Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 222

< 222. Even Saints Have Fears >

A large finger emerged from the rift. It resembled a human finger, but its size was far from ordinary—a finger too enormous for even someone with large hands to handle.

Then came five fingers, then ten. One hand, then two. And between those two hands, a massive eyeball peeked through, as if stealing a glance.

The Grim Reaper swallowed hard. Even in the underworld, where bizarre things were commonplace, getting used to *new* forms of the grotesque wasn’t easy.

Above all, the eyeball peeking between the hands, rolling around, instinctively made anyone who saw it feel uneasy. What on earth *was* that?

‘That thing’ peering through the rift seemed to have finally decided to come inside. It soon began to force its face into the rift with all its might.

But as the rift was too small to cross, the thing with the giant eyeball suddenly started frantically pushing its face in, as if gone mad.

Its eyelids were pushed back, its eyeball bulged out, and its pupils, darting back and forth, became even more visible.

‘Should I eliminate it?’

Whatever it was, anything crossing over from another world couldn’t be good. No, if something that large existed, even if it was harmless, it wouldn’t be good for this world.

The Grim Reaper hurriedly picked up his phone.

“Damn it! Battery!”

But the battery was dead, so he couldn’t make a call. He couldn’t even turn it on.

Just then.

Crack, crack, crack. The sound of ice cracking on a frozen lake began to emanate from the rift.

The crackling and snapping sound soon turned into the sound of shattering glass, and in an instant, the rift, which had been covered with fine cracks like a spider web, burst open, and a large head popped out.

“Battery, battery, battery!”

The Grim Reaper, enraged, swung his phone around wildly until his strength gave out and he dropped it. The phone went flying and fell off the cliff.

The Grim Reaper covered his head with both hands, stamping his feet and groaning. Why now, of all times! But the phone was already gone.

However, the Grim Reaper, looking up at the sky, soon found his mouth frozen shut, unable to even scream. Already, its immense size was overwhelming. The thing breaking through the rift and coming inside was…

‘A centipede?’

It wasn’t just a simple person. Seeing the head and hands, he naturally assumed it was a human form. No. It was a centipede—a centipede made by tangling a human head with other heads, a centipede with human hands instead of legs.

Moreover, the fingers attached to it seemed to function properly, pushing aside the sharp fragments of the rift near its face.

‘What to do.’

The Grim Reaper looked back and forth between the centipede and the mountain path. He was worried about the time it would take to go directly to the underworld and report this. What if that centipede went somewhere in the meantime? What if it caused an accident? Shouldn’t someone be there to handle it?

But if he followed the centipede, there would be no messenger to inform the underworld of this news.

At that moment, the centipede’s head, which had been focused on breaking out, suddenly stopped moving. Then, its eyeballs rolled around and fixed precisely on the direction where the Grim Reaper was.

* * *

At the time when Rembrary was being comforted by Jongwoo and the members, Jang Taeri took Shin Joowoon out to the veranda.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

Shin Joowoon asked Jang Taeri worriedly.

To Jang Taeri, who was asking ‘What’s going on,’ Shin Joowoon explained that Rembrary’s brother was Nakru, and Rembrary was under a lot of stress because of that. But after explaining, he realized that even recalling the old days was so painful for him. He was even more worried about how much more painful it would be for Jang Taeri, who was directly involved.

Jang Taeri shook her head.

“It’s not that. It’s the business card.”

“Business card?”

“The business card my sister received before.”

Shin Joowoon’s expression hardened.

“You still have that?”

“How could I throw it away? I have all of her things.”

“!”

“Anyway, the contact information on that business card… Wouldn’t it be better to contact them?”

Jang Taeri hesitated for a moment, then uttered the name with difficulty.

“Aegis. Contact Aegis.”

After her sister died, she had tried to distance herself from them as much as possible, so she hadn’t even said that name properly. She was afraid that the moment she said the name, they would hear it and come.

But now that things had come to this, she was asking with courage.

When her sister was alive, when the three of them were playing in the playground, men and women in white uniforms passed by in a group, suddenly stopped, and looked at them, whispering among themselves.

Then one of them approached and handed over a business card, asking:

“Has anything dangerous or strange happened around you?”

“Who are you?”

“Do you need any help?”

“Who are you?”

“People who can protect you.”

At the time, the three children were well-behaved and listened to adults, so none of them accepted the business card. Strangers were dangerous.

Then, a few days later, the people in white uniforms even appeared at Jang Taeri’s house and met her parents, saying they explained that Jang Taeri’s twin sister was a Saint, that there were people in the world who wanted to kill the Saint, and that they protected the Saint from them.

While they were persuading her parents, Jang Taeri and Shin Joowoon stuck to the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation and looking at each other anxiously.

Jang Taeri and Shin Joowoon, having crossed time again, looked at each other.

Shin Joowoon frowned.

“In the end, they couldn’t protect her. How can I trust them?”

“But if we just leave it alone, and something happens to Woo Yeonwoo for the same reason again…”

Just then, someone knocked on the veranda door. The two stopped talking and turned around. Rembrary, who was unharmed while everyone else was in shock, was standing there.

“Have you ever had *Padak* [chicken with scallions]?”

* * *

“The kid ate *Padak* and cried because it was so delicious. Seeing that, my heart ached so much.”

CEO Im stared at Jongwoo with his mouth open. Since when did he care about Yeonwoo this much? Jongwoo was sobbing while talking about Woo Yeonwoo. That sight was unfamiliar and strange.

“I always put him on a diet and didn’t let him eat properly. Eating is one of the few joys in his life.”

CEO Im waved his hand.

“Wait a minute. So, he was about to die because he wanted to eat *Padak*?”

“He insists that’s not the case.”

“Then why are you talking about *Padak*?”

“He cried while eating *Padak*. The kid who was about to die. Seeing that, I just… felt strange.”

CEO Im sighed. So, he still doesn’t know *why* he did that. But it seemed like Jongwoo was too emotional to press him for details.

“Anyway, it’s true that Yeonwoo was having bad thoughts, right?”

“Yes.”

“But he didn’t act on them?”

“Yes.”

“He must be having a hard time. Well, he’s been busy ever since he lost his memory.”

“It would be nice if he could have a longer break…”

“That would be nice, but the *Joseon Hwarang* [Korean historical drama about elite youth] filming has already started. You said they’ve already filmed the beginning, and the broadcast date is coming up soon.”

“Yes.”

CEO Im stared at the calendar, then pressed his temples.

“First of all, don’t make any more schedules for Yeonwoo. Don’t send him to interviews or group photoshoots for the time being.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s postpone the full album preparation.”

“Taein will be very disappointed. Is that okay?”

“Instead, the constellation concept special album… Change the first one, which Yeonwoo was supposed to do, to Taein.”

Jongwoo quickly took out his notebook and wrote down what CEO Im said. CEO Im paused for a moment, then asked:

“And… Ah, Gamjae. You said Gamjae was with Yeonwoo all the time, right?”

“Yes.”

“What was he doing while he was with him? Why didn’t he stop him?”

“He said he was there to stop him.”

“He did?”

“Yes. He’s surprisingly thoughtful. He thought that just saying no wouldn’t work, so he deliberately followed him to the mountain.”

*He’s not that capable…* CEO Im muttered quietly, then instructed:

“Anyway, it seems like Yeonwoo relies on Gamjae. Tell him to stay by his side and to comfort him if he has any more bad thoughts.”

* * *

“So, you left the fish to the cat.”

Rembrary, who was left alone with Sa Gamjae, muttered with a click of his tongue after hearing why this mess had happened.

“To entrust me to the person who asked ‘Shall I throw you off?’ from the cliff.”

“I am not a person.”

“I know.”

Rembrary turned his head away, grumbling not to nitpick over trivial words.

Sa Gamjae’s explanation was one that CEO Im and Jongwoo could misunderstand, and it was the most plausible explanation in that situation.

But because of those few words, that slacking Grim Reaper had suddenly become a capable manager, which he didn’t like at all.

Besides, after lazing around at home, Jongwoo had forced him to take a walk, saying he needed to get some fresh air.

Come to think of it, he didn’t like that either.

But as he was grumbling and walking, Sa Gamjae took something out of his arms. Wondering what it was, he saw it was a card.

“Why the card?”

When Rembrary asked, Sa Gamjae pointed to a pizza place with his finger.

“I don’t stop you from eating, Woo Yeonwoo.”

At those words, Rembrary quickly became delighted and changed his tune.

“You *should* leave the fish to the cat! Where? That store? Is that place delicious? Let’s go.”

But as the two were standing in front of the road to cross the crosswalk, an unusual sound came from the other side of the road.

Rembrary and Sa Gamjae turned their heads. The sound was like something huge dragging something large while running inside the alley.

“What is that sound?”

When Rembrary asked, Sa Gamjae shook his head.

“I don’t know either—”

Just as he was about to answer that he didn’t know, a Grim Reaper in a black suit popped out of the alley. The Grim Reaper’s hair was a mess, and his expression looked very urgent.

Sa Gamjae was about to open his mouth, wondering why he looked like that when he had the dignity of a Grim Reaper.

This time, a huge head appeared at the end of the alley, with its mouth wide open. The head couldn’t control its speed and briefly bumped its head against the wall, but soon turned its body and chased after the Grim Reaper.

“Help me! Gamjae!”

And as the fellow Grim Reaper, chased by the giant centipede head, ran towards them,

“Centipede!”

Rembrary, seeing the whole figure, hurriedly ran away to another road.

Sa Gamjae was flustered and looked back and forth between his colleague and Rembrary.

* * *

At that time, Jang Taeri was sitting at her desk in her office, staring at the business card in her hand. It was the business card handed out by those ‘Aegis’ in white uniforms.

Jang Taeri had been in this state since yesterday. Shin Joowoon had flatly said that they wouldn’t be helpful, but….

‘Still, wouldn’t it be better to do something than to do nothing?’

They had just become close. If Woo Yeonwoo was harmed again for the same reason as her sister, it would be hard for both her and Shin Joowoon to bear this time.

Jang Taeri hesitated but eventually called the number written on the business card. Taking a deep breath, Jang Taeri slowly brought the phone to her ear. Then, a voice immediately came out.

“The number you have dialed is not in service….”

“?!”

< 222. Even Saints Have Fears > End