Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 179

179. Already Changed

Another person turning into a monster? And this time, almost completely transformed? As soon as he heard Woo Sungwoo’s words, Rembrary immediately thought of Daeju and the brush. And the trainee who said someone borrowed the brush to use.

‘It’s not the time to suspect Daeju first, but….’

Anyone with a brush could do this. Of course, even without a brush, one could turn into a monster due to various circumstances.

Woo Sungwoo pointed to a steep place that looked like a cliff. There were stairs on one side, but the other side was left unattended without railings, making it very dangerous for children to go back and forth. Only that place had a red street lamp, so the shape was faintly visible.

“We’re going that way.”

“Is the monster there?”

“Probably. They say it pushes people from behind when they go up those stairs.”

“Pushes people off the stairs?”

“Making that laughing sound you heard when you got out of the car.”

*It’s changed in a nasty way.* Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly.

“Quite a few people have been hurt, especially students. I heard this is a shortcut, so if they’re going to be late, they come this way.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“What the other eyes do. Keep telling me its location and actions while watching.”

“Can’t you see without me telling you?”

“I can see, but usually, if you don’t have combat abilities yourself, you go around with someone who doesn’t have ‘eyes.’ Practice and tell me. I’ll listen to see if you’re saying it right.”

Rembrary reluctantly agreed. Woo Sungwoo seemed to have said all he wanted to say, as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. Rembrary also got out of the car again. This time, the laughing sound was heard from a slightly farther distance. Still an eerie laughter. And it’s a child’s laughter. Was the person who became a monster young?

“This way.”

But Woo Sungwoo didn’t seem to care whether the voice laughing scarily in the air was young or not. He just kept walking forward without any change in expression. As Rembrary followed, Woo Sungwoo brought up the story of Shin Jo-un.

“Are you still close with that person?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“President Shin [referring to Shin Jo-un].”

“We were always friendly from time to time.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep that person at a distance?”

“Why is that?”

Woo Sungwoo closed his mouth with a face as if he had chewed something with a bad taste. A face that was holding back what he wanted to say. His true feelings were indeed like that. After that day, he investigated Shin Jo-un in every possible way, in case Shin Jo-un was an enemy of Nakru [an organization or entity]. But no matter how much he investigated, he was just an ordinary entertainment agency president. A popular president.

If he wasn’t a person related to Nakru, but literally related to Woo Yeon-woo and did that kind of thing… Because of this reason, it was even more difficult to tell his brother the truth.

Shin Jo-un seemed to be friendly with his brother anyway. He actually let him go because he was friendly with his brother. However, there were many people who treated him well before the truth was revealed but suddenly became violent once the truth was revealed. People who left saying, ‘Screw it.’

Shin Jo-un might be kind when his brother doesn’t know much about him, but later, if his brother notices that he’s strange and distances himself, he might reveal his true colors. He had no idea what that true color might be.

‘Or maybe I should dig into Jang Tae-ri’s side….’

Looking through Rembrary’s video diary, President Shin and President Jang seemed to meet quite often when they weren’t meeting Rembrary. Maybe that side knows something about President Shin?

“Pay attention.”

At that time, Rembrary interjected.

“What?”

Woo Sungwoo, who had been walking while deep in thought, stopped and turned his head. At that moment, laughter was heard from a close distance. Woo Sungwoo hurriedly stepped back and grabbed the weapon he had taken out in advance for easy access, but as soon as he did that, his body staggered. He was already standing precariously on the edge of the stairs. Rembrary reached out and caught him as his body swayed backward.

“You didn’t have to demonstrate that in person.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue and helped Woo Sungwoo regain his balance.

“Where are you selling your spirit [a Korean expression for losing focus or awareness]….”

Woo Sungwoo looked around and frowned as if his pride was hurt. Anyway, he seemed to have come to his senses.

Meanwhile, the laughter passed by nearby again.

Rembrary took out his cell phone, checked the time, and looked at the side where the sound had passed. Like Woo Sungwoo said, this person had almost completely turned into a monster. No, he was already in a state no different from a monster. Moreover, he was full of malice towards others, and larvae were already floating in the air. Judging by the large number, it wasn’t a very strong monster, but…….

‘It’s fast.’

In the first place, the monster itself didn’t aim to completely subdue and kill the opponent, but rather just push them off here. That’s enough to push and run away.

Hehehehehe.

The laughter approached again, but this time, Woo Sungwoo, who was in his right mind, immediately shot something at it. It didn’t seem to hit, but the approaching monster quickly moved away.

“Tell me the location.”

Woo Sungwoo instructed Rembrary, aiming his weapon in a certain direction.

“What are you talking about?”

“While watching the location, tell me where it is. I’ll judge for myself whether you’re saying it right or not.”

“Ah. I understand.”

Rembrary replied nonchalantly and pointed in the direction where the faint laughter of ‘Hehehehehe’ was coming from.

“It seems to be over there.”

However, inwardly, he questioned, ‘Is it okay to do as Woo Sungwoo says?’ The larvae, which had been clinging to him just because he had ‘eyes,’ were now trying to pull him to their side, even pushing advertisements, after Rembrary chased away the monster by swinging his shoe. It’s because he’s too outstanding. There were more than a few who wanted to bring the talented him into their group…….

‘Wouldn’t it be better to pretend to be weak?’

Even those who are trying to recruit Rembrary now, if they find out that Rembrary’s abilities don’t meet their expectations, wouldn’t they be disappointed and naturally drift away? If they leave first, the advertisement issue will naturally be resolved…… Advertisers also judge strictly based on commercial viability when deciding whether to renew the contract or not. They wouldn’t drop everything at once as if they had discovered a problem on this side.

“Location!”

He must have been thinking too much. Woo Sungwoo threw a weapon somewhere and shouted.

“Why do you keep throwing things?”

“We’re not here to chat! Location!”

“Over there.”

Rembrary pointed in the wrong direction, but Woo Sungwoo wasn’t fooled and threw the weapon in the right place. He didn’t know what kind of weapon it was, but it looked like an ordinary dagger with a function that shot something quickly when a certain part was pressed.

“Hey Woo…… you! Are you not doing this right?”

Woo Sungwoo, who hesitated to say his last name in case someone heard his younger sibling’s name, yelled at Rembrary.

“Are you doing this on purpose right now?”

Before he could answer, the monster quickly passed by again, pushing Woo Sungwoo. He seemed to stagger for a moment, but Woo Sungwoo reached out and grabbed the monster. The monster narrowly slipped through his fingers.

Woo Sungwoo immediately regained his balance and, instead of rolling down the stairs, kicked off the lower step and moved forward.

* * *

Rembrary was a little worried about how Woo Sungwoo, who was being pushed back by the monster’s speed, would handle things, but Woo Sungwoo took care of it himself. Unlike others, he was wandering around alone. He seemed to have some tricks up his sleeve.

‘What was it?’

The problem was that Rembrary himself couldn’t figure out what that trick was.

He seemed to be launching attacks at the level of throwing sponge balls at the passing monster. At some point, Woo Sungwoo pressed something, and suddenly the monster fell to the floor. Moreover, the captured monster was screaming short cries of ‘Ugh, ugh, ugh’ and scratching its body wildly. Whether Woo Sungwoo came to him or not, he was too busy scratching his body to even pay attention.

It was the same now. Even in its captured state, the monster was twisting its body as if something terrible had been smeared on it. What was very strange was that Rembrary couldn’t figure out what was smeared on the monster at all.

“What is that?”

“What.”

“That purple…… strange thing on your body.”

Moreover, Woo Sungwoo didn’t explain what it was either.

“Hey. If you’re going to help, you have to help properly, right? If someone else had come as your partner today, they would have died. You know that, right?”

“I’m not helpful in this kind of thing. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Do you think I’ll believe you if you suddenly pretend to be weak?”

Woo Sungwoo, who was angry, took out a dagger and gripped it tightly. Then, he grabbed the hair of the monster, which was stuck to the floor and scratching its body. He thought it was a child because the monster had a child’s voice. But the monster he actually saw was no longer in human form, so it was difficult to tell whether it was a child or not. You can never judge by voice alone, because monsters are originally the best at imitating children’s voices. Because it’s the best way to make people lower their guard.

When the dagger touched the monster’s neck, the monster, which had been scrubbing its body, finally regained its senses and twisted its body, screaming strangely. In between, there were sounds mixed with human language saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ But Woo Sungwoo didn’t even blink.

“Wait a minute.”

Rembrary stepped forward as he watched the scene.

“I knew you’d step in.”

Woo Sungwoo clicked his tongue and frowned.

“Are you going to stop me like before? After seeing what this monster has done? There are already too many people injured here. Besides, it’s not like that trainee who was caught seeking revenge, it’s a monster that just attacked passersby indiscriminately. Don’t have sympathy.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

Woo Sungwoo frowned at Rembrary’s firm answer. Rembrary, who had been so insistent on not killing before that it was frustrating, didn’t even bat an eye this time, which seemed strange.

“I have something to ask.”

Rembrary answered and walked up to the monster, squatting down. It wasn’t a lie. The trainee before hadn’t even turned into a monster yet, and could only exert the power of a monster momentarily. In other words, he was closer to being human.

But this one, from its appearance to its actions, was already almost entirely a monster. At this point, it can’t be turned back into a human. Changing this kind of monster back into a human is no longer about stopping the monsterization, but about changing its species to human. As he told the tiger-headed demon, changing species was beyond Rembrary’s authority.

“What are you going to ask?”

Instead of answering Woo Sungwoo, Rembrary approached the monster and asked.

“How did you become a monster?”

The monster bared its teeth and made a threatening clicking sound.

“Did someone lend you something?”

The monster only rolled its eyes and didn’t answer this time either. Then, suddenly, it looked at Rembrary, its eyes widened so much that they seemed to pop out, and it opened its mouth.

“Sung……”