"Everything I've been saying and emphasizing right now… ..All part of from the doctrines 'Void cult'.
"…What!?"
Damn it, Four-Eyes. So he really is a subordinate of that cult!?
"Grab him, you bastard!!"
"GRAB HIM!!"
In an instant, the four club members surrounded Gyeongwon and seized his arms and legs.
"W-what the hell are you guys doing…!"
"Hit him!"
Puk!
Jinhee punched Gyeong-won hard in the stomach.
"Ugh~!"
He struggled in a complete panic.
"Tell us everything you know about that cult!"
"N-no, no, what are you even talking about…! What nonsense is this, Prez!"
Gyeong-won hurriedly defended himself.
"I seriously just found it all on the internet…!"
The moment I raised my hand, Jinhee laughed and returned to her seat.
Gyeongwon, with a blank expression like he had just survived a disaster, straightened his crooked glasses.
"Y-you guys… this was just a joke, right…? Right…?"
"If you betray us, be ready to die~!"
Tok!
Deokhun smacked the blackboard with enthusiasm and turned around.
Sunah also shot him a sharp glare before returning to her seat.
"Who would've thought it was actually real…? Ouch…"
Gyeongwon fixed his clothes, looking tired and disappointed.
"Are you guys even human…? We've been together for quite a while now…"
Maybe because they had all been scolded by the teacher earlier, their resentment had piled up.
"…Okay, now I'll continue explaining what I was talking about earlier."
Gyeong-won patted his sleeve and pointed at the blackboard.
"This week, I spent time searching for the official Church of Void website and the blogs they use to spread their teachings. From the fragments of text on there, I tried to piece together what their core doctrine actually is. And it turns out there are a ton of similarities with what happened today. I already sent the screenshots to the KakaoTalk group. Go ahead and look."
"If you reach a state of complete emptiness. —Truly emptying yourself—
then all that remains is the arrival of God."
— In Taesang (太上)
"That's a quote from the cult's great leader, In Taesang. It's written directly on the official Void cult website. You're all familiar with it by now, right?"
The club members nodded. About a month ago during CA (club activity), they had all seen it too. And sometimes, when they browsed the site, the quote appeared often enough that it had started to feel familiar.
"Just like the leader Taesang's quote says, the followers of the dogma of void try to empty their minds through meditation and all kinds of training. At first, I thought 'emptying the mind' was the same as in Buddhism or other religions — casting away worldly thoughts or overcoming suffering. After all, they also expand their influence through meditation centers. But take a look at this part…"
Gyeong-won opened his laptop and showed several posts from dogma of void followers' blogs.
They seemed to be run by middle-aged men and women, filled with scenic photos and poorly designed quote images.
No one was reading or commenting on the blogs — they were clearly made just to satisfy the posters themselves, as is common with cult followers.
"But read the content carefully."
"…What does it say?"
The club members leaned in, eyes wide, staring at the small screen of Gyeong-won's laptop. Even though he had enlarged the font, it was still hard to read clearly.
"Maybe we should just install a TV or projector soon."
"If you can't see it, I'll just read it out loud. Basically, all of this is missionary writing that goes 'wow, these are wise words~' but the content is exactly the same as what I told you when I suggested the experiment yesterday. That 99.999% of matter is empty, and the universe is composed of emptiness. But look at this part…"
He enlarged one paragraph and pointed at it with his finger.
"This part is a bit weird."
…Just like the teachings of Maitreya in Buddhism, or the concept of the apocalypse in Christianity.
All religions speak of the end of the world~
Some also call it 'Gaebyeok.'
Gaebyeok (開闢) consists of the character 'gae' (開) meaning to open, and 'byeok' (闢) meaning to split.
So literally, it means opening something completely new~ ^^
"…Good grief. The moment the word Gaebyeok appears, it really feels like a real cult."
Teacher Hwa-eun stared at the screen and muttered.
I nodded.
"It's not 'like a cult' anymore, Teacher. This is an actual cult."
"That's not necessarily true, Leader."
Gyeong-won gave a small laugh and pushed up his glasses.
"Even if they worship a demon, at least they're still more powerful than religious leaders who only love money."
"Even if they're fanatics, they're not scammers. Whether the 'God' that the dogma of void worships is good or evil, one thing is certain — He actually exists."
We all just stared at Gyeong-won in silence.
The boy had been striking a pose while adjusting his glasses, but suddenly looked nervous.
"…You guys aren't going to call me a spy for the dogma of void just because I said that, right?"
"We almost did. But keep going."
"Saying even a little makes people think I'm weird… it's so hard to talk here…"
Gyeongwon grümbled and scroled
down.
Just like the Great Awakening ideology found in all religions, a higher-dimensional world is soon going to open in our actual world~
The long-awaited God will arrive to
fill the 99.999% of the empty space of
matter, and then reality we know will
be completely transformed-!
When the divine element fills the empty space, this reality will merge with the astral world of a higher dimension!
A dream space, where our thoughts are reflected directly in reality, will descend upon this land~
Do you understand, my friends? We
shared some good words again today. How was it for you~? Please leave plenty~ of comments~
— Toward a World That Is All Empty —
[Emptiness Meditation Center]
"…..?"
The moment I finished reading the quote, something flashed through my mind. I immediately shifted my gaze to the quote from the official Church of Emptiness website on my phone.
"When a person reaches a state of complete emptiness, all that remains is the arrival of God."
— In Tae-sang (太上)
Then I compared it again with the doctrine on the blog I had just read:
Filling the 99.999% empty space within matter… when the essence of God fills that void…
"…Now I get it. When you read it again, it really does feel strange."
"Especially when you connect it to what happened today, the meaning becomes much deeper."
Gyeong-won smiled while pushing up his glasses.
"The phenomenon of empty space within matter being filled by another essence. We just experienced it ourselves."
"…The teleportation experiment."
"Exactly. Through that experiment, we literally experienced how when two objects overlap inside empty space, their composition can change completely. Because there is actually empty space between them, when they unite, their matter mixes and becomes something different."
"…Hmm."
"And just like the system judged earlier that it wasn't an anomaly, if you think about it, all of this is a completely natural phenomenon. Whether it's a combustion reaction, a chemical reaction, or anything else — once there is interaction, matter will definitely change form."
"Is that… normal?"
Sunah asked with a confused face. Gyeong-won answered with a slightly annoyed expression.
"…That was in our 3rd-year middle school science class. Don't tell me you don't remember?"
"The part about ethanol, methane, redox reactions… then cobalt chloride paper, molecular formulas and all that…"
All the club members fell silent like statues.
In the quiet atmosphere, I cut in while nodding.
"I remember. Keep going."
"…Okay."
Gyeong-won adjusted his glasses and continued.
"So the phenomenon we just experienced the change in the composition of matter is actually a very common natural occurrence. It's just that modern technology can't arbitrarily overlap two pieces of matter into the same space like we did earlier. But for example, if you just burn something, the structure of matter definitely changes. Like wood turning into charcoal, or water turning into steam."
"…Yeah, I get that."
"So earlier, atoms — or even smaller quantum units — were forced to overlap and exist in the same space at the same time."
"….."
"Under normal conditions, this kind of change can only happen if you completely seal all sides and apply extreme pressure. The level… is equivalent to applying high pressure to a pencil until it becomes a diamond."
Turns out a pencil can become a diamond if you press it hard enough.
I just nodded, afraid Gyeong-won would call me stupid again.
"Something like that is clearly impossible with modern technology. But what if there's a method that can ignore volume and pressure and force two objects to exist in the same place at the same time? Like the system menu the Leader has. Then those materials would quickly merge through the 99.999% empty gaps in a strange but certain way. If they're non-living objects, their structure can change completely. But if there's an element of life inside them… like what you all just saw, an incredibly intense biological reaction will occur."
We all stared at the pile of leftover apple skins from the experiment in the trash can with disgusted and wary expressions.
It felt like something could crawl out and hatch at any moment.
'As soon as class ends, I have to burn that immediately.'
"When you look at it from that perspective, the doctrine of the Church of Emptiness is extremely suspicious. They explain this phenomenon too perfectly — it's hard to say it's just a coincidence."
"…Hmm."
"If I hadn't read the Void cult doctrine beforehand, I probably wouldn't have been able to explain what happened earlier either. Now, this next part. The one that says we have to empty ourselves until God can descend. At a glance, it sounds like an invitation to undergo spiritual training, right?"
"…At first glance it does seem like it's talking about the inner world of humans. But what if it's not talking about the mental world, but a real phenomenon that can actually occur in the physical world?"
"Beyond the overlapping of fabric and paper… beyond the overlapping of apple and apple… what if it's humans overlapping with humans like earlier?"
In my mind, the image of that disgusting lump of flesh that kept swelling and changing shape returned.
Teacher Choi Jeong-im.
"Even more — what if it's not just human with human, but… what if it's human overlapping with God?"
Gyeong-won tapped his finger on the screen, pointing at the text on the blog.
"To fill the 99.999% empty space of matter… when the essence of God fills that void, this world will merge with the higher astral realm…"
The words he pointed at were "essence of God."
Suddenly, Sunah asked carefully,
"Um… what exactly is 'God'?"
"..."
"I'm not saying I don't know, it's just… I mean, can we just take 'His essence' like from an apple and mix it in like that…? Even though we don't even know if He really exists, and we can't see Him either…."
In response to Sunah's question, I muttered quietly.
"…If it's a God that truly exists and can be seen, then the story is different."
The Demon King.
".....!"
Gyeong-won, who had been explaining, suddenly stopped and stared at me.
"…The Demon King? I was just about to connect the 'essence of God' with the cult leader, In Taesang."
"It's not him."
I shook my head slowly.
"It's true that the cult leader might be worshiped like a god by the teachers. But he's not the true divine being referred to in their doctrine. Not because I'm suspicious, but because when I met him in person, I didn't feel that kind of aura."
In Taesang, the cult leader I had faced directly, did have an unusual presence that transcended ordinary humans. But in the end, he was still human.
He could talk, he could make phone calls, he had a name. And he laughed loudly, sometimes got angry. Even because he was old, if he talked for too long he would look tired. He was truly a living old man.
And two years later, when he appeared as President, he actually looked far more human compared to his current mysterious image.
'…Ah, right. Come to think of it, I never told them about this.'
When my thoughts reached that point, I realized I had never actually told the kids what really happened.
And sure enough, they were all looking at me with questioning faces.
"…Joon, you met that person in person…?"
"…Leader?"
I hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded slowly.
For the past week I had been unsure how to explain this without involving Hayoon. But if it really had to be said, then now was the time.
After clearing my throat once, I began to tell them what happened.
"Actually, that day… because we were busy preparing for the competition and everything else, I thought I could just keep quiet about it. But in the end, I'm telling you now. So what happened back then was—"
I told them everything that had occurred that day, deliberately skipping the part about Hayoon.
After hearing my explanation to the end, they all nodded quietly.
"Wow, insane… so that's why that teacher was suddenly taken away back then, huh."
"Oh my god… No wonder the teachers' room has been empty all week and her chair was never used. So that was the reason… Good grief…"
Even Teacher Jang Hwa-eun, who was also a colleague of that teacher, couldn't hide her shock.
"Ahem, so… back to our previous topic."
I cleared my throat again and voiced my opinion.
"From what I saw with my own eyes, he really is a cult leader. But one thing is clear — he is not a 'god.' Even if we follow their doctrine that the essence of God will merge with the state of emptiness achieved through Taesang's spiritual training, he still has a physical body. So it doesn't connect."
Even though he was invisible now, we all knew that he would appear again later — as an old man, as the President.
But how could one person be broken into pieces and merged with the congregation?
Sentences like "merging with the essence of God" or "God will descend" clearly weren't referring to Taesang. Even just from the front page of their website, it was obvious.
"When a person reaches a state of complete emptiness, all that remains is the arrival of God."
— Taesang (太上)
"If it was referring to himself, why would he refer to himself in the third person?"
"…Well, that's true too…"
In other words, even Taesang himself was actually acknowledging the existence of something higher, which he called God.
So who exactly was it?
What exactly were the followers of void cult worshiping and waiting for through Taesang as their intermediary?
What did they want to merge with?
The answer was already clear.
The place where we were standing right now.
Nakseong High School.
And directly beneath this place.
"Th… The Demon King. The essence of God they're referring to is actually the cells of the Demon King."
"The Demon King's cells!?"
All the club members stared at me in shock.
I could only nod slowly while biting my lip.
"From the very beginning… everything was already clear. That the land where the Demon King is buried belongs to the dogma of void for a reason. And the doctrine about humans merging with the essence of God — if the God they mean is actually an evil god, the King of all ghost stories, the Demon King…"
"…Then I've already experienced it once."
Just this week.
Teacher Choi Jeong-im.
What she swallowed and turned into must have been the essence of God referred to in their teachings.
And all of it was constantly connected to the shovel-shaped totem that had appeared before us multiple times.
Meokju (묵주) — Beads of Silence.
"That group… is digging up the Demon King from beneath this school."
* * *
[My Craft — Pre alpha]
(WARNING: WORK IN PROGRESS — DOES NOT REPRESENT FINAL GAME APPEARANCE)
[SERVER: Ghost Story Club] [1/1]
[SERVER: Ghost Story Club] [FULL]
[Select World]
[Create New World, Joon-1]
[Loading….]
"Around here, huh."
After walking for about 30 minutes and passing over a small hill, I finally stopped in front of a massive hole — large enough to swallow several mountains at once.
"…Just as I thought."
With my arms crossed, I muttered while looking down at the deeply sunken terrain.
There was a gigantic crater — the remains of an enormous nuclear explosion.
Because enough time had passed, grass had already begun to grow around it, and several animals could be seen descending the inner slopes, grazing among the bushes and moss covering the crater walls.
A hole so deep and wide that it could never have formed naturally.
It was clear proof that at some point in the past, an incredibly powerful explosion had occurred here.
'How did it end up like this…'
I slowly turned around and retraced the path I had just walked, replaying my thoughts.
Events that happened at different times, yet all left behind massive craters like nuclear explosions.
That meant… something extremely large and important.
"…Ah."
Suddenly, as my thoughts tried to touch the boundary of this world,
I looked up at the sky.
There, the image of the scenery we had seen that day was still imprinted.
I had been about to turn back, but my body stopped for a moment. Then I muttered quietly:
"…Project Rainbow."