Chapter 32 – The Perpetual Church (3)
One week before the special meeting.
Inside the specially modified stealth vehicle, I watched the screen nervously.
Inside the traffic camera footage of the wide intersection, Alice, who had completed her transformation, was walking shakily.
This place, close to the headquarters of Yeongsokkyo, was very active in missionary activities of believers.
Although it is a religious group with less than 10,000 followers, the Permanent Church was very passionate about attracting new believers.
Of course, from the point of view of the religious leaders and executives, the followers were no different from a kind of consumables.
‘If you fall under the power of Youngsokkyo leader Kim Woo-min, your brain will quickly get damaged, so you need to change your followers often.’
Thanks to this, it could be seen that the propagation method of perpetual religion is at the cutting edge among pseudo-religions.
Not only does it propagate missions in downtown areas and around universities, but it also uses a method called ‘chusu’ to extract believers from the same Christian denomination.
Attracting a new member’s friends, family, and co-workers is the basis of the basics.
Even most of these missionaries are relatively normal believers who have not been brainwashed.
The Permanent Church encourages their active missionary work with generous rewards.
After all, if you make only one core believer, you can suck up all your assets and throw them away, so it’s a surplus business.
They even ran an exclusive lending company within the church and extorted believers.
Besides, the main members of Perpetual Religion are hunter believers, so the financial power is very good compared to the scale.
Alice walked slowly to the middle of the net of such missionaries.
Her usual self-confidence was nowhere to be found in her as she struggled with her hair dyed black and her loose clothes on.
I feel that she is a woman whose light has been faded by hard experiences.
The Permanent Church’s missionaries all had their eyes shining when they found Alice.
Prey that looks easy enough to look at.
Besides, if you take a white woman like Alice, she will be paid a substantial bonus.
It was a special provision to supply believers that fit the tastes of the religious leader, Kim Woo-min.
Thanks to this, the missionaries rushed in with frightening momentum.
Alice pretends to be a bit frightened and she is caught by two female missionaries.
“Hey, can I ask you a question for a minute?”
“Yes? Ah… That, that, what…”
First of all, it was set to go to the grocery store, so I was carrying a heavy shopping cart.
The missionaries didn’t care about it and talked about it all the time.
Alice showed off her wonderful performance throughout her coaching.
“I have to go soon…”
“Please don’t do that, just talk a little bit more.”
“Are you married? Is your husband violent at home?”
“!”
Alice deliberately reacted to the setting of domestic violence, and the corners of her missionaries’ mouths curled up.
In the end, she was held for another two full hours before finally escaping.
Hiding in the car, we finally let out a sigh of relief and clapped our hands.
“Hey, it worked out so easily.”
“Isn’t it easy? How hard did I go through!”
“That’s originally Jiyu’s role. Of course you have to work hard.”
“…”
In any case, the first stage of the capture operation was successfully completed.
We are now a body invited by the church.
The moment I was about to order a withdrawal. One of the team members who was watching the screen pointed a finger at the missionaries.
“Ah, team leader. Are these guys following you?”
“Are you going to figure out the address… You’re persistent. How much of a bounty did you put up?”
[I also follow.]
One of the team members waiting outside started stepping on their tail.
It was good to arrange a temporary accommodation nearby just in case.
Thinking so, I informed her Alice that she was being followed, and ran ahead of her in her stealth car.
The missionaries who were following Alice were chattering in unnerving voices.
[If you look closely at her, she’s pretty. If you take him to the meeting, you will receive 5 times the usual amount.]
[But isn’t it too inconvenient not to be able to use a smartphone?]
[Wait, watch your mouth. Don’t you know that there are many missionaries like us around here? If you are pushed, you will be in big trouble.]
[That’s right…]
[Let’s put up with the smartphone for a while. This is so salty I can’t stop.]
[Do good things and earn money. Killing two birds with one stone.]
The members clicked their tongues as they overheard the missionaries’ conversation.
Even though I don’t really believe that…
To drag people’s lives down the abyss as if they were working part-time.
That doesn’t even look like a victim.
Still, now is not the time.
I jumped out of the car and hurried to my makeshift lodging.
It was getting dark, so I left the lights on and Alice arrived.
The missionaries returned only after confirming the home address.
“They’re nasty guys.”
“They say you’re a beauty, so if you take them with you, the reward is huge.”
“Doesn’t it make you feel bad to receive such a compliment?”
Alice puts down the shopping cart, frowning as if she has genuine goosebumps.
I took it over and put it in the kitchen.
Seeing you do that, I think I will have to stay here until the end.
Alice tossed her clothes aside in moderation, and she stretched out on the couch, where she rested.
She grinned when I made a rough dinner and brought it to her.
“But your perm really doesn’t suit you.”
“You changed your impression on purpose… It’s a problem because you look so good together.”
“Ah, did you hear something? Why is the man so narrow-minded?”
After finishing dinner with a moderate joke, it wasn’t long before I received a video call from Yeriel.
Confidential communication using oracles.
It seems a bit lonely being at home alone.
Of course, she is very busy doing her business as she is.
[Are you staying out tonight?]
“The missionaries were chasing them all the way to the house.”
“I felt really bad.”
[That must have been a bit creepy. Still have to work hard?]
“I won’t let you down.”
Alice, who responded with her enthusiasm, went into the bedroom before long.
He must have been very tired mentally.
I felt very awkward sharing her house with her.
Still, the atmosphere with Alice improved a lot after the trip to the house, so it wasn’t too painful.
From the next day, we chatted in the living room to review each other’s profiles.
“I’m just saying, the wedding ring you gave to your sister is really bad.”
“Hey, what an expensive ring that is. It’s useful in real life… And they put a lot of thought into the design.”
“The design and color are the worst. It’s like a Green Lantern.”
“…”
I couldn’t even resist this time.
Seeing the guy in disguise again gave me a strange feeling.
I’m a little sorry for Yeriel, but her joke yesterday wasn’t a complete lie.
Alice, who didn’t tie the ribbon, was tolerable in her own way.
Of course, it’s because the original is excellent, but it feels pretty good to have one eye covered.
“But I dyed my hair, can I get it back to normal later?”
“Yeah, I secretly requested this from a guild member. Doesn’t it look like a natural product?”
“That’s right.”
If the change ends in that way, it cannot be restored even if you use green dust.
It is the same as not being able to save the core members of the Permanent Church.
Alice, who seemed to have read my depth, tried to ask hopefully.
“Since the followers’ hair was damaged because of Kim Woo-min’s ability, can’t we use the same ability to fix it?”
“Well. It’s much easier to break something than to fix it. Kim Woo-min’s brainwashing ability is the kind that destroys the target’s brain to your advantage.”
Moreover, in the case of a delicate organ like the brain, there is little chance of recovery.
Yeriel is right.
You can’t save everyone.
Victims of the Permanent Church must be prepared to give up.
Alice tried to change the subject, but the new topic was not very pleasant either.
“Yeah, but Oracle’s developer was a nicer person than he looked. To think he was trying to save his daughter his…”
“No. Matthew isn’t such a good dad.”
“Yes?”
“To Matthew Manuel, the Oracle is his own great invention his, not the reincarnation of his daughter his. To regard the Oracle as if it were his daughter his is just a combination of both.”
“Yeah, but you tried to give the Oracle artificial intelligence, right?”
“That’s just because development was really blocked. Even if the Oracle becomes conscious, there’s no guarantee that it will keep the same identity as Matthew’s daughter, Amy. It’s already mixed up with too many things.”
That’s right… I could never say I was a good conversationalist.
Yeriel does well with a man like this.
I snorted inwardly and changed the subject once again.
Eventually, on the day of the special meeting.
We acted as a married couple whose love had cooled to the right level and moved to the Permanent Church’s headquarters.
The missionaries who contacted Alice invited her, pouring message bombs that almost felt like spam.
I know that they can’t even attend the special meeting, but it’s funny.
I did not hide my disapproving face when I was taken out for a walk by my wife.
Alice walked without confidence, barely holding my hand.
Unlucky or fortunate
The members of the Perpetual Church welcomed Alice very warmly.
Their eyes were shining with greed.
“Welcome, sister! Welcome to the special meeting of the Youngsok Church Jinrihoe Happy Church!”
“Is the person next to you… Your husband? Aha. Welcome back brother.”
When I entered the courtyard of the headquarters, hiding the special camera under my clothes, I saw a building with a chaotic mix of traditional and western styles.
A banquet was taking place in front of the main hall, and fairly decent drinks and food were being served without restrictions.
After submitting the already dead smartphone, we walked inside with hesitation.
The acting of Alice, who couldn’t even straighten her shoulders, had a slightly pitiful yet cute taste.
‘I’ll usually be about half as quiet as I am now.’
Alice, today’s high-value target, instantly became the star of the banquet hall.
Most of the attendees at the special meeting seemed to be core members of the denomination.
There are hardly any new recruits other than us.
“All the food here is free, so you can eat as much as you want.”
“Everyone gathered like this to celebrate the sister’s enlistment of her. Make sure to meet the head teacher and hear good things about her.”
“Sister’s hair is so pretty. How are you taking care of it? Don’t you? It’s ridiculous…”
On the other hand, I am relatively cold.
As expected, it feels like Alice’s bonus.
‘I also memorized the profile diligently and practiced acting a lot, these guys.’
It was only when I was in a bit of a disturbed mood that I was eating snacks that the idle followers came to entice me.
I passed the drink I was holding and prepared my mind.
