Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 273

273. When the Red Alert Sounds

Rembrary was pleased to hear the familiar name. Shin Jo-woon? He even considered going over to say hello. But after a moment, Rembrary shook his head.

‘There’s no way the Anchovy [a nickname for Shin Jo-woon, likely based on a physical characteristic or inside joke] would recognize me in this body.’

If Woo Yeon-woo didn’t exist in this world at all, it would be one thing. But whether he was the real Woo Yeon-woo or a fake, ‘Woo Yeon-woo’ was alive and well in this world, filming commercials and pocketing all the settlement money. The Woo Yeon-woo the world recognized was that Woo Yeon-woo, not Rembrary.

And if he stepped forward in the midst of all this, saying, “I was once Woo Yeon-woo,” would anyone even believe him? No, even if they did, there was a high probability they would regard him as some kind of freak and dislike him. Because that’s the kind of world it was now.

After much deliberation, Rembrary decided against approaching Shin Jo-woon and introducing himself as Woo Yeon-woo.

‘But there’s no harm in saying hello without mentioning that.’

After all, Alex, a company employee there, had tried to scout him. Shin Jo-woon had an eye for talent, so he would immediately notice how great he was. If he could somehow get along well with Shin Jo-woon, he might be able to drastically reduce his two years of training and get out of here quickly, with food and lodging provided.

‘Okay. Let’s go.’

Having finished his calculations, Rembrary subtly got up. As the chair scraped back, trainees in nearby seats looked at Rembrary.

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“Out for a bit.”

Rembrary went straight out of the lecture hall and asked around to find where Shin Jo-woon was. A few people followed him out, but he didn’t think much about it.

However, it was only when he arrived at the place where Shin Jo-woon was that Rembrary realized his mistake and stopped. The place was already swarming with people. There were so many people that it was difficult to even get close. Even those who had followed him were all in this vicinity.

Why are there so many people? I came because I know Shin Jo-woon, but why are these people here? As Rembrary watched the scene in surprise, Mori asked from beside him.

“Did you come here wanting to catch the president’s eye too?”

When Rembrary looked at him, Mori pointed with his chin toward the lecture hall door that was half-open nearby.

“I came because of the class here. It was too noisy to listen to the class anymore.”

“Why are there so many people?”

“Worldboom and Nakru are top-tier hunter companies in Korea, you know. The competition rate is incredibly fierce, of course. Showing your face beforehand might be helpful later. Isn’t that why you came too?”

Mori mimicked rubbing his palms together like a fly, fawning.

Has Shin Jo-woon’s company grown to that extent? Rembrary was impressed inwardly. Nakru was one thing, but Shin Jo-woon’s company was 100% an entertainment agency. How on earth?

But thinking about it from another perspective, the other companies besides Nakru would be in the same position, so the term ‘new company’ was meaningless.

While alternating between admiration and understanding, Rembrary suddenly became curious about the hunter company named after Redrin. What was it like there?

“What about Redrin?”

“Uh…”

However, as soon as Rembrary asked the question, Mori made a somewhat ambiguous expression.

“They do a lot of good work, but… Isn’t it too religiously tinted there?”

“Is that so.”

“Weird religious tint.”

“…….”

“If I were going to go the religious route, I’d go to a famous place, why would I go there?”

Rembrary’s shoulders drooped dejectedly, but Mori didn’t notice as he was watching Shin Jo-woon.

“Of course, I have no intention of becoming a monk, so I won’t go there either.”

Rembrary nodded and began to ponder again. Well, that’s that. Which route should I take to get to Shin Jo-woon through all these people?

But before he could even come up with an answer, he suddenly felt a vibration in his jacket pocket.

‘What is it?’

Rembrary took out the small electronic device he had received upon entering the training center from his pocket. The red button among the four buttons on it was lit up.

“This…….”

As he said that, noticing the light, the same phenomenon appeared on the electronic device that Mori had. Looking towards the people gathered around Shin Jo-woon, the people there were also stopping and checking their electronic devices like Rembrary.

“Then now…….”

Before he could even ask if they had to go to the basement, Mori grabbed Rembrary’s arm.

“Come on, quick!”

Shin Jo-woon’s location was closer to the people far away, but the elevator was closer to Mori and Rembrary. Mori hurriedly pressed the elevator button.

However, in the meantime, people rushed in from behind, and the two were flattened against the elevator door. All of this happened in an instant.

“Ah, don’t push! People are falling! I said don’t push!”

It was no use even if Mori shouted angrily, so the two had to brace themselves to avoid being pushed back too much. Then, with a ‘ding’ sound, the elevator door opened, and Rembrary quickly got inside.

Even after entering the elevator, people rushed in, but before long, an alarm sounded and the elevator stopped working.

“The people who came late, get out!”

“Quickly!”

“You get out!”

There seemed to be a brief fight near the entrance, but this time Rembrary, who was inside, was not caught up in the fight. After a brief scuffle, whether a conclusion was reached or a victory was decided, the door closed and the elevator barely started.

What on earth is going on? Rembrary lamented inwardly and turned around to look outside. Half of the elevator was made of transparent glass, so you could see the outside clearly.

“Oh, man.”

Mori sighed from beside him. Rembrary also clicked his tongue. He could see why the red alert had sounded.

Outside the training center, the place that had looked like just an empty city when Rembrary came in Alex’s car was now filled with swarms of unidentified large insects flying around.

“Ah…….”

Then, as one of the insects hit the glass window with a ‘thud’ sound, the people inside the elevator screamed in unison, causing the elevator to shake.

“Ah, please don’t move!”

“Stay still!”

The shaking stopped immediately as they shouted at each other, but that didn’t make the insect the size of a person’s forearm disappear.

How many times did the door open with a ‘ding’ sound, only to close again with someone shouting “No room!” from inside? Rembrary squeezed his eyes shut. His weakness that hadn’t come to mind in the examiner’s question. He remembered it now. He was weak against this kind of thing. Really.

In the meantime, the elevator door opened with a ‘ding’ sound.

“It’s the basement.”

This time, instead of the door closing again, people rushed out, and Rembrary followed them without delay.

Whether there were people who had come earlier via the stairs as the elevator stopped several times on the way down, or whether another elevator had arrived first, the underground training ground was full of trainees even though they had just come down.

“Let’s go over there.”

Mori pointed to the wall, so Rembrary followed him closely. As they waited there for a while, the examiner they had seen during the first test appeared with a microphone after about 10 minutes and said.

“Attention! Attention! Attention!”

As the noisy trainees gradually quieted down, the examiner explained quickly in a clear voice.

“Monsters have appeared not far away.”

‘Not monsters?’

“From now on, in 15 minutes, the trainees will line up and slowly come up to the first-floor lobby to stand by in preparation for an emergency.”

What is the emergency? When Rembrary asked Mori quietly, Mori gestured ‘shush,’ saying he would answer later.

“Since the new recruits haven’t been here long, we hope that the trainees with two or more years of experience will guide the new recruits well. This job itself is a relatively new profession, so there will be many situations where you will work in pairs with new recruits even after leaving the training center. Keep that in mind and think of it as preparing for that time in advance.”

As the first test examiner went up the stairs, Mori quickly added an explanation.

“The emergency is if monsters enter the training center.”

“Does that happen?”

“The hunters will block them outside the training center, but… It’s hard to block all these small and numerous monsters. It hasn’t happened yet, but if a very strong monster appears and eliminates all the hunters, well… They’ll come in.”

Small? Rembrary recalled the forearm-sized insect he had seen earlier and felt goosebumps all over.

‘I should stay in the back.’

Mori checked the time on his phone and continued the explanation.

“Anyway, if an emergency occurs, we have to buy time for the non-awakened staff and the trainees’ families to escape.”

“How do you know if they’ve escaped or not?”

“We just have to hold out for about 30 minutes. They’re trained to escape and go to the shelter within 30 minutes too.”

“How many times has that happened?”

“Three times, as far as I know.”

Mori kept checking the time, and some people got up in advance and ran up the stairs.

“Don’t we have to go too?”

Rembrary asked anxiously, worried about losing a spot in the back, but Mori answered, “They’ll get points deducted if they go now,” and kept checking the time. Then, exactly 14 minutes later, he got up and told Rembrary to go.

“President Shin Jo-woon came this time, so it’ll probably be okay.”

That was the last thing Mori said to Rembrary before going up the stairs.

Rembrary tried to follow Mori up, but as people all rushed up the stairs at the same time, he lost him in the blink of an eye.

“Mori!”

He shouted, but it was no use. Mori also seemed to think he had to take care of Rembrary, so he struggled to get through the crowd, but people weren’t water, and it was difficult to get closer just by waving his arms.

While hesitating, Rembrary was swept up to the first floor, and in the midst of being tossed around here and there, he ended up standing in the very front row of the first-floor lobby.

“…….”

Rembrary looked around in embarrassment, but no matter how he looked, he was in the very front. The spot where a security guard used to be was nearby, and his body was stuck between the entrance gates.

To calm his confused mind, Rembrary closed his eyes and recited a prayer to calm his mind.

How long had he been doing that? Just when he felt a little better, this time, the commotion grew closer. If sound had waves, this is what it would look like.

When he opened his eyes, he caught sight of someone in a black suit standing next to him near the entrance gate where he had been standing alone.

“You’re brave? Aren’t you scared?”

Followed by a familiar voice. Rembrary turned his head to the side and was startled.

“Ancho……”

vy. The Anchovy was standing next to him.