Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 245

245. Don’t Underestimate

The bus doors opened, but no one dared to step out first. Everyone just glanced at each other.

It was quite a contrast to how they had confidently declared that the monster Rembrary faced a few hours ago was nothing special.

But it wasn’t exactly hypocrisy. The participants knew that monsters could randomly possess strange abilities, so they thought, ‘This monster might be strong.’

How long had they been like that? One of the staff members in the front row belatedly stood up and announced, “Ah, I need to give you one more explanation. This team was divided as evenly as possible based on the results of the boot camp training over the past two weeks.”

“The production team divided us?”

“Yes. We also matched the numbers of Awakened [people with special abilities] and non-Awakened people as closely as possible. And for fairness, the team with Woo Yeon-woo and Nokcha Nokcha has nine participants.”

The staff’s explanation revealed a perspective that treated Rembrary similarly to Nokcha Nokcha, who had caught several monsters, so the participants glanced at Rembrary without realizing it.

“I’ll announce the teams. First, Team A includes…”

As the lists for Team A through Team E were announced, it became even clearer who the production team considered to be the aces.

The production team put Woo Yeon-woo in Team A and Nokcha Nokcha in Team B, while Team C included Shin Jo-woon, who had consistently performed the best in training. It was obvious to anyone that these three were the ones the production team was currently most concerned about.

After completing the team assignments, the staff said brightly,

“Now that you’ve heard about the teams… Team A, please come out first. Undoo-shin has chosen this place in advance for hunting, and there’s only one egg inside. So, you won’t accidentally touch another egg and cause a chain reaction during the battle. The space is large, so the participants can fight as a group.”

Rembrary being the first to go out as Team A was Undoo-shin’s idea. His opinion was that it would be better for Rembrary to show the other participants how the mission would proceed.

The production team agreed, so they were the first in line. However, even though the staff told them to come out, the bewildered team didn’t move. Being first in such a situation? They didn’t like it.

“If you don’t come out, that participant will be disqualified.”

Eventually, the staff stood up and asked Team A to come out again, and only then did the participants belonging to Team A sluggishly come out.

‘They managed to find a place like this.’

Rembrary slowly followed the participants, looking around the nearly empty building as he thought.

But just as Rembrary was the last one to exit, the bus doors closed.

“What? Are we leaving?”

“Are you leaving us alone?”

The surprised Team A members asked the nearby cameramen, but the cameramen just shook their heads and said nothing.

“Ah, what are we supposed to do? Why is the explanation so lacking?”

Some, feeling anxious, began to get annoyed. Being thrown out as the first team to fight a monster was already frustrating, but the lack of explanation made them a little angry.

At that moment, people who had gone to the back of the building shouted, “Here!” Team A members, including Rembrary, who were standing near the bus, quickly ran towards the sound.

“What’s wrong?”

“What is it?”

There was a large frog egg, and three or four people were standing around it. As the youngest-looking participant pointed to the frog egg and said,

“Are we supposed to break that and get rid of it?”

“Looks like it. If we don’t break it, the monster won’t come out.”

“Let’s break it first.”

“How do we break it?”

“Who wants to break it?”

However, even after finding the egg, problems remained. The team members were all looking at each other. The monster inside the egg would attack as soon as the egg broke, so they were afraid to break it themselves.

Then, their gazes almost simultaneously turned to Rembrary.

“You want me to do it?”

Rembrary stepped back and watched the situation, but when people looked at him, he smiled casually and readily stepped forward.

“Everyone is in awe of my greatness.”

* * *

―Woo Yeon-woo’s 말투 [manner of speaking] is weird againㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―King version!

―King Yeon-woo!

ㄴOh, King Yeon-woo is good

―But if you look closely, he’s strong when he’s King Yeon-woo. He’s weak when he’s Woo Yeon-woo.

―??? Is his Awakening ability a split personality? He’s super strong when he’s King Yeon-woo, but normal when he’s not

ㄴOoh, that could be it

ㄴ헐 [Korean slang for ‘OMG’] Then he’s clumsy when he’s Woo Yeon-woo, but strong only when he becomes King Yeon-woo?

ㄴBut even though his 말투 [manner of speaking] changes, his personality doesn’t seem to change.

ㄴIt’s not a 말투 [manner of speaking] that appeared after Awakening, it’s his original 말투 [manner of speaking]. In some interview in the past, the reporter wrote that Woo Yeon-woo uses a king’s 말투 [manner of speaking].

―He’s doing it! He’s doing it! He’s breaking the egg!

* * *

Viewers who remembered the scene where Rembrary overwhelmed a monster with his bare hands were swallowing hard and paying attention, wondering what would come out this time and how Rembrary would handle it.

Unfortunately, that tension disappeared as Rembrary approached the egg and reached out to the other participants, saying, “Knife.”

―ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWoo Yeon-woo realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Was he trying to say ‘scalpel’? Did he not know the wordㅠㅠㅠㅠ

―Woo Yeon-woo is fine, but why am I embarrassedㅠ

Viewers would be surprised to know that Rembrary didn’t even know what a scalpel was. He just needed something to cut with to remove the grape-like surface. But suddenly, a knife was nowhere to be found.

“What? Is there none?”

‘What kind of feeling does he have when he switches between those 말투s [manners of speaking]?’

‘Why has he been talking down to me since earlier?’

When the other participants didn’t give him a knife, Rembrary ended up knocking on the egg as if knocking on a door.

“Is anyone there?”

―ㅋㅋㅋㅋWhy does it become a historical drama when it goes to Woo Yeon-wooㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Is the monster going to answer… According to the YouTube video I saw before he died, you have to dig until the black part is revealed

ㄴHaven’t you seen anything other than that video?

ㄴNoneㅇㅇ [Korean slang for ‘yes’]

ㄴWatch other videos too. Some eggs break with just a touch, and some don’t break even when the black membrane is revealed. It’s all random.

ㄴWhat’s the standard?

ㄴRandom.

ㄴIsn’t it the personality of the monster inside the egg?

But no matter how much Rembrary knocked, there was no response from the egg.

‘Do I have to dig out the black membrane after all?’

Rembrary felt uneasy and stared at the giant grape-like or frog-egg-like monster egg. However, he didn’t want to dig out that squishy and thick part, which, according to the first YouTube video he saw, was slightly shorter than his arm, with his bare hands.

In the meantime, he heard conversations like this from behind.

“You Awakened [gained special abilities] with some weapon thing, right? You do it.”

“No. You do it.”

“I’m barehanded too.”

“Then am I not barehanded?”

It was clear that the Awakened [person with special abilities] participant, who could create weapon forms, was staying away because he was afraid of being caught by the monster as soon as he cut the frog egg.

“Ah, just do it.”

“How can you be so selfish already when we’re one team like this?”

“Is Woo Yeon-woo out there because he likes it?”

When the participants criticized him, the Awakened [person with special abilities] participant retorted angrily.

“Ah, then you guys try it!”

But when no one else stepped forward, the Awakened [person with special abilities] participant scoffed.

“See? They can’t do it themselves, but they only know how to talk.”

In the meantime, Rembrary was busy knocking on the egg alone.

―Hey Team A. Stop fighting and help Woo Yeon-woo?

―Is Woo Yeon-woo the only participant in Team A? Why are they fighting among themselves?

―Team A is like the last place teamㅠ [Korean slang for crying]

―Is the team division balanced? Isn’t Team A just full of the most difficult participants?

―They came out first. Let’s watch. And they’re not people who have been hunters, but people who are just trying to become hunters, so would they suddenly cut the egg if you told them to?

ㄴWoo Yeon-woo stepped up to cut it

ㄴWoo Yeon-woo was originally an idol too;ㅋ [Korean emoticon for laughing]

However, even as the participants were arguing and the viewers were chattering, the egg showed no reaction.

“I’ll go find something that can be a weapon.”

Eventually, Rembrary stopped knocking on the frog egg and went outside. He was thinking of asking the staff if they had a knife or something. If the staff didn’t have one, Undoo-shin would probably have one.

Of course, what Undoo-shin had was closer to a spear than a knife, so it might not be helpful. Still, even if it was a spear, wouldn’t it react on its own if he stabbed it?

“Undoo-shin. Lend me a sharp knife.”

“…Did you always talk like this?”

“If you don’t have one, a spear is fine too.”

But while Rembrary was borrowing a spear from Undoo-shin, who was in another bus, a sudden scream came from inside.

Rembrary stopped trying to receive the spear and quickly ran towards the sound.

―Ugh, why isn’t he taking the spear!

―Why is he leaving without receiving the weapon!!!!!

―Take it and goㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ [Korean slang for crying]

The viewers who saw it screamed in frustration, but Rembrary quickly went to where the commotion was happening.

Surprisingly, the commotion was happening where Team A was gathered, and the egg, which they couldn’t break no matter how hard they tried, was broken.

And what appeared from inside was a white monster. White from head to toe, not just with white skin, but like a blank white piece of paper.

The silhouette looked like a person, but it had no eyes, nose, or mouth, and the surface looked soft like a plaster statue, making it eerie to look at.

―What is that?

―I’ve never seen that type before?

―Damn, why do only weirder things keep coming out

―Isn’t Team A crazy? Fight back a little! Why are you just watching!

―Run away or fight! Ugh, frustrating

The problem was that the monster was holding one of the participants in its hand. The participant was struggling, but the monster’s grip was so strong that he couldn’t escape.

Then. The monster lightly bit the participant’s neck and inhaled. People inadvertently thought of a vampire, but what the participant lost wasn’t blood. It was ‘color.’

Surprisingly, the participant’s ‘color’ began to flow into the monster. In the blink of an eye. The participant, whose ‘color’ had drained from his entire body, soon turned completely white like the white monster and slumped limply.

Then, like a person made of vinyl, he couldn’t even support his own body and fell fluttering, causing the frozen participants to scream.

The appearance of the participant, whose color had drained from his entire body, was grotesque in a different way from the monster.

On the other hand, the monster that absorbed the color no longer looked like a monster. The color of its hair and eyes were unique, but it looked like a person, even a fairly handsome person. Moreover, it was smiling with a very satisfied expression. As if it had emotions.

“What are you all doing?”

Unable to watch any longer, Rembrary pushed the participants away from the back and stepped forward. At the same time, he naturally wrapped divine power around his fist. But the monster retreated far back before Rembrary could even swing his fist. Then, without hesitation, it ran away.

“Catch? Catch it!”

“Chase it!”

The participants belatedly chased after it, but the monster immediately went somewhere else. Even towards the side without the bus.

Just in case, Undoo-shin, who had run this way, threw his spear, but the monster dodged the spear as well. As if it would never engage in a head-on fight.

The monster disappeared in the blink of an eye.

‘It’s a smart one.’

Rembrary frowned as he watched the scene.

‘Moreover, it avoided clashing with me and Undoo-shin. How did it know only the two of us?’

* * *

―YouTubers hunters seem stronger;;;

―Really. YouTubers set up their video equipment alone, take out monsters, and fight. Even if you set everything up for them, nine people miss one monster

―They weren’t even injured in the fightㅋㅋㅋ Are you crazy? Survival with this level?

―Is Woo Yeon-woo the only one in Team A who can fight the monster?

―Is the problem with Team A or the overall level?

―ㅅㅂ [Korean slang for ‘fuck’] I’m more scared of that color-sucking monster from earlier, but everyone’s just talking about the participants

ㄴ222222 I came in knowing they were talking about the monster and was surprised

ㄴ333 Does no one see human life as life anymore?

ㄴ44444 What happens to the person who was eaten(?) by the monster? It looks like it’s moving, but is it alive?

―But is it just me, or does it look like the monster is avoiding Woo Yeon-woo?

ㄴWhy are you suddenly holding Woo Yeon-woo back? Can’t you see Woo Yeon-woo is working alone?

ㄴWoo Yeon-woo didn’t come out when he was knocking on the egg at first. But as soon as Woo Yeon-woo went somewhere else, it came out right away. It came out of the egg and immediately ate one person, then ran away as soon as Woo Yeon-woo came