Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 337

337. More Action Than Words

“Help me?”

Woo Yeon-woo flinched and asked,

“Me, with what?”

[Lady Im’s younger sibling is severely injured. Please use your mysterious healing ability to heal Lady Im’s sibling.]

The tiger monster spoke earnestly, but Woo Yeon-woo could no longer fulfill the role of a healer since Rembrary had left.

The Demon King occasionally took over his body and displayed strange abilities, but none of them included healing. Besides, the fact that a monster was making the request…

However, this situation itself wasn’t unfamiliar. When Woo Yeon-woo first regained his body, he made the excuse that his healing ability had disappeared due to being severely injured while fighting that terrifying enemy who turned people into vinyl. But not everyone believed him.

There were quite a few who thought Woo Yeon-woo was lying to avoid troublesome tasks, and some even tried to force him to heal them. If it weren’t for Woo Sung-woo and Nakru, he might have been in serious trouble.

“I don’t have it. That ability is gone.”

When Woo Yeon-woo stated firmly, the tiger head roared again as if it couldn’t believe it.

“It’s true.”

Even after Woo Yeon-woo repeatedly said so, the tiger head eventually stomped its feet and disappeared again. As soon as the monster vanished, Woo Yeon-woo’s legs gave way, and he slid down, hugging the sandbag.

* * *

“Breaking news. Do you remember ‘Everyone’s First Love,’ Im Yu-han? He suddenly went missing during filming, causing great shock to the public. More unfortunate news has been reported. Im Yu-han’s younger sister, Im Yu-seol, who began working as a free hunter after awakening two years ago, was reportedly attacked by a monster and is in critical condition, unconscious.”

Rembrary, not caring about what people were saying about him and Woo Yeon-woo, was flipping through TV channels while eating old-fashioned snacks that Daeju had bought when he heard Im Yu-han’s name and stopped with the remote.

‘Yu-han sunbae [senior]? A sibling?’

Did he have a sibling?

As he watched, the anchor’s face, wearing a pitiful expression, disappeared, and the interior of a neat, single-person hospital room appeared.

Rembrary unconsciously put snacks into his mouth at a steady pace, staring at the yellow tubes connected to an unknown machine, the machine making strange graphs with beeping sounds, a pale pair of feet revealed under the white bedsheets, and an IV stand, before widening his eyes.

“That person?”

To be precise, not a ‘person,’ but he found Im Yu-han next to the unconscious patient.

At first glance, he looked like a person, but his hair, face, and clothes were all soaked, making it clear he wasn’t human. If such a person were next to a patient, they would be asked to move, not be shown on the news. Besides, what about that tiger head monster clinging to the window?

‘What on earth is this scene?’

Did Im sunbae become a water monster? If that wet female monster was standing alone, he would have just thought it was a similar-looking monster, but seeing the tiger monster nearby made it clear it was Im Yu-han.

So, sunbae didn’t disappear but became a monster and vanished. Rembrary put down the snacks and clicked his tongue. He couldn’t say, ‘I’m glad Im Yu-han sunbae is safe,’ because her expression looked too gloomy.

Just as Rembrary was looking at Im Yu-han’s expression and thinking, ‘It would be nice if I could save Im sunbae’s sibling,’ someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The person who came was Daeju. Daeju saw the TV Rembrary was watching, recognized Im Yu-han’s face, and asked, “Isn’t that the actor?”

But, seemingly not very interested, Daeju handed Rembrary the various files he was carrying and immediately changed the subject.

“Kim Mu-rok PD [Production Director] gave me this proposal, saying it’s the content he wants to cover about Rembrary-nim.”

“He even submitted a proposal?”

“He seemed to want to go for a sensational angle by involving Woo Yeon-woo as well. But he probably wants to get our permission first because he doesn’t want to get on the bad side of the big hunter companies by proceeding right away.”

“Why involve Woo Yeon-woo?”

“Wouldn’t the High Priest know that well?”

As Daeju muttered, looking down at the floor, Rembrary stared at the top of his head for a moment.

But even after staring intently, Daeju didn’t raise his head, so Rembrary looked down again and took out the papers from the file, skimming through the proposals.

He wondered why that human was trying to get permission for once. The content inside the proposal was so sensational that it was almost dizzying, with a list so spicy it felt like smelling Cheongyang peppers [a very spicy Korean chili pepper]. If he proceeded as is, Woo Yeon-woo’s fans would probably cry and curse Kim Mu-rok. Besides…

“Why does anchovy keep appearing?”

“Wouldn’t the High Priest know that well…?”

When Rembrary looked up from the documents, Daeju lowered his head again, which had been slowly rising, and stared only at the floor. Rembrary shook his head and put the papers back in the file, placing it beside him.

“Should I reject them all?”

“I’m planning to reject them all, but I’ll take a proper look first. I’ve only skimmed through them and haven’t seen everything yet.”

“Yes.”

But even though he seemed to have finished his business, Daeju didn’t leave.

Breaking news about the assassination of a city’s mayor was being broadcast, but this wasn’t a topic that interested him much, so Rembrary glanced at Daeju while changing the channel.

If he had something to say, he should just say it clearly. He wondered why he was hesitating so much.

“Speak.”

Finally, when Rembrary couldn’t stand it any longer and gave him explicit permission, Daeju immediately asked the question as if pricking a balloon that had been inflated to the point of bursting.

“Are you going to keep Ardor here?”

“Ah, Ardor, you mean.”

“Yes. I’m wondering if he’s officially joining Redrine.”

“Ardor…”

It would be better if he didn’t join. In a situation where Redrine as a hunter company needed to shed its image as a cult, he didn’t seem like a very helpful personality.

But seeing Daeju say that made him think he might have other plans, so Rembrary asked Daeju instead of giving a definite answer.

“What do you think about Ardor?”

Daeju thought Ardor was like a crazy stalker, but seeing that Rembrary had even brought him to this room, he thought he must care about him to some extent, so he tried to express it as positively as possible.

“I think he’s a passionate believer. It’s a bit excessive, but if he got so angry and ran out as soon as he heard the High Priest and Woo Yeon-woo’s conversation, wouldn’t that loyalty be unmatched?”

“Is that so? He just seems like a strange kid to me. You’re giving him a generous evaluation.”

“!”

“Then when Ardor comes back, you can take care of him.”

“Excuse me?”

Daeju looked at Rembrary with trembling eyes. He had tried to express it positively for Rembrary’s sake, but just for that reason, he was trying to entrust that strange otherworldy priest to him. It was absurd.

But fortunately, Rembrary looked at the ceiling for a moment, then sighed, “Ah,” and changed his words.

“That won’t work. I need to have him find the Holy Knights.”

Only then did Daeju relax his shoulders in relief, but he hurriedly left the room, afraid that Rembrary might change his mind again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Im Yu-han and the tiger head didn’t exchange a single word until they returned to the lake where they lived after confirming the fallen younger sister.

Im Yu-han seemed to have lost his mind at the sight of his sister’s injured appearance and didn’t want to say anything, and the tiger head didn’t even know whether to offer comfort or just quietly stay by his side, so they remained silent together for the time being.

How long did they spend in silence even after arriving at the lake? Im Yu-han, who had entered the water, kept splashing the surface with his tail before turning to the tiger head and asking in a heavy voice,

“What happened?”

What Im Yu-han heard from the tiger head, who had regained his senses, was that his younger sister, Im Yu-seol, had come here, but unfortunately, Im Yu-han was in a state of lost reason at the time, so there was some misunderstanding.

The tiger head had urged him to go to the hospital quickly to see her face since she was severely injured, so he didn’t have time to hear the details. But Im Yu-han had some idea of what had happened.

“I… attacked Yu-seol? I did that? Is Yu-seol dying because of me?”

When Im Yu-han asked powerlessly, the tiger head felt distressed. If he answered yes here, Im Yu-han would be even more distressed by the guilt of having seriously injured his sister. His face had already hardened even before he answered.

He wanted to heal Im Yu-seol before Im Yu-han regained his senses, but even that became impossible due to Woo Yeon-woo’s refusal. If Im Yu-seol were to die in the midst of this, Im Yu-han would surely blame himself and be in great pain.

A person who blames others gains the energy to live from that, but a person who blames themselves is more likely to lose the strength to live and ruin themselves. The tiger head didn’t want to see Im Yu-han blaming himself.

In the end, he couldn’t bear Im Yu-han’s pale expression and lied.

“The Lady didn’t do that. I did. I used too much force trying to chase your sister away.”

“!”

* * *

At that moment. While waiting for Jongwoo to bring the car, Woo Yeon-woo was pacing around the lobby of the accommodation, feeling uneasy for no reason.

It was okay that he had refused the tiger head’s request. But after a few hours, when the news broke that Im Yu-han’s sister was seriously injured and unconscious, he kept thinking, ‘Should I have told him about Rembrary?’

“People will talk about that story with Rembrary for a while. They’ll forget it soon, so don’t worry about it.”

Jongwoo thought Woo Yeon-woo’s expression was bad because of the rumors with Rembrary, but that wasn’t the part that bothered him right now.

How many laps had he aimlessly walked? Someone was walking towards Woo Yeon-woo. He thought they would go the other way, but the person walked straight towards him and eventually stopped three steps in front of him.

It was a face he had never seen before, with dark circles under his eyes and unusually silver hair. Seeing that they seemed to have business with him, Woo Yeon-woo casually asked, “Can I sign an autograph for you?”

“Heresy. Unforgivable sin. Repay with death.”

However, what came back was a low, suppressed voice.

Heresy? What heresy all of a sudden? Just as Woo Yeon-woo was about to say something about the absurd talk of heresy, the person reached for his waist and pulled out a gun.

“!”

As soon as he noticed that, Woo Yeon-woo immediately lost consciousness, and the Demon King took over his body.