Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 374

374. Oops……

“What’s wrong? Jung Seo is worried about you.”

Even with Oh Wan speaking with a smile, Woo Yeon-woo looked even more terrified.

He gripped his head tightly with his fingers and buried his face between his knees. Oh Wan slowly approached him.

Although his face was hidden, Woo Yeon-woo didn’t close his eyes. He stared at the blanket darkened by his shadow, trying his best not to tremble.

But as Oh Wan approached, he remembered the ghost story of hiding under the teacher’s desk and hearing the ghost’s footsteps, and his fear grew. As his fear grew, his fingers trembled even more.

“Yeon-woo-ya.”

As Oh Wan approached and spoke kindly again, Woo Yeon-woo bit his lip and finally slowly raised his head.

Oh Wan was smiling in his usual friendly road manager manner.

“What’s wrong? What are you scared of?”

As he sat on the edge of the bed, Woo Yeon-woo slowly lowered the hand that had been gripping his hair and hugged his legs this time.

“That day……”

Woo Yeon-woo opened his mouth with difficulty, recalling what had happened in the middle of the night.

The first thing he recognized when he came to his senses was the faint sound of a violin. People were dancing to the sound around him, and a sweet and mellow scent wafted from somewhere.

Woo Yeon-woo looked around and almost collapsed because his legs gave out. The place was full of people in fancy party dresses.

But what surprised Woo Yeon-woo was not the sudden party. It was the skin color of the people. Bright blue, bright green, bright red, etc., colors that could not come from any human race.

Woo Yeon-woo took a half step back and bumped into someone behind him. Surprised, he quickly turned around and saw someone without eyes, nose, or mouth on their face politely apologizing.

—Are you okay?

Woo Yeon-woo was so terrified that he couldn’t answer and stepped back again. The person who apologized tilted their head, saying, “Huh?”

Then, they bent down and began to approach, rummaging as if trying to smell something.

At that eerie sight, Woo Yeon-woo was completely cornered against the wall, unable to even swallow his saliva, and trembled.

The faceless person put their nose to Woo Yeon-woo’s neck and pretended to sniff, then made another unintelligible sound, “Eueueung?”

Meanwhile, the demons who were dancing around stopped and stared at Woo Yeon-woo, whispering among themselves.

In that eerie scene, Woo Yeon-woo froze in fear. If Oh Wan hadn’t appeared then, he might have fainted on the spot.

“It’s scary.”

Woo Yeon-woo muttered, shuddering just at the thought, and Oh Wan burst into a hearty laugh.

“What’s scary? That those people are all demons?”

“……”

“So what if they’re all demons? They’re all subordinates of the Demon King. You’re one with the Demon King. What’s there to be afraid of?”

“The time the Demon King occupies my body is getting longer and longer.”

Woo Yeon-woo looked up at Oh Wan with teary eyes.

“It’s not that I’m afraid of those demons, it’s that I was unknowingly playing among them. What if I disappear like this…… What if I disappear like this?”

* * *

Rembrary got out of the car and looked around the red-tiled house. The site looked large, but the building itself was not very big.

‘Is the anchovy [slang for Shin Jo-woon] here?’

Rembrary approached Shin Jo-woon’s car, confirmed that there was no one inside, and then approached the tiled house and knocked on the door.

But even after waiting, there was no sound from inside. So Rembrary opened the door himself and went inside. With a ‘creak’ sound, the large door was pushed open immediately.

“Excuse me.”

Rembrary raised his voice as he entered the yard. But again, there was no answer.

‘Is it an abandoned house? Did they move?’

The inside of the tiled house was overgrown with weeds, and more than anything, it was full of ghosts.

The ghosts were playing among themselves, and when Rembrary entered, they began to stare at him as if he were strange. Among them was the ghost who had tried to break Rembrary’s car earlier, but was instead hit by the car and bounced off.

Rembrary recognized the ghost and waved his hand, but the ghost swore and turned his head.

At that time.

“Come in here.”

Finally, a human voice was heard from inside the house.

When he entered the building, he saw a person in traditional clothing writing calligraphy.

‘Is that person Saint Hong Mo?’

“I came to ask something. Are you Hong Mo?”

When Rembrary saw that and approached, the person presumed to be Hong Mo stopped his hand and burst into laughter.

“Hong Mo, you say.”

Soon, she put down her brush and turned to Rembrary, smiling.

“It’s been a long time since a guest has come this far, except for that kid. So, who are you?”

This person seemed to be Hong Mo.

“I’m Rembrary. I belong to the Redrine Hunter Company.”

Thinking that he was great for finding his way on his first visit, Rembrary quickly introduced himself and was about to ask if she had seen Shin Jo-woon.

But unexpectedly, as soon as Rembrary introduced himself, Hong Mo laughed as if she knew who he was right away.

“Oh, so you’re the pig who makes fun of people’s parents?”

“Makes fun of parents? Pig?”

“Something about dirt on the grave. Aren’t you the one who sang that kid’s ringtone?”

“Are you talking about Shin Jo-woon?”

“Yeah. Him.”

As Hong Mo seemed to know Shin Jo-woon better than expected, Rembrary hurriedly ran to the table, sat opposite her, and asked.

“Did Shin Jo-woon come here? I’m looking for him because I can’t reach him.”

“I knew he wouldn’t be normal when I heard the lyrics. You’re really naturally disrespectful.”

“Did Shin Jo-woon come here? I can’t reach him.”

Hong Mo shook her head, momentarily speechless, seeing someone who was so naturally disrespectful and someone who immediately corrected his tone as soon as he was pointed out.

“He didn’t come?”

“He came. He came and asked me to take his soul out and send it to the afterlife.”

“Did you kill him?”

“Of course not. He asked because I can give him astral projection [out-of-body experience].”

“Then now……?”

“The maximum time you can endure while astral projecting is three days. But can you go to the afterlife and find someone within three days? I didn’t think so. So I didn’t do it.”

“Good job. So where is he now?”

“He took what he had left with me and went somewhere.”

“Where is that?”

“Well. I don’t know.”

“You’re not helpful at all.”

Anyway, his soul didn’t go to the afterlife. Rembrary sighed in relief and stood up.

But as Rembrary was about to leave the yard.

“That kid talks strangely. Wait a moment.”

Hong Mo followed him out as if seeing him off, and suddenly brought up a strange topic.

“That kid was next to Tae-ri’s younger sibling when they died.”

Rembrary opened the car door and looked at Hong Mo. He wondered what she meant by telling him that, but Hong Mo was expressionless, making it difficult to understand her intentions just by looking at her face.

“He has a great fear of losing someone he cares about.”

“So Shin Jo-woon doesn’t have many friends.”

“No, that’s a different issue. He only had Tae-ri and Tae-ri’s younger sibling as friends even before the incident.”

Rembrary tilted his head.

“But why are you telling me that? Shin Jo-woon might not like you talking about him, right?”

“I thought it would be good to tell you.”

“?”

“Go quickly. Before that guy causes an accident.”

* * *

As Rembrary safely passed through the Sacheon Pass [mountain pass in Korea], the person who had advised him to leave his car earlier widened his eyes in surprise.

Rembrary waved to that person and left the Sacheon Pass, entering a quiet road.

Then, when his phone rang, Rembrary stopped on the side of the road and quickly took out his phone, wondering if it was Shin Jo-woon.

But the person who called was Sagamjae.

“Shameless. To call me.”

Rembrary thought about cutting off the call right away, but he answered and scolded him.

“What nerve do you have to call! Is Jo-woon in the afterlife?”

He had heard from Hong Mo that Shin Jo-woon hadn’t gone to the afterlife himself, but he still thought he should ask about his whereabouts.

But Sagamjae conveyed unexpected words.

“He’s not in the afterlife. He’s summoning all the grim reapers.”

“Summoning the reapers? No, do you know where he is?”

“Try to stop him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What’s your current location?”

When Rembrary saw a large building around him and told him his location, Sagamjae appeared a little later and dragged him away, saying let’s go somewhere together.

Rembrary immediately shook him off, wondering if he was going to take him to the afterlife again, but Sagamjae said anxiously that it wasn’t like that.

His attitude seemed really urgent, so he followed him. It was in front of a house that looked ordinary. But that ordinary appearance was only on the outside. The atmosphere of the house was definitely not ordinary.

“What is this?”

Something that looked like ice or electricity was wrapped around the house in the shape of a chain, making a rustling sound.

“I’m curious.”

“What?”

“This is neither the power of an Awakened nor the power of a Saint. It’s not the power of gods or monsters either.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shin Jo-woon made it so that the grim reapers ‘have no choice but to come,’ and then he’s catching the grim reapers and not letting them out.”

“Is that possible?”

“That’s why I’m curious too.”

When Rembrary looked at him, Sagamjae frowned and pressed his temple.

“Shin Jo-woon is not a Saint, so his abilities must have appeared after the Cataclysm [a world-altering event]. I have no idea how he’s using these abilities.”

The moment Rembrary heard those words. He recalled the time of the First Cataclysm. The very moment when the Cataclysm began, when countless things poured out from inside, tearing through the rift.

Shin Jo-woon received those ‘pouring things’ head-on.

At the time, Rembrary thought he was safe because he had protected Shin Jo-woon with divine power, but could it be that receiving the tearing of the dimension at the closest distance had affected Shin Jo-woon?

It wasn’t certain, but that was the only thing that came to Rembrary’s mind right now.

‘Let’s go inside first.’

“Can you open that door?”

Sagamjae opened the front door, so Rembrary went alone into the house where the strange chain was rustling around.

He told Sagamjae to go in with him, but he didn’t follow, saying that he wouldn’t be able to get out if he went inside.

“The smell of blood……”

As soon as he entered the house, Rembrary frowned at the bitter smell of blood. He couldn’t see them now, but he definitely felt that there were many grim reapers somewhere near here.

Rembrary emitted divine power at a constant rate, preparing to suppress the grim reapers with ‘divine majesty’ if they tried to do anything foolish, and moved following the smell of blood and the energy of the grim reapers.

The smell led to the basement. The basement door was not locked, so Rembrary entered the basement this time without Sagamjae’s help.

But the inside of the basement was dark, so he couldn’t see well in all directions.

All he could see was someone wrapped in bandages all over their body except for their nose and mouth, on a swing with a small light bulb, acting like an animal on all fours.

‘Why are they wrapped in bandages? Are they sick?’

But Rembrary, who had lived in a world of social hierarchy, passed by that person without much thought and pressed the switch behind the swing first.

Then, the lights turned on one by one from the door to the inside, making a buzzing sound.

And every time the lights turned on, grim reapers trapped in ice were visible below.

‘The anchovy did this? With his weak body?’

Rembrary couldn’t believe it, but that ice ability was clearly Shin Jo-woon’s awakened ability.

As the surprise subsided, Rembrary noticed ‘something’ that was not clearly visible because it was hidden by the grim reapers.

‘What is that?’

Rembrary slowly walked towards where ‘something’ was.

As Rembrary moved, the grim reapers, who were still conscious even while trapped in ice, moved only their eyes to look at Rembrary.

Rembrary, who had approached ‘something’ closely, realized that it was a severed head placed on a wagon.

It was even a face he vaguely knew. They weren’t close, he hadn’t seen them many times, and he didn’t even know their name, but they definitely belonged to Nakru.

‘Did the anchovy kill this person and summon the grim reapers?’

The moment Rembrary frowned.

A voice saying, “Oops,” came from a little behind.

Rembrary slowly turned his head.

Shin Jo-woon was leaning against the door, lighting a cigarette.

Then, when their eyes met, he blew out white smoke from his mouth and smiled.

“What to do. I’ve been caught.”