Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 112

< 112. It's Hard to Tell the Difference >

“Sis, I’m gonna head over there for a bit.”

At Im Yu-han’s bright voice, her manager, who was dancing enthusiastically with her headset on, stopped and said, “Huh?”

Im Yu-han’s eyes widened.

“Wow, she understood right away. The music is so loud it’s coming through the headset, how did she hear me?”

“I didn’t hear you properly. Where are you going?”

“There.”

At Im Yu-han’s voice, the manager repeated, “There?” before exclaiming, “Gasp!”

The ‘there’ Im Yu-han was referring to was a members-only club she frequented. In case others might hear, they referred to it as ‘there’ between themselves.

“No, you’ve been so quiet lately, why now?”

“The reason I’ve been quiet lately is because I was shocked after running on the veranda, but now the shock has mostly worn off.”

“Already?”

The manager clicked her tongue in disbelief.

“What if you actually meet someone you know?”

“I go to members-only clubs to avoid meeting people I know. And what if I do? All I do is drink and dance.”

Im Yu-han said, suppressing her annoyance, and took out her shoes to put them on.

In fact, there was nothing wrong with going to a club, but Im Yu-han had a strong image as a pure first love [a popular trope in Korean entertainment, representing innocence and naivety]. And people couldn’t reconcile clubs with first loves.

Because of that, she went to the trouble of paying a lot of money to go to members-only clubs, but it seemed like she got annoyed sometimes.

“If you like dancing so much, why did you become an actress instead of a dance singer?”

“Because I can’t dance! Complain to the CEO. He’s the one who persuaded me to become an actress after seeing me dance. Yeon-woo’s CEO makes her a singer even though she can’t dance.”

“That’s why she blew up so late.”

The manager clicked her tongue, but she couldn’t stop Im Yu-han.

Im Yu-han chain-smoked and had a rough personality, but as she said, she just enjoyed drinking and dancing and didn’t cause any other trouble.

When she got drunk, she would call and ask to be picked up, or go up to her private room above the club and sleep quietly.

Rather than letting stress build up, it was better to let her go out and have fun quietly.

“Still, be careful. There was that incident where you were pushed off the veranda before, so don’t hang out with strangers.”

“Who don’t I know there?”

“You can know ten fathoms of water, but not one fathom of a person’s heart [a Korean proverb meaning you can never truly know someone’s intentions]. The stalker who sent you strange letters might be someone there, you know?”

“Is that so?”

“If possible, drink only a little, and don’t come out, call from inside. I’ll come pick you up.”

Im Yu-han nodded and went outside.

The manager took off her headset and kept her phone close by.

***

Around the same time.

Rembrary was summoned by Woo Sung-woo and came out of the dorm.

A few days ago, the ‘Man with the Spear’s’ boss had said to come and see them work, and this was why. He had sent a text saying he was going to work tonight and to come watch.

Rembrary didn’t really want to go, but he was worried about the phones they had, so he reluctantly accepted the offer.

He planned to follow them around appropriately, then act like he couldn’t do this kind of thing and get them to call him off. If he grabbed their ankles saying he was scared, they would think he was useless and try to withdraw their offer first.

He didn’t know where they were going or how, but the members would probably be the boss he talked to on the phone and Woo Sung-woo…

“You’re here?”

But when Rembrary came out, the person waiting with the car parked was Woo Sung-woo and a large man he didn’t recognize.

“Where’s the person I talked to?”

The Man with the Spear was injured and couldn’t come, but who was this guy? Rembrary asked, puzzled, and Woo Sung-woo answered curtly.

“Someone who has the ability to fight demons but doesn’t have eyes.”

“You mean he can’t see demons?”

“Yeah. I brought someone like that on purpose.”

“Why?”

“If you end up helping us with our work, you’ll be working with someone who doesn’t have eyes. I want you to experience it properly in advance.”

As soon as Woo Sung-woo finished explaining, the large man held out his hand.

Rembrary shook hands with the man and got into the car, then asked Woo Sung-woo again.

“Then what are you here for?”

“I don’t know if you’ll do your eye role properly or not, I can’t send you two alone.”

“So you have ‘eyes’ too?”

“…”

Woo Sung-woo didn’t answer, but Rembrary could guess the answer.

But he found it a bit strange. In a world where there seemed to be no monsters or demons, the body he had entered was the younger brother of someone who could see monsters and demons. There was definitely something strange about it. Was this just a coincidence, or was it a consideration from Redrin?

“But where are we going?”

“You’ll know if you follow me.”

***

The person who had the ability to catch demons but didn’t have ‘eyes’ was a very taciturn person.

The car was filled with a heavy silence as Woo Sung-woo drove.

Rembrary was quietly trying to figure out the situation, and Woo Sung-woo was frowning and didn’t open his mouth, as if he didn’t like something.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a long, large, and shiny building. As soon as the car stopped in front of the building, an employee helping with valet parking quickly ran over.

Woo Sung-woo left the car to the employee and went to the building entrance and handed over a gold card. The employee took the card and swiped it on a small machine, then nodded after a while and returned the card.

There was a brief commotion because the employee didn’t want to let Rembrary in, who was wearing a hat and mask, but the group managed to enter the building somehow.

The inside of the building was very desolate and lonely, the interior was nice, but no one was to be seen.

“What are we doing here?”

Rembrary asked, looking around.

He was told he would be shown how they worked, so there must be a demon in this building, but maybe because the building itself was so big, he didn’t feel any ominous energy in the first floor lobby. The evil spirit clinging to Rembrary’s shadow was also quiet.

“25th floor, follow me.”

Woo Sung-woo answered curtly and went to the elevator with six cars in a row and pressed the button.

After a while, the group got off on the 25th floor. But the 25th floor also didn’t have a single person to be seen.

Rembrary tilted his head. Not only were there no people, but he didn’t feel much of a demon or evil spirit’s energy here either.

Rembrary looked to the side to ask ‘what are we doing here’ again.

“I thought I saw it somewhere around here…”

But Woo Sung-woo was muttering to himself and checking something on his phone, so instead of asking a question, he just closed his mouth. Woo Sung-woo didn’t seem to know much either. The person who didn’t have ‘eyes’ wasn’t even blinking.

It was then.

A cold feeling rose from the floor, broke through the ceiling, and went up. It felt like something had passed through here at a fast speed.

‘What is it?’

It passed by without even giving him time to think, so Rembrary was puzzled because he didn’t know what it was, but Woo Sung-woo shouted, “This way!” and ran to the emergency exit. The silent man followed behind him.

Rembrary was dumbfounded when the two of them left him behind after bringing him all the way here, and he clicked his tongue while looking at their backs.

It seemed like those two thought he would naturally chase after them…

‘It’s better this way.’

Rembrary, who was planning to grab their ankles in the first place, deliberately walked slowly in the opposite direction instead of following them. He would make the excuse that he got lost when they met later.

But as he was slowly moving away from the emergency exit, he heard a thumping sound from inside the elevator. Then, one or two caterpillar-like things started to come out of the elevator.

Rembrary stopped and frowned.

‘What is it?’

He was wondering because the evil spirit or demon from earlier had definitely gone up there, and Woo Sung-woo had chased after it. But something ominous was coming up from the opposite direction.

Rembrary glanced to make sure Woo Sung-woo was completely gone, then approached the elevator where the ominous energy was coming from.

Just as Rembrary stood in front of the elevator, it made a ding sound and the door slid open.

“!”

He could see two people riding in it as the door opened. Rembrary raised his eyebrows.

One person was definitely a human. But the other person looked like a human, but wasn’t.

He had a decent body wearing a suit, but his face had no features at all.

‘A monster?’

Moreover, the faceless man had something like a dog collar around his neck, and another ‘person’ standing next to him was holding the leash connected to the dog collar.

But the faceless monster didn’t resist at all, and the person holding the handle was also indifferent. It was a very unique composition.

The elevator door opened right in front of him, so Rembrary and the person’s eyes naturally met.

The faceless person’s head also seemed to be facing Rembrary, but since he had no eyes, he couldn’t tell if their eyes met.

The person holding the monster’s leash calmly came out of the elevator.

As one person and one monster walked out, the elevator door closed with a ding.

As the person walked towards Rembrary, the faceless monster stretched out his hand towards the sky and walked in rhythm.

He must have been staring at the monster too intently. Rembrary realized this and quickly came to his senses and turned his body to the side. He had gotten entangled with the Man with the Spear while chasing the Ox Head. This time, he wasn’t going to pretend to know them from the start.

But the person holding the monster’s leash walked right next to Rembrary and stopped abruptly. Then, he turned only his eyes to look at Rembrary and asked.

“Who are you.”

It was a truly brazen question for someone who was dragging a monster around like he was taking it for a walk.

Rembrary hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t give up on his initial thought of ‘let’s pretend I can’t see the monster’ and said gently.

“Hello, just passing by.”

Just in case, he didn’t even look at the monster on the leash.

Did it work?

The man tilted his head, ignored Rembrary’s greeting, and walked past him two steps. But then he paused again, stood still for a moment, and slowly turned his head to ask Rembrary.

“You can see it?”

When Rembrary tilted his head as if he didn’t understand what he was saying, the man took two steps back and scoffed.

“You can see it.”

“See what?”

“This.”

The man pointed at the monster with his finger.

“I don’t see anything? It’s empty?”

Rembrary denied it until the end, but the man smiled with an expression that said ‘I caught you’ as soon as he heard Rembrary’s words.

Since his face showed that he knew he was lying, Rembrary had no choice but to stop pretending he couldn’t see the monster.

Then what? Should he just say he can see it and be done with it? Would he get strangely entangled like the Man with the Spear again?

Rembrary, who was racking his brains, recalled the story that Yeomra had told him. There was a group that was trying to use evil spirits or monsters to fight against Nakru. Maybe this man was a member of that group.

Yes, he must be one of those people, seeing as he’s walking around with a monster on a leash!

‘Then I should pretend to be a member of that group too!’

Even if he wasn’t, he would act very favorably towards the group. That way, they would be on the same side, and the man would be fooled and pass by.

As soon as Rembrary made his decision, he called out in a friendly voice.

“That slave is very strong. Where did you buy him?”

The man’s eyebrows twitched.

***

Im Yu-han, who had come to her room through the emergency stairs to sober up and exercise, was also surprised and opened her mouth when she found Rembrary and was waiting at a distance to greet him.

‘Wow.’

In Im Yu-han’s eyes, the faceless monster looked like an ordinary person. She couldn’t see the leash around his neck either. He was just a normal person wearing a suit.

Moreover, the man next to the faceless monster was the president of the club Im Yu-han had joined.

But Rembrary was pointing at the person who seemed to be an acquaintance of the president here and calling him a slave.

She thought that was too much to be a slip of the tongue, so Im Yu-han blankly stared at the scene.

‘He’s not a bad kid… but he’s really crazy.’

She was a little worried too.

The president’s expression was very bad, as if he was upset by Rembrary’s words.

Im Yu-han hesitated for a moment whether she should step in or not.

In the meantime. Rembrary seemed to realize his mistake, and after looking at the president’s expression, he exclaimed “Ah!” and apologized.

“He’s not a slave. He was a pet.”

“!”

“I’m not good at telling the two apart.”

Rembrary smiled kindly, sighed, and then asked the man in the suit kindly.

“Baby, are you upset?”

‘That crazy bastard!’

< 112. It's Hard to Tell the Difference > End