Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 252

252. Isn’t This a World First?

“Why do you need the hospital location?”

The detective’s tone was rough. He was annoyed by Rembrary, or more precisely, by the camera that followed Rembrary everywhere.

The detective wasn’t used to filming, nor did he enjoy hunter survival shows. Moreover, he was the type who didn’t appreciate this serious and significant case being consumed as entertainment.

Seeing the camera going back and forth, broadcasting a case with clear victims without filtering, and knowing people would be making all sorts of comments about it, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. However, being unfamiliar with filming, he couldn’t simply ignore the camera altogether.

“If you’re going to ask pointless questions, stop. I’m busy with other things right now.”

“I’m trying to see if I can treat them.”

The response was unexpected. Thinking he would hear some nonsense, the detective was walking towards the bench when he stopped in surprise and asked,

“Treat them?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Me.”

The nonchalant answer was astonishing. *Did I hear wrong?* The detective doubted his ears but asked again.

“Are you talking about… that strange state? Like vinyl…?”

“Yes. But it’s not certain. I need to see their condition first.”

“So, there’s a possibility?”

“Maybe.”

The detective quickly turned to the cameraman, mouthing, ‘Is it real?’ But the cameraman wasn’t looking at him. The cameraman was also staring at Rembrary with his mouth wide open. What Rembrary had just said was news to the production team as well. Moreover, he could treat them? It was a huge declaration. Those words….

“Woo Yeon-woo, are you a healing-type Awakened?”

The cameraman asked hastily. It wasn’t entirely accurate, but Rembrary simply went along with it, as explaining would be cumbersome.

“Yes.”

“You never mentioned that?”

“I haven’t been Awakened for long. Very recently. Just yesterday.”

The detective, still dazed, asked the same question he had asked several times before.

“Is it really true?”

He had seen people turned into vinyl in person, so he knew how bizarre and horrifying that state was. Woo Yeon-woo could heal that?

Of course, Woo Yeon-woo wasn’t certain. He was only mentioning a possibility. But even that was hard for the detective to believe. Woo Yeon-woo, famous for being crazy, had healing abilities….

However, even as the other party repeatedly doubted his words, Rembrary responded calmly.

“You can see for yourself.”

People about to witness a miracle are always full of disbelief like that. But the problem is….

‘I didn’t want to reveal it until another healing-type Awakened appeared.’

That’s the biggest worry. It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Even after answering, Rembrary briefly regretted, ‘Should I not have said it?’

But with that color-sucking monster roaming around, there would be more victims. He couldn’t hide his power and secretly treat those victims. So, he had no choice but to reveal his ability to some extent.

‘It’ll be a bit of a hassle from now on.’

However, Rembrary was the only one feeling uneasy. The cameraman and the detective were too astonished to know what to do. The viewers watching Rembrary’s camera stream were equally surprised.

―Isn’t he the first healing-type Awakened in the world?

―Seriously, is this a lie? Is he bluffing?

ㄴWould he lie about something like this? It’ll be exposed right away, right? Woo Yeon-woo wouldn’t be crazy enough to do that.

―Wasn’t he a dolphin Awakened;;?

ㄴStop it with thatㅋㅋㅋ He always swam like thatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Can he heal those people who turned into weird vinyl? I hope he canㅠㅠ

―No, vinyl aside. If Woo Yeon-woo is really a healing-type Awakened, shouldn’t he quit Hunter Survival?

ㄴWhy?

ㄴHe’s so precious! We can’t let him do dangerous filming!

ㄴYeah, we should be protecting him.

―Is it that serious? Our medical team is skilled even without healing Awakened. That survival participant who cut off his own arm already had a successful reattachment surgery.

ㄴIt’s because there’s no guarantee that color-sucking monsters won’t appear again. That’s beyond the realm of medicine.

ㄴAh.

* * *

On the way to the hospital, the detective kept checking Rembrary in the rearview mirror while driving. *Could it be true?* Could Woo Yeon-woo, known for being crazy, really heal the victims?

He found it hard to believe, but he hoped it was true. The color-stealing monster hadn’t been caught yet, and they didn’t know where it went or where it was. If Woo Yeon-woo could really heal those victims, they could minimize the damage even if more victims appeared. He would feel much more relieved.

‘Please heal them. Then I’ll spread rumors that Woo Yeon-woo is even more handsome in person and actually has a great personality. Please…….’

“Hey, Detective.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re holding the steering wheel, shouldn’t you be looking ahead instead of at my face? I’m a bit worried since you’re driving like crap.”

“……”

*Even if he heals well, I shouldn’t say he has a good personality.* The detective sighed and turned his gaze to the windshield.

As the detective focused on driving again, Rembrary relaxed and closed his eyes again. And as Rembrary closed his eyes, Undushin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, narrowed his eyes and glanced at Rembrary.

‘He Awakened with healing abilities?’

Undushin recalled Rembrary’s monster-catching skills, which had been rumored to be genius-level within Nakru even before the Cataclysm [a sudden, violent upheaval or disaster].

Well, with most people with ‘eyes’ Awakening, it wasn’t strange that Woo Yeon-woo had gained additional abilities. But… to have the power to easily subdue monsters and healing abilities on top of that.

‘That’s too OP [overpowered].’

* * *

His body leaned forward slightly, and then he heard the sound of a door opening in front. Rembrary opened his closed eyes. He was already in front of the entrance of a large hospital. There were several ambulances around, and people were being carried out of the ambulances on stretchers.

“This way.”

As Rembrary looked at the injured being carried on a stretcher, the detective called out, walking in another direction. Rembrary followed the detective.

“The inpatient ward is in the other direction.”

The detective went inside the lobby on the first floor, passed through a building, and entered another passage on the opposite side. As they walked through the passage, another building’s first-floor entrance appeared. While waiting for the elevator, Undushin checked more detailed information with the detective.

“You admitted them instead of keeping them in the intensive care unit?”

“What’s the point of keeping them in the intensive care unit? They can’t even put on an oxygen mask or do anything else.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Other patients and guardians were just terrified, so I just put them in a two-person room.”

The detective stopped talking when the elevator dinged and didn’t open his mouth again until they entered the hospital room. Two police officers were standing in front of the room where the two victims were staying, so it wasn’t hard to find the location.

“Thanks.”

The detective lightly greeted the police officers, opened the hospital room door, and gestured for Rembrary to enter.

Rembrary went inside and looked at the beds. The structure had two beds facing each other, with one victim occupying each bed.

“Hmm.”

The moment he saw the victims lying on the beds, Rembrary sighed briefly. Undushin also made a sound of disgust from behind. He had seen it before, but the victims’ appearance was truly bizarre. It was as if they had simply placed deflated balloon dolls on the beds.

“I covered them with blankets, but I was worried they would be crushed by the weight of the blankets, so I just laid them on top.”

As Rembrary looked at the victims, the detective closed the door and explained.

Meanwhile, Rembrary reached out and touched the vinyl-covered victims.

‘They really feel like vinyl. What’s the principle?’

―Wow, Woo Yeon-woo’s expression is amazing…….

―A face full of anguish ㄷㄷ

―If the most popular idol in Korea also takes the only healer position, he’ll become a real OP characterㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴThere he goes again, overpraising Woo Yeon-wooㅋㅋㅋ Since when was Woo Yeon-woo the most popular idol? They’re just a team that’s starting to gain recognition.

ㄴNo, they’re not. Wae’s latest album hit #1 on music charts and #1 on music shows^^ Yeon-woo’s solo song also hit #1^^

ㄴJust because Woo Yeon-woo is doing well doesn’t mean Wae is a popular group.

ㄴIf you don’t know, just shut up. You’ll at least be halfway there. Jungseo’s movie is getting great reviews, and Taein’s solo song also hit #1ㅎㅎ

ㄴThere are a lot of Wild Animal fans here;;

ㄴHello, this is Woo Yeon-woo’s camera channelㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Woo Yeon-woo antis who came to hate on Yeon-woo, if you have any sense, shut your mouths and do a handstand right nowㅅㅂ

ㄴI knowㅋㅋㅋㅋ There are no healers among the Awakened right nowㅋㅋㅋ If Woo Yeon-woo is really a healing Awakened, Korea will be the only country with a healer, and you’re still hatingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

When Rembrary’s image was that of a lighthearted crazy person, the public would say, ‘Yeah, you’re better off keeping your mouth shut’ when he was expressionless. But now that Rembrary was expressionless, he was praised for being solemn, noble, and having a face full of anguish.

Fortunately, Rembrary was also perceptive enough to hide his thoughts, ‘These people really feel like vinyl.’

“Woo Yeon-woo. Can you heal them?”

“I need to try to know.”

Rembrary’s answer silenced even the chat window. But as more viewers came after hearing the rumors, the number of real-time streaming users continued to increase endlessly.

The detective couldn’t rush him to try and just swallowed hard.

Rembrary silently raised his hand near the victim’s head.

“…….”

The surroundings became quiet, and the ticking of the clock began to sound particularly loud. In that moment when everyone was tense.

“I can probably do about two people a day.”

Rembrary suddenly turned to the detective and said.

“Yes?”

When the detective asked again, Rembrary explained again.

“I can heal about two people a day.”

“Only two people?”

“I haven’t counted, so I don’t know exactly. But there’s a limit.”

“Yes. But why are you suddenly telling me this……?”

As he was about to release divine power, he thought that some safety measures were needed in case he was the only one with healing abilities. There were no paladins here.

Saying that the number of healing abilities was limited was something he said after recalling that Nokchalokcha could only use his ability once a day.

The detective thought, ‘But how does he know there’s a limit when he hasn’t even used his ability yet?’ but he wasn’t an Awakened, so he just let it go.

“I can only heal through my hands.”

“Yes…… But wouldn’t it be better to heal them quickly?”

When the detective asked awkwardly, Rembrary nodded and placed his hand on the victim’s forehead again.

“I’m going to.”

And in that moment when everyone was tense.