Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 345

345. Is That All?

There’s no need to adorn a pig with a pearl necklace, unless that pig is a pet. The Mad Scientist’s values were precisely like this. In his view, these Awakeners were useless pigs, and their power was the pearl necklace – excessive and undeserved.

He abhorred anything unscientific, so the world after the Cataclysm was a constant source of stress. Every time a scientifically unexplainable phenomenon occurred, he suffered in silence. Black clouds, monsters, giant frog eggs, Awakeners, and the relatively common superpowers… all of it grated on him.

But what tormented him the most was that the majority of those who gained these unscientific powers were ordinary people with no outstanding qualities.

Awakening itself was unscientific, but to make the phenomenon even slightly logical, Awakeners should have been physically, mentally, and morally superior to ordinary people. People whom everyone could acknowledge should Awaken, making it seem like there was some principle to Awakening.

However, heroes that anyone could recognize didn’t Awaken, and among the Awakeners, there were many timid people trembling under the weight of their power. Those who were crushed by their power alone were at least better, as they didn’t harm others.

Even worse were the criminals who used their newfound powers to satisfy their selfish desires and torment others.

After witnessing a neighborhood bully, who used to harass children and the elderly, become an Awakener one day and take revenge on the neighboring police officer who always stopped his misdeeds, the Mad Scientist made a decision: such power should be used by the right people.

He would take away power from those who had excessive power and transfer it to those who could use it properly.

“Rembrary?”

At the Mad Scientist’s question, his secretary, who was busy answering and hanging up calls on ten phones, somehow managed to answer immediately.

“We’ve sent a driver, so he should arrive here in about 25 minutes.”

“Good.”

The Mad Scientist smiled and adjusted his tie once more.

The only Healer. The first to possess more than two abilities. The one who might be the key is coming here. He massaged his neck to hide his excitement, forcibly lowering the corners of his mouth. Still, the trembling was not easily concealed.

“The preparations to ‘welcome’ him are all set, right?”

“Of course.”

* * *

Daeju naturally wanted to go to the lab with Rembrary.

“It’s not that I doubt High Priest-nim at all. But High Priest-nim doesn’t know much about this place… What if they try to scam you?”

Along with Kim Murok PD [Production Director] as well.

“What? A lab? Hey, Woo-joo! Get the camera!”

“I’m not taking any of you, not two, not three.”

However, Rembrary was determined to visit the lab alone, so he firmly refused Daeju, Kim Murok, and the cameraman.

“Why not? Don’t you know the power of broadcasting? The power of broadcasting!”

Kim Murok PD tried to persuade Rembrary by mentioning the black cloud incident a few days ago, the incident where Woo Yeon-woo tried to steal his song, and the incident where Tae-in’s leaked recording almost turned a mutual assault into a one-sided beating, but Rembrary didn’t budge.

“I’m still not taking you. No matter what you say.”

“Why?”

When Kim Murok PD asked, not understanding, Rembrary answered neatly.

“Because you’ll be a hindrance.”

“!”

The easiest and quickest attack Rembrary could use when dealing with people was ‘Divine Majesty.’ It was embarrassing that even this ‘Divine Majesty’ didn’t work on the Demon King, but anyway.

The problem was the range of this ‘Divine Majesty.’ If ‘Divine Majesty’ were used on multiple people simultaneously in a place where enemies and allies were mixed, even the allies would be swept up in it. In other words, it becomes very troublesome.

The only one who could be of help was Lionheart, but he had been missing for hours. So, he was planning to leave all other allies behind.

That way, even if it was a trap, he could suppress everything with Divine Majesty and escape.

* * *

Throughout the drive, the driver from the lab glanced at Rembrary through the rearview mirror. He was practically radiating signals that he wanted to talk to Rembrary. He seemed ready to answer anything if Rembrary just asked one question.

However, Rembrary was preoccupied with various important thoughts, so he pretended not to notice the driver’s ‘Please ask me’ signal and only looked out the window.

‘Are people from our world really trapped in the lab? If they are, how should I rescue them? It’s a government institution, so if things go wrong, I might be branded as a monster too.’

In the end, the driver could only say one thing when they arrived at the lab.

“We’ve arrived.”

Rembrary, who got out of the car, hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should answer one or two of the driver’s questions since he had brought him all the way here.

“Hey you.”

However, the moment Rembrary opened his mouth towards the driver.

“This way.”

Someone raised their voice brightly. Looking over, a man in a white coat was standing in front of the building’s main entrance with a smiling face.

A white coat over a black suit, metal-rimmed glasses. If it weren’t for the white coat, he would have looked more like someone in the finance industry than a scientist. As Rembrary approached, the man shook his hand and introduced himself.

“Thank you for coming so far. I’m Song Seo-ho, the director of the lab.”

“Rembrary.”

“It’s great to finally meet you. Actually, I kept asking to meet you even when you were with Worldboom, but President Shin Jo-woon kept cutting me off.”

“Why did you invite me?”

“Oh, so impatient. We just met, and that’s the first thing you ask?”

Was it because he naturally developed prejudice at the thought that people from his hometown might be held captive in the lab?

Rembrary was surprised that the lab director was so friendly. His eyes were saner than Ardor’s, and he spoke so politely that he didn’t seem like someone who would hold his people captive.

‘Well, even if they are being held captive, they might not be considered the same people from his perspective.’

“I heard you like to eat. Is that right?”

“Depends on the menu.”

“I’ve prepared mostly foods you’d like. Follow me. Let’s talk while we eat. It’s not like we can have this conversation standing here anyway.”

* * *

Before coming here, Daeju briefly explained some of the key figures in the lab to Rembrary, who was going alone to a place that might be enemy territory. But in reality, this lab was a one-man show, so there was only one person to worry about.

Lab Director Song Seo-ho. Nickname: Mad Scientist. When asked what a Mad Scientist was, Daeju replied that he was a scientist crazy about research, so Rembrary imagined the lab director as a crazy scholar from the Magic Tower, half out of his mind with magical research.

‘He seems normal?’

However, compared to the crazy scholars of the Magic Tower, who would change the topic to magic no matter what you talked about, making it impossible to have a proper conversation, the lab director seemed like a very gentlemanly person.

‘Was I prejudiced?’

Seeing the various foods that the lab director had set up on three tables, Rembrary’s evaluation became even more generous.

‘I was prejudiced.’

A person who can prepare so many menus couldn’t possibly be narrow-minded.

“Please eat as much as you want.”

“The story…”

“Let’s talk while drinking coffee after we eat.”

“Is that alright?”

“We have to treat our guests well.”

However, just as Rembrary picked up his chopsticks to eat pizza.

“Ah. Maybe it’s better to watch ‘that’ before eating.”

Suddenly, the lab director muttered to himself, naturally making Rembrary put down the chopsticks he had picked up, and led him to get up as if it were a natural flow.

“Thinking about it, it’s better to take a look around the lab first. It would be uncomfortable to sit down and eat suddenly. Right?”

Rembrary said no, but the lab director pretended not to hear and led Rembrary out into the hallway.

“I can eat first.”

“Let’s just look around one floor here. There are a few dishes that need to be warmed up, so let’s do this quickly in the meantime. About 15 minutes? That should be enough.”

The warmed dishes could come out later, so he could eat the prepared dishes first. Rembrary was dissatisfied but nodded in agreement. Eating was important, but to handle the purpose of coming here, he had to thoroughly check the inside of the lab.

“This is the general lab, and here we report the research results in compartments. Items under research, items on hold, results that came out but weren’t good, things that are useful and need to be done again… We classified them according to their purpose.”

“What exactly are you researching?”

“As you already know, it’s naturally about the abilities of Awakeners.”

“Are there any research achievements?”

“There are some.”

“There are some? What did you find out?”

“Um. Detailed matters are confidential to those not involved. Of course, if Mr. Rembrary becomes involved with us, I’ll tell you everything. Are you interested?”

“I had high expectations because it’s a lab. From the outside, it just looks like a place for desk work.”

“The really important experiments are done elsewhere.”

However, there was no effect from following him, even putting aside the food. Unlike his expectations, at least in this area, it didn’t seem like Rembrary’s people were being held captive.

‘Are they being held in the place where they do important experiments?’

Would they show him the important experiments if he asked? If he brought Lionheart… he’d be caught right away. Rembrary clicked his tongue, checking the CCTV cameras densely packed on the ceiling.

In the end, there were no particular gains until he returned to the restaurant from before.

“Ah, you arrived just in time.”

The only gain was that a few kinds of steaming hot food had been added after taking a round.

As Rembrary took a seat, the lab director also sat across from him.

“Can I eat everything?”

“If you can eat it all. Do you have a stomach that can fit all of this?”

“Of course.”

The lab director smiled faintly at Rembrary’s pleased voice.

“Is that also a miracle of the god you believe in?”

“Does your god even help with digestion?”

“I wonder.”

While the lab director smiled ambiguously, Rembrary asked what he had been curious about all along, eating small portions of several kinds of food.

“By the way, why are there so few people here?”

Daeju said that the lab was a one-man show, so he only needed to worry about the lab director. But when he actually came, it wasn’t just a one-man show. There were very few people themselves. In this large building, the only person Rembrary had met besides the driver was the lab director.

At that moment. At Rembrary’s question, the lab director smiled very suspiciously and answered.

“Don’t worry. You’ll meet them soon. Everyone is eagerly looking forward to seeing Mr. Rembrary.”

As soon as those words were finished, Rembrary felt a strong drowsiness pouring in. Suddenly, his head felt ten times heavier, and he lost control of his body. It was the kind of sensation he would feel when he had been awake for about a week.

In the end, Rembrary dozed off for a moment. Then he started eating again.

But as he was eating this and that, he felt a piercing gaze towards his head. A straight gaze that didn’t look anywhere else.

When he raised his eyes, the lab director was looking at him with a flustered face.

“What’s wrong?”