There are too many non-believers in cyberpunk – Chapter 7

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Snow fell.

According to the weather forecast, it was expected to snow frequently this winter.

The announcer’s cheerful mention of a potential white Christmas sent Sonia bouncing around with excitement.

She loved snow. It was a sign of her pure heart.

Amon, on the other hand, whose soul had grown weary from shoveling snow at the army base, at work, and even at home after getting his ID, was too jaded to appreciate it.

However, the word “Christmas” held a certain magic that could stir even the most jaded soul.

Despite his pretense, Amon was looking forward to Christmas just as much as Sonia.

‘It’s Christmas already.’

Christmas in this world was no different from his previous life.

Christmas trees decorated the streets, adults gave gifts to children, and various events were held.

The only difference was that the one born on Christmas was the Goddess’s daughter, not the Son of God.

Everything else was the same.

Amon headed to his dresser, remembering something.

He needed to prepare his envelopes for the upcoming Christmas.

‘This one’s for the offering, this one’s for Sonia’s present, this one’s for the director…’

Amon distributed his money into the envelopes.

His only income came from running errands and the government subsidy deceptively labeled as an “allowance.”

However, Amon lived a frugal life, his expenses minimal.

As a result, the amount he had saved over the past year was considerable.

Amon nodded with satisfaction, jotting down notes on the envelopes.

Hand cream for the orphanage director, lotion for Sonia, a lighter for old man Johnson, who often helped him out, and so on.

Although this was the moment when his year’s savings would dwindle, Amon felt a profound sense of happiness.

The fact that he had enough to share with others felt like a blessing.

After setting aside his offering of gratitude to the Goddess, Amon locked his dresser.

He left his room, planning to go to the swordsmanship dojo with Sonia in the afternoon.

Murmur… murmur…

The orphanage was unusually noisy.

“Huh?”

He turned his gaze towards the commotion.

The nuns were trying to control the children, their expressions grim.

The younger nuns were herding the children back to their rooms, while the older nuns formed a circle around something, as if encircling it.

A translucent barrier shimmered along the perimeter of the circle formed by the nuns.

Amon instantly understood what was happening.

‘One of the kids must be possessed.’

Children at the orphanage being possessed by spirits wasn’t uncommon.

Situated right next to a red-light district, the orphanage was a magnet for the spirits of infants who had lost their parents.

Possession cases occurred about once a year.

Fortunately, the spirits of infants weren’t particularly powerful, so the nuns could usually handle them.

Curious to see who the victim was this time, Amon approached the scene.

He could see what was happening inside the circle through the gaps between the nuns.

He quickly identified the possessed.

“Oh dear… I knew those kids would cause trouble someday.”

It was Jimmy and his friends.

The nun next to Amon, who overheard his muttered comment, gave a wry smile.

Even to them, it seemed like the boys had brought this upon themselves.

The items they had been clutching so proudly were cursed objects, sent by vengeful spirits seeking to possess the living.

These objects were often mixed in with the Black Friday donations, but most were detected by the nuns during their inspection and stored in the shed.

While the nuns could contain or ward off spirits, exorcism required a specialist, so they planned to deal with the cursed objects later, all at once.

However, Jimmy and his friends had broken into the shed and taken the cursed objects, even going so far as to break the seals.

The nuns, who had painstakingly sorted those items, couldn’t help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.

They wanted to tell the boys, “Serves you right,” but as nuns who were supposed to care for the children with love, they simply offered wry smiles.

Amon mirrored their wry smiles.

The targets of their silent disapproval were inside the barrier, babbling incoherently, their minds lost in a haze.

“Hee hee… my precious…”

Jimmy clutched the black vase, stroking it lovingly.

His friends exhibited similar symptoms.

Observing their behavior, the orphanage director made her diagnosis.

“They’re still in the enthrallment stage. It doesn’t seem like a full possession yet. We’ll try to wake them up, and if that fails, we’ll move them to the isolation room.”

Having run the orphanage for 30 years, the director had seen her fair share of possessions.

This situation wasn’t particularly unusual for her.

She calmly sprinkled salt and holy water on the enthralled children.

Fortunately, some of them regained their senses.

But not Jimmy.

While the other children had only taken one item each, Jimmy had emerged from the shed with his arms full.

This meant he was enthralled by multiple spirits.

Consequently, he was too deeply under their influence for salt and holy water to be effective.

The director looked at Jimmy with pity.

“Jimmy…”

He was currently just enthralled, but enthrallment was merely the precursor to full possession.

If left untreated, possession was inevitable.

The director made a decisive call.

“It can’t be helped. Take him to the isolation room.”

Dealing with a possession was always a hassle.

While the spirits of infants weren’t particularly dangerous in terms of their spiritual power, Jimmy was a teenage boy who had already gone through puberty.

His physical strength alone made him a difficult opponent for the nuns.

It was safer to isolate him while he was still partially conscious.

Following the director’s instructions, the nuns carried Jimmy to the isolation room.

He was left alone in the empty room, its door designed to be opened only from the outside.

The director locked the door, taking one last look at Jimmy through the closing gap.

“The exorcist will arrive the day after tomorrow. Please make sure the children don’t touch this lock. And I’ll explain the special instructions for dealing with this situation.”

The nuns listened attentively to the director’s detailed instructions.

Immediately afterward,

Bang!

Jimmy slammed against the isolation room door.

[Mommy—! Mommyyyy—!!!]

Jimmy cried out in a voice mixed with the wails of an infant.

The nuns sighed in relief, realizing they had acted just in time.

Then, Jimmy’s voice changed again. A grotesque, low growl scraped from his throat.

[Sister-in-law!! You shouldn’t have done that to me! Why did you do that to me!!]

The chilling voice sent shivers down the nuns’ spines, and they backed away from the isolation room.

Unlike the other nuns, the director remained unfazed. She made the sign of the cross towards the room and offered a silent prayer.

May this child find salvation.

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That evening.

Amon stirred, then threw off his covers and sat up in bed.

“Ugh… did I drink too much cola?”

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Amon climbed out of bed.

Though the room was pitch black, his body, intimately familiar with its layout after years of living there, easily located his slippers.

Shuffling in his slippers, he navigated the dimly lit hallway towards the bathroom.

The path, unfortunately, took him past the isolation room.

Amon yawned and gave a polite nod to the nun guarding the room.

There was no response.

The nun on duty was asleep in her chair.

He didn’t feel any particular emotion at the sight.

It was hard to fault her for her lack of vigilance, considering her exhaustion.

Dealing with donors, tending to the enthralled children, and pulling night duty was too much to ask.

Besides, the isolation room wasn’t so flimsy that it required constant guarding.

The director had boasted that the room could withstand even a bomb blast.

Judging by the thickness of the steel door, which looked like it belonged on an armored vehicle, he believed her.

‘Where did she even get something like that?’

Amon’s curiosity about the director deepened.

In any case, the room was essentially a vault, so there was no chance of Jimmy escaping, even if the nun dozed off.

Amon gave another polite nod to the sleeping nun and continued on his way to the bathroom.

Tinkle… tinkle…

After relieving himself, Amon headed back to his room.

He passed by the isolation room again.

The nun was still asleep.

Amon gave another pointless nod and continued walking.

That’s when he heard a voice from inside the room.

“Amon? Is that you?”

It was Jimmy.

Not the distorted voice of a possessed person, but Jimmy’s own voice.

Amon stopped and turned towards the door.

As if knowing Amon was there, Jimmy spoke through the door.

“I’m not possessed anymore. I’m really hungry, could you open the door?”

“…”

“I missed dinner, so I’m starving. I could eat a whole cow.”

Amon’s eyes narrowed.

He silently flipped off the door.

Jimmy suddenly went quiet.

That reaction confirmed Amon’s suspicion.

“I’ve never seen anyone collude with a possessing spirit before.”

Amon spoke loudly, intending for Jimmy to hear.

In a typical possession, the original owner of the body and the possessing spirit would struggle for dominance.

Therefore, the spirit would often try to weaken the host, both physically and mentally, to facilitate the possession.

However, in rare cases, the host and the spirit could coexist.

Like in a shonen manga, the spirit might be accepted by the host, leading to a sudden reconciliation.

Or they might develop a bond after sharing a body.

Or the spirit might be a benevolent entity from the start, not a malevolent one.

Of course, not all coexisting relationships were positive.

Sometimes, both the host and the spirit were assholes, and they got along because of that.

Amon believed Jimmy’s case fell into the latter category.

The proof was that Jimmy knew Amon was passing by, even through the thick steel door.

It was evidence of spirit vision.

Fortunately, both Jimmy and the spirit were not very bright, as they had inadvertently revealed their spirit vision.

No one would fall for such an obvious trick.

Amon, deciding to ignore the idiots, was about to return to his room when a sudden question arose.

“How did you two become so chummy? There seem to be multiple spirits in there, so it must be crowded.”

There was no response.

But Amon knew an easy way to make the spirits talk.

“I’ll perform a memorial service for one lucky spirit.”

He wasn’t sure if the term “memorial service” existed in this world’s version of America, but the vengeful spirits seemed to understand the gist.

Perhaps because they were preoccupied with resolving their grudges, they responded immediately.

The spirit with the youngest voice spoke.

[He said he would help us possess you. Since it’s too cramped for multiple spirits in one body, we agreed.]

“Aha. So, Jimmy made the offer first?”

[Yes.]

Amon nodded slowly.

That’s right.

That sounded just like Jimmy.

‘Jimmy, I stand corrected.’

Jimmy wasn’t just an asshole. He was a natural-born, Grade-A scheming little shit.

‘Whoa there, bad thoughts. Bad thoughts.’

He barely suppressed the curse that almost slipped out and made the sign of the cross.

‘Inner peace. Serenity like a river…’

He hummed a hymn, forcing down his anger.

Once inner peace had returned, Amon promised the spirit who had told him the truth a proper memorial service and turned to leave.

But something stopped him.

The oldest spirit, speaking through Jimmy, called out to Amon.

[Young man…]

A cavernous voice resonated, blending with Jimmy’s own.

Amon ignored him and continued walking.

Undeterred by Amon’s dismissal, the old spirit continued.

[Your eyes are clear. Untainted by vanity or ambition, they seek only wisdom. Young man, aren’t you curious about the afterlife? About the true nature of this world?]

He wasn’t curious at all.

He had already experienced the “good ending” path, visited the afterlife, and even met the Goddess.

Besides, how could a spirit trapped in this world, unable to ascend, know anything about the afterlife?

Amon had no reason to listen.

But he was curious.

Curious about what nonsense this foolish spirit would spout.

Curious to see how this idiot would try to entertain him.

So, he stopped and turned back towards the door.

The old spirit, mistaking Amon’s action for genuine interest, began to preach his false truths.

It was commonly believed that people went to the afterlife when they died.

However, most humans couldn’t reach the afterlife because they lacked sufficient “Refinement.”

The spirit claimed that one needed to accumulate Refinement while lingering in this world before moving on to the next.

[I will elevate your Refinement.]

Normally, attaining Refinement in this world required lengthy training, but the old spirit claimed to be on the verge of ascension.

He promised to show Amon the moment of ascension if Amon opened the door for him.

And that wasn’t all.

He whispered promises of sharing the truths and wisdom of this world, knowledge he had only gained after death.

As the spirit tempted Amon, Amon’s shoulders began to shake.

The spirit mistook this for the reaction of a wise seeker witnessing a fragment of truth.

In reality, Amon was struggling to contain his laughter.

‘A clown is truly funny only when he doesn’t know he’s a clown.’

The phrase popped into his mind.

As if determined to make Amon die of laughter, the spirit, growing excited, offered a “taste” of his false truths.

[Young man, there is no need to live a virtuous life in this world.]

“?”

Amon stopped suppressing his laughter. What nonsense was this spirit about to spew?

He listened intently.

The spirit, assuming Amon was hanging on his every word, continued.

[Karma, virtue, all of these are nothing but fabricated values created by those in power to control the masses. This world doesn’t operate that way. The world is a complex system of cause and effect. Good and evil have no bearing on this system.]

“…And why should I believe that?”

[Because I’ve seen it. There is no God in this world. The world operates solely on a complex system.]

Snap.

Something inside Amon broke.

His head bowed, and a shadow fell over his face.

Without a word, he silently unlocked the isolation room door.

By the time the sleeping nun was startled awake by the rattling sound, the lock had already been disengaged.

Before she could scold Amon, the thick steel door swung open.

Standing in the doorway, a sinister smile playing on his lips, was Jimmy.

The nun gasped, but stood protectively in front of Amon.

Jimmy(?) looked at Amon, who was standing behind the nun with his head bowed, and offered his condolences.

[Young man, was it that much of a shock? I understand. There’s nothing more painful than having the virtues you’ve believed in and upheld your entire life be denied. But don’t worry. You’re still young. I will whisper the truth to—]

Jimmy stopped mid-sentence, his eyes fixated on Amon’s hand.

Amon was holding a bible.

However, if he was simply holding it, it wouldn’t have drawn such attention.

There was one reason why Jimmy’s gaze was locked onto it.

It was trembling intensely, as if barely containing a torrent of emotions.

[?]

A question mark appeared above Jimmy’s head.

He couldn’t decipher the emotions behind that tremor.

That’s why his reaction was delayed, even as Amon stepped right in front of him.

Jimmy’s eyes followed Amon’s hand as he raised the bible, its corner pointed towards Jimmy.

A little lower, he saw Amon’s forearm, its veins bulging, red and strained.

And lower still, he saw Amon’s face, contorted in a terrifying grimace, teeth gritted, eyes burning with fury.

[Y-young man…?]

Towards the spirit, who uttered a foolish question,

Amon roared, his voice loud enough to wake everyone in the orphanage,

“You blasphemous fiend!!!!!!”

The bible slammed into Jimmy’s face, splitting his world in two.

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