Chapter 69 – Daecheon Truth Association

The bongo truck carrying Min Do-jun moved somewhere.

‘Good. I wasn’t discovered.’

Currently, Min Do-jun had perfectly replicated Gil Chung-soo’s appearance.

His face, clothing style – everything was exactly like Gil Chung-soo in life.

‘Except for the cult leader, there are no hunters, so I shouldn’t be detected.’

Actually, there were five people in the car, including the driver, but weakness detection revealed they were all ordinary people.

The disguised Gil Chung-soo would not be exposed.

‘Are these three ordinary believers?’

Min Do-jun looked at the people sitting with him in the back seat.

Except for briefly looking at him initially, they all sat with closed eyes, showing no interest.

‘The destination seems to be thoroughly secret.’

The rear window was tinted black, completely obscuring the outside view.

It was natural that Gil Chung-soo couldn’t reveal the cult’s location.

Moreover, only those confirmed at specific locations could board the vehicle, making tracking extremely difficult.

‘Fortunately, I’m disguised as Gil Chung-soo. Tracking would have been challenging otherwise.’

He couldn’t imagine how difficult it would have been without the ghost mask.

“Gil Chung-soo.”

The man in the passenger seat spoke to him.

He was the believer who had initially acknowledged Min Do-jun.

Gil Chung-soo had apparently asked this person to obtain sleeping pills.

“Why haven’t you attended services lately?”

Daecheon Truth Association holds services every Friday night.

Min Do-jun knew Gil Chung-soo had missed the last three services while planning murders.

He also knew he had become more taciturn.

“I’ve been busy.”

“I see.”

The conversation ended there.

The man, aware of Gil Chung-soo’s quiet personality, accepted the brief response.

He didn’t even notice the different voice.

“Welcome, believer.”

The vehicle stopped and picked up another believer.

Restarting, it picked up more believers from designated locations until the back seat was full.

‘All ordinary people.’

Most were over 40, but some younger people were present.

With no more people to pick up, the car continued driving.

The car stopped after approximately three hours.

“We’ve arrived. Everyone get off.”

The late-night destination was a mountain area.

“Be careful, it’s dark.”

Believers descended in a line, following staff members with flashlights up the mountain path.

Min Do-jun followed at the rear of the group.

Passing through the forest path, a single-story building with light seeping out appeared.

The building looked like an abandoned house when lights were off, but the interior was surprisingly neat.

‘Decorated like a church.’

Without crosses, but with rows of benches like a church.

“Service starts at midnight. Quickly take your seats.”

Min Do-jun discreetly took a seat on the side.

Looking around, he saw dozens of believers already seated.

Nearly 100 people in total.

‘Several bongo trucks earlier – they must have picked up people from different regions.’

Many people sat on church benches, waiting for midnight.

As midnight approached, a man in a robe like a pastor appeared.

“Greetings, brothers and sisters. I am Sang-je Lee Bae-yong, here to preach today’s doctrine. Nice to meet you.”

The man who introduced himself as Sang-je began a tedious sermon.

It was a cliché storyline seemingly from a fantasy novel – the original god sent monsters to reclaim this land, and only the Cheon-je is the savior.

‘Cheon-je refers to Kim Petro, right?’

According to Gil Chung-soo, Sang-je is like a pastor in a church, and Cheon-je refers to the higher-ranking cult leader.

‘Even this Sang-je is just an ordinary person. Except for Kim Petro, there are no hunters.’

In other words, a high-level early-era hunter had created a cult and was acting like a king.

‘I need to find him…’

Though he had reached here using information from Gil Chung-soo, he hadn’t obtained the most crucial information.

The method to meet Kim Petro.

‘Though he said he saw him once during initiation, even that was by chance…’

It seems meeting him isn’t easy at all.

‘I infiltrated as Gil Chung-soo specifically to see Kim Petro…’

If he can’t find a way to meet Kim Petro, the infiltration becomes meaningless.

‘This might end with just listening to the Sang-je’s sermon.’

If the service ends like this, he’ll have to return without any gains.

“We will now take time to meditate on Cheon-je who protects us in this land. Believers, please pray with gratitude, hands clasped.”

Hymn-like music played, and people bowed their heads in prayer.

Min Do-jun only pretended to pray, bowing his head but keeping his eyes open.

He had no desire to pray to Kim Petro, who had ignored his death.

Then, the man sitting next to him, noticing his lack of prayer, quietly spoke.

“I haven’t seen your face before, is this your first time?”

Min Do-jun looked at him warily.

‘From his way of speaking, he doesn’t seem to know Gil Chung-soo.’

Remembering Gil Chung-soo’s testimony about never speaking with anyone at the cult, Min Do-jun lowered his guard.

“No, it’s not my first time.”

“How long has it been since you came?”

“A month.”

“Ah, I came here exactly three weeks ago, so no wonder I haven’t seen you. How long have you been a member?”

Min Do-jun responded according to Gil Chung-soo’s information.

“About 6 months.”

“Haha, you’re my senior then. Since this is fate, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Gwak Gi-deok.”

“I’m Gil Chung-soo.”

They shook hands under the bench, and Gwak Gi-deok said:

“I’m 52, how old are you?”

“Thirty.”

“Good age. I’m older, can I speak informally?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“What troubles brought someone so young here?”

“Pardon? Do you need troubles to come here?”

“That’s usually why people seek god. Life gets hard, troubles pile up, so they need something to rely on. In my three weeks here, everyone I asked had some significant worry.”

“I don’t particularly have any. I just come because it brings peace to my mind and body.”

“Ah, is that why you weren’t praying earlier? I envy you having no worries.”

Seeing Gwak Gi-deok’s envious expression as he nodded, Min Do-jun couldn’t help but ask.

“Do you have troubles?”

“Me? Sigh… I have many.”

Gwak Gi-deok let out a long sigh.

“When I was young, I worked various part-time jobs, cutting back on sleep, to save money and open a shop. I grew that business, got married, raised children – I pride myself on living harder than anyone, but the world doesn’t work out just because you work hard.”

“What happened?”

“Things are more stable now, but you know how dungeon breaks were frequent 10 years ago?”

“Of course.”

He knew all too well.

That’s how Min Do-jun lost his family.

“The shop I worked so hard to build was destroyed by monsters. Insurance helped, but I had to relocate. The problem was the new shop failed completely.”

“…”

“With dungeons creating uncertainty, foot traffic decreased and customers dwindled. The business failed spectacularly.”

“…”

“After that, every business I tried failed, and my wife said she was going to work but ended up having an affair with a rich man. When she boldly asked for divorce after her own wrongdoing, I was furious!”

Having much to unload, the man’s story continued endlessly.

“After the divorce, all I had left was tens of millions in private loans and a twenty-year-old daughter. I work odd jobs to pay the loan interest, but with living expenses, it’s hard to see a way forward.”

“So that’s why you sought the cult? Because only Cheon-je can defeat the monsters.”

“Well, that’s part of it, but there’s actually a bigger reason.”

“What is it?”

Just then, meditation time ended, and attendants began circulating with collection bags.

It was offering time.

The man, after a brief pause, continued.

“You know people can awaken after turning twenty, right?”

“Yes.”

“My daughter will be twenty in a few months. The chance to awaken isn’t far off.”

“But not everyone awakens just because they turn twenty.”

“Right, I know. I know it’s a one-in-a-thousand chance. But when I joined here, they said that through Cheon-je’s grace, the awakening probability could be greatly increased.”

“…”

Though the absurd claim was ridiculous, Min Do-jun didn’t show it.

‘Increase awakening probability? How?’

Even knowing the future, he had never heard of such research results.

Statistically, the awakening probability never deviates from one-in-a-thousand.

‘It’s a ploy to attract people.’

Though he knew it was definitely a scam, Min Do-jun didn’t say anything.

They wouldn’t believe him anyway.

‘Why didn’t Gil Chung-soo know about this?’

He hadn’t heard this information from him.

It was news to him.

‘Perhaps because he’s not old enough to have children?’

They probably only drop this bait to people who might have children.

“I don’t know if it’s true, but I came here thinking I had nothing to lose. Most people here probably feel the same?”

Come to think of it, among the hundred people, there were several young faces around twenty years old.

“Everyone comes regularly to the cult hoping their children will succeed, like me. They say becoming a hunter is like winning the lottery.”

Looking at Gwak Gi-deok, his eyes were full of hope.

Min Do-jun wanted to point out the false hope, but he couldn’t.

The collection bag holder was right in front of him.

Min Do-jun silently took out the prepared cash.

A 10,000 won bill.

Gil Chung-soo always gave 10,000 won, he’d said.

He put it in to avoid suspicion.

In contrast, the man next to him put in ten 50,000 won bills.

The collector’s expression flipped like a coin.

“May Cheon-je’s blessings be with you, believer.”

The collector who had been silent when Min Do-jun donated now bowed.

He looked at Gwak Gi-deok as if trying to remember his face, then moved on to others.

Min Do-jun looked at Gwak Gi-deok with confusion.

“Why did you put in so much?”

“Cheon-je will notice me only if I give this much.”

“Even so, don’t ordinary believers like us have no chance to meet Cheon-je?”

Min Do-jun asked the question he’d been holding back.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he’d listened to Gwak Gi-deok’s story for this moment.

But the answer wasn’t what he expected.

“No chance. Meeting Cheon-je in person is like reaching for the stars.”

“Ah…”

Seeing Min Do-jun’s disappointed expression, Gwak Gi-deok smiled subtly and asked.

“You really want to see Cheon-je, don’t you?”

“Of course. He’s a god.”

“You seem to be lucky.”

“What?”

“Cheon-je is scheduled to stop by after today’s service for greetings. It’ll be my first time seeing him too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, he should be here soon.”

Sure enough, as the offering ended, the Sang-je spoke.

“Thank you for waiting. As previously announced, we will now welcome Cheon-je.”

Shortly after, an elderly man in elder’s robes stepped onto the platform.

It was Cheon-je.