This happened back when I was a college freshman, right around the time I was finally settling into my new life.

I used to hang out at arcades a lot with my friends, and at some point—I can't remember exactly when—a certain guy started joining us. Let's call him Mr. O. He was about my age, soft-spoken, and friendly, so whenever we bumped into each other at the arcade, we'd play together. We were both obsessed with a popular racing game at the time, getting all hyped up debating the best ways to customize our cars as we leveled up.

He told me he worked in a restaurant kitchen, even showed me his business card, and eventually suggested we grab dinner sometime. Since we'd hung out so many times and I knew a bit about his background, my guard was completely down. We took the train downtown to a restaurant, had our meal, and were walking around for a bit afterward when Mr. O suddenly said something strange.

"Have you ever believed in God?"

Thinking it was a joke, I gave a vague answer, but then he launched into a whole sermon about God. Honestly, I wasn't interested at all and just wanted to head home, but he was preaching with such intensity that he didn't give me an opening to break away. "I'm going to teach you everything. Come with me to meet my friends so your life can be guided toward true happiness!" He yanked my arm and tried to pull me along somewhere. Feeling a creepy vibe, I realized I was in deep trouble. "Pull yourself together! Religions like that are obviously scams!" I snapped at him pretty forcefully. I'm not usually someone who speaks aggressively to others, but I was desperate to talk him down, sensing that things were taking a dangerous turn. It was clear Mr. O was completely brainwashed by some cult.

I didn't know anything about cults, but as I kept pleading with him, he finally let go of my arm. For a split second, I thought he'd come to his senses. But then Mr. O made a subtle gesture to someone up ahead. From down the street, three men began approaching us. One of them was noticeably built, looking like he definitely did martial arts. Sensing absolute danger, I ducked into a narrow back alley and sprinted away like crazy.

"Hey!" a deep voice shouted behind me, and I could hear them running after me, but I somehow managed to lose them and breathed a sigh of relief. I ducked into a random shop to kill time. Thinking it was finally safe to leave, I walked to the train station... only to spot a figure near the ticket gates who looked just like Mr. O.

He was clearly scanning the crowd for someone. I couldn't see his face clearly, but he radiated pure fury. I worried the other three guys might be lurking nearby too. Giving up on taking the train, I decided to catch a taxi instead, but near the cab stand, I spotted a man pacing around nervously, looking back and forth. Could he have been one of the three guys who chased me? Left with no choice, I had to walk home in the dark for about two hours, constantly terrified that someone was creeping up behind me. After that night, I never set foot in that arcade again.

Months passed after that terrifying experience, until one day, while casually flipping through a magazine, I learned a shocking truth. The religious group Mr. O had mentioned had held a man hostage and beaten him so severely he was critically injured. In another prefecture, they had even stabbed someone just for refusing to join.

If I hadn't managed to escape that night... what would have happened to me?