Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 404

404. The Devil Traces a Clue

Rapsus sat at his desk, clicking the mouse back and forth. On the screen, people were making a racket about Rembrary holding a signing event right next to Rapsus.

Rembrary’s fans were busy concocting all sorts of explanations for his actions, but the general reaction was closer to, “Why is Rembrary acting like that again?”

Watching something that could never happen in his original world, Rapsus chuckled silently. It was delightful that Rembrary, who had previously pretended not to see him, was now feeling inferior and self-conscious. Very delightful indeed.

“It seems you’re starting to feel how I feel, Rembrary.”

* * *

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Rembrary-nim!”

As Rembrary was opening a new box of sacred peaches, Ardor, who was crossing the living room, hurried over to speak.

Ardor, who had lowered his gaze at the sound of tape being torn, belatedly noticed Rembrary’s new sacred peaches and snapped his mouth shut. The events of a few days ago flashed through his mind.

Sensing Ardor’s hesitation, Rembrary drew a firm line.

“You have to ask before you eat them. You have to clearly state that you’re eating sacred peaches, not just having dessert. Understood?”

* * *

When Sajae went to Yama’s [King of Hell in East Asian mythology] residence to meet him, numerous grim reapers were already lined up.

‘Why are there so many?’ Sajae wondered, grabbing a grim reaper who was passing by in a hurry.

“Where is the King?”

“He’s packing sacred peaches.”

Before Sajae could ask what that meant, the grim reaper sighed and vanished. Other grim reapers lined up nearby glanced at him.

Sajae lowered his hand and frowned. It was hard to understand, but hearing about the sacred peaches made him feel uneasy. ‘Could it be that they found out I diverted a box and sent it to the Otherworld Saint [Rembrary] two days ago?’

It wasn’t explicitly against the rules, but everyone turned a blind eye to grim reapers taking a box or two of sacred peaches for themselves. He thought it would be the same this time, so he took the peaches without reporting it. Yama packing them himself made his palms sweat.

“Reaper Sajae.”

At the voice from the side, Sajae stopped thinking and turned. Yama’s aide was standing there with a serious face.

“His Majesty has ordered you to be brought to him.”

Sajae’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.

* * *

Following the aide, he skipped the long line and went inside, where Yama was indeed putting sacred peaches into boxes and packing them.

“Your Majesty.”

Sajae called out in embarrassment. Yama waved his hand, sending the fully packed boxes flying to one side to stack them up, then asked as he packed a new box, “Didn’t you say you had something urgent to report to me?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Sajae examined Yama’s profile. There was no sign of anger or sarcasm. Fortunately, Yama packing the sacred peaches himself wasn’t to reprimand him, but simply because he was short-handed, and the reason he was called first, ignoring the order, was because he had been told it was an urgent report.

“I asked the Otherworld Saint about that head that appeared in the underworld, in case it might be some being from that world.”

“I thought so too, so I called you first. You’re close to him, after all.”

“We’re not close…….”

“Close enough to give him sacred peaches.”

‘This thing, this thing. These peaches I’m packing until my arms break.’ As Yama sadly looked at the peaches packed tightly in the box, muttering softly as if to be heard, Sajae became very apologetic and stammered.

“They won’t break. Because you’re a god.”

“That’s true. But I might break your arms in a fit of anger, Sajae.”

At Yama’s muttering, Sajae quickly hid his arms behind his back and began the report he was originally going to make.

Upon hearing the story about the fragments of the Devil, Yama forgot about the peaches and became serious. While Sajae continued to speak, Yama stopped packing and tapped the box with his finger. When the report was over, he asked in a heavy voice.

“If it’s the Devil, is that the one who made those Otherworld gods immigrate here?”

“Yes.”

“He took over their world, and now he’s coming all the way here?”

Yama asked in disbelief, but it was more of a statement spat out in anger. Yama was dumbfounded and let out a few empty laughs.

“If they’re going to fight, they should fight in their own dimension. They’re even moving their base.”

“If he succeeded in taking over that dimension even though the Redrine God is quite strong, he must be very strong.”

The aide listened to Sajae and Yama’s conversation with concern, then clutched his head in pain and muttered.

“If he was already called the Devil over there, he must have been immersed in darkness for a long time. He’ll try to take over this place by any means possible.”

Yama put his hands behind his back and narrowed his brows. He already knew that it wasn’t just Otherworld humans crossing through the cracks, but he regarded the others as just miscellaneous things. ‘So there are dangerous figures coming from there with bad goals?’

“What should we do, Your Majesty? Do we need to get involved in their fight?”

“We don’t need to get involved. But we already are. As long as they fight in our dimension and harm us, it’s become our fight now.”

At Yama’s grim words, the aide cursed.

“Damn bastards. One side clings on to die together, and the other endlessly covets and tries to eat up all the dimensions…….”

If Yama hadn’t been beside him, he would have cursed even more.

Even though the underworld’s manpower was gradually becoming insufficient because those damn Nakru [likely referring to evil entities or antagonists] were killing saints as soon as they found them, it was a world that was running relatively peacefully.

‘What is this all of a sudden with these Otherworlders immigrating? If they were going to come, they should have come on their own, but what the hell did they bring with them?’

“Reaper Sajae. Is this information certain?”

When Yama asked again, Sajae nodded.

“I can’t be sure that the head is the Devil’s head, but I’m sure that the Devil is coming here.”

‘It would have been better if the former and latter were reversed.’ Yama sighed and called the aide again this time.

“Aide.”

“Yes.”

“Change the direction of the investigation. Find out about that first. What the demons are doing now, who they’re trying to attach themselves to. They’ll try to find their forces and gather. It doesn’t matter if they’re not demons who crossed dimensions. Include them all.”

“Yes.”

“And…….”

‘What else is there to order?’ Yama paused for a moment.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

The grim reaper standing at the very front of the line of grim reapers jumped up and down, raising one hand. He was originally next in line to report to Yama, but he had been pushed back for a moment because of Sajae.

When Yama cast his gaze, the grim reaper waved his hand even more excitedly.

“Me! I think I know some helpful information.”

When Yama gestured for him to come over, the grim reaper hurriedly approached Yama and shouted confidently.

“There’s a super rookie singer who’s come out in the mortal realm right now. He’s very popular!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yama became angry and blew the grim reaper away with telekinesis.

“Hing!”

The grim reaper bumped into the cloud wall and rolled on the floor a few times, then became discouraged and quickly picked himself up.

Still, when he ran back to his side without any sense, Yama became even more angry and shouted.

“Why are you telling me about a rookie singer? What do you want me to do about a rookie singer being popular? Why, are you trying to offer me peaches too?”

Sajae felt self-conscious for no reason and lowered his head. The grim reaper was flustered and waved his hands wildly.

“No, that’s not it. It’s not that. I feel an alien power in that rookie singer’s song. That’s what I was going to say.”

As the grim reaper looked very wronged, Yama stopped his panting and asked calmly.

“Alien power?”

“Yes. A significant number of people who heard that song are showing symptoms of addiction.”

“Symptoms of addiction?”

“Yes. At first, I thought it was a case like that Otherworld Saint Rembrary, but it’s a more subtle and darker power. Besides, that rookie singer… He’s that Otherworld Saint who worked with us for a while before. Purple hair…….”

It was strange that a strange power was coming from someone’s song, and it was also strange that someone who was once an Otherworld Saint and then a saint here suddenly debuted as a singer. Combining these two made it feel even stranger.

“How strange.”

As Yama muttered, the aide, who was watching carefully, quickly asked.

“Shall we look into it?”

Yama initially answered that he should, but then shook his head again and changed his words.

“No, Sajae. You look into it. You used to be an entertainment manager, so you’ll be more familiar with that side.”

“Yes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a large, fluffy sofa appeared behind Yama. Yama slumped down on it and muttered.

“The fragments are gathering…….”

Sajae thought the instructions were over and was about to leave, but turned back again, thinking that Yama was talking to him. However, Yama was looking down at the floor and not looking at him.

“Your Majesty?”

Still, just in case, he asked, but Yama muttered to himself again.

“The fragments gathering means that they lack power individually.”

No matter how he looked at it, he seemed to be talking to himself, so Sajae bowed and left the place.

Yama didn’t even know that Sajae was leaving, and recalled the large head and black dragons that were trying to enter the underworld.

‘It wasn’t easy, but when he exerted his power and pushed them away, they obediently went back……. Could it be that they can only use their power properly when all the fragments are gathered? But if they come in all at once, I’ll notice right away, so are they deliberately scattering and coming?’

* * *

No matter what people were saying, Rembrary didn’t care at all. Rembrary just wanted to immediately heal the people who were drawn to the strange power from Rapsus, or rather, from the Devil beyond Rapsus.

To achieve that goal, he didn’t care what anyone said. Rapsus also seemed to be getting angry and trying to retaliate.

But two days before the autograph session, they unexpectedly changed the location. Moreover, the newly secured venue was an entire rented building, ensuring that no one else could hold an autograph session nearby. It was an action that clearly showed they were conscious of Rembrary.

‘Did the Devil realize my plan?’

Besides, Rapsus, who had been replying sharply whenever Rembrary provoked him, was no longer responding at all, so it seemed that the SNS account was now being managed by someone else.

‘This is a big problem.’

Only a few days had passed, but all the songs from 1st to 10th place were Rapsus’s songs, except for Rembrary’s one song.

‘They all show symptoms of addiction. It’s a problem even if there’s no more influence here. Just as I tried to gain popularity and make people believe in Redrine-nim, Rapsus will try to increase the Devil’s power.’

Even after thinking about it, there was nothing he could do right now. Rembrary went outside and walked alone in the alley to clear his head.

Thanks to the strong autumn sunlight, the weather felt like summer in the middle of the day. He picked up his cell phone, but the sunlight was so intense that it only reflected glare, making the screen unreadable. Rembrary had no choice but to put his cell phone down.

As soon as he did, he saw someone standing in front of him, backlit by the sun. Because he couldn’t see his face right away, he took another step closer, and the other person mirrored his movement.

It was Woo Yeon-woo, and he looked terrified.