Chapter 215 – Believe in the Hero Church (2)

When Kim Tae-yang opened his eyes, he was already wearing a ridiculous t-shirt.

“Oh, come on…”

Kim Tae-yang felt a throbbing pain in the back of his head.

He, who had been praised as comparable to an S-rank in one-on-one combat.

And yet, he’d been taken down in a single blow by some weirdo who looked like a cult leader.

His pride was wounded.

He could understand losing to monsters like Lee Hyunbin or Siegfried, but to some nobody?

“Shit, if we fight again, I won’t be so careless.”

It was all because he’d let his guard down. That was the only reason he lost.

“But where the hell am I?”

It was a small room, reminiscent of a boarding house.

But it was filled to the brim with gym equipment.

-Let us pray today through penance for the forgiveness of sins.

A message appeared on a monitor built into the door.

At that moment, the sounds of heavy breathing began to drift from the rooms on either side.

“Shit, what is this…”

The prayer displayed on the monitor was an exercise commonly known as the deadlift.

“What kind of prayer is this? Shit, this is just a muscle-shredding workout!”

“You are correct, Brother.”

Someone answered Kim Tae-yang’s mutterings.

Long, elven ears. A beautiful face with luscious green hair, contrasted by the inverted triangle physique of a muscle-bound monster.

“Ha, so you’re here? What do you people want? Money? Huh?”

Kim Tae-yang sneered at the vile cultists. But the other person wore a deeply sorrowful expression.

“This is sad, Brother Kim Tae-yang. It seems you have not yet received the revelation.”

“What are you talking about? Was throwing a barbell at me yesterday the revelation?”

“If your faith is lacking, then you are not yet qualified to leave that room.”

“Hey, what are you saying? Are you crazy? Hey! Let’s go another round! Let’s go!”

Kim Tae-yang shouted through the iron bars, but the elf had already vanished without a trace.

“Damn it. This is ridiculous. Just you wait until I get out of here!”

Kim Tae-yang fumed, kicking the wall.

Just then, a thud echoed from the next room, as if someone had kicked the wall in response.

“Ha.”

It seemed the guy in the next room had kicked his wall when he kicked his.

Kim Tae-yang kicked the wall again.

As expected, the person on the other side kicked back.

“Hah, are you nuts? You think I’m a pushover just because I’m locked up in a place like this? Hey, do you have any idea who I am?”

The man in the next room answered Kim Tae-yang’s question.

“Kim Tae-yang?”

“What the hell!”

Kim Tae-yang was flabbergasted that the man next door suddenly said his name. But the voice sounded familiar.

“Kim In-ho?”

“Yeah.”

Who was Kim In-ho?

His colleague and a reliable friend.

While he himself was better in combat, Kim In-ho excelled in command and judgment.

Even Director Lee Hyunbin had acknowledged Kim In-ho’s abilities.

“What, you came to rescue me?”

Kim In-ho was an exceptionally sharp guy. Thinking this was just as he’d expected, Kim Tae-yang grinned.

“No, I got captured too.”

“……”

Kim Tae-yang’s hope had just been extinguished.

“Let’s get out of our rooms and talk.”

“And how are we supposed to get out?”

Kim In-ho replied leisurely to Kim Tae-yang’s question.

“It’s written right there. To perform the designated prayer every day.”

Kim Tae-yang furrowed his brow at Kim In-ho’s words.

“What kind of nonsense…”

As he spoke, Kim Tae-yang’s gaze fell upon the text written in the room.

-Choose your prayer to the Hero.

-The prayer is completed upon repeating 1 set 3 times.

It wasn’t a prayer, but a simple dumbbell lift.

“Are these guys some kind of muscle freaks?”

Usually, cults like this drag in a sucker and make them bow endlessly.

They drain their physical and mental energy, brainwash them, and make them fall head over heels for their religion before taking all their assets.

‘Not a chance.’

He was different from other people.

He was Kim Tae-yang, one of the hottest hunters around.

But he soon began his prayer.

‘I’m only doing what they say so I can have a proper go at that damn woman.’

After he finished three sets, a clattering sound came from a vending machine.

Curious, he took out the item. It was a beverage can with “Muscle Cult Holy Water” written on it.

“Crazy bastards, this is a protein shake!”

This was truly a gathering of the utterly insane. Calling a simple protein shake holy water, calling a simple workout a prayer.

The people who believed this stuff were not normal.

“Still, I should probably drink it.”

The protein shake was innocent. So he drained it to the last drop.

*Clang!*

As soon as he finished the drink, the door opened.

“Unbelievable.”

Kim Tae-yang cautiously stepped outside.

“Ah, that’s good.”

“Shall we begin another rewarding day?”

Cult members who had already finished their prayers were leaving their rooms and heading somewhere.

“Tae-yang.”

Kim In-ho, who was already out of his room and waiting, greeted him.

“What, how’d you get captured?”

“Me? Well, rather than getting captured…”

Kim Tae-yang’s lips curled into a smirk at Kim In-ho’s words.

The reasons for getting dragged into a cult were mostly obvious.

He acted like a gentleman, but a man was a man, after all.

“You too, a woman…”

“I came to investigate. Something felt off.”

“Investigate?”

Kim Tae-yang tilted his head at Kim In-ho’s words.

Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem to be joking. Although, being the serious type, his expression never changed even when he was trying to be funny.

“Hey, you’re not a detective. What’s there to investigate?”

“It’s not like this place, this Muscle Cult, is unrelated to us.”

“Unrelated?”

Kim Tae-yang felt like he couldn’t keep up with what Kim In-ho was saying.

Kim In-ho also sensed something was off from his reaction.

“You didn’t know? The Hero of salvation they talk about here at the Muscle Cult is Hyunbin.”

“…What?”

Kim Tae-yang blinked at Kim In-ho’s words.

Kim Tae-yang looked around.

Come to think of it, there were posters everywhere.

Disbelief is Hell, the Hero is Heaven.

The Hero is our Savior!

Posters adorned with ridiculous slogans.

One showed Lee Hyunbin in a ridiculous Roman emperor costume, flashing his pearly whites. It was photoshopped.

“Shit, what is this.”

Kim Tae-yang couldn’t believe his eyes.

Now that he looked, there were pictures of Lee Hyunbin everywhere.

Illegal use of his image aside, it seemed the “Hero” these people were cheering for was indeed Lee Hyunbin.

“What, didn’t you come here because of Hyunbin too?”

“Huh? Well…”

“Then why did you come?”

“Me?”

“Don’t tell me…”

Kim In-ho’s eyes narrowed whenever he was trying to deduce something.

Knowing this habit, Kim Tae-yang broke into a cold sweat and spoke animatedly.

“Hey, what are you talking about! Of course I came for the same reason! You think I’d be here because of a woman? Huh? Huh?”

“…”

“Shit, my friend doesn’t believe me at all. Seriously, we gotta crush these guys who are using our mentor’s face for this crap. Right or wrong?”

Kim In-ho nodded at Kim Tae-yang’s words.

It seemed he’d fallen for it.

“You know, you always get talkative when you’ve got something to hide.”

Stung by Kim In-ho’s comment, Kim Tae-yang hurriedly started walking.

“Let’s go wreck them! How dare these bastards use our Hyunbin’s name? I’m gonna crush them!”

Kim In-ho’s eyes narrowed as he watched Kim Tae-yang stride confidently ahead.

‘Whoa, that was a close call.’

Kim Tae-yang, having successfully changed the subject, followed the other cult members.

“Mr. Kim, you were really pumping iron yesterday, huh?”

“After that initial recovery period, the gains are just shooting up.”

People were laughing and chatting.

Every one of their faces was filled with hope. As if they were so happy in this very moment that they didn’t have a single worry in the world.

“Sir, I heard you’re being promoted to the rank of Knight. Congratulations!”

“Ah, it’s nothing to congratulate. You’ll be able to wear Under Armour one day too.”

Knight? Under Armour?

Kim Tae-yang found it hard to understand what the cult members were talking about.

“Right. It’s your first day, so you wouldn’t know.”

Kim In-ho went into explanation mode.

“There’s a class system here. It’s based on muscle mass, workout volume, and the difficulty of your training.”

Kim In-ho smiled at Kim Tae-yang.

“Right now, you’re a commoner here.”

“A commoner?”

“Yeah. So you can only wear long sleeves and long pants. Oh, and don’t roll up your sleeves. It’s forbidden here.”

Kim Tae-yang’s head was spinning.

“If you look at that bulletin board, you’ll find all the basic information.”

-No belts for deadlifts under 180kg.

-No shorts for thighs under 26 inches.

-No Techfit for height – weight = 95 or more.

-No Techfit for body fat 11% or more.

From commoner all the way up to the noble class.

The way to tell someone’s class was very simple.

“That person must be a commoner.”

He could hear people whispering around him.

For some reason, Kim Tae-yang felt a fire of determination ignite within him.

Who was he?

He was Kim Tae-yang.

The A-rank hunter who was currently drawing the most attention.

The man confident he wouldn’t lose to anyone except Director Lee Hyunbin.

“But, In-ho.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re wearing Under Armour?”

“Yeah.”

Kim In-ho was displaying his muscles for all the world to see.

Come to think of it, he felt like In-ho had bulked up compared to before.

“When did you join this place?”

Kim In-ho smiled.

***

“The Hero personally sacrificed his body to save the world, and wanting nothing in return, he returned to his original world.”

“Sir Hero, *sob*.”

A woman with long, elven ears had gathered a crowd and was preaching the gospel.

Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho frowned as they watched.

Director Lee Hyunbin was currently the most famous person in the country.

In just a short time, he had achieved incredible feats and was being highlighted as a hero who had saved many people.

Stories of his good deeds were broadcast endlessly, and there were many viewers who wanted to know every little detail about him.

“The holy sword is the symbol of the Hero. This sacred weapon, which responds only to the Hero, is a blessing from the goddess, created for the Hero to save the world.”

“Ahh, Sir Hero. Take me! *Waaah*.”

A slideshow displayed footage of Hyunbin’s actual achievements.

Kim Tae-yang had always watched him from up close.

It was no wonder these cultists were praising him.

‘But, seriously. Does a weapon like that really exist?’

The thought occurred to Kim Tae-yang.

He too had fought a 6-star boss monster during the appearance of an unprecedented gate.

He had fought alongside S-rank hunters, but they had been no match for it.

Not only that, the tide of battle had turned against them, and they were on the verge of being annihilated. But after Lee Hyunbin appeared, everything changed.

‘A holy sword? But it actually makes sense.’

Every time Lee Hyunbin swung the massive blade of light, monsters were sliced apart. His blade did not cut his allies.

It only brutally cut down the enemies who opposed him.

‘Is something like that even possible?’

He hadn’t thought about it at the time because the situation was so dire.

But looking back on it now, it was extraordinary.

Such a weapon, such a skill. It was only natural that such things didn’t exist in this world.

“To disbelieve in the Hero is to commit a sin. Believing in and following the Hero of salvation is the only way to save this world.”

The muscular elf woman shouted at the top of her lungs.

Everyone responded to her words.

“Brothers and sisters. He saved us. It is time for us to raise our voices for the shepherd who asks for no reward, only making silent sacrifices.”

A slide showed Lee Hyunbin, covered in blood, fighting a dragon that had wiped out an army all by himself.

To save people, he had disregarded his own life and faced an absolute terror.

Kim Tae-yang felt his chest grow hot as he watched the video.

He had watched from up close as he faced the dragon alone.

No one could know what he had felt at that moment.

“Will he be alone in the future? No. We, the apostles of muscle here, will support him.”

The elf woman cried out.

As if in response, everyone flexed their biceps.

Kim Tae-yang did too.

Lee Hyunbin was special.

He knew how lucky he was to have been chosen by him.

“I ask you. Why do you think a gap between the muscle-rich and the muscle-poor exists?”

They watched an illegally filmed video of Lee Hyunbin training.

“Ahh, how radiant his muscles are.”

“*Sob*, lift me too, Sir Hero!”

There are things you can’t feel because you are too close.

Kim Tae-yang felt something hot rising in his throat.

His image as a hero in action, but behind it, there was only the repeated sight of him training himself in solitude.

The slideshow ended, and the elf woman shouted.

“Only for the Hero!”

As she led the chant, the cult members inside followed.

“For the Hero! For the Hero!”

Without realizing it, Kim Tae-yang shouted the slogan.

Kim In-ho’s pupils began to tremble as he watched Kim Tae-yang suddenly get swept up in the fervor.

Kim Tae-yang had fallen for the cult.