Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 251

251. A Rational Monster

Throughout the drive to the crime scene, the detective kept glancing at Rembrary and Undushin in the back seat. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. Why would Undushin say something like, ‘I feel relieved when you’re here,’ to an idol known for being crazy?

He didn’t seem like someone who’d make empty promises on TV. Was it because Woo Yeon-woo caught the vine monster in one go? Did that incident make Undushin trust Woo Yeon-woo?

The detective racked his brain, but his preconceived notions [prejudice] prevented any answers from surfacing. Eventually, he gave up trying to deduce and instructed Rembrary’s cameraman in the passenger seat.

“Is that thing still running?”

“Yes, I’m getting good footage. You’re surprisingly photogenic, Detective. You look like a supporting detective who appears for about five minutes in a movie.”

“Is that an insult?”

“No.”

“Sounds like one. Whatever, when we get to the scene, don’t film anything I tell you not to.”

“Of course.”

“Just film Woo Yeon-woo, only Woo Yeon-woo!”

The detective nagged the cameraman a few more times before exclaiming, “Oops,” and pulling the car over. They had arrived at their destination without him realizing it.

“Here we are.”

As the detective got out, Undushin and Rembrary followed. The area where they stopped was a large park parking lot. Walking further into the parking lot, they saw a section cordoned off with yellow police tape, with officers patrolling around it.

As Rembrary and Undushin approached, the officers who were blocking people from entering subtly stared at them with curiosity.

“It’s inside here.”

Rembrary followed Undushin, stepping inside without crossing the police line. Inside, there was a promenade with flower beds planted along the sides, and several benches were placed along the edge. The incident had occurred on the bench farthest away.

Someone, it was unclear whether they were a police officer, was squatting down and taking pictures of the underside of the bench.

When the detective approached, the person lowered the camera and stood up.

“See anything unusual?”

“No. Not a single drop of blood.”

The person who had been squatting sighed and explained as the detective asked.

“No signs of an attack or any attempts to escape. It seems like they were caught completely off guard.”

“The victims?”

“They’re still in… the same state.”

As Undushin approached, the detective stopped talking to the person with the camera and began to explain the situation in more detail.

“As I said before, there’s a man and a woman. Presumed to be a couple, they were watching a Hunter Survival streaming video on one phone. They weren’t participating in the chat, so the exact time of the attack isn’t available.”

“Are the victims in the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“What about the culprit?”

“We checked the CCTV at the entrance, and it seems the monster changed their hair color. The hair color looked much more natural, making it harder to find.”

“Changed their hair color?”

Undushin glanced around, and the detective added.

“Well, when they ran away from Woo Yeon-woo before, their hair was green. There’s no footage of anyone with green hair entering or leaving.”

“Are there no CCTV cameras here? Pointing at this bench.”

“No. There aren’t any here.”

Undushin nodded and naturally turned to Rembrary, asking.

“What do you think?”

The detective found it even stranger that he was asking Rembrary for his opinion as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They didn’t even seem to talk much during Hunter Survival. Why is he even asking for his opinion?

The cameraman who had followed Rembrary also had the same thought, but Rembrary nodded seriously and began to converse with Undushin.

‘Does Woo Yeon-woo seem like the most helpful person to the experts? More than Shin Jo-woon or Nok-cha?’

* * *

At that moment. Someone was walking along the asphalt road. The man was very tall with an unusual hair color and foreign features, making him look like a foreign model at first glance.

“Doesn’t that guy look familiar?”

“From where?”

“I don’t know. Where did I see him?”

“Maybe he was on TV?”

People whispered among themselves as the man passed by. They speculated whether he was a foreign model, a foreign influencer, or a foreign actor. But many people felt a sense of déjà vu when they saw him.

However, whether people looked at him or not, the man simply looked around with amusement. He kept looking left and right, then stared at the top of a tall skyscraper, and even stopped to gawk at a uniquely shaped overpass. The man looked like a delighted foreigner to anyone who saw him.

Then, the man’s footsteps stopped at one place.

There, a singer-songwriter was sitting cross-legged on the side of the sidewalk, playing the guitar and singing. Even as the man approached, the aspiring singer continued to hum and sing. When the song ended and he heard applause, he finally looked up.

“Thank you.”

The aspiring singer smiled awkwardly and greeted him, but when he saw the man’s face, he panicked and changed his words.

“Thank you?”

He reached for his guitar again, but when the man stood still and stared at him without moving, the aspiring singer put down his guitar and looked at the man with a sullen expression.

Then, when their eyes met properly, the aspiring singer gasped inwardly. The man’s hair and eye color were very unusual. The man’s hair color was a color that could only be achieved through dyeing, but it looked too natural to be dyed.

At that moment. The man, who had been standing still, pointed his finger at the guitar.

“The guitar? What about the guitar?”

As the aspiring singer asked, the man smiled brightly and asked kindly.

“Can I play with it?”

‘Does he usually express it as playing with the guitar…’ The aspiring singer handed the guitar to the man with a sullen expression. Only after handing over the guitar did he think, ‘Is he Korean? He speaks well?’ But it was too late to ask if he was Korean.

In the meantime. The man imitated the aspiring singer and picked up the guitar. At that awkward pose, the aspiring singer burst into laughter without realizing it.

“No, you’re not supposed to put your hands there.”

As the aspiring singer carefully showed him the correct hand position, the man followed suit, strummed the guitar clumsily a few times, and then burst into laughter.

“Haha… You can’t play the guitar at all.”

‘I thought he was a really good guitar player when he asked to borrow it since it was our first time meeting.’ The aspiring singer laughed awkwardly again as he watched the man’s pose. ‘In movies, people who ask to borrow a guitar at times like this are all good at playing it. I guess movies are just movies.’

Anyway, the man was excited and grabbed the guitar, strumming it roughly. Although his skills were terrible, passersby looked favorably at the handsome man smiling innocently and strumming the guitar clumsily. They all thought he might be an aspiring entertainer or a foreign celebrity.

At that moment, the man stopped playing the guitar, handed the guitar back to the aspiring singer, and greeted him.

“Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

“Yes… I enjoyed the guitar too. You seem to have talent.”

As the aspiring singer gave a soulless compliment, the man smiled brightly and replied.

“You are kind, so I will spare you.”

“Pardon?”

The aspiring singer thought he had misheard and asked again. ‘Did he just say he would spare me, or something like that?’

At that moment. The colors of everyone around him were sucked into one place as if drawing blood with a syringe, and they all collapsed limply. The aspiring singer blinked a few times while holding the guitar, then belatedly panicked and stepped back.

“Eek!”

The fallen people turned into transparent vinyl and slumped to the ground. Some of them were still twitching in their vinyl state, and the vinyl with eyes, noses, mouths, and fingers made a chilling and terrifying sight as they twitched, making sounds like, “Ah… Ah…”

The aspiring singer froze, holding the guitar and looking down at the scene. His hands trembled, and his nape became damp.

At that moment. A motorcycle that didn’t know the situation passed by and ran over the people who had turned into vinyl. Watching the red blood flowing out from the torn vinyl and onto the ground, the aspiring singer screamed and ran away, unable to even grab his bag, only holding the guitar.

“Ah.”

Then, he stepped on someone who had turned into vinyl. Feeling the squishy sensation under his feet, the aspiring singer ran while crying.

At that moment when his vision was clouded with fear. A car that suddenly appeared from the side of the road hit the aspiring singer and stopped. The aspiring singer, who was thrown to the side, rolled on the ground while holding the guitar.

“Hey, I’m busy avoiding the Al [artificial intelligence], are you crazy? Why are you walking around without looking?”

The driver, who opened the front window, yelled at the aspiring singer, then quickly rolled up the window and drove away.

“Ouch. My leg.”

The aspiring singer sobbed and stood up, touching the ground with trembling hands. He was still holding the guitar, but it wasn’t because he wanted to hold it. He was just holding something tightly out of fear.

“Mom. I’m scared.”

The aspiring singer cried and walked unsteadily, leaning against the wall. He just wanted to get away from here, and he couldn’t think of anything else. He wasn’t even aware that he had been hit and run.

At that moment. A cold, large hand touched his shoulder.

“!”

The aspiring singer froze and slowly, very slowly, turned his head to the side. When he met the purple eyes, the aspiring singer barely moved his lips and pleaded.

“Please save me. Please save me.”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

The man muttered and moved his hand to grab the aspiring singer’s neck. Instantly. The color disappeared from the aspiring singer’s body, and his body fell limply like vinyl, and the guitar fell with a thud.

A drop of tear flowed from the face of the vinyl lying on the ground, but the tear was not visible in the transparent vinyl.

The man picked up the guitar, held it, and looked up at the blue sky, smiling.

“This place is still clean. I like it.”

As the man closed his eyes, belated screams were heard from all directions.

* * *

While Undushin was walking around, looking to see if the culprit was still nearby. Rembrary just stood there blankly.

How could Woo Yeon-woo possibly help? It took only about 15 minutes for the cameraman and the detective, who had been expecting something, to become disappointed with Rembrary, who wasn’t doing anything.

Eventually, the detective couldn’t wait any longer and asked Rembrary curtly.

“If you’re just going to stand there, why did you even come here? You could have just stayed at the studio.”

“I’m standing still, but I’m not doing nothing. I’m thinking.”

The detective chuckled at Rembrary’s answer. He’s good with words. Just good with words.

“So. Are you done thinking? If you’re just going to think, shouldn’t you do it at the studio? Don’t you think you’re just getting in the way by being here while Woo Yeon-woo is here?”

“No, I don’t.”

“!”

“The victims. Which hospital did they go to?”