RE: Survival - Chapter 67

While waiting for the so-called Messiah, Hyuk and Jung-su were treated with exceptional hospitality.

They were served homemade cookies and warm tea, luxuries rarely seen in the apocalypse. The camp members even brought tea and snacks to the rest of their team waiting near the entrance.

Occasionally, survivors approached them, asking, “Do you need anything, brothers?” It almost felt like they were the ones being rescued rather than providing rescue.

The camp didn’t seem to be in dire need of help. If they were capable enough to maintain such a well-organized and pleasant environment, it was understandable why they referred to their leader as the Messiah.

The atmosphere in the camp exuded hope—or at least appeared to. It felt like they were clinging to a fragile thread of hope amidst fear and despair, much like oil and water layered in a glass, with hope floating thinly above a sea of underlying despair.

‘Where do you get your supplies?’ Hyuk asked.

‘The Messiah and the pastors personally receive them from God.’

No matter how often he heard it, Hyuk couldn’t get used to those titles.

The camp survived on resources distributed by the so-called “pastors.” Despite their hospitality toward visitors, it was clear their resources were limited. The meals were modest, and the survivors looked gaunt. Their clothes were unkempt, suggesting they hadn’t been able to wash properly in a long time. Even during meals, their eyes remained fixed on a single point, as if waiting for something.

Some who finished eating early nodded off, their heads bobbing up and down.

‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Hyuk whispered to Jung-su.

Jung-su nodded, sharing his unease. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Hyuk turned to a nearby survivor and asked, ‘What is everyone waiting for?’

The answer he received only deepened his confusion. According to the survivor, the camp existed as a place for the Messiah to guide those who had missed the trumpet’s call to ascend. When the Messiah received a response from God, a ceremony called the “Selection Rite” would take place, during which the chosen would ascend to heaven for eternal peace.

After the Selection Rite, the camp would wait indefinitely for the next response from God.

‘Um… about that ascension,’ Hyuk began cautiously.

‘Yes, brother?’

‘What happens to those who ascend? Are they still here?’

The woman laughed softly, as though she’d just heard an amusing joke.

‘Oh, brother, what a funny question. How could they still be here? They’ve gone to heaven, of course.’

‘…’

That meant people disappeared from the camp with every Selection Rite. The whole setup reeked of suspicion. The idea of ascending to heaven seemed absurd, yet everyone in the camp seemed to genuinely believe it.

Hyuk briefly wondered if they were under the influence of drugs, but the survivors didn’t exhibit any signs of addiction. Instead, their eyes were filled with a somber devotion, as if ascension was their only remaining hope.

As Hyuk’s wariness reached its peak, a priest announced, ‘The Messiah is coming.’

The people rose to their feet, their expressions filled with fervent anticipation. The Messiah, as they called him, was an ordinary-looking man.

He wore a clean, deep crimson clerical robe, his hair slicked back neatly with mousse, and his clean-shaven face radiated an air of precision. Slowly, he ascended to the platform, flanked by the pastors who positioned themselves around him.

The pastors also wore black clerical robes, their neatly cropped hair adding to their disciplined appearance. However, a few of them resembled gangsters more than religious figures.

‘The response has been received. I hereby declare the Selection Rite,’ the Messiah announced.

The crowd erupted in cheers so loud that Hyuk and Jung-su flinched in surprise. Amidst the applause, the pastors began drawing curtains over the windows and locking the doors.

‘What’s going on?’ Hyuk asked.

‘Whenever the Selection Rite begins, the area is sealed to prevent Satan’s influence from intruding,’ someone explained.

‘How unnecessarily detailed and organized,’ Hyuk muttered under his breath.

The Messiah instructed the congregation to purify their hearts and bodies before the ceremony, then descended from the platform. As he was leaving, Hyuk called out to him.

‘Excuse me, sir—uh, Messiah.’

The Messiah turned, his eyes devoid of emotion, so cold and blank that Hyuk wondered if there was any soul behind them.

‘I’d like to have a word,’ Hyuk said.

‘Address him as Messiah,’ one of the pastors corrected.

‘Ah, yes. Messiah. I’d like to speak with you,’ Hyuk said, quickly adjusting his tone.

The Messiah’s expression remained impassive as he spoke in a low, gravelly voice. ‘Follow me.’

Hyuk followed the Messiah to the third floor. They entered a room that resembled a reception area, where the Messiah sank into an elegant chair and stared at Hyuk indifferently.

‘So, you have something to say,’ he said, his tone flat but authoritative. Despite knowing Hyuk and his group were part of a rescue team, he seemed entirely uninterested.

Suppressing his unease, Hyuk got straight to the point. ‘We’ve come from another camp. We have ample supplies and highly capable individuals. We’d like to invite you to join us. If you agree, we can guarantee safety and a stable supply of resources. So, Messiah, would you be willing to persuade your people?’

Hyuk stumbled slightly over the word “Messiah,” finding it difficult to say, but managed to complete his pitch.

‘Thank you for your offer, but we will not leave the sanctuary,’ the Messiah replied firmly.

Hyuk didn’t push further and nodded. It was for the best. Something about the camp felt off, and he was glad to disengage quickly.

‘Then let’s form an alliance. If your camp is ever threatened by invaders, we’ll do our best to help,’ Hyuk added out of courtesy.

Hyuk made a calculated decision to leave on good terms with the camp, recognizing the importance of maintaining a friendly relationship even with such a suspicious group. For now, diplomacy seemed the safer option.

‘We will consider your proposal positively. However, all decisions are subject to the will of God,’ the Messiah replied.

Though the response was cautiously optimistic, the unsettling nature of the camp lingered. Hyuk resolved to report back to Yohan, share the details of what they had observed, and discuss whether rescuing the survivors was worth the risk and how best to approach it.

‘Understood. In that case, we’ll take our leave. We need to inform our camp leader of this new alliance,’ Hyuk said, preparing to depart.

‘The sanctuary doors remain closed during the Selection Rite,’ the Messiah responded.

It was clear they wouldn’t be allowed to leave until the ceremony ended. Hyuk frowned slightly.

‘Is that an order?’ he asked.

‘You have no choice,’ the Messiah replied coldly.

‘You don’t have the right to keep us here,’ Hyuk said, his tone growing firm.

‘After proposing an alliance, are you now rejecting the sanctuary’s rules and persecuting our religious beliefs? If that’s the case, we are prepared to resist, even to the point of martyrdom,’ the Messiah declared.

The tension rose as the priests standing behind the Messiah drew weapons from beneath their robes. The sight was both bizarre and unnerving.

Hyuk sighed deeply, realizing there was no easy way out. He nodded reluctantly.

‘We will not disarm.’

‘You may remain outside the sanctuary if you wish to stay armed,’ the Messiah countered.

‘Very well. We’ll comply for now.’

Hyuk stood, feeling utterly drained from the brief but tense conversation.

Before leaving, Hyuk added, ‘By the way, before we arrived here, we saw a body that appeared to have fallen from this church. Do you know anything about it?’

The Messiah’s expression didn’t change. ‘That didn’t happen. It must have fallen from another building.’

‘Is that so?’ Hyuk replied tersely before excusing himself.

At the main entrance, several priests stood guard, their expressions resolute, making it clear that leaving was not an option. Hyuk quietly relayed everything he had seen and heard to his team, including his growing unease.

Any sense of relaxation brought on by the survivors’ initial hospitality was now replaced with heightened vigilance.

—

That evening, as soon as dinner ended, the Selection Rite began. Hyuk and Jung-su attended the ceremony in the sanctuary to observe, while the rest of the team stayed on standby.

The ceremony resembled the services Hyuk remembered from childhood. There were prayers, hymns, scripture readings, and finally, the Messiah’s sermon.

‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven,’ the Messiah declared, his voice echoing through the sanctuary.

The congregation nodded along, seemingly entranced. The sermon was, unsurprisingly, centered on apocalyptic themes.

Even knowing it was a cult, Hyuk found the Messiah’s sermon strangely compelling. It wasn’t hard to see how he had captivated his followers.

‘The end times have been foretold. Many of our brothers and sisters have already ascended to God’s side. Those without enough faith will suffer eternal torment in the Abyss, neither living nor dying. God, in His mercy, has sent the Messiah as a final chance for repentance. Yet the world is filled with antichrists. Only the marks upon my body serve as proof of salvation.’

The Messiah’s breath echoed through the sanctuary. The crowd was utterly silent, their attention fixed on him.

‘Pray. Believe. And you will be saved,’ he commanded.

The congregation responded fervently, chanting, ‘We believe!’ over and over.

After the sermon, the prayer session began. It lasted nearly an hour, and when Hyuk glanced at Jung-su, he saw that he was nearly falling asleep.

The survivors, on the other hand, seemed possessed, nodding their heads and murmuring strange, chant-like words. The air felt heavy with an almost palpable fanaticism.

Eventually, the Messiah began moving among the congregation, placing his hands on their heads one by one in a ritualistic blessing. Slowly, he selected three individuals, raising them to their feet. The chosen ones erupted in joyous shouts, and the rest of the congregation intensified their prayers in response.

Once the selection was complete, the chosen individuals were escorted out of the sanctuary by the priests. The remaining worshippers prayed with renewed fervor. Hyuk recalled hearing earlier that anyone who became complacent after not being chosen risked losing even the chance to repent.

The prayers, filled with desperate pleas, created an eerie atmosphere. Hyuk, feeling increasingly uneasy, stood and leaned toward a nearby survivor.

‘Excuse me, where’s the men’s restroom?’

‘It’s on the second floor,’ the woman replied curtly before resuming her prayers.

Hyuk quietly exited the sanctuary. He had to find out what happened to the chosen individuals.

The first floor housed the dining hall and café, while the basement was the sanctuary. The second and third floors were living quarters for the survivors. The fourth floor, however, was marked as a restricted area. A sign near the staircase leading up to it read, “No Entry.”

At the base of the stairs, priests stood guard. Even the emergency staircases had a single priest stationed at each entry point, ensuring no one could sneak past.

Should I subdue them? Hyuk wondered. He was confident he could silently take down one or two guards, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

Instead, he forced open the elevator doors on the third floor. Inside the shaft, he saw the elevator cables and a metal emergency ladder bolted to the wall. Donning gloves, Hyuk climbed the ladder.

Reaching the fourth floor, Hyuk moved silently, like a cat, as he began his investigation.

The fourth floor appeared to be living quarters for the higher-ranking members. The fifth floor was a storage area for supplies. Both floors seemed normal, and Hyuk began to think his suspicions might have been misplaced.

His movements quickened as his confidence grew, but when he reached the sixth floor, he finally found what he had been looking for.

The hallway was dotted with bloodstains.