Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 269

269. Who is Contestant Number 35?

Exclamations of admiration rippled through the other staff members.

“Wow. A real elf. This is insane.”

“Is he even human? Is he a monster? There’s no way he’s human, right?”

“Seriously… the ‘Lords’ are going to go wild for someone like that. Is this okay?”

It wasn’t just admiration. Some staff members were suspicious because he was too handsome, while others seemed worried about something. But everyone was clearly shocked by Rembrary’s face.

“He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

Even though it wasn’t about him, Alex puffed out his chest for no reason.

‘Why are you doing that?’ Rembrary looked at him strangely, but Alex just puffed out his chest even more and pointed to Rembrary and Joo Kyung in turn, addressing the staff member who had first acknowledged them.

“His name is Rembrary. He just awakened. And… oh. I need to go to the third floor to register him at the training center, so please take care of him. This is Rembrary’s younger sibling. What’s your name again?”

“Joo Kyung.”

“Yeah, please look after Joo Kyung.”

“Okay. Joo Kyung, let’s play with me.”

One of the staff members came out from behind the counter and offered her hand to Joo Kyung. Alex pointed towards the elevators, saying they should head that way.

They waited in front of one of the elevators—there were six in total, three on each side of the area—and the door in the center opened almost immediately. As they stepped inside, Alex pressed the button for the third floor and gave a brief explanation.

“You need to pass a test to get into the training center. You know it’s not easy to find food, right? If we didn’t do this, there would be too many people just camping out at the training center.”

“Of course. I know that.”

“What’s with that awkward answer?”

“How is the test administered?”

“The questions are different every time. I’m not an examiner, so I don’t know. When I took it, they gave me three days’ worth of food and told me to survive outside before coming back. But they don’t repeat the same test.”

The elevator doors opened with a ding, and Alex stopped explaining. Rembrary looked around as he followed Alex to a desk near the wall on the third floor. There were many desks along the wall, each with a staff member sitting behind it, and people were lined up on the opposite side, waiting their turn.

“Let’s get in line.”

‘When I was here, hunters were treated like ‘attention-seeking awakened ones.’ Now, everyone is lining up to get into the training center. How much has the world changed? And Woo Yeon-woo must have spent my settlement money like honey to make the world change like this.’ Rembrary naturally thought of his settlement money again and groaned inwardly, finally returning to reality when it was his turn to face the staff member at the desk.

Meanwhile, the staff member, who had been mechanically entering the name of the previous applicant into the computer, turned his head and was immediately thrown out of reality upon seeing Rembrary. Even as Alex filled out the application form for Rembrary, the staff member couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“Alex. Aren’t there too many blank spaces?”

“Ah, those are items you can fill in after you’re accepted. You can fill them in later yourself.”

Alex filled in only a few essential items and asked Rembrary, “Is this enough?” before handing the paper to the staff member. The staff member snatched the paper like a hawk, examined the application, and said,

“There’s nothing more to add.”

“You didn’t need to grab it like that just to say that.”

Alex muttered teasingly, and the staff member glared at him. Alex chuckled and asked again.

“Where do we need to go?”

The staff member put the paper down next to him and typed as he answered.

“Go to waiting room 35 and wait.”

* * *

Climbing the emergency staircase to the fourth floor, Rembrary found a wide hallway and many doors, unlike the open first and third floors. Before Alex could tell him, Rembrary found the room labeled ’35’ first.

“Do I just wait there?”

“Yeah. Just wait inside.”

As Rembrary was about to enter waiting room 35, Alex said goodbye at the door.

“Then, pass the test safely and see you later. Good luck, buddy.”

“Aren’t you coming in with me?”

“I’m not a participant, so I can’t go into the waiting room.”

Alex waved his hand casually and went back the way he came. Rembrary opened the door to waiting room 35 and went inside. The waiting room was equipped with a sofa and a mini-fridge, and someone was already sitting on the sofa, drinking bottled water.

When Rembrary entered, the person quickly got up, but upon seeing Rembrary’s face, they made an ‘oops’ sound and slipped back onto the sofa.

“Did you choke?”

Rembrary asked worriedly, and the person looked flustered and asked,

“Are you a prospective applicant?”

Rembrary nodded and sat on the sofa opposite the person, who quickly offered his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mori.”

* * *

At first, Rembrary thought he would only be in the waiting room for an hour at most. Whether they were conducting a practical exam, an interview, or a written test, they couldn’t just leave them sitting idly in the waiting room. But no matter how long he waited, no one called them out.

“Do you think they forgot we were here?”

Mori, who had been there first, asked in a panic. Later, Mori got restless and got up from the sofa to try to open the door, but it only made a clicking sound and wouldn’t open. When Rembrary looked at him, Mori sat back down with a troubled expression and muttered,

“I think they locked it from the outside?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

The door didn’t open for quite a while after that, so Rembrary took the opportunity to ask Mori various questions. Questions that people would find strange and avoid if he asked them on the street. At least the participant opposite him couldn’t avoid him, right?

Thanks to that, Rembrary finally learned some information.

First, about cities and non-cities. Currently, all countries still have the concept of a nation, but it has become vague, and the central government is practically non-existent. Each city is run by a mayor.

“There are far more non-cities than cities.”

Even in our country, the cities within the same nation are relatively well-integrated and cooperative, but in some foreign countries, cities within the same nation fight wars with each other, and some cities become non-cities, Mori clicked his tongue.

“Cities are places that maintain a similar level to before the Cataclysm [a major disaster]. Non-cities are lawless zones.”

“Why are they divided like that?”

“Well, places with less damage from monsters naturally become cities. Or, to reduce damage in one area, they intentionally let monsters or eggs out of a city, and that’s how cities are created. Yeah.”

Rembrary had a lot more he wanted to ask, but Mori, who had been looking at Rembrary with curiosity and telling him all sorts of stories at first, started tilting his head and muttering, so he stopped asking.

“But what were you doing that you don’t know any of this?”

“I…”

“You should know this at your age.”

“I have some memory problems.”

Rembrary used the excuse he had used when he was living as Woo Yeon-woo, but he stopped asking any further questions. Anyway, it was fortunate that he got this much information. He also understood why they kept saying it wasn’t a city even though it was a perfectly fine city.

“This area is relatively decent for a non-city. Because the training center is here, hunters come and go, dealing with the monsters.”

As Rembrary cautiously reduced the number of questions, Mori started telling his own story. Stories about how there was no food at home, how he had many younger siblings, and how there was no one else to take care of the family besides him. Stories that made your eyes water when you listened to them.

After spending twelve hours in the waiting room, an announcement finally came on.

“Applicants in waiting rooms 31 through 36, please come up to the fifth floor.”

As soon as the announcement ended, there was a clicking sound, and someone opened the tightly closed door. People were walking out, so Rembrary followed them to the fifth floor.

‘What is this?’

Rembrary’s eyes widened in surprise as he moved to the fifth floor. The fifth floor was open like the third floor, but there were ring-like structures installed.

As he was looking at them, a man in a suit approached him, introduced himself as the examiner, asked Rembrary for his waiting room number, and pointed to one of the rings.

“Go up there.”

Wondering what it was, Rembrary went up onto the ring, and Mori followed him. The people from the other waiting rooms did the same. Once everyone was up, the man in the suit turned on the microphone and announced in a low voice.

“I am the examiner. I will explain the test. Hunters must sometimes be ruthless. Knock off the partner you were in the waiting room with. That person is the final passer.”

The examiner turned off the microphone as if he had no intention of answering any questions. Rembrary stared at Mori with wide eyes. ‘I have to knock him off to pass?’ Mori was also gaping at the examiner, and when he met Rembrary’s gaze, he looked troubled.

Seeing that expression, Rembrary remembered the story Mori had told him in the waiting room. Stories about how his siblings were hungry and how they would all starve if he didn’t get in here.

“…”

Perhaps because of that, Mori clenched his fists and took a fighting stance with an expression that said he absolutely couldn’t be pushed back. Seeing that desperate expression, Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly. But things weren’t good on his side either. He was taking care of Joo Kyung, even if he was only a temporary guardian.

As soon as Rembrary made his decision, he used a bit of ‘Divine Majesty’ [a powerful aura or ability] and made eye contact with Mori. As soon as he received that gaze, Mori, who had been taking a fighting stance, started sweating profusely. Then, his legs trembled, and he collapsed.

The examiner, who was keenly watching all the rings, was startled by the sight and approached him.

“Are you not feeling well?”

“…I think so.”

“Would you like to go to the infirmary?”

The examiner thought that Mori was suddenly experiencing pain unrelated to Rembrary, such as a stomachache or headache.

“I’ll give up.”

However, the examiner was even more surprised when Mori immediately said he would give up.

“Give up? You haven’t even fought yet?”

And the other ‘real’ examiners, who were watching the test scene through cameras installed around the ring on the other floors, were also surprised and started shouting.

“Focus on monitor 35, please.”

“What happened? I didn’t see it because I was watching the other side.”

“The opponent suddenly backed away when he made eye contact with participant 35.”

“Pull up the personal information of participant 35. Is he an Awakened?”

“It’s marked as Awakened. But the exact ability isn’t written. Could it be the mental type of ability?”