Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 161

< 161. Not Asking with Bad Intentions >

“Are you really just going to watch?”

Shin Jo-woon asked, sounding dumbfounded.

‘Of course not.’ Rembrary answered honestly in his mind, then nodded.

He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t tell Shin Jo-woon about the brush that erases emotions, the cult leader, or the tiger-head monster.

Shin Jo-woon seemed to want to ask more, but he didn’t press the issue. It was as if he knew the other person wasn’t willing to answer even if he asked.

A few minutes later.

The two arrived at their destination. Shin Jo-woon parked the car a short distance from the police station, but in a spot where he could observe it, and then asked.

“What are you going to do now? Are you going inside?”

“If I go in-”

“It’ll cause unnecessary attention.”

“I suppose so?”

Rembrary rested his forehead on the dashboard and pondered, ‘What should I do then?’

He had come all the way here, but Shin Jo-woon was right.

Even if the reason was because of the brush, that trainee wasn’t going to suddenly stop being a criminal. He was already a murderer who had killed an innocent person.

If he went to see someone he once had a connection with, it might get strangely complicated.

While he was contemplating, Woo Sung-woo was seen coming out of the police station. He was frowning.

‘The Nakru [a monster hunter organization] coming here was Woo Sung-woo?’

He even arrived quickly. He was already on his way out. He hasn’t killed him yet, has he?

Rembrary frowned along with him and got out of the car.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go see in person.”

Rembrary cautiously approached Woo Sung-woo.

Woo Sung-woo happened to take out his phone and was calling someone.

After waiting a bit, Woo Sung-woo started speaking in a stiff voice, as if the other party had answered the phone right away.

“I don’t see the tiger head. Did he go somewhere else?”

‘He doesn’t see the tiger head?’

Rembrary was intrigued and focused on the phone call.

However, it was hard enough to hear Woo Sung-woo’s voice, so there was no way he could hear the voice of the person on the other end of the call.

Even so, Woo Sung-woo continued to talk, saying, “Yes. Yes.”

Then, Woo Sung-woo suddenly said, “Ah,” and turned around.

‘He caught me!’ Rembrary quickly ducked behind a telephone pole.

However, Woo Sung-woo didn’t turn around because he sensed someone. He glanced at the telephone pole, then fixed his gaze on the police station and continued speaking.

“Not a tiger head. But there’s something interesting inside.”

Woo Sung-woo took his eyes off the police station, turned around again, and walked away.

Rembrary kept hidden and continued to follow his retreating figure.

Shin Jo-woon, wondering what was going on, ended up following along, asking.

“What are we doing right now?”

“Shhh.”

Rembrary signaled Shin Jo-woon to be quiet.

Meanwhile, Woo Sung-woo entered a small playground that was made for young children but seemed to be used more by juvenile delinquents, and sat on an old bench.

“He’s a human now. But there’s someone who’s turning into a monster.”

Rembrary was worried that Shin Jo-woon might ask another question and he would miss Woo Sung-woo’s voice, but Shin Jo-woon had been quiet ever since he heard the ‘shhh’ sound, so he wasn’t disturbed.

But Woo Sung-woo himself suddenly became quiet.

It seemed that the person on the other end of the phone was talking for a long time.

Rembrary was anxious and pressed his thumb against his chin as if he were massaging it.

The Great Shaman isn’t visible, and it’s a relief that the tiger head seems to have run away on his own. But I can’t believe Nakru knows that the trainee criminal is turning into a monster….

‘Is it changing that obviously?’

But no matter how much he was turning into a monster, he wasn’t a monster yet. Moreover, that trainee criminal was arrested.

There was no way that Nakru, who deals with real monsters, could deal with someone who hasn’t even become a monster yet while he’s arrested.

Rembrary became anxious. In this situation, he should obviously stop Nakru from attacking that trainee.

It was a problem because if he, with his well-known face, fought Nakru inside the police station, it would be impossible to hide that he was the Great High Priest.

If it was revealed that he was the Great High Priest, instead of becoming a top star and creating believers of the Redrine God, he might have to live playing hide-and-seek with Nakru, and he might be chased by those who want power.

‘No, it’s too early to be sure. Even Nakru wouldn’t kill someone who’s still human.’

While Rembrary was anxious, Woo Sung-woo opened his mouth again.

“I guess we have to kill him.”

Shattering expectations.

Rembrary’s eyes widened.

He had heard that they were trying to eliminate evil and even kill saints. He had heard that they were merciless to monsters. But he didn’t know they would try to kill someone who hadn’t completely become a monster yet.

Meanwhile.

Woo Sung-woo stood up and rolled his phone in his hand. The call seemed to be over.

After thinking for a moment, he headed towards the police station.

‘Is he really going to kill him?’

Rembrary regretted bringing Shin Jo-woon for a moment.

“I shouldn’t have brought Shin Jo-woon.”

If he hadn’t brought Shin Jo-woon, he could have run to Woo Sung-woo right now and told him to stop.

“If you hadn’t brought me, you wouldn’t have even arrived.”

“That’s true.”

Rembrary acknowledged and straightened his legs, which had been crouched down to chase after Woo Sung-woo.

Shin Jo-woon would think it was strange… but there was a priority.

Even if he had to make excuses to Shin Jo-woon later, stopping Woo Sung-woo was the priority right now.

However, Shin Jo-woon grabbed the nape of Rembrary’s neck and pulled him back, stopping him from going to Woo Sung-woo.

“What are you going to do?”

“You heard him. I have to stop him.”

“That person?”

“Who?”

“The person who could be in danger. The person who was going to meet the criminal.”

“He’s not here. I don’t see him.”

“Then you don’t need to go either, right?”

“If I don’t go, that… trainee, he’ll die.”

“You said you’re not close to him.”

“Does that matter when saving someone?”

Shin Jo-woon blinked a few times and answered.

“Yeah. It matters to me.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Why are you being like this? It doesn’t suit you.”

“What matters to me isn’t how close I am to that person.”

“!”

“It’s whether that person believes in the same god as me.”

“?”

Shin Jo-woon, who had been looking at Rembrary with a concerned face, asked with a bewildered expression.

“Why are you suddenly talking about religion?”

“Let’s talk about it later.”

Rembrary left Shin Jo-woon behind and chased after Woo Sung-woo.

But this time, he didn’t chase after him while hiding, but walked straight towards him.

Woo Sung-woo heard the sound of footsteps chasing him and turned his head.

Then, when he met Rembrary’s eyes, he made a face that said, ‘Why are you here?’ but stopped anyway.

“Don’t do it.”

Rembrary spoke directly as soon as he got close.

Woo Sung-woo was listening, wondering what he was going to say, then he twisted his lips.

“What are you talking about?”

“I heard everything you said on the phone. Don’t do it.”

“How do you know what I’m going to do?”

“You said you were going to kill him.”

He should have felt guilty. But Woo Sung-woo asked nonchalantly.

“Did you only hear the last part of the call? What about the first part?”

“I heard it.”

“Then you should have heard why I have to do it, right?”

“Still, don’t kill him.”

Woo Sung-woo tried to ignore Rembrary and walk away, but Rembrary reached out and grabbed Woo Sung-woo.

A couple, presumed to be high school students, and parents who were drunk, came out of the police station while scolding their child and recognized them, whispering to each other, “Isn’t that Woo Yeon-woo [Rembrary’s celebrity persona]?”

Even though he was wearing a mask and a hat, they had great eyesight.

Woo Sung-woo sighed, grabbed Rembrary’s arm, and pulled him into the alley next to the police station.

When Rembrary followed him willingly, he came to a place where he couldn’t see inside from the outside, checked that there was no one there, and then flicked Rembrary’s forehead hard with his finger.

“Insolent!”

“It’s none of your business. You’re not involved. Get out of here.”

“Don’t kill him.”

“I told you it’s none of your business.”

“How can you do that? You don’t have the authority to kill people indiscriminately.”

Woo Sung-woo seemed to think that he couldn’t communicate with him and was about to leave.

Rembrary reached out and grabbed Woo Sung-woo.

Woo Sung-woo tried to shake him off and leave, but Rembrary now reached out with his other hand and grabbed him with both hands.

Woo Sung-woo looked at Rembrary, wondering if he was kidding, but Rembrary had a more serious face than ever.

Unable to bear it, Woo Sung-woo asked coldly.

“What if the criminal turns into a complete monster and goes around killing people?”

“That’s something to argue about after he turns into a monster. He’s not a monster yet, is he?”

“It’ll be too late after he turns into a monster. The probability of killing people is high after he turns into a monster.”

“Does that mean you can kill someone who is terminally ill in advance because they have a high probability of dying anyway?”

Shin Jo-woon, who had been standing still and listening to the conversation, tilted his head and looked at Woo Sung-woo.

Woo Sung-woo was frustrated because he thought Rembrary was frustrating.

But he couldn’t push the kid away and hurt his head again, so he couldn’t push him away.

“Yeon-woo.”

Woo Sung-woo tried to speak in a soothing voice, then grabbed Rembrary’s arm and slammed it against the wall.

“You do your job. Sing and dance, ah, you can’t dance. Act and do whatever you do.”

However, when Shin Jo-woon stepped forward and grabbed Woo Sung-woo’s shoulder tightly, Woo Sung-woo let go of Rembrary because he didn’t want to hurt his brother anyway.

At that moment.

A loud bang was heard, and a person wearing a large flight jacket ran out of the police station and ran away.

From the police station, shouts of “Catch him!” erupted along with curses.

A few policemen who ran out chased after the flight jacket, and the rest hurriedly boarded police cars and motorcycles and chased after the flight jacket.

Rembrary recalled that the flight jacket was the clothes that the criminal was wearing when he was being taken into custody.

Woo Sung-woo watched it, let out a ridiculous laugh, and then looked down at Rembrary with cold eyes and said.

“He escaped. Now he’s going to go somewhere and turn into a complete monster. Now people are going to die because of you?”

However, Rembrary didn’t even blink an eye at Woo Sung-woo’s scathing words.

“No. One person is alive because of me.”

“!”

After finishing speaking, Rembrary took Shin Jo-woon and moved away from Woo Sung-woo.

Rembrary knew that the demons were hiding very well, so he guessed that even though the tiger head had taken refuge, it wouldn’t be far away.

Since he was told to stay next to the criminal, he would probably follow if the criminal moved away from Woo Sung-woo.

Rembrary walked in that direction, thinking that all he had to do was find the tiger head.

If he found the trainee criminal before anyone else, he was confident that he could stop him before he became a monster.

However, Shin Jo-woon, who had been following Rembrary for the first few steps, returned to Woo Sung-woo’s side.

Then, he stood in place and looked at Woo Sung-woo.

Woo Sung-woo gritted his teeth, unable to do this or that because he was his brother, and then met Shin Jo-woon’s eyes.

Woo Sung-woo’s expression frowned even more. He didn’t like the fact that he had been standing next to his brother and watching him like a spectator, and he felt even worse when he came back and looked at him like that.

However, Shin Jo-woon loosened his neatly tied tie and asked with a smiling face.

“Are you Yeon-woo hyung [older brother]? You look a lot alike.”

“So what.”

Woo Sung-woo didn’t ask who he was. He knew who he was. He couldn’t not know him since he was always on TV with his brother.

But when he looked at him with a suspicious look, Shin Jo-woon fiddled with his tie and stared at Woo Sung-woo before asking.

“Are you close to my brother? Would he be very worried if you disappeared?”

< 161. Not Asking with Bad Intentions > End