Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 696

◈ 696. An Unexpected Trace

Moirgi pressed himself against the wall, eyes wide, staring ahead. He heard a car door open.

Moirgi swallowed hard. Even in this urgent situation, he thought, there might still be a way to escape.

The person chasing him seemed to be struggling with the car door, shaking it violently.

‘Forcing his way into the alley like that,’ Moirgi thought. It seemed too narrow for the door to open properly.

‘In that case, that bastard won’t be able to back out easily.’

‘Now’s my chance!’

Realizing this was his only opportunity, Moirgi immediately scrambled onto the car.

“Hahaha, you idiot! Farewell!” Moirgi shouted gleefully, scrambling over the car and landing, he thought, stylishly. But as he tried to run, the reversing car hit him directly.

* * *

“Are you awake?”

Before he could even gather his thoughts, someone bombarded him with a question. Immediately recalling the situation before he fainted, Moirgi pretended to be unconscious.

‘After all, I was just hit by a car. My whole body aches, so even if I pretend to be unconscious, the other person will…’

‘Doesn’t it hurt?’

Moirgi’s eyes snapped open. Seeing the radiant and dazzling face before him, he instinctively covered his eyes with both hands.

Moirgi soon lowered his hands and abruptly sat up.

“Rembrary-nim [term of respect, similar to ‘Mr.’ or ‘Sir’ but for admired figures]?!

The person with the flamboyant appearance before him was Rembrary, whom he admired.

Moirgi was shocked that the idiot who had struggled with the car door was Rembrary-nim. He stared wide-eyed, speechless for a moment.

The turmoil in his heart melted away like dried seaweed in water at the sight of Rembrary’s handsome face and kind, gentle eyes.

Moirgi was briefly taken aback, wondering, ‘Is the Rembrary-nim I respect an idiot?’ but he belatedly realized that wasn’t important.

What mattered now was why he was being held by Rembrary.

“Rembrary-nim, why are you here…?”

“I’m the one who caught you.”

“Ah, of course, you would. I saw you driving like crap firsthand. But why did you catch me…?”

As Moirgi muttered, Rembrary’s brow furrowed. He looked like he was thinking, ‘What nonsense is this?’

Just as he was curious about why he was being held by Rembrary, Rembrary seemed curious about why he didn’t know the reason.

They stared blankly at each other for about ten seconds. Suddenly, Rembrary put on an even warmer smile over his gentle one and asked,

“Do you like betting?”

“Yes?”

“Shall we make a bet?”

“W-What kind of bet are you talking about…?”

“A truthful bet.”

Watching Rembrary’s eyes narrow slightly, Moirgi swallowed hard. It was a gentle smile, but why did it send a chill down his spine?

* * *

As Rembrary came out of the room with a serious expression, Daeju, who had been sitting on a chair in the hallway, jumped up.

“What did he say?”

Daeju quickly approached Rembrary and asked.

Two hours ago.

When he received a call from Rembrary, who had driven off in the car, saying he was ‘stuck in an alley,’ he couldn’t believe it.

But when he rushed over, Rembrary was not only stuck in the alley but also had someone collapsed nearby.

Daeju’s legs trembled, finally realizing that Rembrary had caused a major accident. His vision blurred.

He regretted yielding the driver’s seat, realizing it was naive to think that Rembrary, though bad at driving, was good at healing people and wouldn’t cause a big accident even if he couldn’t drive.

However, the person who had collapsed was perfectly alive and well. It was Moirgi of Blackrin, who was wanted for releasing the monster captured by the National Hunters and then fleeing.

Relieved, Daeju’s legs gave way, and he had to lean against the wall to stand.

Only then did Daeju back the car out of the alley, wincing at the sight of the traces of battle all over the elegant car.

Anyway, it was better for the car to be damaged than for a person to be, so Daeju put Moirgi in the car and left the scene, returning to Redrin headquarters.

Afterward, Rembrary secluded himself in an empty room, saying he had something to ask Moirgi. Then, he came out after only twenty minutes.

Rembrary didn’t say why he had caught Moirgi, but Daeju guessed the reason.

Rembrary had mentioned Blackrin’s movements after returning from the ‘Island,’ so he probably asked questions related to that.

And Daeju’s guess was correct.

“He said he collected information on the High-End Hunters because he wanted to join them.”

“Yes?”

“There was a rumor circulating among hunters online that they were increasing the number of High-End Hunters. Is that true?”

“There was such a rumor.”

“He heard that and wanted to produce High-End Hunters on their side as well.”

Daeju’s expression twisted.

“He leaked information for such a trivial reason?”

“He was trying to find out the criteria for selection.”

“How foolish…!”

Daeju was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh. Someone had even died while acting as a spy for such a trivial reason. It was too absurd.

“No, but what about the employee who leaked the information in the middle? Did he die while working to provide such trivial information?”

“No. It seems he leaked everything from light information to classified information.”

“He wanted to become a High-End Hunter, right?”

“He wanted to become a High-End Hunter and then take over the group.”

“…That seems to be the main point.”

* * *

Rembrary sent the information he had learned from Moirgi to Shin Jo-woon via text message.

He had been offered to become a High-End Hunter but hadn’t accepted it yet, so he thought it was up to Shin Jo-woon, who was currently a High-End Hunter, to handle.

After hearing the story, Shin Jo-woon was speechless for a moment.

[Anchovy? What’s wrong?]

Thinking he might not believe it, Rembrary sent a text message twice. Only then did Shin Jo-woon reply, [Okay.]

He thought the reaction was lukewarm, but anyway, he felt relieved that he had done his part.

Only after eating the garlic steak that Ardor had made while crying did Rembrary realize that there was nothing to feel relieved about.

Although Blackrin’s purpose had been revealed, what was important to Rembrary was whether such people would influence Redrin’s demonization, not Blackrin’s purpose.

This would only help the High-End Hunters who were curious about why Blackrin was targeting them.

“I only did good for others.”

* * *

For the next few days, Rembrary was busy again.

After confirming that the period of strong side effects was one month, Rembrary began treatment again.

Of course, before receiving treatment, he informed them that there was a side effect of deepening faith in Redrin for a month and allowed them to choose whether to receive treatment, considering this.

Everyone chose to receive treatment without exception.

Afterward, Rembrary personally visited and treated those who had been attacked by the jellyfish hunter and those who had been imprisoned after Iji disappeared.

Each time, LLL released articles praising Rembrary’s good deeds and abilities, carefully including various photos of Rembrary.

Such efforts paid off, and Redrin’s image began to improve even faster just because Rembrary had returned, and the number of believers increased day by day.

‘Why don’t Mullu and Ninring contact me?’

He was a little worried that Redrin’s demonization was still the same and that Mullu and Ninring hadn’t appeared, but otherwise, it was generally peaceful days.

He forgot about the problem of whether to become a High-End Hunter or not and didn’t worry about it. He couldn’t even apply for a retest for his driver’s license due to Daeju’s extreme opposition.

One day, Rembrary heard unexpected news.

“What? Open recruitment?”

Rembrary looked at Shin Jo-woon with surprised eyes. Jang Tae-ri, who was eating pickled radish wraps next to him, also gave him a puzzled look.

After a long time, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon had matched their schedules, and the three of them had come to eat meat together.

“Jang Anchovy [a nickname], eat a lot. That’s why your guts are like an anchovy.”

Shin Jo-woon teased Jang Tae-ri, and Jang Tae-ri was dumbfounded. But while they were joking around and having fun, Shin Jo-woon suddenly brought up the topic.

The increase in High-End Hunters had been officially decided, and they would be recruiting this number publicly.

“Isn’t that my spot?”

Even though he had no intention of becoming a High-End Hunter, Rembrary felt like he was being robbed of his spot for no reason.

“You said you wouldn’t do it.”

“I said I’d think about it.”

“Haven’t you been thinking about it for weeks?”

Jang Tae-ri teased him, and Rembrary plausibly excused himself, saying, “I have to be careful,” and then pressed Shin Jo-woon again.

“You said it was my spot, so why are you recruiting publicly? What’s the reason? Is it because I haven’t decided?”

“No. It’s not difficult to wait a few more weeks.”

“Then why?”

“There was talk of adjusting the number from fifteen to about twenty. So I looked at several candidates, and it’s because of that.”

“Too many?”

“No. There are many applicants, but few spots. Especially since there are many hunters affiliated with the country or companies. It’s become too noisy.”

Jang Tae-ri made a knowing expression.

“So, since they couldn’t come to a conclusion, they decided to gather everyone and compare their skills? It seems like it would be too noisy to do it privately, so they’re doing it publicly for everyone to see.”

Shin Jo-woon nodded and added.

“Judging by the fact that they’re trying to sell broadcasting rights here and there, it seems like they’re going to select them through live broadcasts.”

Rembrary picked up the meat and muttered.

“Anyway, if they’re selecting them in that way, it has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to go there by doing that. In the first place, they asked me to join because of Blackrin, but their intentions have been revealed, haven’t they?”

Shin Jo-woon frowned instead of agreeing.

Rembrary continued to pick up the meat, but Jang Tae-ri noticed that he had something more to say and put down his chopsticks.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Association President still wants the Pig [Rembrary’s nickname] to attend.”

“Ah, then I can go to the Pig farm.”

“The Association President wants a capable healer to attend.”

“Me? Why?”

Jang Tae-ri bit his lip tightly, then picked up his chopsticks and lowered his head.

“Because Blackrin is attending in large numbers.”

Even after it was revealed that Blackrin’s intentions were absurdly flamboyant, the Association President still seemed to be wary of them.

“Well, if they have the skills, they’ll be selected, and if they don’t, they won’t. When I went there before, the other High-End Hunters all had different personalities. Would it be a big problem if one more strange person was added?”

However, Rembrary brushed it off like that because he was annoyed.

He already had a lot of work to do, and he didn’t want to just become a High-End Hunter, let alone compete publicly for the position.

Even if an Awakened from Blackrin was selected, he didn’t think that person alone could control those hunters with strong personalities.

But after hearing Shin Jo-woon’s last words, Rembrary’s mind was half changed.

“This isn’t what the Association President told me to say.”

“?”

“There was a rumor that there was a green-haired woman among the people presumed to be Blackrin.”

“Mullu?!”