Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 30

30. He Took a Surprise Common Sense Quiz

“Do you think I’d fall for a cult?”

“That’s a bit of a loaded question.”

“Are you saying I’m like a heretic?”

“Honestly, it does sound strange.”

“What does?”

“You said you want to exorcise demons.”

“What about it?”

Rembrary’s confident question left Jung Seo dumbfounded.

“Do you believe demons exist?”

“Of course. Don’t you think they do?”

“No. There’s no such thing.”

“Such ignorance…”

Conversely, Rembrary looked even more bewildered.

Jung Seo retorted, flustered.

“Okay, let’s say they exist. Who talks to God?”

“I do.”

“…”

“I have done so frequently.”

To be precise, he ‘had’ frequently.

But since coming to this world, God hadn’t responded even once.

Judging by the unchanged divine power, the connection was definitely there.

In his original world, God would answer once or twice out of ten calls, but since coming here, there had been no response.

Rembrary sighed, feeling complicated.

Watching him, Jung Seo thought he seemed a bit crazy.

Frankly, it wasn’t just a concern that he might fall for a cult; Woo Yeon-woo himself seemed like one.

“Come to think of it, you don’t need to be careful.”

“?”

“If they talk to you, even the cult members would find it weird and run away.”

Rembrary felt unfairly accused by Jung Seo’s firm words.

“So, are there people who exorcise demons or not?”

“If there are no demons, would there be people who exorcise them?”

* * *

After a day of free time ended.

On Friday, the members woke up early again for a music show appearance.

“This week is the last for this album’s promotions,” Jongwoo said brightly to the members, who were nodding off.

“So, let’s do well on our final performance. Make everyone look forward to the next album. Got it?”

But it was when they entered the broadcasting station.

As they passed through security and went down to the waiting room, more people than usual greeted them.

Whether they were managers, staff, or other idols, the difference in numbers was noticeable.

Rembrary smiled kindly, accepting each greeting, but started returning the greetings only after Jongwoo glared at him.

Rembrary only understood why so many people were greeting them after Jongwoo explained it in the waiting room.

“The reaction to your and Seonwoo Sil’s second competition performance is amazing.”

“Is that so?”

“In the first round, you won 100% based on YouTube views. This time, the music is doing well, and the YouTube views are good too. Unless there’s a surprise, you and Seonwoo Sil are guaranteed to win.”

Jongwoo grinned, then sighed as he looked at Keshi and continued.

“And unless there’s a surprise, Keshi and Yulri are guaranteed to come in last.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], that’s mean. Why are you picking on people like that?”

Keshi, who had recovered a bit, retorted, but Jongwoo glared fiercely, making Keshi shrink back.

“You should shut your ten mouths, you brat.”

“Okay, okay…”

“Anyway, everyone’s thinking now, ‘They’re not just some unknown seniors who debuted earlier and will disappear soon, but seniors whose faces and names we know.'”

Taein grumbled,

“This industry is so petty.”

People who used to accept greetings perfunctorily when they were nobodies now greeted them first as soon as they became popular on the show.

The memory of being blatantly ignored during their long period of obscurity was still vivid, making them feel both good and bitter.

Everyone’s expression turned strange, as if they were thinking the same thing.

“Cheer up, guys. It’s all good,” Jongwoo said, patting the members on the back with a smile.

Jongwoo was thinking similarly, but as a manager, he couldn’t just go around saying, ‘Those petty bastards!’

Then, Jongwoo suddenly had a strange thought.

The other members were acting like that because of their memories of being ignored, but even Woo Yeon-woo, who barely had any memories left, had a serious expression.

In fact, Woo Yeon-woo sat blankly with a solemn expression even while the rookies who came to the waiting room were greeting them.

Jongwoo was dumbfounded and scolded Woo Yeon-woo as soon as the rookies left.

“Hey, Yeon-woo. How can someone who hasn’t even made a name for himself yet already catch star disease [become arrogant due to fame]?”

Rembrary, who had been deep in thought, was startled and looked up.

“What did you say?”

“I asked how you can catch star disease already.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll try to get better soon.”

Rembrary, who didn’t even know who had visited the waiting room, didn’t understand Jongwoo’s words but apologized anyway.

It was a habit he had developed since coming here, where there were so many things he didn’t know.

If it wasn’t immediately necessary information, he would just agree and then look up what it meant later.

“What?”

Jongwoo was dumbfounded by Rembrary’s apology, but Rembrary closed his mouth again and thought about what had happened yesterday.

Woo Yeon-woo’s mother said that Woo Yeon-woo had been threatened by someone.

Woo Yeon-woo’s father said that Woo Yeon-woo had been shot by someone around the time he lost his memory.

Fortunately, he seemed to be recovering well now, but the culprit hadn’t been caught, and there was no one suspected of having a grudge.

Hye-gyeol claimed that Woo Yeon-woo had tried to stop someone, but avoided the story when she sobered up.

Jung Seo or Keshi had spilled a glass of water when Hye-gyeol was about to say something while drunk.

Jung Seo advised him to be careful, saying that Woo Yeon-woo had investigated demons or God with Hye-gyeol.

The spirit presumed to be the ‘real Woo Yeon-woo’ was attached to the end of his shadow, along with an evil spirit.

Were these events separate or connected?

“Alright, everyone, check your outfits. We need to go to the camera rehearsal. Get up.”

* * *

After finishing the stage, which was now somewhat familiar.

Jongwoo was busy running around among the PDs [producers] and staff, saying he would promote the next album in advance.

With their only manager busy, the members had no choice but to wait in the waiting room.

It was because Jongwoo had warned them, keeping Keshi in mind.

“Everyone stay here until I come back. Jung Seo, make sure they don’t leave. Only let them go to the bathroom.”

Rembrary thought that the grown-up members wouldn’t listen, but surprisingly, they followed the instructions well.

Jung Seo didn’t even have to stop them.

But after about 30 minutes.

Taein asked for permission to go to the bathroom and left for a while.

After about 5 minutes, Taein returned, and then Hye-gyeol went out and came back after 10 minutes.

Rembrary also watched for a while before asking Jung Seo.

“I would also like to use the restroom.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

With Jung Seo’s permission, Rembrary quickly ran to the restroom at the end of the hallway.

Even though today’s recording was over, there were still many people in the hallway.

Rembrary went to the restroom, washed his hands, and quickly came out.

As he returned to the waiting room, he diligently exchanged greetings, keeping Jongwoo’s advice in mind.

But as he passed the area connecting to the upper floor stairs.

Two people with small cameras similar to the one Eunseon carried and a man and a woman in matching outfits came down the stairs and suddenly exclaimed exaggeratedly,

“It’s Woo Yeon-woo!”

The tone of their voices was completely different from the people who had simply greeted him.

‘Do I know them?’

While wondering, he greeted them, and the woman in the matching outfit approached, talking to the camera.

“No, I’m a huge fan of Sing Survival. If there had been text voting, I would have voted for Yeon-woo!”

Perhaps thanks to his few days of broadcasting experience.

Rembrary realized as soon as he saw the woman’s lines and the camera that these people didn’t know the ‘real Woo Yeon-woo.’

They were people appearing on another broadcast program.

But this was even more troublesome.

Rembrary was embarrassed by the unexpected situation.

‘I was only supposed to go to the bathroom.’

But it was awkward to just leave people who were approaching him familiarly.

Jongwoo would get angry if he missed the timing to receive greetings.

So, as he stood still, the man in the matching outfit praised Woo Yeon-woo’s appearance.

“Wow, he’s really a face genius [extremely handsome]. His face is as small as my fist.”

Then, out of the blue, the woman shouted.

“Then this surprise celebrity is Woo Yeon-woo!”

‘Surprise celebrity?’

“Quiz time!”

‘Quiz?’

What was going on?

They were praising him and then suddenly giving him a quiz?

Rembrary couldn’t understand the situation at all, and one of the cameras was openly filming his face.

He wanted to ask what was happening, but the man stopped praising his appearance and started making sound effects,

“Ttan! Ttan! Ttan!” [Sound effect for building tension]

‘Are these people crazy?’ he thought, and then the woman chimed in.

The man and woman in matching outfits were now making “Dugudugudugu” [drumroll sound effect] sounds together.

Then, simultaneously,

“Jjaeng!” [Sound effect for revealing the answer]

they shouted and asked Rembrary.

“Celebrity Real Common Sense Test Number 1! Starting with the lowest difficulty!”

“What is the name of our country?”

In a moment of panic, Rembrary’s mind went blank.

But soon, the name of the country he had seen on the internet came to mind, and he barely managed to answer.

“Hell Joseon [a sarcastic term for South Korea, implying it’s a difficult place to live].”

“!”

Was that not the answer?

Suddenly, the woman let out a gasping laugh.

Before he could ask if it was wrong, the man shouted again,

“Test Number 2!”

and asked.

“What is the relationship between the person on the 50,000 won bill and the person on the 5,000 won bill?”

Rembrary, who had never seen a 50,000 won bill or a 5,000 won bill, couldn’t answer, so the woman said,

“This is dangerous.”

with a giggle and asked.

“Then Celebrity Real Conscience Test Number 1! If you find an injured person, do you call 119 [emergency services number]? Yes or no?”

Fortunately, this question was easy.

“No.”

But even though he answered immediately, the woman flinched instead of laughing this time.

The man also hesitated and exchanged glances with the woman.

But soon, they forced a bright smile and continued the question.

“Conscience Test Number 2! If sacrificing one person saves everyone! Do you sacrifice one person, or not? Which one?”

Rembrary recalled the time he had stepped forward alone to stop the Demon King and answered.

“Sacrifice them.”

This time, the woman flinched.

The atmosphere suddenly became very awkward.

But the awkward atmosphere was only temporary.

Soon, the man and woman laughed loudly as if they had just met and said.

“I thought about it when you imitated the sloth before, but Woo Yeon-woo has an unexpected sense of humor.”

“He’s good at making jokes!”

Was it over?

What was clear was that they didn’t seem like they would ask strange questions again under the guise of a quiz.

Rembrary smiled softly, relieved that the unexpected and difficult situation was over.

The man looked at him for a moment, seemingly surprised, and then gave a thumbs up to the camera.

“Wow, but everyone. Woo Yeon-woo is really, one of the top five most handsome people I’ve ever seen.”

Was praising me to the camera praising me or expressing his own opinion?

Should I say thank you to the camera as well, or should I ignore it?

Rembrary was confused as he looked at the camera the man was talking to.

If he said thank you, the other person wasn’t even looking at him, and if he just ignored it, it felt a bit uneasy.

Thanks to that, Rembrary couldn’t respond to the man’s words immediately, and a second silence fell.

In fact, what the man had expected was Rembrary’s modesty.

To break the silence, the woman awkwardly laughed again and asked.

“How have you been, Woo Yeon-woo? Please tell the viewers a little about what you’ve been up to.”

“I’ve caught star disease. My manager hyung [older brother/male friend] recommends treatment.”

“……”

Even the awkward smile disappeared from the woman’s face.

The third silence was incomparably longer than before.

Fortunately, the woman regained her composure this time and tried to salvage Rembrary’s words somehow.

“Yes, I hope you get well soon. So, Woo Yeon-woo, is there anything you want to say to the ‘Common Sense and Morality’ viewers? Please say hello!”

Thanks to that, she ended up saying it as if she acknowledged Rembrary’s star disease, but the woman was too busy trying to fix the atmosphere to even pay attention to that.

Rembrary smiled and made a blessing gesture towards the camera.

“May God bless you.”

* * *

– Whether it’s anything else, you have to acknowledge Woo Yeon-woo’s mentality. Isn’t that way beyond the level of just doing things your own way? LOL

ㄴ His mentality is almost like iron.

– I don’t know about that, but I definitely know that his head is empty. He doesn’t even know the name of the country?

ㄴ He probably did it on purpose knowing it. There’s no way he wouldn’t know that.

ㄴ 222 If you don’t know the name of the country, you’re really stupid, and if you’re that stupid, you can’t even memorize the lyrics.

– Seonwoo Sil has a line when she’s rude, but you can’t see that line with Woo Yeon-woo.

– Woo Yeon-woo certified that he’s an idiot, but he didn’t do anything wrong.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ The one who did wrong was Gaeshi, who cheated on his fans and dated.

ㄴ There’s a serious error in what you said. 1. Dating isn’t a sin either. 2. Gaeshi doesn’t have any fans, so he never cheated on them.

ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Crazy, please refrain from fact-bombing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– I thought the sloth quiz was cute ㅜㅜ

– But is the post on Prairie real?

ㄴ What post?

ㄴ Someone said that their son was hospitalized with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and his illness got better after taking a picture with Woo Yeon-woo?