Chapter 373: Hongcheon (1)

It had only been less than two months since Ho-jae and his party returned to Earth.

And the humans had already begun to experience huge changes.

Gates that previously poured out monsters no longer appeared unexpectedly.

The gates that used to randomly generate at all times suddenly became a huge risk factor during that time.

Due to this occurrence, humans had no guarantee of safety anywhere.

As a result, the social foundations became concentrated in the big cities, and the value of the Awakened who was a powerful force in street warfare soared.

But currently, the monster gates were no longer appearing.

It was a simple sentence, but what this sentence implied could not be explained in just a few words.

The monsters that suddenly appeared one day weren’t just natural disasters that caused human casualties.

The appearance of monsters changed the landscape of the world.

Numerous people lost their lives to the monsters, and almost all countries lost their territory through monster invasion.

Even the United States and Korea, which were known as Monster-safe areas, still had areas that were overrun by monsters.

Fortunately, monsters that jumped out of the gate do not leave the area, stopping when they reached a certain point.

As if someone had placed a rally point on them.

Rather than eradicating all the monsters, the countries left some of those lands alone.

Instead, the numbers of the Awakened and the army were concentrated in limited areas.

As a result, it was relatively easy to protect the citizens of the city from the monster spawns or gates, but places far from the cities became defenseless against monsters.

In the case of South Korea, the incidence of gates appearing was so low in the first place, that it could be limited by abandoning some areas.

However, in some countries where there was a high probability of gates appearing, most of the land was lost.

But now, those gates do not appear anymore.

The damage caused by monsters nowadays had been minimal, with the exception of the occasional monstrous wild animals and the monsters that roamed around and entered the human settlements.

Although suspicious of this sudden phenomenon, many countries put their doubts to rest for the first time and began to move into the suburbs.

Naturally, the mainstay of this effort was the military forces.

Depending on the situation, the Awakened were also called out, but their importance was significantly lower.

And that was how Lee Ho-jae began to attract the Awakened with his trump card called the Dimensional Portal.

It was all over the newspapers, even the one that Hochi was reading.

Lee Hojae and Kim Min-hyuk’s idea was simple.

Soon, the Awakened will be out of jobs.

The best advantage the Awakened had over the military was their combat power and experience fighting within the city.

And although they cannot replace the firepower of the military units in the field, both parties could still cooperate.

However, the jobs they would be entrusted with would probably be eradicating the monsters left in the remote areas at the most.

But that arrangement will not last long enough now that the monsters are no longer spawning.

Above all, the Awakened who were treated like nobles and heroes in the city would not be pleased with the mission to clear out monsters outside of the country.

They have already enjoyed too much wealth and honor to be treated as warriors on the front lines.

The army will still want them, but they will offer them a significantly lower price.

But with the opening of the Portal Gate, the Awakened who have been struggling with work, lost wealth and fame, will emerge as important resources again.

The Awakened who have had similar experiences in the Tutorial will quickly adapt to their expedition to other dimensions.

“Do you read the newspaper?” Asked the old man sitting next to him.

“Yes,” Hochi nodded, feeling a little absurd.

The old man did not recognize Hochi’s face as Lee Ho-jae’s.

With the appropriate cognitive dysfunction magic applied, the old man will only see Hochi as a normal young man.

“Oh, it’s a mess. It’s a mess.”

The old man glanced at the newspaper that Hochi had spread out.

It was a literal mess.

Just reading the newspaper headlines revealed how confusing the situation was.

One crisis disappeared, but another crisis arose.

There were articles that talked about the ideal future, while others were anticipating new opportunities.

In any case, the newspapers were predicting that the times would change once again.

“Ahhh, tsk, tsk, tsk.”

The old man seemed to dislike the current situation.

Eitherway, Hochi was puzzled.

Hochi still felt awkward when someone he didn’t know talked to him without hesitation.

The old man shook his head and said, “I don’t know how the world has come to this. The government hasn’t even issued an evacuation notice yet, but they’re already fleeing..”

The stale smell of sweat.

Packages wrapped in cheap, wrinkled packaging.

It was a scene inside the train where there were more people standing than those sitting in the seats.

As the old man said, the people seemed to be taking refuge somewhere.

“But it’s a little better these days.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, because a few years ago, I never thought of going home by train like this. In my hometown, it was hard to go to the next neighborhood. One time, while we were sleeping at night, monsters appeared in front of the apartment, and the residents of the apartment blocked the entrance to our building and tried to hold out.….”

The old man shared what he had been through.

It was an experience that could have appeared in a blockbuster movie.

Hochi wondered if the old man’s words were mixed with a little exaggeration.

Clackety clack. Hiss.

The train slowly slowed down and came to a complete stop.

The people standing in the corridor of the train stumbled forward in reaction.

But the train had not arrived at the station yet.

The train stopped once every ten minutes or so and resumed operation after examining the surroundings for danger.

“Is this train usually so crowded?”

The old man said that he often goes to his hometown.

The old man who heard Hochi’s question nodded and replied as if it were something natural.

“Yes. This train is going from Seoul to Chuncheon and Gangneung, after all.”

It was a train that connected Chuncheon and Gangneung, some of the few cities left in Gangwon-do.

In the past, it used to be a train that would run several times a day, but now he wondered if it only goes back and forth once a week.

If so, then it was normal that people would crowd it.

“Here, please!”

The Mantis sitting next to Hochi raised her hand.

He wondered why she did that, and saw that a salesman was pushing the cart down the crowded train aisle.

“Yes, what would you like?”

“A boiled egg and cider.”

“We’re out of cider.”

“Ah…….”

The Mantis looked sad and ordered bottled water instead.

“Do you give out peanuts as a service?”

“No, you have to buy it.”

The Mantis ordered peanuts with a more regretful expression than before and looked at Hochi.

“… Do you have any money?”

He had no choice but to buy it for her.

He got enough money from Kim Min-hyuk before they left after all.

The Mantis began to peel the eggs with a giggle.

Hochi sighed inside.

Still, Lee Ho-jae told him to buy something delicious on the train.

However, Lee Hojae talked about a variety of lunch boxes, not boiled eggs, potatoes, or squid.

After the big city became safe from monster attacks, mankind faced a shortage of resources and food.

It was natural because procuring them to sustain both supply and demand became difficult.

Due to this, the current era had become a time where everyone cherished and put up with what little they could get.

“Are you a couple?”

The old man asked.

Hochi looked serious.

“No.”

“Then she must be your wife. She’s so active and healthy, how nice.”

“No, she’s not.”

The old man did not answer.

You’re not listening to me.

“This is…..”

He took the egg from the Mantis and gave it to the old man.

“Hon hon, you’re a very nice young couple.”

We’re not what you think we are.

Please don’t talk to me while you’re eating.

He turned the old man’s attention to the egg and opened a virtual window.

[Faith Window]

[Lee Ho Jae’s Faith (tentative name)]

[Location: Hongcheon County, Gangwon Province]

Religious building status: Hongcheon County Main Office (1), Branch Office (6)

-The church is rapidly expanding due to the recently constructed church building.

Through six offices, the enlightening of rural people in the remote regions is taking place.

Received faith/number of believers

-2,227pt of faith is being produced every month.

-The total membership is 4,207 people.

-The number of believers is insufficient to be treated as a formal religion.

-Less faith is produced compared to numbers.

-A few believers have fanatic beliefs.

-There are some believers who have no faith at all.

Religious Influence

-The influence within the country is significantly dropping.

-The national government is not even aware of the sect.

-The reputation within the country is very poor.

-The public sees the sect as a pseudo-multilevel organization that mixes eschatology and idolatry of the Awakened.

Clergy Status

-There are no priests who have been properly educated in doctrine.

-No qualified clergy exists.

-The clergy in the Church’s leadership have very little faith]

This was a Faith Window created by Lee Ho-jae for Hochi.

It was a rough mix of the System Window of the Tutorial and the Quest Window that Kirikiri made.

“Hmm…….”

Hochi confirmed the problem by reading the Faith Window seriously.

Hochi liked the Faith Window.

Lee Ho-jae’s prediction that such a hologram window, reminiscent of a game system, suits Hochi’s taste, was correct.

-Achievement tasks-

Mission 1: Reform the priesthood that sees Lee Ho-jae’s Faith as a means of business.

Mission 2: Reveal the basis of faith for the believers of Lee Ho-jae’s Faith to devote their faith.

Mission 3: Improve the public image of Lee Hojae’s Faith, which is considered a stupid and childish cult.

.

.

.

There were even missions that aroused his desire to achieve more.

However, Hochi was still inexperienced in mingling with society and the people outside.

But that didn’t mean that he was completely ignorant of the ways of people.

Most of his sources came from novels, but he read various stories through them.

He also shared the memories of Lee Ho-jae who experienced various worlds in the Tutorial.

Hochi eagerly looked into the Faith Window and wondered how to change the group and how to grow it.

It was a pleasant worry.

Hochi felt confident that he could somehow do it successfully.

* * *

“Are the preparations going well?”

Lim Seong-hyun asked the subordinate priest about the preparation.

“Yes, it is.”

The subordinate replied nonchalantly.

His attitude was terribly annoying.

Lim Seong-hyun frowned.

‘You punk.’

‘You might be wearing those robes now, but still act just like a thug on the streets, with a cigarette in your mouth and just nodding your head.’

He wanted to throw him out right now, but he still had to use him.

‘After this, I’ll have to find new guys that can be used as limbs.’

Lim Seong-hyun was a veteran with 20 years of experience as a fraudster.

When he was young, he made money by seducing innocent country girls.

After getting a little older, he made money by tricking old people who were ignorant of the world to join multi level marketing scams.

However, after the monsters appeared, his life changed rapidly.

The time had come when money was no longer important.

Of course, money was still important, but its value had relatively declined.

For him, who uses his desire to make easy money in scamming people, his means of business had disappeared.

He eventually had to change his business.

He started selling fear instead of desire.

Elderly people in the countryside who lost contact with their children in the cities and who couldn’t sleep due to fear after hearing the sound of monsters coming from over the mountain, were really easy to deceive.

He brought out a universal eschatology and incited the people.

Heaven has punished men for its sins.

Everyone will die, but you will not die if you receive divine revelation..

You have been chosen.

People in the mountainous regions of Gangwon-do, abandoned by the government and the military, were easily convinced.

Some volunteered to become a believer immediately with a few magic tricks.

The problem is that after some time, the Awakened appeared.

They looked like godly superhumans that overturned the desperate situation.

Communication with the city was restored.

People have come to know about the somewhat absurd, but very mysterious, facts of Tutorials and the Hundred Gods.

Meanwhile, Lim Seong-hyun’s eschatology lost its mystery day by day.

So Lim Seong-Hyun chose to deify the Awakened.

The Awakened claimed to be the guide of choice by the gods.

He insisted that someday, the strongest and greatest guides would come down to the world to lead people to heaven with himself as the revelator.

And the most powerful guide was Lee Ho-jae.

In fact, Lim Seong-hyun chose Lee Ho-jae because he was unlikely to come out of the Tutorial.

But Lee Hojae eventually came out.

He really has to close his business now. But then, good news came when he was agonizing whether he should close his business.

Lee Ho-jae’s progress had been extraordinary.

He appeared in an endless explosion.

Fighting G-class all over the world alone.

And he did not even contact the media the whole time he was doing it.

It was a move that perfectly fit the ideal guide of Lim Sung-hyun’s pseudo-religion.

Lastly, Lee Ho-jae was not very negative about his pseudo-group.

As soon as they got in touch, he said ‘let’s meet in Seoul and talk’.

Afterwards, he said he was like his family, and that he was going to send a representative to discuss the future with him.

“Is this really okay?”

Asked the subordinate priest.

This kid stretched and contracted like a rubber band.

“Of course. I already got a reply.”

Several times, he sent emails to Kim Minhyuk asking if the pseudo-organization he was running offended Lee Ho-jae..

Kim Min-hyuk confirmed the number of believers and said that Lee Ho-jae was also surprised and delighted when he mentioned that the current number of members exceeded 4,000.

Lim Seong-hyun was confident in his ability to deal with the Awakened.

He often invited the Awakened by running pseudo-groups.

Of course, most were third-rate Awakened.

Apart from the C-class, most were Awakened with D-class ranks or lower.

Most were Awakened who committed crimes, left the city and wandered around the suburbs.

They were violent and dangerous, but Lim Seong-hyun controlled them without difficulty.

The Awakened were all drunk with power.

They had a sense of superiority that they were different from the others.

The sense of reward that this kind of treatment was right for them as they gained power through hard work was what convinced them to join.

He just needed to match it appropriately and satisfy their desires.

The Awakened called Lee Ho-jae was not much different.

“Are the other kids ready?”

The subordinate priest nodded with a sordid smile.

“What about Miyoung?”

“She said she didn’t want to die.”

“That’s not good.”

Some women are easily deceived by their authority as revelators and fanatical doctrines, but there are also women who sometimes refuse the requests of the priests.

“Emmy and Abby were all third-degree believers, right?”

The third degree believers were a special class.

In the words of the priests, believers are people who have been brainwashed enough to enter a fire pit.

“Bring her in and ask her to persuade Miyoung. It’s urgent.”

Soon, the representativeof the leader will come.

He doesn’t know exactly what that representative is.

The future of the church is different depending on how Lee Ho-jae thinks and treats the church.

Everything needed to be prepared.

“But is it really okay, hyung? I’m honestly a little scared. Why don’t we just run away now?”

Lim Seunghyun frowned and said,

“Shut up, you coward. Scared. Tired. The Awakened are humans just like us. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”