Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 218

< 218. Gamjae's Vacation >

Sagamjae and Sajikjae stopped talking, their ears perked. The two Grim Reapers listened intently to the strange sound emanating from within the crack.

It was a truly peculiar sound, like a multitude of tiny, brittle things gathering and whispering amongst themselves. And there weren’t just one or two of them.

“Ugh.”

Sajikjae clicked his tongue, a shiver running down his spine.

“I don’t know what it is, but that’s a creepy sound.”

Sagamjae, equally uneasy, frowned and gestured towards the fissure.

“Should we try talking to… whatever’s in there?”

Sajikjae recoiled in horror.

“What? Try to have a conversation? Just announce ourselves and start chatting?”

“We could attempt communication, yes. If they are beings we can reason with.”

Sajikjae rubbed his arm, warding off the goosebumps, and firmly refused.

“No, I really don’t want to talk to it.”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

Ignoring Sajikjae’s reluctance, Sagamjae approached the crack and carefully bent down.

He listened intently to the sounds coming from the opening for a long moment. Finally, a deep frown etched itself onto Sagamjae’s face.

“Why? What did they say?”

* * *

“You’re saying you heard a voice inside?”

Rembrary, who had been absorbed in a book, looked up in surprise and repeated the question. He’d tasked them with investigating the crack, but what exactly had this Grim Reaper been doing?

Sagamjae nodded.

“It wasn’t just a random noise, but a chorus of voices, like several people speaking at once… a cacophony of sorts.”

“What were they saying?”

“The content was indecipherable.”

“Was it an unknown language?”

“It was difficult to even determine that much.”

Rembrary closed his book, his expression thoughtful.

Crack. Hand. Collision. And now, an unknown language…? This was escalating quickly.

“And the crack itself… you say its size is gradually decreasing?”

“The crack *I* saw was getting bigger.”

“So, the size increases upon initial appearance, but then diminishes over time?”

Rembrary crossed his arms, his face etched with concern.

“Well, it’s hard to say definitively, given the limited number of cases we’ve observed…”

Sagamjae stood up, prompting Rembrary to ask, “Are you leaving already?”

“I believe I need to return to the underworld.”

“When?”

“Immediately.”

“What about your manager duties?”

“Please cover my vacation time for me.”

“Me?”

* * *

“No, why am *I* covering vacation time for *that* guy, Gamjae?”

The next day, Jongwoo, upon hearing the news of his temporary replacement duties, was so dumbfounded his voice cracked. Rembrary simply shrugged.

“I’m just as surprised as you are.”

“Should I be grateful he didn’t just vanish without a trace? Or should I be furious that he’s taking a vacation on a whim? That guy is completely rewriting my understanding of acceptable behavior.”

Jongwoo huffed and dialed Gamjae’s number. He fully expected the call to go unanswered, given the circumstances. Unexpectedly, the call connected almost immediately.

“Hey, Sagamjae!”

Jongwoo roared into his phone, determined to give the errant Grim Reaper a piece of his mind.

However, a chilling sound from the other end of the line stopped him short. He quickly covered the phone, staring ahead with a bewildered expression. What *was* that sound?

Jongwoo belatedly pulled the car over to the side of the road and asked Rembrary, his voice strained.

“Where did he say he was going on vacation?”

Rembrary shrugged again.

Jongwoo stared intently at his phone, lost in thought. He debated whether to call again or not.

But in the end, for the sake of his own sanity, he gripped the steering wheel and started driving again, abandoning the idea of another call.

Rembrary knew that Jongwoo was deeply shaken, but he figured it was probably for the best. He checked today’s filming schedule and then asked,

“But aren’t we supposed to be preparing for the next album?”

“Shouldn’t you be asking about something else besides the next album?”

“Like what?”

“The accident that happened recently.”

“Ah, right.”

Rembrary recalled the news reports. The recent car accident.

The CCTV footage showed the car speeding up and veering off in a specific direction.

There was also footage of Rembrary and Shin Jo-un talking and then running after witnessing something.

However, as Shin Jo-un had pointed out, the area where Jang Taeri had been standing was a blind spot, obscuring the fact that Rembrary had healed her.

Since the crack itself was invisible to those without ‘eyes,’ the incident was written off as an accident caused by speeding on a poorly maintained road with dangerous curves.

The police were still investigating, but unless something significant changed, that’s how it would be concluded.

‘Is it really okay? This time, I was there, so it ended relatively well…’

But what about the cracks that appeared in places unseen? What about the accidents that happened there? Even now, were accidents caused by these cracks occurring in places where no one could see them?

* * *

“What about Woo Yeonwoo? Isn’t he a bit… creepy?”

“Yeah. I mean, seeing ghosts is one thing. But it seems like he’s always around when accidents happen…”

“What are you talking about? It’s not like he *caused* the accidents.”

“Exactly! That’s what makes it even creepier! He’s just… *there*!”

It seemed like this wasn’t the time to worry about cracks happening elsewhere. Rembrary, entering the filming set, picked up his script from the table and sighed, overhearing the hushed conversations around him.

Some people were whispering, but others were speaking loudly enough to be heard, either oblivious or uncaring.

“Don’t worry about it. There’s no need to pay attention to gossip like that.”

Of course, conversely, there were many who conspicuously defended him as the rumors spread.

“Yeonwoo just needs to focus on the script. Draw out the darkness within Yeonwoo!”

Like writer Yoon.

“Yeah. Just act well enough that no one can say anything. I’ll take care of the screen time.”

Like director Lee.

And especially the people who had been saved by Rembrary and Sagamjae.

That was enough. Rembrary smiled contentedly and headed to the waiting room with his script.

* * *

In the last part of episode 3 of [Joseon Flower Knights, a fictional historical drama], after all the Hwarangs [elite warrior youth] and Wanhwas [female entertainers/artists] fail the exam, the examiners and the minister in charge discuss the situation.

“No, isn’t it a bit much to fail *everyone*, no matter what? We must have picked the wrong people from the start. Let’s disqualify them all and start over.”

“The best of the applicants are the ones who have already been selected. How much different would it be if we picked new ones?”

“How about judging the outcome by looking at the process, not just the results? There must have been participants who performed well but were simply unlucky.”

“It’s all the same in the end.”

“Hmm.”

After a lengthy discussion, they ultimately decided to give them another chance. It was the first exam and a completely new system, so some trial and error was to be expected.

“If everyone fails again, we’ll have no choice. We’ll have to select new candidates from scratch.”

The examiner scolds the candidates after summoning them, and they prepare to retake the exam amidst the looming threat of mass failure.

The new task is an individual test, not an alliance-based one. Since they had formed alliances during the first test, it was difficult to assess individual abilities, hence the change.

“As you all know, Wanhwas and Hwarangs must each lead 300 Nangdo [followers/disciples]. Let’s start with ten. Gather ten people who will become your Nangdo. Keep in mind that these ten people are the Nangdo you will actually have to lead in the future.”

The examiner only explains this much, but the ‘real test’ doesn’t end with simply gathering the Nangdo.

The examiner will secretly offer money to the gathered Nangdo, acting as a competitor, and try to persuade them to abandon their leader. The second part of the test is to see how many Nangdo remain loyal.

In other words, the true measure is how many of the ten Nangdo you recruit stay with you.

The Wanhwa and Hwarang candidates, unaware of this hidden element, are busy recruiting Nangdo.

The Seo-chul [commoner background] candidates with extensive social networks enlist the help of their friends, while those with fewer connections mobilize acquaintances of acquaintances.

On the other hand, the wealthier candidates – Baek Seol-cho, Woo Baek-yeon, and Woo Baek-yeon’s friend Lee Woo-so – all select their retainers or those connected to them as Nangdo.

In this situation, Go Gyoo-in, who is caught in the middle, finds himself in a predicament. Unlike the other Seo-chul candidates, Go Gyoo-in doesn’t know anyone who would volunteer to be a Nangdo.

Because he applied against his family’s wishes, he can’t choose Nangdo from his own retainers. All the retainers are under his father’s watchful eye and would never dare to help him.

In the end, Go Gyoo-in resorts to hiring all ten Nangdo with money.

After a few days, the examiner smiles contentedly as he surveys the Nangdo filling the courtyard.

He approaches the Hwarang candidate closest to him and addresses the people standing behind the candidate.

“You don’t yet know what you will be doing as Nangdo. You must prioritize loyalty above all else, and you may even have to die for the country. Is that acceptable? If anyone wishes to withdraw now, step forward. There is still time to change your mind.”

No one moved.

The examiner nodded approvingly, then produced a pouch from his robes. The contents of the pouch caused a stir among the hastily assembled Nangdo. It was full of money.

“Enough money to live on for a year.”

“!”

“If anyone wants to withdraw now, I will give you this as a reward.”

As the other Nangdo began to murmur amongst themselves, the Hwarang candidate shot them a ‘You’re not going to leave, are you?’ look.

The Nangdo that this Hwarang candidate had gathered were friends who frequented the marketplace together. Two of them were very close friends, but the rest were also people he considered friends.

But only four remained. Six took the money and hesitantly departed.

Caught off guard by the examiner’s open solicitation of defections, the candidates were flustered and tried to reorganize their Nangdo, but…

“Quiet.”

For the sake of fairness, the examiner denied them the opportunity to regroup and repeated the same question to the Nangdo of the Wanhwa candidate next to him.

Finally, it was Go Gyoo-in’s turn. He clenched his fist, knowing it was all or nothing.

All ten Nangdo he had brought were hired in the first place. In a way, that might make them less susceptible to bribery, but in another way, it might make them even more easily tempted.

“I will make the same offer here. If anyone wants to withdraw now, go ahead. You will receive the same reward.”

Please. Go Gyoo-in looked at the Nangdo with desperate eyes. *Please* don’t go.

But all ten of them took the money and left.

It was the first time that *everyone* had abandoned a candidate. The examiner, aware that Go Gyoo-in was the daughter of a high-ranking official, clicked his tongue in surprise. Go Gyoo-in’s face turned ashen.

‘I haven’t even had a chance to use the martial arts I’ve learned, and I’m going to be eliminated like this? Right at the beginning?’

* * *

‘Is he really going to be eliminated? The *main character*?’

Rembrary stared at Jongwoo with wide eyes after finishing the script.

Jongwoo, who was adding a comment to a news article saying, ‘Poor Woo Yeonwoo ㅠㅠ I’m glad the Yangdaeri team is safe ㅠㅠ,’ noticed Rembrary’s gaze and asked defensively, embarrassed.

“What? I didn’t do anything.”

“Who said you did? That cafe… you mentioned that our filming team has a cafe? Where the scripts are uploaded?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“The contents after this aren’t uploaded there?”

Jongwoo looked puzzled, then sighed. Here he was, dealing with the fallout from online posts asking, ‘Isn’t Woo Yeonwoo really gifted?’ ‘Isn’t he a bit creepy?’ ‘Is Woo Yeonwoo avoiding accidents, or is he causing them?’ And Rembrary was worried about the script…

“Well. Still, it’s a relief that you didn’t come as my junior [referring to being a manager].”

Jongwoo, momentarily taken aback, compared Sagamjae and Rembrary in his mind. He concluded that Rembrary was the lesser of two evils and comforted himself as if he were brainwashing himself.

* * *

At that time, Sagamjae was deeply disturbed by the state of the underworld.

< 218. Gamjae's Vacation > End