Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 293

293. People Who Start to Doubt

Redrin-nim, I’ve arrived at WorldBoom Company.

I was wondering what kind of people would be at the best hunter company, but everyone is kind, warm, and nice.

When I arrived, everyone already knew about what happened between me and the Puppet Lord, so I guess that’s why.

The picture I posted on the trainee community turned out really atmospheric. Everyone saw that and had expectations, but they were stunned when they saw the real thing.

Right now, Shin Jo-woon has gone to write some documents, and I’m alone for a bit… Ah, right. While Shin Jo-woon was away, one of the WorldBoom employees asked me.

“Did the president really go to scout you urgently?”

It seems like it was known among the employees here that Shin Jo-woon went to scout me urgently.

It was really difficult to answer. To tell you the truth, Redrin-nim, I don’t even know.

I still don’t know. Why did Shin Jo-woon suddenly appear where I was?

But how could I say no here? So, I just said yes, that Shin Jo-woon greeted me with the determination of Zhuge Liang [a famous strategist in Chinese history] welcoming Liu Bei [a historical figure who sought Zhuge Liang’s help] to bring me here. The employee was very surprised, saying it was the first time something like this had happened.

And after hesitating, he said that while it was amazing, other people might get discouraged if they heard this story, so I should never use the Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei analogy elsewhere.

I said I understood, and the employee left, looking very relieved.

But unlike the employee, I’m still not relieved, Redrin-nim. My worries continue.

I wonder, why did Shin Jo-woon suddenly come to where I was?

* * *

Redrin-nim, it’s night now.

And exactly 45 minutes ago, after much deliberation, I asked Shin Jo-woon directly: Why did you show up where I was?

Shin Jo-woon said he was worried because he knew I went to a dangerous place. He was going to scold me with the dignity of a high priest if I said anything strange, but since I came out like a docile lamb, he had nothing to say.

Then Shin Jo-woon asked me if I had anything to say, so I stroked his head and said, “You are like Zhuge Liang of the Zhuge family,” and he called me ignorant and left.

He’s a very arrogant guy. I think I’ll have to scold him soon.

* * *

Redrin-nim, I saw the carrot you waved. I see. Redrin-nim liked Daeju’s face…

But Redrin-nim didn’t wave the burdock [implying disinterest]. I’m very disappointed right now. Don’t you want to see my picture?

It’s a really good picture. You’re not curious about it? I’m so sad that I want to stay quiet for a while. I’m going to be busy, so it’ll be hard to pray.

* * *

While Rembrary was expressing his disappointment to Redrin, Shin Jo-woon was emailing two close mayors to get their signatures on the early discharge agreement.

“I’ve been wondering.”

Shin Jo-woon glanced at Rembrary, who was staring blankly at the sky from time to time, and opened his mouth, recalling a question he had been wondering about but had forgotten.

“What is it?”

Rembrary blankly put his hands together and muttered quietly, then glanced over, as if to say, why are you bothering me when I’m busy.

Shin Jo-woon frowned and pointed at Rembrary with the end of the pen in his hand.

“How do you know Road Manager Woo Yeon-woo?”

“!”

It was a question he was curious about, but not a big one. He expected an answer along the lines of, oh, I know him because of this and that.

But when the answer didn’t come as quickly as he thought, Shin Jo-woon frowned.

He thought any answer would come out, but Rembrary put his hands neatly on his knees, straightened his back, and began to stare intently at Shin Jo-woon, as if he was thinking about an answer.

What kind of answer is he going to give? What kind of relationship is it? Could they be brothers or something? Shin Jo-woon’s interest in the answer also increased a little.

But Rembrary still couldn’t answer easily.

‘Right. Come to think of it, Sa Gam-jae worked as a road manager for Wild Animal. It seems like he’s not doing it now, though. And Shin Jo-woon must have seen Sa Gam-jae a few times. They weren’t close, but…’

He was thinking this.

Rembrary smiled gently and racked his brains.

Logically, he knew that Shin Jo-woon was just curious because he knew two acquaintances who didn’t seem to be related.

Wouldn’t anyone be like that? If an acquaintance on this side and an acquaintance on that side, especially two acquaintances who didn’t seem to be related at all, knew each other, you’d be curious about the relationship.

‘He wouldn’t have asked because he knew I was Woo Yeon-woo. He’s just curious.’

But when he tried to answer, he couldn’t think of anything to say. What should I say? That we met while going back and forth from the underworld? That he was a witness to the scene where his friends turned into pigeons?

No. Absolutely not. This wasn’t normal at all. It’s a world where monsters appear, but people don’t know about the existence of the underworld and grim reapers.

“Rembrary-ssi?”

Normally, normally, normally, the most normal meeting possible. What was a normal meeting with Sa Gam-jae that wasn’t related to entertainment work?

“Rembrary-ssi?”

‘Ah.’

“We, we met at the swimming pool.”

Shin Jo-woon’s expression twisted a little more.

“What are you talking about? You met at the swimming pool and became friends? Neither of you seemed that sociable.”

“I didn’t have a swimsuit, so Gam-jae lent me one. That’s how we became, well, something like friends.”

“Why did you go to the swimming pool if you didn’t have a swimsuit?”

“Why do you go to the swimming pool? Of course, I went because I wanted to swim.”

“You said you didn’t have a swimsuit.”

“Swimming isn’t done with a swimsuit. I was fine without a swimsuit.”

“…Other people wouldn’t have been fine, though.”

Shin Jo-woon’s expression twisted a little more, but Rembrary was satisfied with his wit and smiled brightly.

“But in the end, I got a swimsuit, so it’s okay, isn’t it?”

After speaking, Rembrary thought that it would seem more plausible if he put in a flashback scene and pretended to miss it, so he pretended to reminisce about the past while recalling Sa Gam-jae swimming.

“Come to think of it, I remember. I swam hard, and Gam-jae swam too. People whispered that Gam-jae was indecent. Those were good times.”

“!”

Shin Jo-woon’s eyes widened by about 1mm.

“Wasn’t Sa Gam-jae supposed to lend you a swimsuit after he finished swimming?”

“No. We swam together.”

“So what was Sa Gam-jae wearing… wasn’t he wearing anything?!”

Rembrary was flustered and waved his hands. Come to think of it, the day Sa Gam-jae lent him a swimsuit and the day they went to the swimming pool together were different days.

But the words were already twisted and the two days had merged, and Shin Jo-woon seemed to be imagining something enormous.

“No. Gam-jae was wearing two swimsuits. Then, when he saw me in trouble, he said that one swimsuit was enough and gave me one.”

Rembrary hurriedly added additional settings, but Shin Jo-woon’s expression didn’t ease. Instead, he crossed his arms and stared seriously at Rembrary.

I should have just said that Gam-jae swam naked. Was wearing two swimsuits too much? Rembrary lamented inwardly at the sight of that gaze.

But Shin Jo-woon wasn’t doubting Rembrary’s words. Shin Jo-woon was recalling that ‘Woo Yeon-woo’ had borrowed a very strange swimsuit from Sa Gam-jae’s former manager.

Shin Jo-woon tapped his toes and thought. Is this a coincidence? Of course, it could be a coincidence. If Sa Gam-jae was originally the type to like giving swimsuits to people.

But if it’s not a coincidence…

Shin Jo-woon remembered that Rembrary and ‘Woo Yeon-woo before he lost his memory’ had quite similar personalities.

Besides, that ability to make his whole body comfortable when he touched him. He wasn’t revealing it, but it must be an ability.

‘Come to think of it, the Puppet Lord’s subordinate was strange too.’

Once he started to unravel it, even the parts that didn’t seem strange at the time suddenly became unsettling. That guy who was humming Woo Yeon-woo’s solo song in front of the Puppet Lord’s mansion while holding a microphone.

He seemed to have been greatly shocked by something… Why did that guy hum Woo Yeon-woo’s solo song of all things? The lyrics aren’t that good, and they don’t stick in your ear?

Why does that trainee Rembrary, who has a personality somewhat similar to Woo Yeon-woo, know Woo Yeon-woo’s former road manager and borrow a swimsuit from him?

It wasn’t just that one thing he felt this way about. Jang Tae-ri. Jang Tae-ri also said that the trainee had similarities to Woo Yeon-woo. Besides, Jang Tae-ri said that the trainee also had ‘eyes’…

‘Something’s strange.’

He thought he was pretending to know by watching entertainment programs, but he suddenly became concerned about the fact that he had mentioned the word ‘Extinction’ to him when they first talked.

No, before that. When he went to the training center, he was looking at him from afar with a very longing and affectionate look, which was also considered unusual.

Shin Jo-woon was racking his brains and then laughed in vain because he thought it was ridiculous even for himself.

But if Woo Yeon-woo was clearly dead or missing, he might have thought, ‘Could it be…?’ while looking at the trainee Rembrary. If these coincidences overlap one after another.

“…”

As he pondered, Shin Jo-woon’s eyes gradually narrowed.

* * *

At that time.

Daeju, whom Rembrary was desperately searching for, was waiting in front of frog eggs for the eggs to hatch.

“How long do we have to wait?”

Next to him was Maeng Woo-shin, who was wearing a mask and blowing on his hands.

“It’s spring, but it’s cold near the sea. The wind is too strong.”

“It’ll come out soon.”

Daeju answered quietly and stared at the large frog eggs. He was also bored with this process, but the longer the ‘something’ inside the frog eggs didn’t come out, the greater his expectations grew at the same time.

The fact that it’s not coming out right away and holding out inside means that it’s likely to be a somewhat rational being.

“Ah. It’s coming out.”

Finally, when the black part inside split open, Maeng Woo-shin quickly zipped up his jacket all the way and created a shield around Daeju and himself in preparation for any possible situation.

“Wow!”

When something like a pure white and huge cabbage worm suddenly popped out of the frog eggs, Maeng Woo-shin screamed softly.

However, Daeju didn’t move at all and stared at the huge cabbage worm, then soon sighed in disappointment and turned around.

“It’s not this one either. Let’s go.”

“What about that monster? Can we just leave it without dealing with it?”

“Someone will take care of it. There are plenty of other monsters around here who want to catch even one more monster anyway.”

Maeng Woo-shin became curious about what Daeju wanted to find that he periodically went around breaking frog eggs. It’s clearly not to find ordinary monsters. Is there a separate condition to look for?

But Daeju didn’t tell even his closest aide, Maeng Woo-shin, the details, so Maeng Woo-shin had no way of knowing what Daeju was thinking.

“If the sky path wasn’t blocked, we could have searched here and there faster. Right?”

It’s just that they grumble together one word at a time.

But even when Daeju didn’t say anything, Maeng Woo-shin took out his cell phone and fiddled with it, and even went into the training center community.

He wasn’t a hunter trainee anymore, but he still occasionally went in to see the passionate newcomers.

“Huh?”

But when he went in after a long time, he saw a post that had been on fire for days. He wondered what this was and went in to read the pictures, posts, and people’s reactions, and then stopped.

The name ‘Rembrary’. Daeju had mentioned it in passing before. He didn’t remember exactly what he said, but it was certain that there was such a name.

“Uh… Daeju-nim, do you happen to know this person?”

Maeng Woo-shin held out his cell phone screen to Daeju.