Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 278

278. Exploit the Weakness

After the practice session, everyone had left, but Rembrary had to stay behind as instructed by the instructor. The instructor didn’t say a word to Rembrary, but as soon as all the trainees had left, he approached him and exploded.

“Do you know what the trainee lacks?”

“Money?”

“In the training just now!”

“Weapons?”

“Among the trainee Rembrary’s characteristics!”

When Rembrary made a face that said, ‘Was there such a thing?’ the instructor got even angrier and shouted.

“Consideration for comrades! Unity with comrades! Cooperation with comrades!”

“Aha.”

“Not ‘Aha!’ Do you know how big a mistake the trainee made if this were a real battle? If this were a real battle, the contract could have been overturned, and a big fight could have broken out! If the two people belonged to different companies, it could have escalated into a fight between companies!”

The instructor’s neck was strained with blood vessels, but Rembrary raised his eyebrows.

“Well, I don’t know why you’re angry.”

“You don’t know? How can you say that?”

“Think about it. I clearly said at the beginning that I would attack with my eyes closed. But Mori refused. So I asked you for a weapon, but you refused.”

“!”

“Then Mori suggested to me that he would attack, and I should buy time. This method seemed to take a lot of time. So I couldn’t accept it.”

“!”

“Mori and I held hands and eliminated the enemy most efficiently in the shortest amount of time. What’s the problem?”

At Rembrary’s confident question, the instructor supported the back of his neck with his hand. *How could he say that……!*

“You wielded Mori like a weapon!”

“He was light.”

“That’s not the problem! Teamwork is not like that!”

When the veins popped out on the instructor’s forehead, Rembrary tilted his head.

“Then what is teamwork? I can’t touch bugs directly. It’s inefficient for me to attack bugs directly. On the other hand, it takes a long time for Mori to attack. But you thought I had to do one of those two things? A more time-consuming and inefficient method? Is going the hard way teamwork?”

“You……!”

The instructor opened his mouth and stammered. He had so much to say. He wanted to scold him for something, but he didn’t know what to scold him for.

It would have been easier to scold Rembrary if he had made even a small mistake during the battle, but Rembrary had clearly passed the test in the shortest amount of time. Moreover, Mori, who was the problem, didn’t even hurt a finger. He didn’t even get motion sickness.

In this situation, it was impossible to argue that Rembrary’s method was more inefficient, as Rembrary said. But this was clearly not in line with the teamwork that should be learned in the training center. That alone was certain, so the instructor was seething inside.

He knew why the president of the hunter company and the president of the resource company were interested in that trainee. Separately, that kid is really…… He wanted to pinch his mouth shut. The instructor eventually just hissed and pointed to the door with his finger.

“Okay. Go.”

* * *

Rembrary thought the instructor’s nagging had ended as nagging. Anyway, he passed the test in the shortest amount of time, and that was the objective test result.

However, the next morning.

“Rembrary, let’s go see the scores.”

“Scores?”

“We keep sending the trainees’ performance, rankings, and scores to the hunter companies. So we objectively measure each test. It’s on the first floor.”

Rembrary, who saw the indoor electronic display on the first floor with Mori, was surprised. He was sure that he was number one among the freshmen, but it said he was fifth.

Not only that, next to it, there was also simple feedback on the deduction factors, and it even said ‘Other’.

Thinking it was absurd, he checked the rankings of the second-year trainees, and Mori was also fifth, and the deduction factor was ‘Other’.

“How petty.”

Rembrary grumbled to himself, thinking that this was the result of the instructor’s personal feelings.

“Being fifth is good enough.”

Mori seemed satisfied with this much, but Rembrary couldn’t accept it.

“You don’t know because you’ve been climbing up from a low rank, but I feel bad because I went from first to fifth.”

“……I feel bad after hearing you say that.”

Of course, whether Rembrary accepted it or not, the score had already been reflected, so there was no way to correct it.

And two days later, when they had another practical training session, Rembrary participated in the training with the determination to be number one this time. Fortunately, this training was not about dealing with those disgusting bugs, so Rembrary became confident.

* * *

“Now, let’s assume you have completed a mission by receiving a request from a resource company. It was a very difficult mission, but in a situation where you have completed 99% of the mission, one of your colleagues is trying to betray you.”
The instructor, who had gathered the new trainees in the basement training room on the first floor, had them sit together and gave them this hypothetical scenario.

“The betrayer has the requested item. Now, how should you handle this situation? I will score based on the handling method.”

Rembrary clenched his fist. *This would be the end.*

“However.”

But the instructor’s explanation of the situation didn’t end there.

“You have already been ambushed and cannot attack. Of course, you cannot threaten them either. It won’t be a threat.”

Rembrary, who could never be in a state where he couldn’t attack even after being ambushed, thought this was an absurd setting, but Rembrary, as a trainee, had no right to refuse.

“Trainee Rembrary.”

In the meantime, the instructor called Rembrary’s name right away, as if he had firmly marked Rembrary during the last practice session.

“Shall we have you show us first?”

When Rembrary stood up awkwardly, the instructor pointed to himself, telling him to come out here. And while Rembrary was walking, he asked the other trainees.

“Anyone want to play the role of the betrayer?”

And then, in case other people didn’t volunteer, he was about to add that they would all have to do it once anyway, so they should just get it over with quickly in the front order. Immediately, one trainee raised his hand.

“Me.”

It was Gu Byeong-in. The instructor frowned. *The day Rembrary wielded Mori like a weapon a few days ago, when Rembrary said something strange when explaining why the resource company didn’t sponsor the trainees, didn’t that guy step up then too?* But he was a little puzzled when he stepped up this time too.

‘Is he stepping up because he’s close or because he’s not close?’

Since there was no reason to stop him, the instructor nodded and instructed.

“Stand facing trainee Rembrary.”

When Gu Byeong-in stood facing Rembrary, the instructor explained to the trainees.

“The person playing the role of the betrayer should say what they like and dislike first. Assuming they know that much because they were colleagues, they have to persuade them.”

Gu Byeong-in answered honestly when the instructor looked at him.

“I like my family and dancing, and I hate losing.”

Anyway, he had come forward with the determination that he would never be persuaded no matter what Rembrary persuaded him, so it didn’t matter if he just said this. Rather than vaguely lying and being marked by the instructor as ‘Why is that guy like that?’

The instructor nodded and instructed.

“Now, trainee Rembrary. Persuade the betraying colleague and find the stolen requested item.”

“Gu Byeong-in. You will be punished by heaven.”

However, when Rembrary started persuading him right away with those words, the instructor waved his hand, realizing he had made a mistake.

“Trainee Rembrary. And all the other trainees too. Don’t use words like ‘punished by heaven’. It’s ominous in case black clouds really gather.”

Rembrary recalled the pillar falling from the sky, answered that he understood, and changed his words again.

“Gu Byeong-in. If you come out like that, I’m going to beat you up.”

The instructor frowned at those words and corrected him again.

“Trainee Rembrary. I told you not to threaten him.”

“This is a warning.”

Rembrary quickly retorted, but it was no use.

“It’s a threat.”

In the end, Rembrary reluctantly changed his words again.

“Gu Byeong-in. If you come out like that, you will disappear secretly and quietly. But I’m not threatening you.”

The instructor pressed his temple.

“Trainee Rembrary. Threatening while saying it’s not a threat is still a threat even if you threaten.”

Rembrary became troubled. This is not allowed, that is not allowed, he didn’t know what to do.

What the instructor wanted was for Rembrary to stimulate the other person’s conscience and persuade them, but he had never faced such a situation, so it was difficult for him to guess the instructor’s intention at all.

The instructor also pressed his temple because his head was throbbing because Rembrary couldn’t grasp the situation too much. *President Jang Tae-ri tried to break the resource company’s rules for that?!*

In the end, he checked the time and gave Rembrary a warning.

“Trainee Rembrary. I’ll give you three more chances. Persuade him within that time. If you can’t do it here, you’ll get 0 points this time.”

In the meantime, only Gu Byeong-in smiled slyly. Rembrary was doing so badly that he didn’t even have to interfere or anything. At this point, he didn’t even understand why Woo Yeon-woo had told him to interfere. He seemed a bit strong when he saw him a few days ago, but being a hunter isn’t just about strength.

Rembrary sighed briefly. Honestly, he thought he was being tested by pushing the situation too extremely. Anyway, he couldn’t get 0 points in the face of the High Priest, so Rembrary seriously racked his brains.

*If I were an ordinary person, not a special High Priest, what would I have said at this time?* As he pondered, he surprisingly got a little sense of it.

“Gu Byeong-in.”

“!”

“Actually, what you have is fake. What I have is real.”

“Trainee Rembrary! Don’t add settings arbitrarily!”

But it didn’t work this time either. The instructor shouted without realizing it, and eventually gave him a tip while panting.

“Make the betrayer’s heart soft. What did Gu Byeong-in like? What did he dislike? Why do you think I gave you that information in the first place? Think about the given situation!”

“Family and dance…….”

Rembrary finally understood what the instructor was saying and smiled at Gu Byeong-in.

“I understand. Then I’ll show you a dance.”

The instructor covered his head with both hands.

‘Can’t you pick one of the two!’

Still, he didn’t think he would really dance. When Rembrary really started dancing, the instructor was so surprised that he almost dropped the trainee scoring sheet.

Not only the trainees, but this time even Gu Byeong-in was flustered and opened his mouth. Moreover, that dance was…… Wild Animal’s dance [a popular, energetic dance].

‘He can’t even dance well?’

‘A klutz…….’

‘There’s no beat?’

The trainees bit their lips at the unexpected situation, and the instructor had to get angry, but this time he clenched his jaw and turned his head.

Meanwhile, Rembrary finished the wonderful idol choreography and proudly asked.

“Have you been persuaded?”

Gu Byeong-in blankly shook his head. Thinking that Woo Yeon-woo had clearly said that he was the trainee the CEO cherished the most…….

In the meantime, the instructor barely regained his instructor-like, stern, and charismatic expression and warned Rembrary.

“Trainee Rembrary. You only have one chance left. If you can’t do it this time, it’s really 0 points. Really!”