Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 307

307. How Dare You Try to Fool Me

‘So he knew everything. But why did he just leave? Did he not need to dig any deeper? Did he not have any questions to ask? Or was he just not curious?’

Rembrary sat on the bed, tossing a cola can up and down, replaying the earlier events in his mind.

Shin Joong-woon, after biting his own tongue to confirm that Rembrary was a healer, had asked triumphantly, “It’s you, isn’t it?” But when Rembrary clamped his mouth shut, he stood up, straightened his clothes, and gave a faint smile.

Rembrary had expected a barrage of questions, but he didn’t say much.

“You want to eat seasoned beef [bulgogi]?”

He only said this, checked the watch on his wrist, and told Rembrary to come down to the restaurant in two hours because he was busy, then left. There were no other words. There was no explanation as to why a busy man was even here in the first place.

“Why did he just leave?”

Thanks to him, Rembrary was even more confused.

‘Shouldn’t he be asking why I became two people, how this happened, why I’m in Woo Yeon-woo’s body, which Woo Yeon-woo is the real one, or something like that?’

In the end, Rembrary struggled alone before deciding to vent his anger on social media.

[Anyone know how to make dried anchovies? >ㅅ<] Surprisingly, it wasn’t long before the anchovy himself replied. [I’ve prepared the meat. Come down.] When Rembrary replied, “You said you were busy?”, a picture of neatly arranged seasoned anchovies in a bowl was uploaded. It even looked delicious. Rembrary saw it, huffed, and quickly ran downstairs. * * * Arriving at the restaurant, Rembrary was a little surprised to find that no one else was around. Only Shin Joong-woon was in the restaurant; no other staff were visible, not even the restaurant employees. Moreover, while all the other tables were clean, only the table in front of Shin Joong-woon was covered with lettuce, perilla leaves, garlic, bean sprouts, meat to be grilled, a grill pan, green onion salad, water kimchi [a type of non-spicy kimchi], and so on. “Didn’t you say you were busy?” Rembrary almost let his lips curl up at the sight of the meat, but he maintained the composure of a high priest and approached with a serious expression, asking the question. However, Shin Joong-woon didn’t even look at Rembrary’s dignified demeanor, and instead poured water into a glass, changing the subject. “Do you want me to pull out your chair for you, too?” “That’s not what I’m talking about—” Rembrary was about to point out how a busy man was replying to social media in real-time, but Shin Joong-woon poured water into a glass and slid it across the table. Eventually, Rembrary missed his chance to protest, pulled out the chair himself, and sat down. Shin Joong-woon turned on the burner and placed the meat on the grill with tongs. As Rembrary stared intently at him, Shin Joong-woon flipped the meat over when the front side was suitably cooked and asked. “When are you going to tell Taerry?” “Tell her what?” “That thing you’re pretending not to know.” “What’s it to you?” “I’m even grilling meat for you.” “Do you think my lips will loosen just because I get a piece of meat?” “You fell for the tomato, didn’t you? Your lips seem pretty light to me.” “Do you really think I revealed the secret to Jung-seo just because of one tomato?” “See? It is you.” “!” As Rembrary glared at him, huffing, Shin Joong-woon flipped the meat again and took out a transparent file from the chair next to him, handing it over. “Check it out.” “What is it?” “What that mayor, who wouldn’t sign, demanded.” “Sign?” “The signature agreeing to your early discharge.” “Ah.” Rembrary had temporarily forgotten about the signature itself because of various events. He didn’t even expect him to bring up the signature in this situation. However, Rembrary didn’t show any of this and took the paper from the file Shin Joong-woon handed him. It was three sheets of A4 paper, with simple missions and information written in large letters. The content was... “He’ll sign if I take care of one Awakened? Not a monster, but an Awakened?” According to the preliminary information written on the paper, there was a volunteer who delivered groceries to the territory governed by the mayor, and an Awakened in the neighboring city was attacking the grocery truck sent by the volunteer about one out of every three times. Not all Awakened became Hunters. Among the Awakened, there were many who used their powers for personal gain. The lords themselves were using their powers privately, and on a smaller scale, there were many who became robbers or thieves. So it wasn’t that strange to have such an Awakened. The problem was... “That Awakened is a subordinate of the lord of that neighboring city?” The mayor who refused to sign for Rembrary believed that the problematic Awakened was a subordinate of the neighboring city’s lord. There wasn’t even any concrete evidence, only suspicion. “Can’t the mayor just send his subordinates to catch him?” Rembrary clicked his tongue and asked, and Shin Joong-woon shrugged. “It’s hard to get cooperation.” “If you start a fight without cooperation?” “The neighboring territory will be in chaos afterward. Besides, the lord of that neighboring territory is popular with his people.” “There are popular lords, too?” “Among the lords, there are some who properly develop their territories and try to turn them into cities. That lord is one of them, and he’s appeared on TV a few times, so he’s popular even with people outside his territory.” “So it’s difficult to deal with him carelessly, so he’s using the signature as an excuse to pass it on to me.” “That’s right.” Rembrary clicked his tongue. “Geez. He refused as if he were a very fair person, but behind the scenes, he’s making requests like this.” “You don’t like it?” “I don’t. Well, I’ll do it, but still.” “Don’t do it if you don’t like it. You don’t really need to be a Hunter, do you?” What was that supposed to mean? Rembrary put the paper back in the file and looked at him, and Shin Joong-woon casually said, handing over a lettuce wrap. “That’s right. What are you going to do as a Hunter? Make money?” “That’s… right? I guess?” “What’s the reason for making money? Isn’t it to live?” “That’s… right?” “You eat well and live well here even if you’re not a Hunter. Then there’s no need to be a Hunter, right?” “I guess… so?” After listening, it sounded plausible, and Rembrary was momentarily confused. Come to think of it, why did I want to become a Hunter? Ah. It was because there was nothing to eat. Besides, becoming a Hunter through the training center was the fastest way to enter Daeju’s ‘Redrin’ Hunter company. But after listening to Shin Joong-woon, there really was no need to become a Hunter. Rembrary didn’t want to become a Hunter because he wanted to be a Hunter. However, when Shin Joong-woon flipped the meat and gave a smug smile that seemed to say, ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’, Rembrary wanted to deny everything Shin Joong-woon said, so he answered, “No.” “No?” “I might have fallen for it when I first entered the training center. But I’ve signed more than half of the early discharge agreement; wouldn’t it be a waste to quit now?” “……” “Besides, I don’t have an ID, so it would be good to make one while becoming a Hunter.” Shin Joong-woon frowned, stopping his meat-flipping. “You don’t have an ID?” “I’m…” Rembrary was about to say, ‘I’m from another world,’ but quickly changed his words. “I’m from another country.” Because if he said ‘another world’ in this situation, the Earthlings would surely think of the suddenly appearing frog eggs [a recent strange phenomenon]. “Which country?” * * * It was a bit difficult because Shin Joong-woon kept asking which country he was from, but Rembrary managed to avoid all the questions with a sharp dodge. And the next day, as soon as it dawned, he prepared to go to the problematic territory that the mayor had requested. Shin Joong-woon held out, saying, ‘I won’t give you the car until you answer,’ but Gu PD said, “We can film this!”, lending him a bus with a few staff members to follow Rembrary, so there was no problem. Gu PD’s decision was simply for filming , but the PD became even more delighted when Shin Joong-woon seemed upset about this.

Moreover, Gu PD was even happier because he could naturally send Jung-seo, who seemed to have a deep story with Rembrary, to the territory.

Gu PD was sure that if he sent Jung-seo and Rembrary to a dangerous place together, the two would definitely talk about the past again.

However, contrary to Gu PD’s expectations, Rembrary and Jung-seo didn’t talk much, even sitting side by side on the bus.

“What kind of photos do you think people would like?”

“The one you took with flowers before got a good response.”

“I don’t want people to think I only take pictures next to flowers.”

“Is there a reason why you shouldn’t?”

“There isn’t, but I want to show a more diverse side of myself.”

“Then how about taking pictures of you eating?”

“That’s not bad either. But can I take pictures while grilling meat?”

“?”

“I’ll have to try it first.”

No, rather, the questions Rembrary asked Jung-seo were far from those of a great and dangerous Hunter prospect who was receiving people’s attention. Such conversations continued throughout the journey to the territory.

However, when they arrived at the territory and got off the bus, Rembrary looked around more seriously than before, and Gu PD gave the cameraman a look.

‘Keep filming those two.’

The cameraman nodded and approached Rembrary from behind as much as possible.

However, even after wandering around the territory, which was almost like a city despite being a non-city, for about three hours, there were no conversations worth capturing. They didn’t even meet the problematic Awakened.

Eventually, when they returned to the truck, promising to try again later.

“Hello.”

The production crew was startled. Someone was sitting comfortably on the truck, crossing their legs, and greeting them. Moreover, upon closer inspection, the person’s appearance was very similar to the Awakened that the mayor had requested them to deal with.

However, since there didn’t seem to be any other Awakened around, Gu PD was relieved and asked Rembrary in a loud voice.

“Show us how you catch him quickly. He doesn’t seem like much.”

Not only Rembrary but also five other Hunters sent by Worldboom were here, so he was showing off a bit.

However, as soon as Gu PD finished speaking, the people who had been walking around nearby simultaneously turned around and approached, each taking out a gun.

Gu PD’s expression hardened at the sight, and the Awakened on the truck laughed and repeated his words.

“Show us how you catch him quickly. He doesn’t seem like much.”

Gu PD’s expression hardened at the blatant mockery, but he couldn’t retort. Even without the Awakened, the numerous guns that had appeared around them were already incredibly threatening.

He had already heard the explanation that the Awakened they had to catch might be a subordinate of the lord, but he never expected them to come out so openly.

Meanwhile, the Awakened looked around at the production crew, Rembrary, Jung-seo, and the Worldboom Hunters, then pointed at Rembrary with his finger, pretending to know him.

“Aren’t you that eye candy from TV? Why are you here?”

Fortunately, the Awakened seemed to have a good impression of Rembrary from TV; when he saw Rembrary, a friendly smile appeared on his face, unlike when he was mocking Gu PD.

The production crew saw this and swallowed hard, hoping for the best. It was an unexpected situation, but since the Awakened seemed to have a liking for Rembrary, they hoped that Rembrary could smooth things over and they could just pass by today.

“I’m here to catch you.”

That was out of the question.