TRPM 431🔐

chapter 431

To me, the existence of fanatics… was almost like a plague.

I had seen people, otherwise harmless, get influenced by fanatics and become fanatics themselves.

Especially when things were already bad, and they ran amok inside safe zones—they were just annoying in every way.

“Before the regression, every time a fanatic was spotted, an elite squad of awakened, organized around the Association, would go on a cleansing operation.”

There were times when, with that elite squad absent, defensive lines against monsters would falter. But everyone knew that leaving things unchecked was not an option.

“After sealing myself off, I even wanted to encounter a fanatic when I roamed alone.”

Fanatics weren’t necessarily unreasonable. In fact, in some cases, if you nodded along just a little to their beliefs, they would spill all their organization’s secret information, which made them somewhat convenient.

Still, in general, it was better not to meet them if possible.

“…But the Artist Cult…”

A group of fanatics who worshipped me. Just the thought was horrifying.

Being followed by fanatics didn’t guarantee any benefit for me.

According to Rachel and Arthur, the Artist Cult was a multinational fanatic group with members from several countries.

“A multinational fanatic group… what does that even mean…”

With that thought, I returned home and logged onto the website Arthur had told me about.

“Hmm… at first glance, this looks like a normal group…”

It looked like an ordinary portal site. But according to Arthur, this was a site used by fanatics.

Let’s see… oh, this is a list of registered members. A real-name system on the internet—how peculiar.

“Member… Yeon Mirae?”

I rubbed my eyes and checked the name I had just seen. Yep, it was Yeon Mirae.

It couldn’t be a coincidence of names, right?

“Well, in a sense, Yeon Mirae is my fanatic too.”

I thought as I scrolled down. At first, the names were mostly Korean, but as I scrolled further, many names from other countries appeared. And…

“Chloe, Scott, Arthur…”

I noticed a lot of familiar names. Chloe must be the elf I know, Scott… is probably the man from Chicago learning spears from me recently.

Neither was a particularly rare name, so duplicates were possible. But Arthur? You’re on this list to investigate the fanatic group undercover, right? You’re not one of my fanatics too, are you?

“…Probably not. If he were a fanatic, he wouldn’t have given me the site’s address.”

Hmm… maybe he just wanted me to know what they were up to?

As I scrolled further, one name made me pause.

“…Isn’t that the real name of the White Lotus Cult leader?”

So… even the subordinate of Cheonma, allied with Oracle, registered on this site as a fanatic?

I looked it up—it was indeed the White Lotus Cult leader’s name. Duplicates were possible but unlikely, especially since I had rarely operated in China.

…Since he belonged to a cult that worshipped Cheonma, registering on this site must be to gather information related to me.

“Hmm… anyway…”

I had assumed that fanatics were dangerous, but this group didn’t seem particularly dangerous. Even the White Lotus Cult leader, who clearly wasn’t a real fanatic, could join without issue. This meant the entry requirements weren’t strict, and not everyone on the site had to be a fanatic.

“So, no need to worry too much.”

Feeling reassured, I continued scrolling. I saw familiar names occasionally, especially people belonging to the Iron-Blood Guild focused on terrain. After roughly checking who was registered, I began exploring the site properly.

The posts themselves fit the description of fanatics following the Artist—they mainly praised my past achievements and glorified me.

And…

“Ah, so that’s why.”

Reading a certain comment, I understood why Arthur had told me about this site. Someone had complained that they wanted a break but couldn’t because they were conscious of my presence.

[Why are you watching out for the Artist? If you want to rest, just rest.]
[But even now, thinking that the Artist is working hard for world peace, I can’t stop…]
[This person is serious.]
[I’m a friend of the commenter. They are such a huge fan that they imagine the Artist works 24 hours a day, so they work 21 hours, rest 1 hour, spend 1 hour writing on this site, and sleep 1 hour.]
[Really?]
[Really. Even as a high-level awakened, I thought they might die if left alone, so I hope someone can send a photo of the Artist relaxing on vacation.]

So that was why Arthur had told me to rest even if it meant overexerting myself.

Working 21 hours a day… even if they were a high-level awakened, it wouldn’t kill them, but mentally, it must be exhausting.

“…Even if they saw a vacation photo, it wouldn’t really solve the problem since they think I work 24/7.”

I no longer used the doll I had when acting as the Artist—it now used Woo Ji-min’s body—but many still thought I was performing as the Artist via the doll. The commenter was probably the same.

Ding dong~.

“?”

While scrolling through the site, our doorbell rang. Checking the computer clock, it was already 6 PM.

‘I planned to browse a bit and have lunch…’

I had gotten so absorbed that I skipped lunch and it was already dinner time. My mother would probably scold me for skipping lunch.

I got up and headed to the entrance.

“We’re home!”
“Hello.”

Yeon Mirae and Sophia were there, carrying shopping bags in both hands.

“What? Did you buy all this?”
“My mother said she probably won’t be home today, so we should prepare our own meal.”

Yeon Mirae put the bags on the table and began unloading their contents.

“So we bought a lot of meat. And of course, the vegetables and dipping sauce for wraps…”
“Wow…”

It was clearly more than three servings. Could I eat it all? Yes, if I tried.

After Yeon Mirae unloaded everything from her bag, Sophia put down her own and began unloading hers. Her bag contained meat, cheese, beer, and wine.

“…”

Seeing the beer and wine, I swallowed unconsciously. Yeon Mirae noticed.

“Master, since your mother isn’t here, how about we quietly drink among ourselves?”
“……”
“You like alcohol. We’ve noticed how your eyes often wander to bars when walking around.”

Oh…? I didn’t realize, but I probably unconsciously looked toward bars when I wanted alcohol. Not an alcoholic, though.

“What do you think? Sophia and I have agreed among ourselves.”
“……”

Sophia silently nodded at Yeon Mirae’s suggestion.

“…No, it’s fine. I want to drink too, but I’ll do proper drinking once I’m an adult.”

I had drunk secretly before, but I wanted to save proper drinking with good meat for when I was older. Yeon Mirae and Sophia respected that and would drink among themselves.

“…Master, do you have newspaper? I want to lay it down because of the oil.”
“We don’t have any. Use last month’s calendar instead.”
“Okay~.”

I took out a grill and portable gas stove from the balcony near the kitchen.

Ah… no butane gas.

I hadn’t realized I ran out since I rarely used it. I checked my pocket dimension, but there was no butane stored. Why did past me put mini-fridges and rice cookers in there but not butane?

“Should we go buy some?”
“No, it’s fine. We can still cook the meat without it.”

I then demonstrated the Samadhi True Fire (Samādhi Fire).

“…You can use that to cook meat?”
“Why not?”
“No…”

Yeon Mirae, also a martial artist, seemed full of things she wanted to ask. She could perceive the world through Samādhi, but couldn’t produce fire like I could.

[In martial arts novels, Samādhi Fire is often depicted as just a fire technique, but it’s originally used in alchemy for making elixirs. Using it for cooking isn’t an issue.]
[…Yes, Master, do as you please.]

I hadn’t told Sophia about martial arts, so we had this conversation via telepathy.

After preparations, I began cooking with Samadhi Fire and suddenly asked Yeon Mirae:

“By the way, Yeon Mirae, didn’t you post something like this on an internet site?”

Posts like finding it cute when I played with peers, or suddenly traveling from Korea to China in my arms, or wanting to learn more but being busy.

“…H-How do you know about that?!”

Yeon Mirae’s face turned bright red.

“You posted it openly on the site. You didn’t even need to be a member to see it.”

Ah… that site existed for nearly ten years? Your first post was surely… “My little Master, snuggling in my arms is too….”

“Kyaaaak…?!”

Yeon Mirae screamed, covering my mouth.