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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
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-Crash! Bang! Clang!!
A man was causing a ruckus inside the store. Kwon Tae-ho slowly approached him.
“The end of the world is coming! It will be too late to repent on Judgment Day! Heed the words of the Heavenly Maiden now! Repent! Sinners! Atone! Sinners!!”
“Hey, stop it… People are watching…”
“Ugh…”
Despite one of their party rampaging, the other two couldn’t control him. They were both quite drunk, barely able to stand on their own.
Kwon Tae-ho had no choice but to intervene.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
The rampaging man turned his head at Kwon Tae-ho’s voice. Startled by the almost 190cm tall figure looking down at him, he took a step back.
“You’re disturbing other people. Why don’t you stop?”
“D-disturbing…? Are you saying I’m wrong?! I’m trying to save people! Don’t talk nonsense, minion of Satan!”
“You’re a noisy little cultist.”
“What?! Cultist?!”
-Whoosh!!
Kwon Tae-ho caught the man’s swung fist and twisted it. While the man was still reeling in surprise, Kwon Tae-ho swiftly took control and threw him to the ground.
-Crash!
“Agh! Wait! My arm! My arm hurts!!”
“You’re under arrest for unauthorized use of abilities and causing harm to civilians.”
“A-are you a cop?”
“No, I’m an Enforcer.”
Enforcer. At those words, the man’s animalistic rage vanished, replaced by a cold, hard expression. Confirming the man’s surrender, Kwon Tae-ho turned to his companions, who were still seated at the table.
“You two want to join in?”
“N-no! We…”
“We apologize. Our friend caused a disturbance…”
“Hmm. Then you. Call the police. Tell them to take your friend to jail.”
At Kwon Tae-ho’s command, the woman reluctantly called the police.
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A short while later.
“The Truth Cult?”
Kwon Tae-ho heard the name from the police officer who arrived on the scene as he was handing over the man.
“Yes. I asked his companions, and they said they met him through religious activities. The Truth Cult. Do you know it?”
“I’ve heard the name…”
The Truth Cult.
It was a new religious group that had emerged in South Korea after the Great Transfer. While its official membership was still only in the tens of thousands, it was rapidly growing.
Like most religions that arose after the Great Transfer, it originated from a god of another world. According to its doctrine, the Great Transfer itself was divine judgment, and one day, the god would descend to Earth and judge the sinners.
In essence, it was a typical doomsday cult using fear-mongering tactics, urging people to join and repent to prepare for salvation.
Its other distinguishing feature was its leader and figurehead, a Returnee called the “Heavenly Maiden,” who had the appearance of an angel.
“Actually, I know someone who’s a member of the Truth Cult. They do a lot of volunteer work, and the members seem like good people… But every time something like this happens, it reminds me that a cult is still a cult.”
“I agree. I might be biased, but I’ve never seen a decent religion based on another world. There are just too many of them.”
“Hahaha. Exactly. I saw one in front of the station the other day that worshipped a beautiful girl who loves tteokbokki as a god. Old people are always talking about the end of the world, and they might not be entirely wrong.”
“These are chaotic times. That’s why people like us have to work hard.”
The police officer chuckled sheepishly at Kwon Tae-ho’s words. He felt awkward being told that by an Enforcer, a guardian of order.
“Well then, keep up the good work.”
“Yes! Thank you for your hard work, Enforcer Kwon!”
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Having finished the handover, Kwon Tae-ho wrapped up his drinking session and left the store.
“Thanks for the meal, Enforcer Kwon! I’ll work harder from tomorrow!”
“Sure, get home safe.”
“You two be careful too!”
After seeing Ha-yeon off, Yoo Seol and Kwon Tae-ho walked in the same direction. Yoo Seol had sobered up a bit, but she still seemed unsteady on her feet.
“You alright? Want me to get you some hangover cure?”
“Now you pretend to care. It’s fine. That stuff makes me feel worse. I just want to go home and sleep.”
“I can carry you if you’re having trouble walking.”
Yoo Seol considered his offer for a moment, but shook her head. Embarrassment outweighed her dizziness.
“By the way, you seem to have gotten involved with some troublesome people.”
“Who? Oh, the Truth Cult? They’re hardly the only ones these days. Don’t worry about it.”
“That’s true, but unlike other new religions, the Truth Cult is a bit special.”
“Special?”
Yoo Seol answered Kwon Tae-ho’s questioning look.
“In most religions, the god they believe in is invisible. And the self-proclaimed representatives of the god are just ordinary humans, so it lacks credibility.”
“And?”
“The Truth Cult is different. They have an angel.”
“Transformed Returnees aren’t that rare. What’s so special about one that looks like an angel?”
“That’s how ordinary people think. But it’s different for those deeply engrossed in religion.”
Humans were creatures who liked to assign meaning to symbols. And the symbol of an angel was incredibly appealing to those seeking solace in religion.
“Anyway, I hope this blows over without any further trouble.”
“I just apprehended a drunk and disorderly man. Nothing’s going to happen.”
Thinking that, the two went their separate ways.
Fortunately, nothing happened the next day.
But the day after that…
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“Oh, grandma!”
On her way to the office, Ha-yeon ran into the elderly woman she had met on the train. The woman also seemed to remember Ha-yeon, waving cheerfully as if she had seen her own granddaughter.
“Oh my, our pretty young lady. Out and about early again today. Off to work?”
“Hee hee, yes. What about you, grandma? Heading to the senior center again?”
“Of course. I won big against Old Lady Kim from the dry cleaners yesterday. She insisted I come back today so she could get her revenge, so I’m out bright and early.”
“Ahahaha… It’s good to have fun, but don’t get too carried away…”
“It’s all just fun and games between us old folks. Hmm?”
Just then, the elderly woman frowned at a commotion coming from down the alley.
“Oh dear, those Enforcer office folks seem to have caused trouble again. Are they protesting every other day now?”
“Huh? No way? Nothing happened recently.”
“How would you know?”
“Hold on, grandma. I have to go!”
Leaving the puzzled elderly woman behind, Ha-yeon rushed towards the office.
And then…
“Kwon Tae-ho is Satan!!”
“Satan! Satan!”
“Drive out the Devil!”
“Drive him out! Drive him out!”
“Human rights violation! Stop it!”
“Stop it! Stop it!”
A familiar sight. Familiar sounds.
Just like the day after Kwon Tae-ho apprehended Seong Jin-hong, a group of protestors occupied the alley in front of the office, chanting loudly.
However, unlike before, they were all holding symbols resembling tilted crosses. Ha-yeon immediately recognized them.
They were Truth Cult followers.
“Everyone! Two days ago, one of our devout brothers, while spreading the word of the Heavenly Maiden to foolish sinners, was falsely accused by the wicked minion of Satan residing here! Can we allow this devil to continue using his dirty power to oppress and persecute our brother?!”
“No! No!”
“That’s right, everyone! Brothers! Sisters! We must fight! We must not succumb to power! Until the day the true word spreads throughout the world and everyone is saved, we will continue to fight!!”
“Fight! Fight!”
“Now, let’s chant with all our might once more! Kwon Tae-ho is Satan!!”
“Satan! Satan!”
The atmosphere was far more hostile and intense than during the Seong Jin-hong incident. Overwhelmed, Ha-yeon unconsciously took a couple of steps back.
Just then…
-Ring! Ring! Ring!
Ha-yeon’s phone rang. It was Yoo Seol.
“H-hello?”
-Use the fire escape. You know where it is, right?
-Click.
The call ended abruptly. Looking up, Ha-yeon saw Yoo Seol’s face in the window, gesturing towards the back of the building.
Ha-yeon carefully made her way to the fire escape, avoiding the protestors. When she arrived at the office, Yoo Seol greeted her calmly.
“Good morning, Ha-yeon. I’m making coffee. Would you like some?”
“Oh, yes, please… Wait! It’s chaos outside…! What are we going to do about them?”
“What do you mean? I’ve reported them for illegal assembly. The police will be here soon to handle it. We just have to endure the noise until then.”
“B-but where’s Enforcer Kwon…?”
“Enforcer Kwon is-”
-Slam!
The inner office door burst open, and Kwon Tae-ho walked out, his hair dripping wet, his upper body completely bare.
“Oh, Enforcer Kwon!”
However, having experienced this before, Ha-yeon wasn’t fazed.
“Oh, good morning, rookie.”
“Yes! Good morning!”
“Enforcer Kwon, please put on a shirt. It’s indecent.”
“Indecent? With these sculpted muscles before you? Assistant Director, you have no appreciation for aesthetics.”
“Shall I sculpt them into pieces?”
“Try it if you can. If you succeed, you can apply for a special Enforcer recruitment.”
Kwon Tae-ho casually threw on a shirt. Yoo Seol shook her head in disbelief.
“So, why were you egged this time? Was there another baseball player among the protestors?”
“I could have dodged, but I didn’t want to spill my coffee…”
“You’re so proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
Despite the noise from the megaphones outside, the two remained completely unfazed.
This kind of situation was commonplace for them. Ha-yeon watched them, wondering if she would ever become like that. She hadn’t yet reached the level of thinking that avoiding such situations altogether was the best course of action.
“Well, if it’s like the usual damage complaint protests, they’ll quiet down in a day or two. Let’s just be careful until then.”
As Yoo Seol predicted, after the police dispersed the protestors, they didn’t return.
However, unlike the Kwon Tae-ho Victims Association, the Truth Cult followers resorted to more petty and underhanded methods of harassment.
For example, they threw rotten eggs on the building stairs where there were no CCTV cameras.
They plastered the outer walls with posters denouncing Kwon Tae-ho as a devil worshipper.
They spread malicious rumors, slander, and false information about him online (though this wasn’t any different from usual).
Up to this point, it was annoying but manageable. But then, something happened that they couldn’t ignore. Several suspected cult members followed Yoo Seol at night, all the way to her doorstep.
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“This is unacceptable. Where’s the Truth Cult’s headquarters? I’m going to go there and give them a piece of my mind. If they keep bothering us, I’ll show them what religious persecution really means.”
“Your courage in single-handedly starting a religious war is admirable, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Religion, politics, and ideology are perfect fodder for public criticism. Especially for someone like you, Enforcer Kwon, who’s already prone to controversy.”
“So you’re saying I should just endure this? You saw how the police are turning a blind eye because it’s religion-related. What’s the point of having Enforcer investigative and arrest powers? I’ll just barge in, find something to pin on them, and round them all up-”
-Ring! Ring! Ring!
The office phone rang loudly.
“Hello, Kwon Tae-ho’s Enforcer Office.”
“Yes, I see. Yes.”
Yoo Seol’s expression shifted from polite formality to slight surprise. After hanging up, Kwon Tae-ho asked,
“Bad news?”
“Good news, relatively speaking.”
“What is it?”
“It was the Truth Cult. They said they’re coming to apologize in person for the trouble their followers caused. They asked when we’re available, and I told them today is fine.”
“Really?”
A wide grin spread across Kwon Tae-ho’s face. He cracked his knuckles.
“Let’s hear what these high-and-mighty cultists have to say for themselves.”
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minion lmao
