Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 669

◈ 669. Danger Level

Rembrary walked along the outskirts of the highway, looking around with fascination.

‘Impressive.’

Lumena told me that the passage connection was unstable, so about two years might have passed. But the roads and such are more restored than I thought.

‘They even put up new signs. They said they were doing a restoration project. Is it going well?’

The highway still had damaged sections, but it wasn’t cut off like before.

The crumpled and dented signposts were now standing straight.

The fallen or shattered signs were newly installed and clean.

Surprisingly, the place names on the new signs weren’t non-urban names like ‘Rap-Doing Field’ or ‘Dancing Mountain.’

Gyeongju. If my memory serves me right, that was the original name before the cataclysm.

‘Did it return to normal? I heard the government couldn’t control it because of the monsters and Awakened [people with supernatural abilities]. Is it working now?’

In any case, it was definitely safer than two years ago. I could tell just by the fact that there were far more cars on the highway than before.

Before, it was common to see only one or two cars on the highway.

While walking and wondering how everyone was doing, Rembrary arrived at a highway rest stop.

‘These people recover quickly.’

Rembrary was impressed by the one-story, elongated building.

The rest stop was also full of people.

Judging by the rarity of family customers, it didn’t seem like complete peace had been achieved, but before I left, the number of operating rest stops was very small.

Considering that, it was an amazing change.

“Hey, look at that guy’s clothes. Isn’t he cold in this winter weather?”

“Shhh. Just ignore him. He’s probably a hunter with a concept [a hunter with a unique style or theme].”

“Still, a thin outfit and a black conical hat in this freezing winter.”

Despite the whispers of the people, Rembrary steadfastly entered the restaurant in the rest stop.

Inside, he saw people ordering and eating various dishes.

‘How much money do I have left?’

Feeling hungry from the smell of the food, Rembrary reached into his pocket to check his cash, then went to the counter to order something to eat.

“Udon and tonkatsu, please.”

“Okay, here you go.”

“What’s this paper for?”

“Hold onto the paper, and when your number appears there, pick up your food and eat.”

Rembrary stood blankly, holding the papers with the numbers 23 and 35 written on them. When the numbers appeared on the electronic display, he quickly ran to get his udon and tonkatsu.

Since he had many bowls to carry, Rembrary took a seat near the cooking area.

Just as he was about to eat, the person who ordered number 24 udon naturally sat across from Rembrary and picked up their chopsticks.

While watching the person eat their udon quickly, as if they were busy, Rembrary thought it was a good opportunity and cautiously asked them.

“May I ask you a question?”

“?”

The person across from him paused, then raised their head. They didn’t say he could, but looking at him intently, it seemed like they were willing to answer if asked.

Rembrary quickly asked before the other person changed their mind.

“Why are there so many people here?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, here. Why are there so many people?”

The person who seemed willing to answer looked at Rembrary with strange eyes.

They were looking at him as if he were a walking crocodile.

Why are they looking at me like that? Did I ask the question too much like someone from another world? As Rembrary was thinking, ‘Was the question too blunt?’ the person suddenly picked up their tray and stood up.

‘Don’t they want to talk?’

Rembrary regretted the other person’s stiff attitude and picked up his own chopsticks.

‘I was curious about what happened in the last two years.’

But just as Rembrary was savoring the taste of the udon after eating about two chopsticks’ worth,
someone came to the table and stopped abruptly. He thought they were just passing by, but they didn’t move.

Still, Rembrary tried not to pay attention and continued to eat his udon.

“Can I see your ID?”

However, the polite yet blunt voice from beside him stopped Rembrary.

Rembrary put down his chopsticks and looked to the side. A person with a weapon was standing there, and next to them was the person who had been sitting across from Rembrary earlier.

“Why?”

When Rembrary asked, the person with the weapon gestured to the person next to him and replied.

“We received a report. I’m the hunter in charge of this rest stop. If you show me your ID, you can go right away.”

Rembrary’s eyes widened. Seriously, I just asked why there were so many people. And this guy reported me?

Though a bit embarrassed, Rembrary answered honestly.

“I don’t have one.”

Then the rest stop hunter took out a notebook and asked an unexpected question.

“Did you come from another world?”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows. The hunter brought up the story of another world so naturally.

He didn’t show any anger and brought up the story of another world so casually, making Rembrary wonder, ‘What is this?’

“Why do you ask that?”

When he asked, not used to it, the hunter scrutinized Rembrary with sharp eyes and replied.

“If you haven’t been here long and came without any bad intentions, you need to have a guarantor and get a temporary ID. Did you just arrive from another world?”

The hunter added a detailed explanation for Rembrary and asked.

However, Rembrary was even more bewildered by the lengthy explanation.

‘An ID? They give IDs to people from our world?’

As Rembrary was only surprised and didn’t answer, the hunter put the notebook he had taken out back into his pocket and said warily.

“If you immigrated with suspicious intentions or are related to demons, we will arrest you. I’ll ask again. Do you have an ID, or did you just immigrate?”

“Hmm. It’s hard to say.”

The moment Rembrary honestly replied to the series of questions, the rest stop hunter took out a club from somewhere and swung it.

Rembrary instinctively defended himself with the udon bowl.

Almost simultaneously with the sound of the udon bowl breaking, Rembrary moved half a circle, grabbed the hunter by the neck, pulled out a chair with his foot, and pushed him down onto it.

“!”

The hunter, caught by the neck and forced to sit on the chair in the blink of an eye, looked at Rembrary with fearful eyes and asked.

“Who are you?”

Unable to reveal his name, Rembrary omitted the answer and asked again.

“I’m just trying to ask a few questions, so answer me. I used to live here a few years ago but have been away for a while, so I don’t know much.”

“Away where?”

“A place so far away that I couldn’t hear any news from here. But I haven’t been gone that long. It seems the world has changed too much while I was away.”

“When did you leave here…?”

“I left when the Demon King was sealed. Hmm. Tell me roughly about the major events from that time.”

When Rembrary didn’t harm him further, the hunter explained in a gloomy voice, as if he had no choice.

“During that time, people fought a lot. Many people thought the cataclysm was caused by people from another world, and many blamed Rembrary for it. Do you know that much?”

“Yes, you can start from there.”

Rembrary became curious.

He disappeared with the false accusation that he had brought people from another world to Earth, but he didn’t expect that people from another world would integrate well here just because of that.

He just wanted to reduce the number of times Earthlings would criticize him from ten to two or three.

But the world has changed so much that the rest stop hunter asked if he was from another world and demanded an ID. What on earth happened?

“The atmosphere became more hostile as people escaped from the sealed demon realm. Some of those people interviewed and said that Rembrary had threatened them.”

“Did they?”

“It only ended at that level because the skyways were cut off. If it had been before the cataclysm, it would have been a disaster. International organizations and foreign agencies would have come looking. Because the damage wasn’t just in our country. But the skyways are all cut off, and they’re busy fixing their own countries, so foreigners were just protesting online.”

Rembrary was bewildered.

When he heard up to this point, the situation had only gotten worse. So why has the atmosphere eased now?

He still didn’t understand why the rest stop hunter had mentioned another world ID.

“So? What happened after that?”

“That’s…”

The hunter, who had opened his mouth as if there was more to the story, suddenly pushed Rembrary’s leg away.

“!”

Rembrary immediately grabbed his neck from behind and subdued him again.

But this time, it didn’t end there.

Some hunters, who seemed to be watching from a distance, aimed their weapons at Rembrary and began to approach.

“If you are not a dangerous person, surrender peacefully.”

‘I just came to have a meal. Why do they keep coming at me, telling me to surrender?’

Rembrary was in a difficult situation. Before he knew it, about eight hunters were surrounding Rembrary. There was also someone holding up a cell phone from a distance.

The thought of being captured flashed through his mind for a moment. But he couldn’t just surrender to them now, not knowing how the situation was unfolding.

‘I have no choice.’

Rembrary sighed and immediately found an escape route and ran towards it.

‘My tonkatsu…’

He was bothered by the tonkatsu he hadn’t even taken a bite of, but there was nothing he could do.

* * *

“An Awakened person, presumed to be from another world and showing aggressive tendencies, has appeared but has not been captured.”

At the report from his subordinate team member, Ki Seong-hyun frowned as he turned the newspaper.

“What’s the possibility of it being a demon?”

“It’s not clear yet.”

“Did they attack anyone?”

“They didn’t touch any non-Awakened people. But they refused the cooperation request of the hunter working at the rest stop, attacked them, and then fled.”

“Then it must be a demon.”

Ki Seong-hyun answered calmly, picked up his already cold coffee cup, and asked.

“Again? Any other misdeeds?”

“That’s…”

“What is it? Is it serious enough to assign a danger level and put out a wanted notice?”

“They ordered a 5,000 won tonkatsu and then took the 6,000 won tonkatsu that someone else ordered.”

“!”

Ki Seong-hyun, who choked on his tea, coughed and took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

“What?”

Ki Seong-hyun belatedly asked blankly, and his subordinate blushed as if they were embarrassed to report it themselves.

Ki Seong-hyun folded the handkerchief and sighed.

“We don’t need to assign a danger level. You can go.”