Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 344

Unable to watch any longer, Hori-beom burst out. He was afraid that if they left it like this, the healer might actually die, test or no test.

“Hey! Come over here!”

However, Rembrary didn’t seem scared at all by the knives stuck just 2 or 3 meters away, and remained standing still.

“Hey, Rembrary!”

Other staff members also shouted, and Kim Mu-rok PD [Production Director] made a megaphone with his hands and yelled.

“Mr. Rembrary, just come over! They’re telling you to come, so you’ve won!”

Hori-beom was really scared. What if the world’s only healer really died? If that happened, Redrine would be in trouble as much as they had gained fame. Because they made a ridiculous bet and caused the healer to die absurdly. This would make them look like a cult.

“Ah, seriously. Ah! I’m going crazy!”

Hori-beom stamped his feet, but even as he did, the number of falling knives was increasing.

“Ah, whatever!”

In the end, unable to watch any longer, Hori-beom took a step outside to drag Rembrary over himself. At that moment, knives began to fall in a way that couldn’t be compared to before.

“Ugh!”

Hori-beom was hit by a knife near his shin and quickly retracted his foot.

“Ah, damn it!”

But his leg was already cut, so it was burning.

“Agh!”

He jumped up and down on his uninjured foot to forget the pain, then spun around in place. As he did, someone made a sound of disbelief.

“Huh!”

Did Rembrary die? Hori-beom bit his lip while stamping his feet and raised his head. Of course, he must have died. It would be difficult to survive in that situation.

Indeed. When he raised his head, everyone was staring in one direction with their mouths wide open. Hori-beom naturally turned his gaze in the same direction as them.

“Huh!”

Following that, the same exclamation as someone earlier came from his mouth as well. In the place where people were looking, a truly, truly amazing sight was unfolding. The sight of countless knives pouring down from the sky all avoiding Rembrary.

It was as if there was a large, invisible hand around him, skillfully dodging the knives away from that spot. The sight was nothing short of a miracle, and even the fanatics, as well as the fake believers, couldn’t close their mouths.

“Wow… this is crazy.”

“What is that?”

“Is that also an ability?”

“The defense ability user said they couldn’t block ‘Black Cloud’?”

“Wow, damn. I really have to join here.”

After a while. Just as quickly as the black cloud had gathered, it retreated, and blue light and grayish-white clouds rose again in the sky, filling the surroundings with light. As the light touched them, the swords thickly stuck in the ground disappeared like a mirage.

Rembrary was still standing still, and when all the swords disappeared, he took ten steps forward.

After taking ten steps, the warehouse door appeared.

Hori-beom stood one step behind the warehouse door, and when Rembrary came forward and stood facing him, he swallowed hard without realizing it.

Awe. The emotion he was feeling right now was exactly awe. In fact, most of the people in this place felt that way.

“What… are you?”

After a long time, Hori-beom barely managed to ask. He was so surprised that his voice was hoarse. Rembrary smiled gently and patted Hori-beom’s shoulder.

“I’m a high priest.”

* * *

“How did you do it?”

Dae-ju, who belatedly learned about the commotion, came to Rembrary’s room and asked.

Rembrary listlessly received the salad he brought, with the expression of a fat cat who had found tasteless diet food piled high in a food bowl, and muttered.

“Just because.”

Dae-ju was simultaneously embarrassed by two things. One was that Rembrary had that expression in front of food. The other was that he had done such an amazing thing and said ‘just because’.

He hesitated about what to ask first, but first, he thought he should do something about those drooping eyebrows, so he carefully asked.

“Do you not like salad?”

“It’s not that I dislike it… it’s just not something I would go out of my way to find and eat.”

As Rembrary took the salad bowl and walked unsteadily to the bed and sat down, Dae-ju awkwardly placed one sauce on each side of Rembrary.

“Instead, there are two sauces.”

“…….”

When Rembrary looked up with an ‘and so what’ expression, Dae-ju awkwardly spread his palms, then unnaturally crossed his arms and stepped back.

“How did you do the black cloud phenomenon? I heard it was amazing. ‘Just because’?”

Rembrary checked the names of the two sauces Dae-ju gave him and replied.

“Literally. When the knives were calm, I just thought I could handle it somehow.”

“Yes?”

“If I got hurt, I would recover. If defense was possible, I would defend. If I thought I couldn’t handle it, I was going to avoid it.”

“But were you able to defend?”

“No, they avoided me on their own.”

“Then it wasn’t the High Priest who did it…”

Dae-ju glanced at the ceiling, wondering if Redrine had done it.

“I don’t know.”

Rembrary shrugged and opened the lid of the sauce with the purple label. Then, he poured the sauce all over the salad and raised his head, saying, “Ah.”

“Where’s Hori-byeong? I have something to get from him.”

“Lee-beom is praying right now. He seemed very moved. Even if I didn’t call him, he looked like he would run over as soon as he finished praying.”

“Who is Lee-beom?”

“Isn’t Hori-byeong you’re talking about Hori-beom? Hori-beom is just the name he uses as a hunter, and his real name is Ho-i-beom.”

“No, there’s not much difference between that name and this name, so why would he use a pseudonym when he has a perfectly good name?”

“Isn’t it the same for you? You use Lion as a nickname.”

When Dae-ju pointed to Lion Lord with his eyes, Lion Lord was sitting on the desk with only his buttocks on it, staring blankly, and replied in a sulky voice.

“What are you talking about? It’s my real name. My surname is Hwa. My name is Lion. Hwa Lion.”

“!”

* * *

Hori-beom, who was said to be praying, came to find Rembrary himself around 10 p.m., as Dae-ju had said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know if it’s okay to come at this late hour.”

“Say those words before you come.”

Rembrary had already changed into his pajamas to go to bed, so he was unhappy that Hori-beom had appeared late, but when he sang, “Late-night snack at night! Late-night snack is Bossam [boiled pork belly]?” and handed over the bag he was carrying, all his complaints disappeared.

“Well. You don’t know my number, so you have no choice but to come and tell me in person.”

“You’re a generous man, hyung [older brother/friend]!”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

Rembrary smiled contentedly and put the bag on the table and took out the Bossam. But that was only for a moment. Soon, he felt a very uncomfortable gaze and raised his head.

As soon as he raised his head, Rembrary’s eyes met Hori-beom’s, who was staring at him intently.

That gaze somehow reminded him of 5% Ardor, so Rembrary checked Hori-beom’s waist for a moment. That guy wouldn’t suddenly shoot a gun, asking him to show another miracle, would he?

Fortunately, the gun was not visible. Still, that unsettling look remained the same.

“Why are you looking like that?”

Eventually, when Rembrary asked outright, Hori-beom grinned weakly and shook his head, then quickly waved his hand, telling him to eat the Bossam.

“Eat it, hyung. Eat it.”

“…Did you put poison in it?”

Of course, he could detoxify himself even if he was poisoned, but he didn’t want to confirm that to the person. When Rembrary asked because he was uneasy, Hori-beom smiled again and waved his hand.

“Hey, there’s no way. Eat it, eat it.”

“…….”

Very rarely, Rembrary lost his appetite and covered the bag again.

“No, I really didn’t put poison in it?! I just looked because I was amazed, amazed!”

When Hori-beom saw that, he shouted in frustration, but Rembrary re-packaged the Bossam and handed it to him.

* * *

Kim Mu-rok was Kim Mu-rok. He was so obsessed with viewership ratings that he personally stepped up to stop Rembrary from taking dangerous bets, and it seemed strange. In between stopping the bets, he had still filmed it.

Thanks to that, the next day, the video of Rembrary’s ‘Black Cloud’ scene completely dominated the internet, and people reacted enthusiastically.

The 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th real-time search terms were all related to Rembrary, and the 3rd, 4th, and 10th were related to Redrine. The 6th was Black Cloud, so in fact, the video released by Kim Mu-rok dominated the real-time search terms.

Of course, the number of people claiming that this video was staged was not small.

―He’s good enough as a healer, why go this far…

―He’s already great enough without having to do this ㅠ

―Even platinum-ranked defense types can’t block black cloudsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ A healerㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It would have been more credible to create another ability user and have that person block itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

However, the number of Redrine visitors clearly increased visibly, and the number of people showing interest in Rembrary was also increasing exponentially.

However, not all the attention was helpful to Rembrary.

* * *

“Research Institute?”

It was during breakfast the day after. While sharing stories about Dae-ju and Hori-beom and finishing half of his meal, he brought up a strange story first.

“Yes. The exact name is ‘Official Hunter Research Institute’, and it’s a place that researches Awakened people in various ways.”

Rembrary tilted his head.

“Why would such a place invite me?”

The news that Dae-ju conveyed was that the head of the research institute had sent Rembrary a formal invitation. Rembrary didn’t know anyone there and had no business there, so this invitation seemed very out of the blue.

“Isn’t it because Rembrary-nim [honorific suffix] is the only one with healing abilities? Unlike other Awakened people, you also have multiple abilities. It seems they’re curious about that.”

After finishing the explanation, Dae-ju quietly ate his meal as if telling Rembrary to do as he wished and waited for an answer.

“What would you like me to do?”

However, as soon as Rembrary asked for advice, Dae-ju immediately opened his mouth as if he had something in mind.

“I don’t think you necessarily need to go.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But it wouldn’t be bad to be friendly with them. It’s the only hunter research institute in our country.”

“Strictly speaking, I’m not a hunter, am I? Neither my abilities nor my job. Would I gain any benefit from the research institute?”

“Yes. But that research institute is also deeply involved with the Awakened-only prison. And…”

Dae-ju hesitated a little and looked around. There was no one sitting nearby, but still, Dae-ju lowered his voice very quietly, almost inaudibly, and continued.

“Your hometown people might be held there. At the research institute or the prison.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The research institute also studies monsters. Since monsters and Awakened people appeared at the same time, they believe there is definitely a connection.”

“…….”

“As you know, the ‘People Who Crossed Over’ don’t have reason in the beginning. Many of them are mistaken for monsters and dragged away.”

“!”

“It’s a publicly announced fact that they give huge rewards for capturing monsters and bringing them to the research institute. It’s also the main source of income for free hunters.”

Rembrary put down his spoon.

“What day and time are they inviting me?”