Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 309

309. Longed-For Face, Dreadful Illusion

“So many people adore me.”

Rembrary smiled contentedly, swiping his thumb across the phone screen. The Lion Lord, who had been dozing off beside him, asked in a groggy voice,

“What?”

“More and more people are sending me hearts.”

However, as soon as Rembrary showed the Lion Lord his SNS account, all interest vanished, and he began to doze off again.

“Lion, take a look at this.”

Rembrary lightly nudged his shoulder with his own, urging him, but the Lion Lord wasn’t interested.

In the end, unable to watch any longer, Jung Seo paused from peeling a tomato and gave Rembrary the satisfying reaction he wanted.

“Wow, amazing! Really amazing! So many people adore you. You’re incredible.”

“Reading a book, are you?”

“…….”

“A good book indeed.”

Rembrary thought Jung Seo’s reaction was a bit artificial, but he was still satisfied and smiled contentedly.

“Remb. Do you like that fake praise?”

The Lion Lord, who had stopped dozing off, asked, finding it strange, but the warm smile didn’t leave Rembrary’s lips.

“It’s better to be praised falsely than to be genuinely ignored.”

“You’re weird.”

“That’s just saying Jung Seo is better than you.”

“!”

How long had they been bickering like that? Someone knocked on Rembrary’s door.

Before he could even answer, the door clicked open, and Shin Jo-woon entered, holding his phone.

“If you’re going to knock, at least wait for an answer before coming in.”

Rembrary, dumbfounded by the sight, scolded him, but Shin Jo-woon, instead of replying, froze the floor, chasing Jung Seo and the Lion Lord out, then sat on the bed and held out the phone he had brought.

“Oh my. Anchovy [slang for someone small and insignificant]. You’re really mean. Why are you freezing the kids’ butts?”

Rembrary nagged again, but Shin Jo-woon only flicked the phone in his hand, indicating that he should check it.

“What is it?”

Having been ignored twice, Rembrary sullenly took the phone. What was so important that he kept telling him to look at it?

But as soon as he properly saw the screen, Rembrary’s expression changed completely.

“Huh? This?”

It was the signature Shin Jo-woon had agreed to get. Saying early dismissal was dangerous and all, he himself had made a truly dangerous request to that mayor.

“Isn’t this the mayor’s signature?”

Rembrary smiled brightly, but the smile didn’t last more than three seconds.

“Wait, what about my consent form? Why are you showing me a picture of it? Give me the consent form. Give it to me on paper, not as a picture.”

Rembrary demanded sternly, but Shin Jo-woon only took his phone back, replying seriously,

“I’ve been thinking. I think it’s better for me to keep that consent form.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Think about it. Who else do you need to get signatures from in the future?”

“Two lords, three mayors.”

“Do you think it’ll be faster for you to get signatures from those people, or for me to get them?”

“Well…….”

Rembrary compared the time it took him to get signatures from the Lion Lord and the Puppet Lord with the time it took Shin Jo-woon to get signatures from everyone else and replied dully,

“You’d be faster.”

He was a little hurt, but it couldn’t be helped. He wasn’t the one doing the actual work.

“That’s right.”

Shin Jo-woon nodded, put his phone in his pocket, and asked again,

“Then who should keep the consent form?”

“Me.”

“No. Answer again. You were answering correctly until just now, but the conclusion is strange.”

“You can get the consent, and I’ll get the signatures.”

“How can I get the signatures if you have the consent form? Don’t you think?”

“…….”

It felt like he was being tricked. Rembrary frowned, but there was nothing particularly wrong with Shin Jo-woon’s words. The only thing bothering him was that arrogant expression.

“It’d be easier for you if I got all the signatures, right?”

“Well… I guess so.”

“Then who should have the consent form?”

“…….”

Rembrary’s expression was dubious, but he couldn’t answer. But that was already an answer, so Shin Jo-woon patted Rembrary’s shoulder and stood up.

* * *

‘Was it really a good choice to entrust my consent form to Anchovy?’

It seemed like he would naturally stay in World Boom [likely a reference to the story’s setting or a virtual world].

But just as he was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, thinking about the consent form, he heard a ‘ting’ sound from his waist.

Who could it be in the middle of all this? Surely not Anchovy. Rembrary grabbed the phone rolling on the blanket and brought it to his face.

It wasn’t Shin Jo-woon. The ‘ting’ sound was from a friend request message on SNS.

‘Who is it?’

The fact that a friend request message had a notification sound meant that the person sending the message was a famous SNS user with many followers, or an official account of a public or private company that many people would know. So, Rembrary immediately tapped the notification window to see who had sent him the friend request.

‘Huh?’

But strangely enough, it was hard to tell who it was. It wasn’t an official company account, nor was it a mayor or lord… and the profile picture was a dog.

‘What is this?’

Unable to figure out who it was, Rembrary scrolled through the photos the person had posted, and soon realized who had sent him the friend request.

‘Reindeer!’

This face resembling a reindeer was definitely that person. Sunwoo Shil.

Rembrary quickly left a comment.

—To Sunwoo Shil

‘Ah. I shouldn’t call her senior anymore.’

—Ms. Sunwoo Shil? You’re alive?

Rembrary, happy to see her, smiled contentedly, thinking that even after he returned to this body, Sunwoo Shil would still approach him first.

However, a moment later, the reply from Reindeer was unexpected.

—I’m not Sunwoo Shil lololol

‘Not her? She looks exactly the same?’

Finding it strange, he looked at the photos again and again, and then other followers of Rembrary left comments below.

—Rembrary lololol that person isn’t singer Sunwoo Shil lololol

—They don’t look alike at all lololololol

—Well, maybe Rembrary has a non-singer acquaintance named Sunwoo Shil.

ㄴIs that so?

ㄴIs that it?

It wasn’t really Senior Sunwoo Shil? Rembrary was flustered and commented, “She looks exactly like the real person,” but everyone said that Reindeer wasn’t Sunwoo Shil.

As Rembrary was wondering what to do, PD Gu called him from outside the door, so Rembrary turned off SNS and went outside.

And while Rembrary was away.

This handsome hunter trainee’s mistake, who was receiving all the attention in the world, became a minor topic on the internet, and the story even reached Sunwoo Shil herself.

Because Rembrary’s slip of the tongue became a hot topic after receiving too many hearts, his friend teased Sunwoo Shil by sending her the photo and Rembrary’s comment, saying, ‘Wooshil, this is you lololol.’

Sunwoo Shil checked the message, wondering what it was about, and was furious to find that she had suddenly become a laughingstock, and left a comment protesting on Rembrary’s account.

—Excuse me. We’ve never met, so why are you talking like you’ve seen my real face?

At that moment, Rembrary had finished talking with PD Gu and returned to his room with snacks.

Rembrary remembered mistaking the wrong person for Sunwoo Shil on SNS earlier, so he went to his SNS account and was surprised to see that the real Sunwoo Shil had left a comment, and apologized in reply.

—I’m sorry, you looked so much alike that I thought you were Ms. Sunwoo Shil.

After seeing the real Sunwoo Shil’s account, there was no room for confusion. Sunwoo Shil’s account clearly stated ‘Singer Sunwoo Shil.’

After replying, Rembrary was happy to see the real Sunwoo Shil again, and briefly considered whether to add her as a friend.

* * *

But Rembrary was the only one who was happy.

As soon as Sunwoo Shil saw Rembrary’s reply and apology, she became even more angry, and forgot to replace the guitar strings, huffing and puffing as she left another comment for Rembrary.

—I said we don’t look alike!

Then, in less than five seconds, another reply came.

—Yes, let’s go with that.

Sunwoo Shil was about to put down her phone, but she grabbed it again and huffed and puffed in anger. What is this jerk?

It was already unpleasant that he started a fight with her out of nowhere, but why was he continuing to pick a fight while pretending to apologize? The way he talked was really annoying.

Meanwhile. Another friend sent her the photo that Rembrary had mistakenly commented on, saying, ‘This is you lololol,’ and Sunwoo Shil became twice as angry and was about to send an angry text to her friend, but she checked Rembrary’s comment in more detail and became three times as angry.

She hadn’t read the comments in detail earlier because she was angry at the reindeer photo. But when she looked again, she saw that he had written ‘You’re alive?’ next to ‘Ms. Sunwoo Shil.’

“What? You’re alive?”

Sunwoo Shil left another comment for Rembrary in anger.

—And I released an album a while ago? And the album is doing well? What do you mean ‘You’re alive’ to someone like that? That’s offensive!

—Of course. Ms. Sunwoo Shil is a good singer.

—Singer? Singer? Is? Why is ‘is’ attached to that? This person is annoying? Is it okay to be a hunter? Is it okay to be a hunter?

Sunwoo Shil was convinced that this trainee named Rembrary, who had recently become famous, was definitely her anti [a person who dislikes or opposes a particular person or thing]. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have suddenly started a fight.

But even though he had started a fight first. When she protested, the other person surprisingly apologized.

—I’m sorry, I was just happy to see you. I’m a fan of Ms. Sunwoo Shil.

Moreover, he directly said he was a fan.

A great hunter who became a sensation after only three episodes of was a fan.

“…….”

Was he really a fan? Sunwoo Shil was momentarily tempted by the docile apology.

—I’m a fan who likes Ms. Sunwoo Shil’s unedited face too.

The hunter named Rembrary started another fight.

“Who is this jerk?”

—Who are you, jerk? Why do you keep picking a fight? Do you want to die?

In the end, Sunwoo Shil was sure that this guy was her anti and even swore at him in a threatening tone.

In the meantime, his fans were only fanning the flames instead of taking his side.

—Hyung [Korean term for older brother, used by males], don’t do that. If you fight with that person, you’ll die.

—Wooshil oppa [Korean term for older brother, used by females]ㅠ Oppa, you’re so weakㅠ That person is so strongㅠ

From Sunwoo Shil’s point of view, it was like being hit by a sudden downpour while standing still. As Sunwoo Shil was about to retort that he wasn’t that weak.

The hunter who had been picking a fight with her all along suddenly sent a friend request this time.

—I’m really a fan of Ms. Sunwoo Shil >ㅅ< With an uncharacteristic emoticon. "Is this guy really crazy?" Sunwoo Shil was about to reject it with a 'eat shit' message, but hesitated just before rejecting it. Being like this reminded her of someone. That uncharacteristic emoticon and the way he kept subtly picking on her about Photoshop, it was like… Woo Yeon-woo in his crazy days. In the end, it was the moment when Sunwoo Shil impulsively accepted the friend request after much deliberation. "Ugh." Sunwoo Shil clutched her head and curled up, feeling a sudden tingling pain in one side of her head. Her precognitive ability was suddenly activated again within a month. Soon, her consciousness seemed to fade, and the surroundings changed as if covered in a thick fog. And… Sunwoo Shil's eyes widened at the unbelievable sight. The hunter who had been picking a fight with her earlier. Hunter Rembrary, wearing a peculiar cloak, was walking somewhere, stepping on the blood that was pooling and sloshing on the floor. At the end of that road was an incredibly huge throne. And sitting on that throne was…….