The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 75

Bang!

With the gunshot, my head was blown apart. Consciousness disappeared, and what appeared was pitch-black darkness. An ominous darkness tinged with a slight purple hue. I was endlessly sinking into that darkness.

I was dead.

Not truly dead. It was merely death within an illusion. However, that death was so vivid that it created the delusion of actually being dead.

"Father, Son, Holy Spirit..."

"The horseman who appears when the first seal is broken..."

"Kyaaahhh!"

Along with the fall, bizarre scenes began passing by one after another through the darkness. Endlessly burning pits of fire. The sound of disaster ringing from the sky. People screaming madly and fleeing in panic at the sight of disaster before their eyes.

All those scenes passed by quickly like a revolving lantern in just a few seconds. The sound of making the sign of the cross, sounds prophesying disaster, screams, the clatter of horse hooves, the roar of flames.

Everything mixed together into bizarre noise that echoed around my ears.

Plop.

After falling endlessly, I soon landed softly on a cushioned floor. The endless darkness and illusions had also disappeared at some point, and refreshing, warm light was filling my vision.

I felt a faint warmth from the light. The chill of death that I had clearly felt until just now had long since vanished. I looked around within the light, turning my head to survey my surroundings. There was light within the light and warmth, but nothing else besides that.

"You’ve finally come."

While I was looking around for some time, a voice came from within the light where nothing existed.

It was a tone imbued with warmth like the warmth emanating from the light. Within that warmth was hidden some unknowable mysteriousness. That speech pattern and tone was somehow familiar.

"...Noah?"

"Yes, it’s Noah. Naturally. Only I, the administrator of the ark, can freely enter and exit such a space."

Such a space?

What kind of space was the place I was in for Noah to use the expression "such a space"? Noah’s words often had aspects that were hard to understand. Like Baron Samedi’s prophecies.

"You just died. Of course, it wasn’t real death! Hahaha. This makes me feel like I’ve become the Grim Reaper."

Since I didn’t answer and spent quite a while staring blankly at the light, Noah’s voice came again. Along with that, someone began walking steadily through the abundant light.

With each step, a blue robe that seemed to contain the sea fluttered. It was Noah.

Noah’s appearance, approaching me with constant steps without the slightest movement, was dreamlike beyond measure, as if reminding me that the place I was in now was within an illusion.

"So, how was death?"

Noah, who had approached right before my eyes, asked. He had a smile on his lips. It was such an utterly natural smile that I felt embarrassed for having been serious just moments ago. Seeing that made laughter leak out of me as well.

"I feel like throwing up."

"Hahaha. Everyone says that. Still, you’re better off than most students."

Noah laughed heartily and reached his hand beyond the light. From the empty air his hand touched, a tree grew. A tree that grew to enormous size in an instant. Hundreds of small olive fruits were clustering at the tips of its branches.

Pluck.

Noah picked a fruit hanging from a branch, gave one to me and ate one himself. When I took a bite, an extremely astringent and spicy taste filled my mouth. It was a taste that naturally made one’s face scrunch up.

"Raw olives don’t taste good. That’s why they’re usually pickled or pressed for oil."

Noah said while laughing at me. But I had no leisure to respond. I was only busy spitting out the astringent aftertaste remaining in my mouth.

I even felt vague resentment, wondering why he gave me the fruit if he knew it wouldn’t taste good. Noah seemed to mock my resentment, chewing and eating the raw olive with a very delicious expression as he opened his mouth.

"I’ve rambled too long. I tend to have long digressions and introductions. It’s a bad habit, but I live thinking it’s a rather satisfactory habit. ...Ah, that was also a long digression just now. Anyway."

"..."

"You died, and in the second gateway, student Gu Jun-hyeok was victorious. There’s no disagreement about this, right?"

Noah said calmly. I could only nod. Regardless of the process, as a result I lost and Gu Jun-hyeok won. It was ultimately Gu Jun-hyeok who was victorious in the re-election exam. It was a complete defeat with no room for disagreement.

Therefore, I had no intention of denying the results. However, there was one thing I was curious about.

"What were the undisclosed conditions in the end?"

The two undisclosed conditions that were never revealed until the end. I was killed by Gu Jun-hyeok in the second gateway and was merely a loser considering just the results, but I thought I had the right to ask this one thing.

No, I wanted to know this one thing by whatever means necessary. It was simple stubbornness.

Noah pursed his lips as if pondering in response to my question.

"The undisclosed conditions... Normally it’s policy not to reveal them, but it would be fine to tell student Do Seon-woo ’specially’."

"Specially?"

"That’s right. ’Specially.’ Because you’re a special person."

Special. That word somehow felt awkward. It seemed like there was intentional dissonance embedded in the word. Perhaps Noah intentionally made the pronunciation of the word "special" awkward.

Noah continued speaking while gazing at me with a mysteriously ambiguous expression. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"The first condition was, as you know, stopping the tower’s construction. More precisely, it was stopping the tower’s construction without harming the lives of the ’ark’s natives.’ You did very well."

Noah said. According to those words, I had at least fulfilled the first condition. Noah continued speaking with a profound smile on his lips.

"Next, the second condition was to eliminate the ’interferer.’ In this exam, the one who took on the role of ’interferer’ was student Gu Jun-hyeok. Unfortunately, student Do Seon-woo failed to fulfill that condition."

"...That’s unfortunate. I had roughly expected it though."

"It wasn’t unfortunate. ’Roughly expecting’ and ’being certain’ are different."

Noah pointed out sharply. I nodded. It was the right thing to say. There was a clear difference as vast as heaven and earth between vague guessing and certainty. Thinking about it, there was nothing to be unfortunate about.

"Do you have more questions?" Noah asked while picking an olive from the branch to offer me. I shook my head. I didn’t want to eat another astringent and bitter raw olive, and I had nothing more to be curious about.

"Really?"

Then, Noah spoke in a coercive tone as if urging me to ask questions.

The smile he always wore had disappeared. What remained was an utterly cold sneer. The difference between a smile and a sneer was as great as the difference between guessing and certainty.

"Yes, there’s nothing."

I swallowed and barely managed to answer. Noah’s face still had that same cold sneer.

"Is that so? Nothing? I understand. Nothing then."

"...Should there be something?"

"There should be. Naturally there should be."

Noah’s gaze looking at me was dry and arid. It felt like looking into the eyes of a doll or machine. But strangely, I wasn’t afraid.

The light filling the surroundings conveyed warmth to me and simultaneously provided me with comfort. In this light, I was confident I wouldn’t fear anything.

"Really, nothing?"

Noah asked again. I tilted my head slightly while gazing at Noah’s expressionless face. What did he want from me to ask such questions?

...To be honest, it wasn’t that I had absolutely nothing to be curious about. However, that question wasn’t related to the "exam" but to the "ark" itself. It was a very sensitive question that might constitute discourtesy just by asking.

But perhaps that’s exactly why I should ask it now.

I couldn’t explain the exact reason, but somehow I felt that way.

"Was the ark really made by Saint Judas, ah, Cardinal Saint Judas alone?"

I barely managed to open my mouth and ask. Only then did Noah smile with satisfaction.

"That person couldn’t have made this huge ark alone. Just as thousands upon thousands of laborers were sacrificed to build the Tower of Babel, countless people’s blood and sweat were sacrificed to make the ark."

"Ah, that would make sense."

"That’s what we usually say. However, this time the case is different. Since student Do Seon-woo is special, it would be appropriate to give a special answer. Depending on who the speaker is, the weight of words and questions changes."

Noah picked an olive. He rolled up the sleeves of his blue robe to organize them as he continued speaking.

"Before the explanation, to ramble a bit... I am not on anyone’s side. I hope you’ll keep this fact in mind while listening."

Noah said, but I didn’t understand well. As I stared at him blankly, he nodded and opened his mouth.

"That is to say, I respected Do Myeong-jun-nim as much as I respected Saint Judas."

Noah put the olive in his mouth and chewed it deliciously.

"The ark was jointly created by Saint Judas and Do Myeong-jun-nim. Do Myeong-jun-nim created the illusions and memories, and Saint Judas modified them to be usable."

"...Pardon?"

What did he say?

"Wasn’t that the answer you wanted?"

Noah asked. It was the answer I wanted, but not the answer I had expected. No matter what, I hadn’t expected him to speak so directly.

This was because mentioning the name Do Myeong-jun, my father’s name, was considered taboo and sinful in the Romanica religion.

But Noah was casually mentioning that name as if it were nothing. Even adding the honorific "nim."

"Why would you..."

Crack!

My words couldn’t reach their end. Suddenly, a sound like something breaking was heard. Looking closely, the light that had been abundant around us was cracking and fissures were forming. Darkness peeked through the cracks in the fissures. The cracks were dense, deep, and black as if they would swallow me at any moment.

"Unfortunately, there’s no time. The situation seems unwilling to give us leisure to converse. May I give you just two pieces of advice at the end?"

"No. I have one last thing I want to ask..."

"Student Do Seon-woo, when you make deductions, you always have the habit of deciding on a conclusion first and then fitting evidence to match it. It’s called confirmation bias. It’s not a good habit, so it would help if you corrected it."

I had something I wanted to ask him, but Noah didn’t give me a chance to ask. Just as the situation didn’t give us a chance to converse. Noah hurriedly continued speaking.

"And student Do Seon-woo doesn’t need to follow in his father’s footsteps. By following only those footsteps, you cannot fully demonstrate your talents."

Crack crack crack!

With Noah’s words as the finale, hundreds of cracks appeared in the light. Cracks that grew uncontrollably larger and more numerous. The darkness flowing out through the gaps eventually swallowed the light, and soon the illusion began to collapse.

Noah opened his mouth while smiling calmly even within the collapsing illusion.

"Good luck."

* * *

As soon as I opened my eyes, I got up from my position and looked around. There was nothing. Not the meadow of the first gateway, not the desert of the second gateway, not the light after death, nothing. A desolate scene with nothing like when I first entered the ark. My mind was hazy as if I had just awakened from sleep.

I groomed my disheveled hair while ruminating on the conversation I had just had with Noah.

He told me not to follow in my father’s footsteps. It was as if he knew who my father was and what kind of person he was. He also mentioned the name "Do Myeong-jun," my father’s name and a forbidden name, far too casually.

Soon, a belated realization struck my head.

Noah knows my identity. Noah knows that I am the cult leader of Voodoo and the son of the second cult leader Do Myeong-jun. The moment I realized that, a sharp chill ran down my spine. My body trembled with eeriness.

Was he an ally or an enemy?

No, perhaps he was neither ally nor enemy.

Tap tap.

Then, someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I looked back in surprise.

"I have a proposal."

It was Seong Ha-yeon appearing out of nowhere. I didn’t want to show signs of being startled, but because of Noah, it was hard to compose my emotions and manage my expression.

I turned my head and quickly passed by Seong Ha-yeon to hurry out of the ark. I didn’t want to show her my flustered appearance.

"Why are you in such a hurry, wait, wait a moment!"

Ignoring Seong Ha-yeon who was shouting and following behind me, I exited the ark. The clear sky had somehow been dyed red with sunset. It seemed about half a day had passed. Perhaps because I was intoxicated by the illusion, my sense of time was very blurry. It felt like the boundaries between seconds, minutes, and hours had collapsed.

"Examinees who have finished the test should return their receipts and board the bus! Examinees who have finished..." While I was staring blankly at the sunset sky for quite a while, a teacher’s voice could be heard from afar. The teacher was collecting students’ receipts in front of the bus while shouting loudly. I grabbed my throbbing head and walked steadily toward the bus.

Grab.

However, before I could even take a step, someone grabbed my wrist. As expected, it was Seong Ha-yeon.

"Wait, proposal. Haa, ha, hoo, um. I just want to make one proposal. Don’t ignore me."

"..."

She spoke while panting. It seemed she was out of breath from running just a few meters. I looked at her like that and kept my mouth shut for quite a while. I didn’t feel like answering.

Of course, whether I felt like answering or not, she didn’t care at all. She was always self-centered above others.

As always, Seong Ha-yeon opened her mouth without caring about my feelings at all.

"Don’t you want to become a high-ranking cleric?"

"...What?"

I couldn’t help but show my bewildered expression as I asked back. I couldn’t guess at all what intention Seong Ha-yeon had in saying such things. If asked whether I wanted to become a high-ranking cleric, naturally I did, but since the person asking was Seong Ha-yeon, it somehow seemed suspicious.

After Seong Ha-yeon finished catching her breath, she slowly opened her mouth.

"How about joining the ’International Theological Society’?"