"Don't you want to escape Daydream?"
....
"Director Cheong's treatment is truly terrible, isn't it? But if you remain locked in the isolation room, it will be difficult for you to find a sharp solution."
I increased the force on the hand gripping his chin. I heard the sound of bones grinding, but there was no change in Ho Yuwon's smile.
And.
"I apologize for not asking beforehand! I felt like there wasn't much time before the Security Team arrived, so my mouth moved first… As an apology,"
He made a proposal.
"How about I grant you temporary freedom of movement?"
"...!"
"I have some information to look into here. So, separately, I will look for information, and you, Mr. Noru, will look for a way to break the contract. And if you feel like it, I would be grateful for your help…"
Information to look into.
'…It must be about Segwang Metropolitan City.'
A convincing motive.
And the other party's words were not finished.
"The most important thing is that we can do all of this without violating the terms of the employment contract. You are accompanying a company director, aren't you, Mr. Noru."
Ah.
"Then you can be considered to be doing company work. It counts as a kind of overtime."
....
"What do you think?"
I released the hand pressing down on Ho Yuwon's chin.
Overtime:
Separate allowance claim pending
"Of course, I will take good care of you."
The tension settled like a temporary truce. I suppressed a sigh and got up.
'It feels like I'm accompanying a bomb.'
Still, it was better that I could treat the other party as a troll, unlike before.
And only then, Ho Yuwon and I, who could properly look around the surroundings, turned our heads to assess the situation.
"This place is…"
The passage had low illumination with sporadic electric lights. The characteristic feature was that the structure was formed in an arch shape, as if a cylinder had been cut in half.
And it was sealed.
This gray space, where not a single window was visible, was finished with cement….
"Don't you think it looks like an underground air-raid shelter?"
It was exactly as he said. The old, rusted walls were exposed, making one think of a disaster evacuation shelter.
'…Did they just convert this place after proselytizing?'
It was the moment I tried to grasp the situation.
"Let's spread happiness."
…!
A sound was heard from the far end of the corridor, around the corner.
A crowd. The footsteps of about a hundred people moving.
And the sound of talking.
"Ah, have they come to welcome a new convert?"
Soon, the procession of people turning the corner revealed itself. It was….
"Spread happiness."
Ordinary people. They walked smiling, whispering to each other, looking as normal as people you might see at a park on the weekend. Men and women of all ages were mixed together, looking like a group going out for fun.
But they were holding something in their hands. Forming groups of five or six people, they were carefully carrying something quite bulky together.
It was.
"Let's spread happiness."
"Spread happiness."
Corpses. Dozens of bodies were being carried in their hands. The people carrying the corpses passed us and headed toward the far end of the passage… they didn't seem to notice us, obscured by what they were holding.
And at the very end of the procession was a familiar face.
"Spread happiness."
…!
The person who had 'proselytized' us. The delicate-looking youth, still wearing a school uniform, was carrying Kim Heo-un's corpse along with a male student who looked exactly like him, like a twin, also wearing a school uniform.
And when his eyes met ours, he gave a slight smile and then moved on….
"Shall we follow them?"
Huo Yuwon and I slowly followed them. Following that bizarre procession, we went to the very end of the passage….
"Let's spread happiness."
A wide, huge cavern opened up.
A space that could be called a square in an underground bunker.
That place was already full of coffins.
"Spread happiness."
The people who finished their work placed the corpses into the empty coffins. Once the work was done, the people gathered in a circle, and an elderly man, who appeared to be the oldest, stepped forward, raised both hands, and covered his head.
Then he shouted.
"Let's pray for happiness."
Everyone performed the same gesture.
"Be happy. Be happy. Be happy…"
In the space filled with coffins, numerous people held their hands above their heads and prayed earnestly.
"May the misfortune of being born into this world find peace in death. May you be happy."
'....'
So I knew. Where this place was.
The Final Ritual Site.
The sanctuary of the Nameless Brilliant Cult followers. It takes the form of an old underground bunker, and because it is a ghost story itself, it does not have a fixed location in reality. It moves around various places for religious rituals, causing various Anomalous Phenomena. Refer here for detailed records. There are rumors that this space is actually inside something, but its identity is unknown. The form varies slightly depending on the cult, and the capacity ranges from a few people to tens of thousands. There are even ritual sites inhabited by only one person.
In other words, this was one of the 'Final Ritual Sites' operated by the Happy Ending Cult.
'I really came to the heart of the Nameless Brilliant Cult.'
And I am certain.
These people are all completely insane.
The Nameless Brilliant Cult is not like the Disaster Management Bureau, striving to maintain reason and emotion, striving to remain human. Even this ritual, which looked like a solemn place of mourning, was the same.
'They killed them all themselves.'
And… probably their own relatives.
To be admitted as a lay believer in the Happy Ending Cult, one must commit at least one murder, and the target must be someone whom the applicant truly wishes happiness for.
So, I think this is an initiation ritual for the Happy Ending Cult.
'I'm going crazy.'
To witness this firsthand.
It's really unnecessary….
Now, people are coming out, crying and laughing while talking about whom they killed and what a good person they were. If there had been food up there, I would have vomited.
[My goodness, I was expecting something more, for a cult.]
…??
[It's not even typical. Where are the human sacrifices, the fire, the goats, and the pentagrams? Can you exploit followers with such poor showmanship?]
…It seemed too bland for the taste of a ghost story talk show host seasoned by stimuli.
That was truly a statement worthy of Brown…. Hoo.
Ah, come to think of it.
'Didn't I say something before… before I lost consciousness?'
[Oh, I asked if you needed help, friend!]
[However, it happened too suddenly to confirm your intentions, so I was just watching.]
Hmm… well, I understand.
Anyway, I didn't have the mental capacity to worry about this topic anymore. The situation was getting crazier.
"Be happy!"
Finally, the people who finished their testimonials are pushing the corpses into a strange black box. The ritual seems to be over.
'They keep going in.'
That must also be some kind of supernatural mechanism. Perhaps they are trying to recycle the corpses. And so….
I stopped it. Just before the coffin containing Kim Heo-un was placed in front of it.
"Happiness…"
That moment.
Everyone conducting the ritual looked at me.
A strange being with horns, emitting Black Smoke.
Yet, instead of screaming and running away, they just looked at me silently.
And someone muttered.
"Divine Power?"
Whispers spread.
"It's Divine Power."
"Who is it…?"
And one of them stepped forward. The person who proselytized me. He blinked, looked at me, and then nodded readily.
"You want to keep it for personal storage? Alright. It's fine!"
Ha…*
I unzipped my wrist and put Kim Heo-un's corpse into the tattoo drawn on the amorphous flesh.
I want to make one thing clear: I did not feel good about it….
'If I were my old self, I probably would have been shaking my hands by now.'
The Happy Ending Cult executive, who had been watching the utterly bizarre scene with sparkling eyes, smiled at me.
"Anyway… you saw it, right? The Love Paradise kid you abandoned became happy too!"
...
"Welcome to the Happy Ending Cult."