Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 180

180. You’re Too Soft-Hearted?

That trailing word was definitely ‘ja’ [a Korean suffix indicating familiarity or agreement]! Rembrary thought the moment the monster opened its mouth.

Of course, it might not be. But the risk of being wrong was far greater than the reward of being right.

As soon as he made that judgment, Rembrary struck the monster’s head with the phone he was holding.

“Hey!”

Woo Sungwoo shouted in surprise at the sudden action, but the monster was already unconscious.

“What was that all of a sudden?”

“Isn’t this why we caught it?”

“Right… Right, but.”

Wasn’t the monster about to say something earlier? Woo Sungwoo frowned. It looked like it was trying to say ‘Saint’ something. And it was looking over there, not here, when it opened its mouth.

Woo Sungwoo immediately thought of the word ‘Saint.’ He couldn’t even guess any other word starting with ‘Saint’ that a monster would say.

But Woo Sungwoo immediately dismissed his guess as absurd. A Saint wouldn’t act like that. Knocking someone out cold by hitting them over the head with a cell phone is not Saint-like behavior.

“It was about to say something just now. You could have at least listened to what it had to say.”

“Listen to it when it wakes up later. I only knocked it out, not killed it.”

Rembrary smiled gently and pointed in the direction they had come from.

A monster that hasn’t fully settled into being a monster, a monster in the process of transformation, has a mind that flickers on and off. Unlike these monsters, the early stages of transformation, like the trainee from last time, maintained their reason as humans well.

However, as the transformation progressed, the flickering became more severe. In its current state, with the transformation almost complete, it would probably spout nonsense every time it opened its mouth.

In other words, this monster would have already forgotten about Rembrary after waking up. Even if it did remember, it would say something absurd and undermine its own credibility.

Rembrary, the confident culprit, smiled gently, and Woo Sungwoo felt uneasy.

“Seeing this, you really do have the Tears of the Fallen constitution…”

“Nonsense.”

“Ah. I forgot. You saw what happened today, right? Like you said, showing mercy leads to what kind of results…”

“Why are you stopping mid-sentence?”

“…”

Woo Sungwoo took Rembrary with him today to show him how dangerous a person undergoing monsterization could be.

So he hoped that Rembrary would realize his mistake from last time and correct it. Rembrary is too compassionate, and that is a fatal flaw in this industry.

But…

‘How can you call him compassionate after seeing that?’

Besides, the guy who was vehemently against killing anyone before, this time swung his cell phone first to knock the opponent out.

Woo Sungwoo couldn’t bring himself to say to the guy who knocked out the monster with his cell phone, ‘I brought you here because you’re too compassionate.’

He just felt unfairly wronged, so he simply shut his mouth.

* * *

“Where did you go last night?”

“I went to see my brother.”

As Rembrary was washing his face, Keshi came into the bathroom, grumbling as he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste.

“You know, you’re surprisingly good at wandering around alone.”

“Let me wander around alone a bit. And don’t come in when I’m in the bathroom.”

“Someone’s showering in the other bathroom. I can’t go in there, can I? And I don’t have time to wait. Ah, hurry up and finish washing your face. We don’t have much time left. Jongwoo hyung [older brother/male friend] is going to throw a fit again.”

Rembrary mumbled that he understood and splashed cold water on his face.

Afterward, they stopped by the salon, went to the broadcasting station to greet people, and went into the waiting room.

After waiting for a long time, they rehearsed and returned to the waiting room to wait again.

Meanwhile, the members stared intently at the palm-sized cards with anxious faces. They had already appeared on music shows several times and had just finished a successful rehearsal. Yet, they looked even more nervous.

It was because of what the staff had come to tell them earlier. had been nominated for first place, so they asked them to prepare a short talk.

On this music show, if you were nominated for first place, you were given time to briefly interview each other with the other first-place nominee. At the end, they even gave you time to introduce each other’s songs. Live, even.

The interviews were only about three minutes in total, and many viewers pointed out, ‘This is so cheesy. Why do they do this?’ and the idols themselves were embarrassed every time they did it. But as a submarine group [a group with little to no popularity] that had been wandering in the depths of the sea for a long time, they always wanted to experience that cheesy glory.

And now that they were going to do that corner themselves, it was no wonder they were nervous. The members sat scattered on the sofas and chairs in front of the mirror, throwing virtual interview questions at each other.

Rembrary was the only one who couldn’t concentrate on this.

“Gamjae. Do you know where I went yesterday?”

“Where did you go?”

“I caught a monster. Because of Tears of the Fallen. What do you think about this?”

“You did a good job.”

“Let me have some of that praise too. Don’t you want to do well too?”

It was then.

“Hey, Yeonwoo.”

Jongwoo, who had been helping Taein with the questions, approached Rembrary. Rembrary stopped scolding Sagamjae.

“What is it?”

“Yeonwoo, is there a question you really want to ask the other group?”

“That…”

“Today or Tomorrow.”

“I don’t even know who they are, so why would I have a question?”

When Rembrary said no, Jongwoo said as if he expected it.

“Then let’s leave the short interviews to the other guys. You just introduce the other team’s song at the very end. That’s easy. You just say whose song is coming up in a few minutes. Would that be okay?”

“I don’t mind, but why do I have to do that?”

“Why else? Because I’m scared of your mouth.”

In the end, the members decided to take on the short interviews, and Rembrary only checked the final introduction and moved to a place prepared on one side of the stage.

It wasn’t quite a stage or a waiting room, but an ambiguous space, and the group , who had also been nominated for first place, had already arrived. The music show MC and camera were also there.

But…

“Why do they look like that?”

The team that arrived first didn’t look too good. After gaining sudden popularity, Wild Animal also gained the goodwill and kindness of their colleagues. But it was strange that the other side’s expressions were so stiff.

HyeGyeol asked Rembrary in a small voice, and Rembrary shook his head.

Keshi explained instead in a very small voice.

“They’re probably like that because of the ice cream CF [commercial film]?”

“Ice cream CF?”

“The one we’re supposed to film this time. They were supposed to be in charge of it.”

The ice cream CF in question was the one that Today or Tomorrow was currently the advertising model for. Unless there was a change, they were promised to continue the renewal.

However, the advertiser, influenced by Tears of the Fallen, decided to entrust this CF to Wild Animal, and the renewal discussion was overturned in an instant.

On the other hand, Wild Animal, who got the CF, hadn’t even filmed the CF yet and hadn’t even proven the advertising effect, but they were receiving all sorts of praise as top stars and new idols. couldn’t help but be dissatisfied.

But as fate would have it, this time they were nominated for first place together, so they were told to introduce each other.

‘Is this going to be okay?’ Jongwoo worriedly took a sip of water. He thought it would be okay since he had shut the mouth of the person of interest, but he was still nervous.

Jongwoo’s worries soon became a reality.

“I’m a fan of Woo Yeonwoo, and it’s nice to see you like this.”

“Oh? You’re a fan of Woo Yeonwoo?”

“Yes. But you’re even more handsome in person. I’ve always wanted to see you. Wild Animal is a group by Woo Yeonwoo, for Woo Yeonwoo, of Woo Yeonwoo.”

It was because of what one of the members of Today or Tomorrow said during the short interview. As soon as that member finished speaking, the other members giggled in agreement.

“We wish we had a member like that too.”

“A member who carries the group.”

They were indirectly criticizing that Rembrary was the only one who was properly active in this group, and the other members were just background decorations.

Taein frowned, and HyeGyeol clenched her fists. Jongwoo’s heart was pounding, and he looked at Rembrary.

Fortunately, Rembrary didn’t show much change in expression. Relieved, Jongwoo thought he should stop this insincere greeting, so he asked the director holding the camera if he could cut it off a little early.

The camera director readily agreed. He wanted to see the first-place nominees inviting each other in a friendly manner, not smiling and cutting each other down. Besides, it was live.

In the end, the camera director awkwardly signaled to the MC [Master of Ceremonies] standing between and to cut it off appropriately, even though the time wasn’t up yet.

The MC, who had been restless, quickly understood and held the microphone in front of .

“Yes, we’ve heard your story! Then please introduce Wild Animal’s song quickly and briefly!”

Still, a pro is a pro, and even though the interview was suddenly cut off, one of the members smiled brightly and immediately recited the introduction.

“Wild Animal’s Wild Love, coming up in 15 minutes. Please keep watching!”

Then the microphone came to Rembrary.

Jongwoo looked at Rembrary with a pounding heart.

Since Rembrary’s personality was already well known, others also tensed up and watched Rembrary grab the microphone.

With only the last song introduction left, Rembrary wouldn’t say anything strange, but after all, rumors are rumors.

“Crown Peach’s Today or Tomorrow. 15 minutes left.”

Fortunately, Rembrary recited the introduction properly without saying anything else.

The MC, who received the microphone back, waved his hand at the camera in relief and said the name of the next singer, and the screen switched to the stage.

* * *

-Woo Yeonwoo did Woo Yeonwoo again today. I guess tomorrow will come safely haha

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That was so natural ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-It went so smoothly that I was like, ‘Oh, he’s filming a lot of commercials, so he’s being careful now’ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-But today he reacted after getting hit first, so 인정 [acknowledged]

ㄴWhat hit first? Woo Yeonwoo was just swinging his fist alone.

ㄴHe was hit first. Isn’t it mean to pick out one person when all the group members are there and say that the group is for that one person?

ㄴㅇㅇ The members feel bad, and it’s a thorny path for Woo Yeonwoo.

-But Crown Peach’s Today or Tomorrow sounds better than Today or Tomorrow’s Crown Peach ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴThe 15 minutes left at the end was the finishing touch ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-But don’t they know the camera is rolling? I don’t know why Woo Yeonwoo and Peach Whatsit are fighting openly in front of the camera. What’s with pretending to be nice? If I become a celebrity famous enough to be nominated for first place on a music show, I’m confident I can act like a saint in front of the camera.

ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Then you’ll be criticized for being fake ㅋㅋㅋㅋ