What rendered Choi Junseok speechless was that the story wasn’t only circulating among players.
After a few chaotic days passed and he finally regained some stability, he belatedly called to check on his family.
“Yeah, Mom. You doing okay?”
“I’m doing great. This new apartment we moved into—I still can’t believe someone like me gets to enjoy this kind of luxury, honey.”
Hearing his mother’s pure joy made a strange smile creep onto Choi Junseok’s face.
“That’s a relief. Does little sis like it too?”
“Like it? That’s an understatement. The Player Management Office told us we can treat it like our own home and not to worry about security, so she even invited friends over.”
They must have decided it was safer to separate him from his parents completely.
Honestly, Choi Junseok understood the measure.
At the same time, he realized he could no longer escape the Player Management Office’s support.
His family was essentially half-hostage—there was no real difference.
“Oh, really? I’m glad she likes it.”
“Yeah. How about you?”
“I’ve moved into a facility where they gathered players because of the risk of further terrorism. The place is better than a top-class hotel.”
“Sounds nice.”
“It’s pretty insane.”
“I’m relieved you’re doing well, Junseok-ah. But…”
His mother, unusually hesitant, continued.
“Junseok-ah, have you… been doing any religious activities lately?”
“Huh…? Religion?”
What on earth was this out of nowhere?
“It’s all over TV these days. They’re called the Church of Hamsu… they’re even building a temple near the Suseo Magic Tower?”
“Huh?”
“The Church of Hamsu temple. You really had no idea?”
“Mom, do you think I’m crazy enough to do something like that?”
“Right…? Of course not, right? They’re saying the cult leader is you…”
“Mom, it’s a cult. A total cult.”
A cult had actually formed.
He thought it was just a topic among players…
“It’s on TV all the time, and you didn’t know? Honey… look into it later. I hope this doesn’t cause trouble for you.”
“How could I be affected when I have nothing to do with it? Anyway… I understand.”
“It’s not like you’re affec—never mind. Anyway, just take care of yourself.”
“Yes, Mom. Rest well.”
Click.
The moment he hung up, an uneasy feeling washed over Choi Junseok.
“No way… if even my mom, who’s not a player, is talking about the Church of Hamsu…”
He asked Lee Nayeon, who was basically glued to the TV.
“Do you know anything about the Church of Hamsu?”
“You don’t watch TV, do you?”
“…”
“They’re famous. They seem to be a force that has rapidly gained power after the recent player terrorist attack.”
Lee Nayeon turned her gaze from the screen to him, tilting her head.
“You really didn’t know?”
“I didn’t realize it was this bad.”
“No, I actually thought from the beginning that it was a group you were involved with.”
“There’s no way… what benefit would I get from that?”
“…To build hype before revealing yourself?”
“Doing it that way would only bring backlash.”
Only then did Lee Nayeon tilt her head innocently, as if she truly didn’t understand.
“Then why is the government leaving them alone? Aren’t they heretics who should be burned at the stake right now?”
She immediately grabbed the remote and started changing channels.
She was punching in numbers so confidently that she clearly already knew what was on every channel.
[LIVE] News with the live mark.
The crowd packed in front of the Suseo Magic Tower’s wall looked like people gathered for a massive event.
– I am reporting live from the construction site of the Church of Hamsu’s chapel in front of Suseo. You can see the believers lined up densely…
Choi Junseok blinked at the scene.
– Roughly 30,000 believers of the Church of Hamsu are estimated to have gathered today alone, and the nearby police station has deployed forces to maintain order…
Whistles blew everywhere.
Two crowds faced off with a wall of police between them.
One side was the Church of Hamsu, the other was people who had gathered claiming the church was heretical.
“Whoa… where did they get the money to buy that land?”
Roughly one block from the Suseo Magic Tower.
In other words, the closest land that could actually be purchased.
The area behind the construction barriers was visibly enormous.
No.
In the first place, land prices near the Suseo Magic Tower had plummeted.
When the tower rose, surrounding buildings collapsed or were destroyed, making the area practically uninhabitable.
There were plenty of sellers but no buyers.
With only 183 days left until the tower’s collapse, that land wouldn’t even exist in 183 days.
Even if someone cleared the tower, terrain that close wouldn’t remain intact.
Towers didn’t vanish with a poof of magic; they slowly sank back into the ground and were absorbed.
During that process, nearby structures and land were inevitably distorted.
Building that close meant only one thing.
They built it knowing it would collapse in 180 days anyway.
“How did Seoul City even permit that kind of money-burning madness?”
How on earth did they get a construction permit?
“I heard rumors that everyone from city officials to the construction company are all members of the Church of Hamsu.”
Lee Nayeon stated it calmly, as if it were simple fact.
She seemed to fully understand what that implied.
“The Church of Hamsu… are they doing anything really shady?”
“How do you define ‘shady’?”
“Anti-social behavior, for example.”
“If building on land that will collapse is anti-social, then yes, they are doing it.”
“And… the cult leader came out claiming he’s Hamsu?”
“Correct.”
He had thought it was just some random cult topic among players.
‘Isn’t this situation actually serious?’
While watching the live broadcast, Choi Junseok called Team Leader Kang Jinsu.
– Yes, Junseok-nim. I picked up.
“How is the Church of Hamsu situation being handled?”
– …Ah. So you finally saw it.
‘Finally’?
Choi Junseok gave a cold smile.
“At this rate, isn’t it only making the public hate Hamsu?”
– I understand your shock. We’re in a tricky position too. Astonishingly, there is no legal procedure to arrest or disband them.
“What?”
– They properly filed for assembly permits and are gathering legally. The building also has proper permits… and the funding source is clean, so there’s no clear justification to arrest them.
“Isn’t there any law for arresting heretics?”
– Shockingly, no. I only learned this recently myself. We tried to tie them to organized crime laws, but the conditions aren’t easily met… We’re at a loss.
“What about impersonating a player?”
– We can’t exactly arrest someone for defamation of honor. In the end, they’ll reveal themselves as a criminal group at some point. We’re just waiting for that moment.
At that moment on TV, the person claiming to be the leader of the Church of Hamsu stepped onto a small platform.
Wearing a mask carved from wood, he raised both hands as he climbed the stage.
The followers all raised their hands enthusiastically in unison, welcoming him.
“I! Will challenge the 23rd and 24th floors of the Suseo Magic Tower consecutively right here in front of you all!”
Even Choi Junseok found the unexpected development intriguing.
He had publicly declared he would climb the tower in record time in front of the masses.
‘He’ll be exposed immediately.’
“What’s his angle?”
The followers chanted “Hamsu” over and over as they looked up at their leader.
The moment the leader raised both arms high and shouted that he would enter the tower,
BANG—!
A single gunshot rang out above the crowd’s heads.
The bullet was aimed straight at the forehead of the Church of Hamsu’s leader.
Thud!
“Kyaaaaah!”
Blood and brain matter splattered against the backdrop as he was shot in the forehead.
The live camera hurriedly turned away,
but the screams of the crowd turning into pandemonium continued.
Both Lee Nayeon and Choi Junseok froze at the sight.
On the other end of the phone, Team Leader Kang seemed to grasp the situation and let out a sigh.
– Haa… I’ll call you back.
Choi Junseok could only nod for now.
“So a guy who called himself Hamsu just got sniped in the middle of downtown Seoul, right?”
Song Hana, who had come out hugging Kamdori, was also frozen stiff.
“Looks like… I should probably reveal I’m Hamsu a bit later?”
“That would be the wiser choice.”
Yet Lee Nayeon tilted her head and asked,
“Isn’t he dead?”
“…What?”
“The Church of Hamsu leader isn’t dead. No, he is alive.”
Lee Nayeon seemed to have sensed something with her super-senses.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. When I replayed the moment just now, I’m certain. The feeling is completely different from when a person actually dies.”
At her calm affirmation, Choi Junseok instantly understood the situation.
‘He was planning to use a mythic item.’
He is not Hamsu.
Yet he appears publicly claiming to be Hamsu and declares he will climb the tower openly.
At that moment, an outside force stages his death.
Then the real Hamsu climbs the tower, and he naturally “resurrects” in front of the believers.
That would create a perfect resurrection narrative.
It would also explain why he doesn’t prove himself by climbing the tower in front of the followers.
For some reason, they had set up a highly elaborate scheme.
Choi Junseok immediately texted Team Leader Kang.
– The Church leader is probably not dead. They say he faked it. Find him right now and bring him to me.
“Things I have to worry about just keep piling up…”
The Church of Hamsu.
It might actually help when stepping out of the shadows,
but since they had gone this far—even staging a death—they had to be stopped.
– You always stay one step ahead of us. We’re already surrounding the area with that possibility in mind.
– We’ll catch both of them by tonight.
“Both” meaning the fake sniper and the Church leader.
“What are you planning to do once you catch them?”
At Lee Nayeon’s question, Choi Junseok calmly stared at the chaotic TV screen.
“How did you know I was going to catch them?”
“…Isn’t that the most rational choice? No matter how much he impersonated you, you wouldn’t personally kill him.”
“Of course not.”
“By now I can pretty much tell what you’re thinking just by looking.”
It wasn’t her super-senses—it was the result of living together for nearly a month.
“He has to pay the price for dragging Hamsu’s image straight into the gutter, doesn’t he?”
“Hm?”
“The Church leader is dead. And the second leader, who inherited authority from him, decides to repent and turn the religious group into something else entirely—wouldn’t that work?”