Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 340

340. Applause, Applause, Applause

Rembrary noticed people were giving him strange looks as he walked out of the hospital. They looked like people who had received an exam paper written in an unfamiliar foreign language. They knew it was an exam, but they didn’t even know how to read it.

Rembrary recognized a few familiar things in their expressions: admiration, amazement, the bewilderment of witnessing an unbelievable scene, and the embarrassment of realizing that someone they had ignored was someone they shouldn’t have.

This was especially true for those who had blocked Rembrary, not believing he was there to heal. But in front of so many people, it was too embarrassing to admit their prejudices, so they hesitated and couldn’t bring themselves to apologize.

After scanning them from right to left, Rembrary, like the great high priest he was, kindly told them what they should do.

“Marvel at my greatness.”

Ardor clapped his hands first, and some people followed suit. The sparse applause gradually spread like a tide.

Eventually, even people from other hospital rooms were leaning out of the windows to applaud, so Rembrary waved to them with the dignity of a high priest.

Seeing this, the other Redrine hunters felt like it would be strange not to applaud, so they cautiously raised their hands as well. But apart from the polite applause, they were actually the most surprised and moved of anyone present.

Few Redrine hunters had a favorable view of Rembrary. He was the person the Archpriest had suddenly brought in one day and given a room with a good view; a semi-celebrity who didn’t seem to do anything but wander between the restaurant and his room, living off free meals; a fake believer who attracted attention by bringing a group of producers and using Redrine for fame; someone who brought in another person like himself, worsening Redrine’s already bad image. This was the average perception of Rembrary among the Redrine hunters until now.

One of the hunters even made a firm assessment of Rembrary.

‘The only thing you can’t criticize about that guy is his face.’

However, seeing him rush in to heal people without hesitation, even while being threatened, made their hearts swell with pride. ‘This is the Redrine spirit!’ They were satisfied that the reason they had joined Redrine seemed to shine here.

Of course, the reason they joined Redrine was to have their wishes granted, but the overwhelmed hunters temporarily forgot this truth.

“You don’t applaud, Archpriest.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I clapped too?”

“The second-in-command must stand beside me like a painting.”

“Am I the second-in-command?”

“You’re honest. With the Earth buff [enhancement], you’re about third.”

“!”

* * *

[I saw you going into the hospital and coming out lol]

[Taeri >ㅅ< How was it?] [It was really cool! I was so impressed by the way you healed! Our Piggy is the best] [How did Taeri see it? It was inside the building?] [Oh, right, sorry, I didn't actually see itㅠ] [Taeri...] [No, the future me did see it. I'm going to watch it after work.] [Taeri...] [Sorry, I wanted to pretend I knew before Jo Woonㅠ] Rembrary stared blankly at his phone and sighed. Ardor, who was making a cake as punishment for recklessly firing a gun, asked. "Why are you wasting such precious breath, High Priest?" The Archpriest, who somehow ended up assisting Ardor, looked at him as if he were crazy. "Are you telling me not to breathe?" "Of course not. I humbly request that you breathe in my direction." The Archpriest pulled a disgusted face, using every muscle in his face. Ardor flicked flour at him and asked again. "Why are you sighing while looking at your phone?" Rembrary shrugged and put his phone down on the side table. "It's nothing. I was just wondering why Taeri is friends with Mr. Anchovy [Shin Jo Woon, a nickname]. But now I think they're surprisingly similar." Ardor didn't think deeply about Rembrary's words and immediately tried to drive a wedge between them. "They say birds of a feather flock together." "I guess. There's that saying too." Rembrary nodded at those words, and Ardor grinned with delight. On the other hand, the Archpriest mumbled while halfheartedly kneading the flour. "Then, since the High Priest is friends with Shin Jo Woon, doesn't that mean you're birds of a feather too?" At those words, Ardor's eyes widened as big as jujubes [a type of fruit], and he asked the Archpriest. "Does that mean you, my right-hand man, and I, your left-hand man, are also birds of a feather?" At the unpleasant tone, this time the Archpriest was shocked, and his eyes widened as big as chestnuts. Meanwhile, while the Archpriest and Ardor were busy crushing each other's pride instead of kneading the cake dough, someone knocked on the kitchen door three times. Before they could even ask who it was, the person who knocked announced their presence loudly from outside. "Rembrary, it's Kim Mu-rok PD [Production Director]! Scoop! It's a jackpot! I have tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes] in my hand!" When Rembrary opened the kitchen door, Kim Mu-rok PD entered with a light step, as if tap-dancing. Then, he looked around and placed the tteokbokki bag on the stained countertop, asking. "Rembrary, did you see it? Huh? You haven't seen it yet, have you? Tell me you haven't!" As soon as he finished speaking, he signaled to the still-open door. The cameraman was standing awkwardly behind the door, but upon receiving the signal, he quickly picked up the camera and entered the restaurant, fixing the camera lens directly on Rembrary. "What should I have seen? And why the camera?" Kim Mu-rok grinned as Rembrary asked, pointing to the light on the camera. "I want to capture your reaction." "Reaction to what?" "You really don't know?" "I don't even know what you're talking about." Rembrary tilted his head as he took out the packaged tteokbokki. Kim Mu-rok smiled as if he expected it and shouted, spreading his arms wide as if delivering lottery winning news. "You've been exonerated! Exonerated!" "Exonerated?" "Remember how people misunderstood that you ordered your assistant or subordinate—that crazy, ugh, hello? You were here. That handsome silver-haired friend—that Rembrary ordered him to assassinate Woo Yeon-woo?" "It hasn't been long enough to forget." The Archpriest muttered, and Kim Mu-rok briefly made a 'you were here too?' expression before quickly hiding it like a professional. "You're about to be cleared of that misunderstanding!" "How?" "Woo Yeon-woo strangled Rembrary, right? Someone leaked a recording of him arguing with his manager about what happened back then on the internet!" Rembrary revised his assessment of Kim Mu-rok. He wasn't someone who came to deliver lottery winning news, but someone who came to brag that he had won the lottery. He was always a step late in controversial incidents, so he couldn't film anything properly. He seemed happy to have noticed the incident first this time and even prepared a camera. But Rembrary didn't react much. Rather, Ardor's eyes gleamed as he looked at Kim Mu-rok. However, even this was quickly kicked in the shin by the Archpriest, signaling 'don't do it.' Ardor barely suppressed his excitement, remembering being scolded by Rembrary recently. Disappointed by Rembrary's uninteresting reaction, Kim Mu-rok asked. "No reaction? Aren't you happy?" Since Rembrary usually didn't have much emotional fluctuation, he wanted to create a forced emotional drama while delivering this news. If Rembrary was very happy, he was going to insert a flashback of him suffering from the misunderstanding. If he cried while recalling the past hardships, he was going to play sad background music to stimulate people's sympathy. But such a dry reaction. "Not really." But Rembrary knew that it wasn't Woo Yeon-woo who strangled him, but the Demon King, so he couldn't help but be indifferent. However, viewers who were watching this live were moved by Rembrary's unexpected magnanimity and left comments. ―Rembrary... Just watching his broadcasts, you can see that humans are a mixture of good and evil. He's like a living witness to the theory of innate goodness and innate evil. ㄴWhat's the theory of innate goodness and innate evil? ㄴStudy a littleㅉ ㄴ????? Are you talking to yourself? ―Isn't it not enough to say that Rembrary is unexpectedly kind? It's just that everyone thought Rembrary was attacking Woo Yeon-woo alone, but it turned out to be mutual. ―I'm more shocked by Woo Yeon-woo than Rembrary. I knew he was crazy, but wasn't he a kind of crazy? I thought he became a national hero and became more gentle after awakening as a healer. Strangling people behind the scenes ㄷㄷ;; ―Isn't it because Rembrary is a healer? lol He lost that ability, and someone with a similar personality to his old self appeared with that ability ―At this point, I'm suspicious of the Rembrary song incident. Woo Yeon-woo's manager took Rembrary's side even while fighting with Woo Yeon-woo over the song issue, and then stole the song at the last minute? I don't know. Rembrary scrolled through the video comments that Kim Mu-rok showed him. Woo Yeon-woo was a popular idol and had a national hero image, so people seemed to be quite shocked. 'He must be going crazy right now with that personality.' Rembrary clicked his tongue and asked Kim Mu-rok. "But who leaked that recording?" * * * [Thinking about it, hyung [older brother/male friend] shouldn't be contacting him. You know I hate that Rembrary bastard!] [That's because you strangled the bastard you hate! Even if he acts crazy on TV] Shin Jo Woon pressed the pause button and leaned back in his chair. Below the video where the recording was uploaded, there were comments full of people who didn't know that national hero Woo Yeon-woo would do this. For some reason, there was a best comment with a lot of recommendations that said, 'Shin Jo Woon probably leaked the recording lol,' but... it wasn't him. Shin Jo Woon didn't leak this recording. No, he didn't even know that this recording existed, and he didn't even know that this incident happened. But he was curious about who uploaded it. Because of the timing of the recording being uploaded. 'If it was for Rembrary, he would have released this as soon as he was being criticized for being involved in that Ardor guy's business. But he was quiet then.' But the fact that he released the recording right when Rembrary's reputation was soaring... 'Is it just someone who hates Woo Yeon-woo?' As he was thinking, his secretary came in and handed him a black clipboard with papers clipped to it. "President, the tracking results are out." Shin Jo Woon straightened his back in his chair and took the report. "Who did it?" But before hearing the answer, Shin Jo Woon first found a familiar name in the report. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the name before looking up at his secretary. "Are you sure? That's unexpected."