Chapter 119: System Age (2)

The two hid in the darkness.

A car entered the tunnel carrying two Age cultists. Jin Seong-ha was about to step out with a wooden sword from his inventory, but Ion stopped him.

We need to subdue them before they notice us. I’ll handle it.

Understanding Ion’s intent, Jin Seong-ha crouched again.

Ion raised his index finger and spun it in small circles. A green glow swirled, forming a tiny vortex.

Would’ve been easier with my staff. Should’ve brought one.

The green vortex gradually turned yellow. Ion flicked his finger and sent it flying.

FWOOSH!

Yellow powder spread through the air in an instant. Jin Seong-ha covered his nose and mouth, quietly impressed.

Pollen-based magic.

It had a sleep effect, but the range wasn’t wide, the duration was short, and it was weak unless the target was off-guard—so he rarely used it.

The approaching car screeched to a halt, leaving skid marks.

The two cultists inside were fast asleep.

“That was magic, right? I thought you just had a bunch of skills… didn’t expect magic mixed in too.”

“Once you get used to mana in Idea, you’ll be able to do it too, Hunter Jin Seong-ha.”

“Really? I’m dying to go now. The novel version of me had no interest in magic? Someone who doesn’t even know me wrote that novel.”

They tied up the sleeping cultists and searched their bodies and the car.

In the back seat they found pendants and black robes. The robes were the same pitch-black ones the Idea cultists wore, but these had a small purple-heart emblem on the chest.

“Is this… a heart? Purple heart. What does it mean?”

“No idea. There was no emblem description in <Hunter and Hero>…”

Ion picked up a pendant. It was also shaped like a purple heart and radiated considerable mana.

“This is the paired magic tool for the circle. Good thing they took it out when entering the tunnel—if it had been in inventory or sub-space, we’d have had a headache.”

“Perfect. Let’s go in.”

They donned the robes, pulled the hoods deep, and put on masks. Instantly they looked like proper Age cultists.

“Jin Seong-ha Hunter, put Sanse in your inventory for me.”

Ion had planned to leave Sanse in the car but changed his mind. He never put Sanse in anyone else’s inventory, but Jin Seong-ha wasn’t going to die…

“Why my inventory and not yours…?”

“Certain reasons.”

“‘Certain reasons’—your ultimate move, huh.”

Jin Seong-ha chuckled and stored Sanse.

Ion wrapped the pendant around his wrist and touched it to the magic circle. Blue light flashed as it interacted with the circle. It worked even for non-mages—Jin Seong-ha’s pendant reacted too. They exchanged a glance and stepped through one after the other.

On the other side was a white, pristine corridor.

Contrary to a secret cult vibes, the lighting was bright, the walls cleanly painted white.

Frames hung at regular intervals on the walls held neat still-life paintings, not bizarre religious art.

The ceiling wasn’t high, and a constant low hum filled the air—machine-like, yet also like wind.

And most importantly…

“Ugh.

“Tch.”

Ion staggered; Jin Seong-ha grabbed his wrist. He immediately pulled an item from inventory and fastened it around Ion’s arm.

VMMM—

A thin membrane formed over Ion’s skin.

The sudden breathing difficulty and crushing headache receded. Ion gasped heavily. Jin Seong-ha supported him firmly, letting Ion lean on him.

“Pressure that even high-rank awakeners would struggle with. Feels like we’re inside some giant machine.”

“Yeah…”

“Don’t stand yet. The corridor is empty—no presences. If someone comes, I’ll make excuses. Rest against me until you’re stable.”

Thanks to Jin Seong-ha and the item, Ion recovered quickly. He pulled his forehead away from Jin Seong-ha’s firm forearm and asked,

“Is Ppuru okay?”

“As you can see.”

Ppuru!

Even if its only standout feature was cuteness, it was still a monster—so it was fine.

“Our Ppuru is a little special.”

“If Baba were here, it would definitely be fine too.”

“True. Shall we figure out where we are first?”

Jin Seong-ha took out an item. A round radar flashed green, then displayed coordinates.

“Middle of the Pacific… there shouldn’t be any islands here.”

“Undersea base.”

“And pretty deep too. When did they even build this…”

Jin Seong-ha sent the coordinates—recipients: Ji Pyeong-seop and Dam Da-on—then put the item away.

They began a proper search.

Doors lined both sides of the corridor—some closed, some open.

Closed doors were all locked. They could force them, but alarms were almost certainly installed, so they didn’t.

Open rooms were mostly small prayer chambers that fit two or three kneeling people, plus a few break-room-looking areas.

Jin Seong-ha recorded everything: the purple heart sculpture at the front of each prayer rooms, unknown purple magic circles on the walls, purple cloth knots hanging from the ceiling.

“Age’s personal color is spring-warm purple, I see.”

“Hey, that joke doesn’t suit coming from Jin Seong-ha.”

“<Hunter and Hero> completely misunderstood my personality. I should spend a whole day with you sometime—just to show you the real me.”

“We’re already doing that today.”

“I mean personally, not for work. Your Breeder portrayed me as some psychopath—do you still see me that way?”

“‘Animals are precious, humans can die’—isn’t that your actual value system?”

“Hm. I’d love to say yes, but humans can’t die either. There are tons of animals whose fate is tied to humanity’s survival. Pandas—so cute and lovable—would go extinct tomorrow without human care.”

Hearing that, Ion thought of several plant species too.

Even common ginkgo trees in Korea would be among the first to go extinct if humans disappeared and maintenance stopped.

“Your kids would be the same. You’re not a ‘humans can die’ type, are you?”

“Of course not. Humans must never go extinct.”

“Exactly. That’s why I can’t be a psychopath.”

“…”

“Got it? Then let’s keep digging into System Age’s goals.”

Jin Seong-ha lightly tapped Ion’s shoulder—like handling a child. His only visible golden eyes curved with amusement behind the mask and hood.

Ion pouted and followed.

As they left the room, two cultists hurried toward them from the opposite direction.

Like them, hoods pulled low, masks on.

For a moment Ion thought are we the target?—but no. The cultists bowed slightly as they passed, so Jin Seong-ha and Ion bowed back.

They stopped a few steps later.

“Hey, you two. What are you doing? Worship is about to start.”

“Haven’t you heard yet? Hurry up.”

Worship time…?

That explained the empty corridor—everyone was heading to worship.

Ion thought perfect and opened his mouth.

“Ah, we should hurry too—”

“I thought it might get canceled, but they’re going ahead with worship after all.”

Ion stared at Jin Seong-ha in horror.

He’s insane!?

They could’ve just followed silently—why start a conversation so boldly? And “thought it might get canceled”?! What do you even know?!

But the cultists reacted normally.

“Right? We were worried too, but it’s good it’s happening.”

“Why worry? Some nobody went to another world for a bit—there’s no way that shakes our cult. Preparations for the ‘Day of Judgment’ are going perfectly. Other world, demons—none of that matters. We just follow the plan.”

The cultists resumed walking, so Jin Seong-ha and Ion hurriedly followed.

The cultists continued chatting.

“I was worried when the Daisy Town dungeon didn’t go as planned… but of course there was a backup.”

“The Cult Leader’s insight is miraculous. He hears the system’s messages directly. If we deepen our faith, one day we’ll hear them too and live in our own paradise.”

“That’s what I’m saying. This nauseating world is getting harder to endure. Come on, let’s go worship before we’re late.”

At the end of the corridor, the cultists walked straight through a concrete wall.

Jin Seong-ha and Ion exchanged glances and stepped forward too.

Swoosh.

Their bodies passed through the wall without resistance—thanks to the pendants.

Beyond the wall was a long descending staircase.

Not just one—various staircases of different materials floated in a pitch-black void without railings.

The concrete stairs they stood on, wooden stairs diagonally, iron stairs below…

Cultists busily walked each staircase, and at the bottom was a circular space already filled with countless cultists. Torches and purple heart statues ringed it—clearly the worship hall.

Only now did it feel like they had infiltrated a suspicious cult headquarters.

Are all the scattered branches gathering here?

According to the novel, System Age had tens of thousands of members at this point—not impossible to fit in one space.

Since they had passed through a wall, this area was probably no longer the undersea base. Jin Seong-ha quietly took out a tracker, but some skill or item blocked location detection.

Over there.

Ion spotted a space behind the worship hall and whispered.

They slipped in unnoticed.

A concave semicircle room with five doors. The tracker still didn’t work.

Using stealth items and magic respectively, they checked from the leftmost door.

“…!”

Through the locked door they saw monster corpses in test tubes. Organs collected by part were neatly labeled: “Kelion Eyeball,” “Balder Stomach,” “Herus Horn,” etc.

A gruesome sight that hinted at horrific experiments. Jin Seong-ha’s brow furrowed.

“Didn’t Age worship and serve monsters? Call them apostles of god?”

“That’s what I thought too… guess not.”

The next room also looked like a lab.

The largest central room was a training hall—cultists practicing martial arts, unlike those heading to worship.

Lee Do-jin was at the front, sleeveless shirt soaked with sweat.

Then the rightmost door opened and three cultists in different attire—white robes, faces exposed—emerged. One Asian, two Arab-looking, all appearing in their forties.

When they opened the training hall door, the trainees immediately stopped and greeted them.

“Our combat priests are diligent again today.”

One of the Arabs spoke warmly.

“The Vice Leader will be out soon, so end training. Group 1 clean the stairs, Group 2 maintain order, Group 3 wait at the Vice Leader’s door.”

“Yes!”

“Yes, Priest.”

So those three were priests.

Jin Seong-ha tapped Ion’s arm and pointed to the far-right room. The Vice Leader was in there.

The door was open—there was no reason not to enter.