Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 247

247. Which Team Will Win?

The mission location for Team C, which Shin Jo-woon belonged to, was in the middle of an elementary school playground. Like the other mission locations, this place was also secured to keep people out, so there was no one inside the playground. However, perhaps because it wasn’t a remote area, unlike the other mission locations, there were many people watching from over the fence, unable to resist their curiosity.

“Wow. If they do well here, their popularity will explode in one go.”

“Yeah. But if they mess up here, they’re screwed in one go.”

The other team participants watched the screen on the bus, feeling unnecessarily nervous. It was already tense fighting among themselves, but how would it feel to fight with so many eyes watching?

“But is it okay? Team C doesn’t have any particularly noticeable participants, right?”

“Shin Jo-woon is there.”

“Is being good at sports the same as being good at getting rid of monsters?”

“Does this team have anyone who’s given up?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Viewers watching the situation from beyond the screen, as well as Rembrary, were also anxiously watching the screen.

However, the members of Team C themselves were even more anxious than those watching. They knew that they didn’t have someone they could rely on like Woo Yeon-woo or Nokcha Rokcha. Yet, even under this high pressure, Shin Jo-woon remained calm. At least, on the surface.

―Shin CEO’s class isㄷㄷ

―Isn’t he scared? No change in his expression

―Bluffingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴEven if it’s bluffing, bluffing until you’re about to die is 인정 [ 인정 means 인정합니다 which means 인정합니다]

―But even Team A with Woo Yeon-woo got wrecked, can Team C even fight?

ㄴThey can They can They can They can They can They can

ㄴShin Jo-woon is there, you know

ㄴWe don’t know if he’s good at fighting

ㄴSubtly dissing Yeon-woo? What do you mean Team A got wrecked, everyone except one person is fine and the rest gave up on their own. Is that wrecked?

ㄴOh, your Yeon-woo team failed the mission^^ Got destroyed by Nokcha Rokcha♡♡♡

ㄴDo you think you’ll become pretty if you just put hearts? Let’s use kind and beautiful words Let’s use kind and beautiful words Let’s use kind and beautiful words

ㄴWhat’s with the above?

ㄴLet’s use kind and beautiful words I was going to swear at the guy who dissed Yeon-woo, but Let’s use kind and beautiful words it’s getting filtered 멍멍멍 [멍멍멍 is the sound of a dog barking] Let’s use kind and beautiful words

ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why is the keyword so longㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

No matter what the viewers were saying in the chatroom, Shin Jo-woon didn’t even blink an eye. Rather, he was more composed than ever. He was busy calculating in his head whether to reveal his ability or not. He weighed the pros and cons of revealing his ability. The two possibilities went back and forth on the scale.

At that moment.

“Huh?”

A participant who was walking one step ahead of Shin Jo-woon sighed. At that sound, the other participants, who had been whispering quietly, instantly fell silent.

Shin Jo-woon frowned as he looked at the egg placed alone in the middle of the playground.

Since there was only one egg in the playground, he knew the egg was there from the moment he got off the bus. So, he wasn’t surprised to find the egg. What surprised the leading participant and Shin Jo-woon was the line that was drawn like lightning in the center of the egg.

“Isn’t that a crack?”

“Looks like it’s cracked?”

The other participants soon discovered the same scene and whispered.

The eggs that Team A and Team B faced were in the perfect form of frog eggs, and there wasn’t a single scratch on the form surrounding the black contents. However, the egg that Team C would face had a clear crack on its surface. Even though it was a soft surface, if you could see the crack to that extent…….

“Did someone already touch it?”

The participant who had walked the furthest spoke worriedly and reached out to the cracked part of the frog egg. At that moment.

“Aaaagh!”

In the blink of an eye, a red hand came out of the cracked part and grabbed the participant’s wrist.

“Ah! Shit! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

The participant whose wrist was grabbed screamed in surprise, but also took out a dagger from his waist and slammed it down on the wrist of the red hand.

“Aaaagh! Aaaagh! Aaaagh!”

He kept screaming alone like that. Then, when the red hand fell to the ground with a thud, he screamed even louder and stepped back. But even though he stepped back, his scream only grew louder. Then, he suddenly convulsed and fell to the side with a thud.

The viewers were in an uproar when they saw that. Clearly, the participant had cut off the red hand, but what on earth had happened? The fallen person’s wrist had been cut off.

‘Switching? But I didn’t see it.’

Shin Jo-woon also watched the situation from nearby, but he frowned because he couldn’t figure out what was going on.

At that moment. A large snout popped out from inside the crack, piercing through the screams and fear of the people. The snout rushed straight towards Shin Jo-woon. People were surprised and started running away.

However, Shin Jo-woon, who was standing on the side where the snout was rushing, was still standing still. Rather, Rembrary, who was watching this from the bus, was surprised and jumped up, but Shin Jo-woon was still standing still.

And the moment the monster was right in front of him. Suddenly, the monster froze stiff with its mouth open, and then fell straight down.

With this unexpected change, even the surrounding air froze. No one could speak. Those who watched this from the bus were relieved first and exclaimed to each other.

“Shin Jo-woon was also an Awakened? Shin Jo-woon did that, right?”

“Is it an ice ability?”

“That’s amazing.”

Rembrary was relieved and sat down in his chair.

‘It became frozen dried anchovies, but that’s better than becoming anchovy crumbs.’

The cameraman laughed and teased Rembrary, who was going through the three stages of tension, surprise, and relief.

“Woo Yeon-woo is really close to Shin Jo-woon.”

“Well. Sort of. A little.”

“It would have been nice if Woo Yeon-woo’s ability was as cool as Shin Jo-woon’s. Right?”

“Have you ever seen my ability?”

“Isn’t it the one where you jump out of the water like a dolphin?”

Rembrary hesitated at the thought that suddenly came to mind, trying to refute that there was no such ability.

‘Nokcha Rokcha’s ability from before too. Anchovy ability…… I’ve seen that ability before.’

Come to think of it, Undushin’s ability. I didn’t pay much attention to it because I thought it was just an ability to throw spears quickly. There was also such an ability among the paladins Rembrary cherished.

“…….”

“Woo Yeon-woo? Are you perhaps sulking because I said your ability isn’t cool?”

Rembrary shook his head with a stiff face.

“You look upset…….”

* * *

―If you know, stop acting upㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

―Why does the cameraman keep teasing Yeon-wooㅠㅠㅠ

―What’s wrong with our Yeon-woo’s ability! Yeon-woo is the best when underwater monsters appear!!!

―How difficult is it to jump like a dolphin;;

―But doesn’t Woo Yeon-woo originally swim like a dolphin?

ㄴI think soㅋㅋㅋ There was a story about someone witnessing Woo Yeon-woo swimming in the swimming pool before, and they said he was swimming strangelyㅋㅋㅋ

―I thought Woo Yeon-woo’s ability was a toy hammer.

ㄴDidn’t he say he wasn’t an Awakened?

ㄴHe didn’t ㅇㅇ [ㅇㅇ means yes]

ㄴㄴ To be exact, he didn’t say anything. He never brought up whether he was an Awakened or not

―Who would win if Woo Yeon-woo and Shin Jo-woon fought?

* * *

After Team E finished the first mission. Kim Mu-rok PD [PD means Producer-Director] groaned and covered his head. The results were not as good as he had expected.

Team A had one injured person and three who gave up, leaving only five people including Woo Yeon-woo, and the mission failed.

Team B had one person who gave up, leaving eight people, and the mission was successful.

Team C also continued their good momentum and succeeded in the mission, and Shin Jo-woon showed amazing skills, but there was one terrible injury. Unlike the Team A injured person, who didn’t even know how to treat him, the Team C injured person was assessed by the doctor as someone for whom a reattachment surgery was possible, but the visual shock was significant.

Team D didn’t have anyone give up, encouraged by Team C, but there were three seriously injured people and the mission failed. During the fight, the monster on their side also escaped.

Team E had five people give up in the early stages after seeing this. They were worried about whether they would be able to fight properly, but when they opened the lid, there were surprisingly the most people who knew how to fight properly. Thanks to that, there was one minor injury, but the mission was successful.

Kim Mu-rok PD organized the results and groaned, asking the FD [FD means Floor Director].

“How are people reacting?”

“It’s a mess.”

“Is it to the extent that you would express it as a mess?”

“There’s one injured person who doesn’t even know how to treat him, and six seriously injured people.”

Another staff member, who was reading comments from the side, added.

“The number of people left after doing one mission is…… thirty-five.”

The FD asked Kim Mu-rok again.

“Shall I read you the comments with a lot of sympathy?”

“Read it.”

“Kim Mu-rok, you son of a bitch.”

“Don’t read it.”

The FD closed his mouth, and Kim Mu-rok PD groaned again.

After a long time of deliberation, he eventually called Undushin and announced it openly.

“In this day and age, there are six seriously injured people now. The atmosphere is too harsh. Should we really broadcast it on terrestrial TV? If the monster situation gets more serious…… well, we’ll get through it because it’s a turbulent era, but if the monsters disappear and we go back to normal, I’m really going to take the blame.”

Kim Mu-rok PD thought that Nakru would never accept it even as he spoke. The public opinion was bad, but it wasn’t all bad, and the opinion that it couldn’t be helped because of the current situation was also strong.

Besides, even the people who were criticizing were watching the show diligently, and the number of views for the main broadcast, reruns, and internet replay-related videos was explosive.

What Nakru wanted was to inform people about ‘Hunters’ and supplement the insufficient manpower, so he didn’t think they would care even if the public opinion was bad as long as the topicality was this great.

However, unexpectedly, Undushin readily replied.

“I already talked to the team leader. He said that the topicality is enough, so we don’t have to broadcast it on terrestrial TV.”

“He said we don’t have to?”

“Yes. He said that if it’s this much, everyone who wants to follow will follow even if we only broadcast it on the internet.”

Kim Mu-rok PD thought it was a relief at Undushin’s words, but he felt uncomfortable at the feeling that he was really being used like a piece on a chessboard.

While Kim Mu-rok frowned and tilted his head. Undushin pulled up a chair across from him and asked.

“More than that, have you decided on the winning team that will pass all the members? Team B? Team C? Or Team E, where the remaining people worked together to deal with the monster?”

* * *

―Team E seems to be the most in line with the purpose.

―What do you mean, five people gave up. Of course it’s Team B or Team C.

―Team C had one person injured. If you’re going to go by no injuries, it’s Team B.

―Someone gave up on Team B, you know?

―Isn’t someone who gives up not injured?

―Team B isㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are you going to give the winning benefits to a team where no monsters even came out? What did the other people on Team B do besides Nokcha Rokcha? They didn’t even see the monster’s face.