Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 268

268. Training Center

“An entertainment agency?”

Alex repeated Rembrary’s question as if dumbfounded, then burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.

“Is he waking up from a few years of sleep in another world? What are you talking about?”

“!”

Rembrary flinched at the unnecessarily sharp remark, but Alex continued, unaware that he had hit a nerve.

“It’s been years since we became a Hunter company. You still think of us as an entertainment agency?”

“Wasn’t Shin Jo-woon the CEO?”

“He is.”

‘Did Shin Jo-woon become an Awakened [a person with newly acquired supernatural abilities] and ditch the entertainment agency? Or did the situation change, making the entertainment agency unprofitable? Or did he simply have a change of heart and switch industries?’

So many things had changed since he was last here that Rembrary felt like he was losing out. No, it wasn’t just a feeling; he actually was. In this world, he was constantly adapting. As soon as he adapted to idol life, a sudden upheaval occurred. As soon as he adapted to the upheaval, he returned to his original world. His original world was strangely different, and after spending a few days there, he came back, only to find that even this place had changed, forcing him to adapt again.

Alex grinned and playfully poked Rembrary’s shoulder when he saw him looking dejected.

“If you know the CEO’s name, you must have been interested in our company.”

“……”

“It’s okay. Don’t hide it. Be proud. Every Hunter wants to join our company, of course.”

“Is that so?”

‘Even if he changed industries, he’s still doing well, huh?’

“Of course. We have many famous Hunters and several resource companies as sponsors.”

Rembrary was relieved that Myeolchi was doing well, but he was shocked by the word ‘sponsor.’

“Sponsor?”

‘Sponsor’ simply meant ‘supporter,’ but Rembrary didn’t know English. More importantly, he had been plagued by sponsor rumors during his idol days, so he only had negative associations with the word.

But Shin Jo-woon’s company had sponsors. Rembrary was flustered and stammered, then cautiously asked, thinking he had misheard something.

“CEO Shin Jo-woon is receiving sponsorships……?”

He asked out of shock, but Alex puffed out his chest and boasted, grinning.

“Of course! And not just from one or two places!”

“How many…… does he have?”

“About twenty?”

“Twenty!”

“Impressive, right?”

Alex asked triumphantly, but Rembrary didn’t know how to respond and just gave an awkward smile. Seeing that expression, Alex assumed that Rembrary was intimidated by Worldboom’s scale and clicked his tongue.

“You seemed brave earlier. Why are you getting intimidated by this?”

“It’s not that I’m intimidated……”

“Not all Awakened people work in the field, so don’t shrink back already. Think about joining the training center. If you just enroll, they’ll feed you.”

Rembrary was still reeling from the shock that Shin Jo-woon had twenty sponsors, but he still managed to answer properly.

“I’ll think about it. I have someone I need to find first.”

“Decide within a week. The new recruit period is ending soon.”

Rembrary nodded and took care of Joo-kyung. As he was about to leave the department store, Alex suddenly bit his lip, strode over, and patted Rembrary’s back, comforting him.

“I understand the feeling of waiting for someone precious. We all gathered that way.”

“What?”

“But those who survive must work together to live on.”

“……”

He seemed to have misunderstood something. Rembrary actually felt sadder. It meant the situation wasn’t good enough for such misunderstandings to arise easily.

“Ah, mister. Name? What is it?”

“Rembrary.”

“Do you have a phone?”

“I do not.”

“Then come here if you change your mind. I’ll be hanging around here for a while.”

“Understood.”

Watching Alex wave his hand and go back inside the department store, Rembrary suddenly realized something and stopped him.

“Wait a moment.”

“Have you already decided?”

“Where should I go to meet Redrine……?”

Alex, who had come over smiling, thinking Rembrary had already made up his mind, turned sour at the mention of Redrine.

“What? Are you interested in them?”

“A bit.”

“You might want to reconsider. Those guys are… nice, but a bit full of hot air.”

‘After con artists, now braggarts……’

“Plus, they say you have to join some weird religion if you join them.”

‘Redrine-nim…… your image……’

“Either way, you have to go through the training center to join them. Think about it after you enter the training center.”

* * *

After that, Rembrary wandered around to investigate Redrine and the changed world. But people were all wary of each other, making it difficult. They would relax when they saw Joo-kyung, but as soon as Rembrary asked about the world, they would turn away and leave. Thanks to that, Rembrary walked around all day but didn’t achieve much.

“Are you ignorant because you came from the sky, Angel-nim?”

“I am not ignorant. I only appear ignorant due to the circumstances.”

How long had he been wandering like that? The lights on the billboard, which had been showing strange advertisements, changed like stairs, and a very familiar face appeared on it.

‘Woo Yeon-woo.’

The face he had seen endlessly in the mirror for months. It was Woo Yeon-woo’s face.

Rembrary stopped without realizing it and stared at the billboard. In the billboard, Woo Yeon-woo smiled brightly in this direction and then smiled brightly in that direction, repeating the process.

The camera showed Woo Yeon-woo’s appearance from various angles, and then the screen changed again, and the word ‘Nakru’ appeared and disappeared. Then, Woo Yeon-woo’s smiling face reappeared.

It was an advertisement that Rembrary himself had never filmed. So, it must have been filmed by the real Woo Yeon-woo or the Demon King inside Woo Yeon-woo. Rembrary felt inexplicably sad.

‘That guy…… has the money I should be getting……’

He thought of the can of tuna that Joo-kyung had shared with him in the morning, and his nose tingled. Even that tuna was now down to three cans, so he needed to find food quickly.

He hadn’t even had a chance to spend the money he had earned, but Woo Yeon-woo was on the billboard, smiling, making his neck ache.

“My money.”

“What is it, Angel-nim?”

“That guy has my money……”

Rembrary pointed at the billboard, then sighed and dropped his arm.

“Never mind.”

What was the point of saying anything? Although it was true that he had worked hard to earn the money, he was not the ‘real’ Woo Yeon-woo anyway. Whether the real Woo Yeon-woo had taken his place or the Demon King had taken his place, it wasn’t something Rembrary could complain about. It was unfair, though.

“Are you talking about Woo Yeon-woo?”

Unexpectedly, Joo-kyung immediately said Woo Yeon-woo’s name, as if she knew him.

“Do you know about that guy?”

Rembrary asked in surprise, and Joo-kyung answered smartly.

“Everyone knows Woo Yeon-woo. He’s very famous.”

“For what?”

“As a hero.”

“……”

* * *

Rembrary returned to Joo-kyung’s apartment and took out two of the remaining three cans of tuna, sharing one each with Joo-kyung for dinner. But the next day, he couldn’t bring himself to share, so he told her to eat it all and went outside.

‘I’m hungry.’

Hugging his rumbling stomach, Rembrary squatted outside the front door and recalled Woo Yeon-woo, whom he had seen on the billboard yesterday. He missed the settlement money again. Could he ask for even half of the amount he had earned back then?

“Hoo.”

But now was not the time to long for a bank account he couldn’t access. He and Joo-kyung had no food. If he were alone, he could somehow find food, but he couldn’t just leave a child behind.

Besides, Joo-kyung was the child who had given him two of her five cans of tuna. He couldn’t completely say goodbye until he had confirmed that she was doing well.

In the end, after much deliberation, Rembrary made a decision.

‘I should go to that training center for now.’

It was difficult to get answers from people about Redrine, and he was in urgent need of food. But if what Alex had said was true, he could get food inside the training center and find a way to contact the ‘Redrine’ Hunter group. Entering that training center seemed like the best option right now.

* * *

Having made his decision, Rembrary took Joo-kyung straight to the department store. He thought he might not be able to meet him right away, but fortunately, Alex was sitting on a chair in the department store lobby, talking on the phone.

“Yeah, right. No, I really found a good kid. A pillar was falling, and he went through it to help people. ……Oh, but you know what’s the best part? His face, his face. If he does well……”

Alex seemed to be talking to someone about Rembrary, but when Rembrary approached, he quickly hung up and smiled in a friendly manner.

“Hey, you said you’d think about it, but you decided quickly?”

When Rembrary gestured towards Joo-kyung, Alex nodded as if he understood.

“The child is living alone outside and has no food. If I enter the training center, can Joo-kyung also receive food?”

“Oh, of course, of course. There are many kids like you. Many parents bring their children. There’s a place to take care of children when you go in. They teach them and give them food.”

Alex seemed to think that Rembrary and Joo-kyung were siblings, but Rembrary didn’t correct him, just in case, and continued to ask.

“Do we have to wait here for another week? If so, give us some food. We don’t have enough to eat.”

“Oh, let’s go right away. We can go right away.”

Rembrary thought he would have to wait around here for a week before going to the training center, but Alex urged them to go to the training center right away if they didn’t have any luggage to bring.

There was something suspicious about it, but it didn’t seem like he had bad intentions, so Rembrary followed Alex’s instructions. Of course, the most important reason was the realistic fact that they had no food.

“I’ll get the car. Wait here.”

* * *

Alex drove for almost an hour.

“Here we are.”

The place where he stopped the car after a long drive was a tall building parking lot, and the word ‘Bank’ was written vertically on the building in large letters.

“Bank?”

Rembrary asked, wondering why they had come to a bank, and Alex explained simply.

“They didn’t change the sign.”

It meant it wasn’t a bank anymore.

“Come this way.”

Following Alex into the building with ‘Bank’ written on it, Rembrary saw several people. There were surprisingly few people outside, but here it wasn’t so bad. There were a few people walking around in the wide hall, and several people who appeared to be employees were sitting at the lobby counter, wearing matching uniforms.

When Alex approached, one of them smiled and greeted him familiarly.

“You’re working hard to bring in new recruits.”

Then, he turned his head towards Rembrary and his eyes widened.

“Wow.”