Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 254

254. Standing Out Too Much

Having been a High Priest for a long time, Rembrary was accustomed to and skilled at portraying the image people expected.

There were more times when he publicly displayed divine power back then than now, and more people watching. The current situation was nothing to Rembrary. It was just a bit unusual that the injured were encased in vinyl [referring to the transparent material they were trapped in].

First, Rembrary quickly scanned the number of people bleeding.

‘Five people. I said two a day is the right amount, but I’ve already treated three. If I treat five more here, that’s a total of eight.’

It’s a big difference from the two I mentioned earlier, but it’s still a number that could somehow work if I squeezed it out. Okay. Then, let’s treat the bleeding people right away today because their lives are in danger, and treat the rest sequentially.

As soon as Rembrary made a decision in his head, he rolled up his sleeves and placed his hand near the heads of the fallen.

People exclaimed every time a faint light emanated from Rembrary’s hand.

Then, when Rembrary wiped his forehead with his sleeve and squeezed his eyes shut as if enduring hardship, they made sympathetic noises together.

Rembrary performed all these actions like a sacred painting come to life, just as people imagined.

When Rembrary acted like this, people in the original world were deeply moved, saying, “The High Priest is working so hard for us.”

And the people watching this scene in real-time were similarly moved.

—Oh noㅠㅠ Yeonwoo looks so tiredㅠㅠ

—Didn’t he say he could only treat two people a day? It looks like he’s overdoing it;;

ㄴHe said he didn’t know the exact number himself. He said he was guessing around that much.

ㄴAnyway, that’s around that much. He’s already gone over six people. That’s three times as much. It looks like he’s pushing himself too hard…….

—Gasp, he’s starting to treat the seventh personㅠㅠ He must be trying to treat all the urgent casesㅠㅠ

—Does it cause big problems if they’re left in vinyl for too long? Do they have to be treated today?

ㄴIf people are bleeding, won’t they die from excessive blood loss if they’re left for too long? Seeing how the severed heads are still intact…….

Finally, when Rembrary finished treating the urgent cases and sighed, the people watching from beyond the police line cheered and applauded.

Rembrary habitually tried to wave his hand like when he was a High Priest, but he responded with only a weak smile, being mindful of the situation.

The rescued people were initially clueless, but soon they saw the vinyl-encased people around them, grasped the situation, and reacted with either fear or joy, belatedly.

However, the people who could be happy were in a much better situation.

“Minju, wake up.”

“Oh Seokho, Oh Seokho! Oh Seokho!”

People who had been with their group and turned into transparent vinyls couldn’t properly rejoice because they found that their friends or family were still trapped.

“Come this way.”

“Don’t step on them.”

“We need to check your condition just in case, so be careful.”

The police approached the people who couldn’t leave the scene with blankets and carefully escorted them out of the police line.

The detective started by asking the most calm-looking people about the culprit.

“I’m sorry for bothering you in this chaotic situation. It’s urgent. Did you see the culprit’s face? Anyone suspicious? Or even just things you saw right before you collapsed, anything general or trivial is fine.”

At first, everyone was too shaken to answer properly. They were all rambling because they had suddenly realized that they had almost died.

However, as the fear subsided and they calmed down, some of them began to answer.

“I don’t know, I was just walking while looking at my phone and the road alternately. When I came to my senses, I was in this state…….”

“Someone was performing on the street. A performance? Should I call it a performance? He had a guitar, but he was terrible at playing it…… But he looked like a model, so people were amazed.”

“I saw that person too. His hair was light purple, but the color was so natural that I was talking to my friend about how many times we would have to bleach our hair to get that color.”

“That person’s eyes were purple too.”

The detective recorded the people’s words and briefly wrote down the characteristics in his notebook, pressing down hard on the end of the pen at the mention of purple hair. A person with light purple hair was definitely caught on the park CCTV [Closed-Circuit Television, a video surveillance system].

‘That’s him. The monster.’

* * *

“Wow. Wooyeonwoo is more amazing than I thought.”

“If he’s a healer, he’ll make a fortune in the future, right?”

“Didn’t he fight well against monsters even before he awakened as a healer?”

“He’s really kind too. He treated people until right before he collapsed.”

Although the second mission was over, the participants stayed at the filming site and watched the Rembrary channel together, marveling.

Shin Joowoon was also watching the situation on Rembrary’s side while sitting on a sunbed. But unlike the others who were just marveling, Shin Joowoon tilted his head.

‘This pig. Didn’t he originally have this ability before the Cataclysm [a sudden and violent upheaval or disaster]?’

Shin Joowoon recalled the scene of Rembrary treating Jang Taeri and chuckled. Yeah, it was definitely like that back then too.

Besides, Rembrary on the screen now looks very tired after treating people, but back then, he treated them easily without even blinking. Of course, there is a difference in that light didn’t come from his hands back then, and now light comes from his hands…….

Meanwhile, Kim Murok was also watching the situation on Rembrary’s channel and clicking his tongue.

“This is something.”

He couldn’t withdraw immediately because Rembrary, an important participant, and Undushin, an instructor and safety agent, had left.

The FD [Floor Director, a member of the film crew] stood next to Kim Murok and watched the screen together. When Kim Murok saw Rembrary’s ability, he didn’t seem very happy, so he asked.

“Why? Isn’t it good if Wooyeonwoo is the only healer-type Awakener?”

“It would be good for the country.”

“Aren’t you happy, PD [Production Director]? Wooyeonwoo’s brand value will definitely go up.”

“Look at what people are saying. Would I be happy?”

The FD saw people saying in the comments that Wooyeonwoo should be removed from Hunter Survival and nodded, saying, “Ah.”

“He’s become a burden.”

Wooyeonwoo was already a hot topic. Now, his topicality and popularity are bound to increase even more. This is definitely a big help to the program. Clearly.

However, the program is so dangerous that even public broadcasters have withdrawn. If we film a survival program with the only healer in the world, people’s protests will be enormous.

However, if we treat Wooyeonwoo differently from the other participants to be considerate of him, then that would create a problem with fairness, and there would be complaints.

“What are we really going to do?”

“How would I know?”

Kim Murok grumbled and called Team Leader Nakru. After all, Nakru proposed this program and told him to bring Wooyeonwoo unconditionally.

“……Why isn’t he answering? Is he deliberately not answering―”

[Hello.]

“Yes, hello. This is Hunter Survival PD Kim Murok.”

[Ah, yes. I was wondering if you would call.]

“Did you see the video related to Wooyeonwoo?”

[Yes…… Just now. I checked it.]

“Was this something you knew?”

[…….]

“Hello?”

[No. I saw it for the first time. It’s surprising.]

Are they trying to pass the responsibility here and back out because they don’t know what to do either?

Kim Murok became anxious at the other person’s troubled voice and hurriedly asked.

“Wooyeonwoo is the only healing-type Awakener in the current situation. Is it okay to keep him in the survival program like this?”

[I wonder.]

* * *

Kim Murok’s voice echoed in the room from the speakerphone. The phone was placed in the middle of a large desk, and Nakru team leaders were sitting around the desk.

[Hello? Team Leader?]

“Yes. I’m listening.”

Team Leader Gu Seji answered Kim Murok, who was anxious, in a perfunctory manner and looked at the other team leaders who had gathered with the question of ‘What are we going to do now?’

After Hunter Survival started. Each team leader checked the program in real-time and tried to approach and persuade the Awakeners who were eliminated or gave up.

The majority of the Awakeners who participated in this program were thinking about a hunter life anyway, so if Nakru, which was on the government side, contacted them, 99% of them came over. The team leaders even congratulated themselves that creating a hunter program was a good choice.

But suddenly, Wooyeonwoo, who played an important role, became important not only to Nakru but to the whole world, so they were embarrassed.

[Hello? Team Leader?]

“PD Kim.”

[Yes. What should we do? Would it be better to get consent from Wooyeonwoo and LLL and remove him from the program?]

“PD.”

[Yes.]

“First, we will have a meeting first.”

[Then the answer is…….]

“I’ll call you separately later.”

As soon as the call ended, Gu Seji took the phone back and asked the other team leaders.

“What should we do? Wooyeonwoo seems to have become a Holy Idol…… but it’s not the direction we wanted.”

“What else can we do? If he’s the only healing Awakener, we should obviously take him out and keep him in a safe place.”

“Isn’t his own will the most important? Ask him.”

“The program seems to be running well even without Wooyeonwoo.”

“The topicality is high right now…… but if Wooyeonwoo is separated, the topicality will be split with Wooyeonwoo’s side, so it seems like it won’t be as much as it is now?”

Gu Seji clutched his head.

* * *

Without knowing what Kim Murok and Nakru were worried about, Rembrary returned to the detective’s car he had come in and lay sprawled in the back seat, pretending to be very tired.

“Wooyeonwoo? Are you okay?”

“It’s a bit hot.”

“Should I turn on the air conditioner?”

“Not that much.”

“Ah. A fan. Should I get you a fan?”

“Thank you.”

Undushin readily brought a fan to Rembrary, and the detective watched it, clicking his tongue. When Rembrary muttered, “I’m thirsty,” he remembered that there was a vending machine nearby and ran to get juice.

The cameraman admired inwardly as he watched the scene.

‘He uses people so naturally.’

Besides, he was lying down and receiving service so naturally, as if he had done it more than once or twice. The detective had inadvertently run to get juice and came back, and he didn’t even seem to know what had happened yet.

But then, while Rembrary was pretending to be sick, the detective’s phone started ringing again.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

When the detective heard the sound, he remembered the time when the atmosphere was broken when he was happy to see the patient being treated in the hospital room, and he muttered sullenly.

“What is it?”

“No…… It’s nothing.”

Surely such a thing wouldn’t happen twice in a row. The detective suppressed his uncomfortable feelings and answered the phone. But in just a few seconds, his expression hardened.

Rembrary was drinking juice while sprawled out, and when he saw the expression, he asked as soon as the detective hung up the phone.

“What is it?”

“Someone is going around forcibly breaking the eggs [referring to the vinyl encasing the victims].”