Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 331

331. I’ve Been Found Out

Ardor loaded his gun and fired three precise shots at the lumpy egg. Each time, the large egg was pushed back, and the protruding hand waved weakly. The parts hit by the gun caved in deeply. Ardor lowered the gun and examined his handiwork.

“That’s strange. Why isn’t he coming out?”

Even after shooting it three times to ‘encourage’ it, the one inside the egg didn’t budge. The egg was now caved in enough that it should be much easier to get out.

‘Did he die trying to come out? Maybe he tried to reach out his hand but ran out of energy and died?’

‘Looks like it.’

Tsk tsk. Ardor clicked his tongue and turned away. He thought it would be a paladin, but how useless.

‘Where did all the paladins go? Did they really fall on the other side of the Earth? I need to find them quickly and return to the Grand High Priest.’

But just as Ardor turned around, he heard an unusual rustling sound from behind. An unpleasant and eerie sound, like a very thick and large plastic bag churning.

Ardor raised an eyebrow, stood in place, and only turned his head. What he saw was a frog egg slowly cracking. The hand sticking out from the egg was frantically scanning the air, searching for something.

‘What is that?’

Ardor tilted his head. It looked like a human hand, so he initially thought it was someone from the same world. But was it not human?

He couldn’t help but think it wasn’t. The length of that hand… it was long. Much longer than he expected. Moreover, it kept stretching out, which was quite creepy to watch.

He watched for a while as the endlessly stretching hand groped around. After a long time, the hand suddenly stopped moving and stood upright on the floor.

Ardor took out a snack bag he carried around and tore it open. He didn’t know what it was, but it was interesting, so he decided to watch for now. He even took a picture with his phone and sent the proof to the Great High Priest, then watched what the hand was doing again.

But it wasn’t much of a spectacle. The hand, which had been moving diligently all along, suddenly stopped moving as soon as he decided to watch it properly.

Eventually, Ardor got bored and was about to turn around again. This time, the hand began to tear off the egg surrounding itself. Little by little.

‘How odd?’

When that task was finished, what remained was…

‘A hand?’

Just that long hand alone.

‘That hand came over? A hand alone?’

It definitely wasn’t human. Then is it a *yokai* [a Japanese spirit or monster]? A hand *yokai*? Or a monster wandering in the gap between dimensions that entered through a crack? A hand monster?

Ardor became curious again and cautiously approached it. And while munching on snacks, he bent down to look at the hand…

“!”

He was so surprised by the pattern engraved on the palm that he dropped the snack bag.

‘This hand! It’s that person’s hand!’

Ardor hurriedly took out his phone. This wasn’t just a funny hand. The owner of this hand is…

At that moment.

“What a pity? I’m still a secret.”

A whispering voice was heard from the side. Ardor’s eyes widened.

* * *

Rembrary ate the coffee and bread that Seon Woo-sil had bought and waited for Jang Tae-ri to come.

When Jang Tae-ri asked, ‘Where are you?’, he told her the location, and unexpectedly, she said she would come here herself.

If he had known this would happen, he would have changed the location to a barbecue restaurant. Or another good restaurant. Rembrary slightly regretted not seizing the moment but was excited at the thought of meeting Jang Tae-ri and did a little shoulder dance.

[I’m going to play with Tae-ri >ㅅ< Anchovy, work alone] Of course, he also sent a teasing text to Shin Jo-woon. [Where are you?] Shin Jo-woon asked immediately, but Rembrary answered vaguely and didn't tell him the exact location. [Where your dreams and hopes are] [An amusement park?] [Anchovy is such a baby lol] [Why are you talking like that lol] As he was about to reply further, this time a text came from Ardor. But when he opened that text, it was... 'A hand?' It was a picture of a hand stretching out from a large frog egg. 'No, I told him to find Mullu and Ninling, what is he doing?' Redrin-nim, please look at Ardor. I told him to find the paladins, but he's finding strange hands. Redrin-nim, this is what your priest is like. This is the kid you picked. Rembrary clicked his tongue and decided to ignore Ardor's text. If he responded to each of these things, he would send strange texts again. He's a bit strange and scary, so he should filter out what he says. Then, as he was about to tease Shin Jo-woon again, this time the door slid open and Jang Tae-ri came in. Rembrary put down his phone and jumped up. "Tae-ri-ssi!" * * * How should I face our Piggy's face? I just thought he was a cheerful and food-loving guy, but he's not a cultist but a real saint from another world. Moreover, he seems to have contributed a little to the world being in this state. Of course, even if he's a great saint, he's not a god, so if his god gets excited and says, 'I'm going there!', he can only say, 'Yes!' and follow... Jang Tae-ri gripped her bag strap, tapped her bag, scratched her phone, and rubbed her head repeatedly as she climbed the cafe stairs with a heavy heart. She felt suffocated, wondering what to say to Rembrary. She thought it would be more difficult to talk about it as time passed, so she decided to meet him abruptly... However, before she could even sort out her thoughts, the door was already right in front of her. And she could hear people inside. Jang Tae-ri took a deep breath and slid the door open in one go. At that moment. Like a large oxygen bubble rushing in and bursting right in front of her in deep water where she was short of breath, Rembrary stood up with a bright smile. "Tae-ri-ssi!" "!" Jang Tae-ri was so surprised that she dropped the bag she was holding. "Tae-ri-ssi?" When Rembrary called out, looking puzzled, Jang Tae-ri then panicked and kicked the bag back to its place with her foot. "No. I was just surprised." "Surprised?" Jang Tae-ri usually doesn't show surprise at most things, so Rembrary looked completely clueless. He closed the door and picked up the *yokai* cat that had fallen off Jang Tae-ri's shoulder along with the bag. [Ttaeriya… Ttaeriya…] While Jinang-i sobbed and waved her hands, Jang Tae-ri quickly calmed her surprised heart. 'He's definitely a saint. When I saw him as Piggy, he was just a handsome pig, but now that I know he's a saint, he really has that sparkling thing about him.' I guess words are scary. That Shin Jo-woon, how much was he subtly putting him down from the side? He's not a god's pig but a god's king, but because he kept calling him Piggy, I couldn't feel that normally! "Tae-ri-ssi? What did you want to see me about?" Rembrary handed over the *yokai* cat he was holding as he sat opposite her. Jang Tae-ri, who had been rambling internally, finally calmed down completely. The distant and enormous story she had to tell came back to her again. On the other hand, the cat *yokai* seemed to have recovered from the shock of falling on the floor and was now *kkaenip kkaenip* [onomatopoeia for a cat purring or humming] humming in Rembrary's hands. Jang Tae-ri stroked Jinang-i's belly and hesitated for a moment. "Tae-ri-ssi?" Rembrary asked again, seeing that. Jang Tae-ri, who was always cool and straightforward, seemed really strange to be hesitating. Right. Let's not make it difficult for each other by wasting time. Seeing that, Jang Tae-ri made up her mind and opened her mouth with difficulty. "Actually… I heard an amazing story." "What story?" "A very amazing story." The *yokai* cat patted Jang Tae-ri's hand with its tail. It seemed unhappy that she had thrown it away with the bag but was now gently touching its belly. When Jang Tae-ri let go of its hand, the *yokai* cat quickly ran to the wall, wrapped its precious belly with its tail, and curled up. Jang Tae-ri began to tear the napkins into pieces to relieve her tension. Rembrary stared at her constantly moving fingertips and realized that Jang Tae-ri wasn't joking. She was really telling a serious story. Jang Tae-ri tore up almost three napkins before revealing what the amazing story was. "I heard that Rembrary-ssi is from another world, a saint from another world, and a king in chess terms…" Jang Tae-ri couldn't look at Rembrary right after she finished speaking. After speaking, several examples of how dangerous people who had their secrets exposed reacted in movies flashed through her mind. Most of them were not good. They would smile cruelly, saying, 'You know too much,' and try to kill her. Or they would smile coldly and say, 'Oh dear. I hoped you wouldn't find out until the end,' and suddenly change. Or they would cry sadly and say, 'I hoped you wouldn't find out until the end,' and pathetically... Jang Tae-ri squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them wide. There would be a reaction either way. And in reality, Rembrary... "I've been found out." He sighed, saying a line that seemed like something huge was about to come out. Murderous extermination? Is he trying to do something like murderous extermination? That sounds like something he would say? Is he trying to commit murderous extermination for the god he serves? Jang Tae-ri tensed up. Rembrary, who she had been watching so far, didn't seem like that kind of person at all, but the identity of the other person is a king that even the Grim Reapers fear and warn not to touch, a king! And that great king, with that pure and beautiful face... "So please tell Anchovy-ssi to stop calling me Piggy." Refusing to be called Piggy... 'Huh?' "What did you say?" "Please tell him not to call me Piggy anymore because I'm a more amazing and great being than you think. Shin Jo-woon-ssi listens to Tae-ri-ssi well anyway." Is that all? Jang Tae-ri frowned without realizing it, having imagined enormous things. Something seems too… simply ended? Murderous extermination? No, I'm not asking him to do murderous extermination. But what about tearful eyes, or a farewell saying that he has to leave now that his identity has been revealed, or turning cold and aloof, or anyway, something 'king'-like? "Wait a minute! Just stay still for a minute." "I've been staying still." "No, just a minute." "I've been staying still." "That's not it, is that all?" "What?" "Is that all?" Rembrary tilted his head with a look that said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' and Jang Tae-ri blankly opened her mouth before bursting into laughter. She felt so absurd that she had been so nervous and climbed up here step by step. It was too anticlimactic. It wasn't that it was bad. It wasn't bad, but... 'I'm such an idiot too.' "Rembrary-ssi is still the same as I know him. Why was I worrying about nothing alone?" "The same? No. I'm a very great being." "Don't worry. No matter what anyone says, Rembrary-ssi is the pig we know." "No, why are you going backwards? Tae-ri-ssi isn't this kind of person." As Jang Tae-ri smiled brightly, this time Rembrary blankly opened his mouth in bewilderment. What. What are you doing, Tae-ri-ssi?