Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 313

313. Hello?

Though Daeju asked stiffly, Sagamjae didn’t answer, looking around instead. Then, he carefully placed the birdcage he was holding next to him.

Inside the cage was a scrawny pigeon.

*Does he take pigeon souls too?* It was hard to tell. But judging by how carefully he was handling it, he wasn’t just carrying it around because he disliked pigeons.

“Blocking the car like this.”

Daeju spoke first, seeing Sagamjae, who had blocked his path, just doing other things.

At that, Sagamjae finally straightened his back and looked at Daeju.

“If you’ve come to fulfill your duty as a grim reaper, your methods aren’t very refined.”

However, as soon as Daeju finished speaking, Sagamjae chuckled. He looked as if he had heard a very amusing story.

“One should treat with refinement those humans who have lived without causing great harm to others. Not someone like you, who worships another god and harms the world.”

The following answer was insulting, but Daeju didn’t react much. No matter what Sagamjae said, Daeju was only curious about one thing.

*Is my lifespan really over?* Is that why this grim reaper has come to take my soul? Or why else would he come all the way here and just do other things?

He was healthy. This wasn’t just a matter of ‘I feel good, so I’m healthy’ or ‘My health checkup results were good, so I’m healthy.’ He actually had nothing wrong with his body. But can a grim reaper come just because someone’s lifespan is over?

* * *

At the same time.

PD [Production Director] Goo was trying to sweet-talk Lion Lord.

“You know, you know I really like Rembrary, right?”

“How would I know that?”

“Ah… you can know it now. Anyway, that’s how it is. So…”

“Not interested.”

“No, wait, the main point is from now on!”

“Not interested.”

“Aren’t you Rembrary’s friend?”

“Targeting the friend of a crush. A very classic, low-level tactic.”

“No, I don’t like him in that way!”

But it wasn’t easy. Lion Lord kept cutting him off every time he tried to say something.

Eventually, as Lion Lord was about to leave, PD Goo grabbed onto the hem of Lion Lord’s clothes and clung to him.

Lion Lord looked at him with ‘Are you crazy?’ eyes, and PD Goo quickly let go of the hem and smiled.

“I just keep trying to leave…”

“If you had come any closer, I would have gouged your eyes out.”

PD Goo didn’t know about Lion Lord’s past, so he didn’t realize that the eye story Lion Lord just told was a very realistic and sincere threat.

Sometimes it’s better not to know. PD Goo still grabbed Lion Lord’s arm amiably.

“Our show was a huge hit because Rembrary appeared! But the content so far is nothing. There’s even more amazing footage!”

Lion Lord even raised his hand to PD Goo’s temple, but he lowered his hand because he was curious about what he would say next.

“More amazing footage?”

Lion Lord also watched starring Rembrary. Not because the content was interesting, but because it was fascinating to see someone he sees every day on screen. Anyway, he was curious since he said there was something even more amazing.

“What is it?”

PD Goo cheered inwardly, unaware that his eyes had almost been gouged out just now. *He’s hooked!*

“It’s very, very amazing content! Rembrary looks absolutely fantastic!”

“So what is it?”

“But I left the camera that filmed it somewhere else.”

“You can just bring it.”

“Right. But the door there is closed, so I can’t go. But… looking at you now, it seems like you can just go anywhere with a ‘poong, poong’ [whoosh, whoosh – sound effect for teleportation]?”

As PD Goo subtly asked, Lion Lord understood what PD Goo was trying to say.

“You’re telling me to take you there.”

“Yes! Just for a moment, 10 minutes, no, 3 minutes would be enough!”

“…”

“Really! I just need to bring the camera. I remember where I left it! You can just reach out your hand like this and grab it.”

PD Goo pleaded earnestly, pretending to snatch the camera with his hand. Nimbly, so it would look really simple.

“Hmm.”

Watching that, Lion Lord pondered what would happen if he granted this request.

Rembrary would naturally be grateful. He doesn’t seem like it, but he wants to receive a lot of attention from people.

Even if Rembrary is grateful, it doesn’t really help… Rembrary was his benefactor. To repay that favor, he came along on the trip to get the early discharge consent form signed.

But after stopping by the ‘Singing Forest,’ CEO Shin Jo-woon took that consent form and was wielding it arbitrarily. In other words, he wasn’t doing anything right now. But what if he helped this producer here?

“Okay.”

As Lion Lord, having finished thinking, readily agreed, PD Goo grinned widely, genuinely.

“Then…”

Before PD Goo could say, ‘Then when should we set a date to go,’

“Let’s go. Where to.”

Lion Lord reached out and grabbed PD Goo.

In the blink of an eye, PD Goo found himself outside the World Boom building. The surrounding scenery was completely different.

His heart was pounding, and before PD Goo could ask, “What is this…?”

The scenery changed completely once again.

It wasn’t a long distance to move, but that didn’t mean the amazement from the two times would go away. PD Goo gasped.

“Tell me. Where is it.”

But Lion Lord didn’t care how surprised PD Goo was, so he just urged him again.

*Is this the world of ability users?* PD Goo tried to calm his surprised heart and barely opened his mouth.

“The location is…”

* * *

“Can’t you move all at once?”

As PD Goo carefully asked, Lion Lord moved onto the bridge and asked, “Should I drop you?” PD Goo quickly shook his head, and only then did Lion Lord move again.

*No wonder he’s friends with Rembrary, look at his personality.*

After moving like that several times, PD Goo arrived at the place that the unidentified message ‘Shin Jo-woon has a grudge against’ had told him about.

It was an ordinary-looking small building, with nothing particularly strange about it.

Looking at its simple appearance, PD Goo recalled the anxiety he had thought of several times. *Could that note itself be some kind of trap?*

*It’s okay. I came with Lord Lion.*

If worst comes to worst, this lord will let me escape. PD Goo scraped together his insufficient courage, and when he received Lion Lord’s question, he answered as if he had been to the building before.

“Where is it here? Living room? Shoe rack?”

“I don’t really know either… I’ve been to so many places. But I think I’ll remember if I check for a little bit!”

Lion Lord looked like he was dying of annoyance, but even so, he took PD Goo and showed him each room in the building one by one.

Living room. A room that looked like a study. Bathroom. A small living room on the second floor. Terrace. Another room that looked like a study. Kitchen. A room with almost no furniture.

However, the building was nothing special as much as its exterior, except that it had no bedrooms.

Finally, he looked at the garage, but again, there was nothing strange here either.

“Still can’t find it?”

*Was that note some kind of trap after all?* PD Goo inwardly thought, *Ah, crap,* but he knew that there was still one place he hadn’t seen.

At this point, he wondered if there would be anything more to see even if he looked there. Still, now that he had come this far, he would definitely feel more uneasy if he investigated everything except for one place.

PD Goo mumbled, “Was it… the basement?” while hoping that there would be something there.

Lion Lord sighed and grabbed PD Goo’s arm. And in the blink of an eye, the surrounding scenery changed again.

But… this time, it was a little different from upstairs. It was dark and a little chilly here, and there was a small whirring sound of something turning.

As soon as PD Goo looked around, he knew.

*This is it!*

The secret room that the unidentified note told him about must be here. He couldn’t see anything properly, but he had a feeling from the atmosphere. *Doesn’t it look secretive at first glance?*

“Did you lose it here?”

“Yes! It’s here!”

PD Goo whispered in a small voice and quickly took out his cell phone and turned on the light.

When he shone it here and there, he could see the silhouettes of various objects. The biggest one was something that looked like a bed.

*There were no bedrooms. Did they put a bedroom in the basement?*

PD Goo approached it gently. Carefully, tiptoeing.

But as soon as he shone the light next to the bed, PD Goo gasped. Because there was a person in the bed.

*I’ve been caught!*

Surprised, he stepped back and tripped over a thick wire. As a result, he touched a metal cart next to him, and the cart touched something else, causing a series of crashing sounds around him.

PD Goo turned pale and looked at the person lying in bed.

*Won’t he wake up?*

However, the person lying down just kept his eyes closed without moving.

*A corpse?*

That was even scarier, so PD Goo’s face turned pale.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that when he looked closely. The other person was breathing properly, albeit slowly.

*If he doesn’t wake up even with this commotion, he must be sleeping very deeply.* PD Goo swallowed hard and shone his cell phone light on the person.

An even more surprising sight was revealed in that dim light. The person wasn’t just asleep. His hands and feet were tied to the bed.

And what he thought was a bed was not an ordinary bed, but looked like a hospital bed.

PD Goo gasped and unknowingly looked at Lion Lord. With eyes that said, ‘Did you see this?’

But the answer that came back was indifferent.

“Still can’t find it? Find it quickly. What are you doing?”

Lion Lord didn’t look surprised at all. He wasn’t afraid either.

*Do Awakened people see this kind of thing a lot? Is that why he’s like that?* PD Goo glanced at the person tied to the bed. No matter how he looked at it, this sight looked very scary to him. Is it common among hunters for the president of a popular hunter company to tie someone up in the basement?

If this guy was a criminal, he would understand to some extent. Because Awakened criminals are really dangerous. However, PD Goo knew a lot about Awakened criminals due to the nature of his job, but there was no one like this among them.

“Find it quickly.”

As Lion Lord urged him again, PD Goo worried about whether the camera hidden between his clothes was working properly, and muttered that he understood, so quietly that it was barely audible.

Then, he twisted his body as much as possible here and there so that many scenes would be captured on camera.

At that moment.

*Zhiing.*

A light above his head lit up with a short electronic sound.

*Gasp!*

PD Goo was surprised and looked up. Then he quickly turned his head to look at Lion Lord.

“D, did you turn it on?”

Instead of an answer, this time the light next to him turned on again with a *zhiing* sound. Then the light next to it, next to it, next to it, turned on in order.

The *zhiing, zhiing* sounds that came each time were eerie.

And the moment the last light turned on.

*Shin Jo-woon!*

Shin Jo-woon was seen leaning against the wall there.

Surprised, PD Goo stepped back. When his back touched the edge of the bed, his clothes were pushed up a little, and the cold sensation of metal was transmitted through the gap, giving him goosebumps.

As his eyes met, PD Goo became so scared that he couldn’t tell whether the goosebumps were because of the metal or because of him.

Besides, his heart was beating like crazy. Even though it was a situation where his weakness might have been caught, Shin Jo-woon didn’t look surprised at all. As if he had been watching all along.

No, was he actually watching all along? But the door is…

“Hello.”

A slow voice broke through his thoughts. Shin Jo-woon was smiling.