Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 41

41. I Was Briefly an Inquisitor in the Past

“Wow, it’s great to see a celebrity in person. You’re so handsome.”

The young man was not only pleasant-looking but also spoke smoothly and smiled often.

Judging by appearances alone, it was hard to believe he was fabricating stories from his school days to manipulate public opinion.

But you can’t judge a book by its cover.

It was the same in my original world. Some people looked like bandit leaders but were angels at heart, while others had angelic faces but massacred tens of thousands as tyrants.

The same went for priests. Sometimes, the most upright and righteous priest was misunderstood by the parishioners because of his stern appearance.

However, Remberry was confident that he would never be fooled, no matter how kind and benevolent someone looked.

As long as he paid attention.

A faint smile appeared on Remberry’s lips.

“Thanks.”

Conversely, the young man’s smile vanished at Remberry’s informal speech.

Hyegyeol was the youngest member of Wild Animal, and the young man was Hyegyeol’s middle school classmate. Though it was questionable whether they could even be called ‘friends’.

In any case, he had done his research on Hyegyeol, so the young man knew that the two people in front of him were older than him. Not by much, though.

But to start with informal speech right away? Even when he was being so cooperative? The young man chuckled inwardly.

He had deliberately brought a recorder for today.

He hadn’t intended to pick a fight with any members other than Hyegyeol, but if they came at him like that, he wouldn’t hold back.

The young man was deliberately mindful of the recorder, speaking politely.

“But what brings you here to meet me? As I said repeatedly on the phone, all I want is an apology. I don’t need money or anything. In fact, I think Hyegyeol should have come to this meeting instead of Wooyeonwoo and Han Jeongseo.”

The young man wasn’t the only one who knew how to use his head.

As soon as Jeongseo heard the young man’s lengthy explanation, she realized that he had brought a recorder.

Otherwise, there was no reason for him to say things like ‘as I said repeatedly’ or ‘I only want an apology, I don’t need money’.

“The company never mentioned money.”

Because that was the truth.

The young man flinched at Jeongseo’s firm words but didn’t answer, just smiled.

He was probably trying to create a narrative where LLL Entertainment demanded money, but he refused.

Jeongseo frowned and was about to say something, but Remberry spoke first.

“Did Hyegyeol really break your leg?”

The young man answered Remberry’s question immediately.

“Yes.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. Didn’t you see my post?”

“Is it the truth?”

“Yes, it’s true!”

“I swear to God, is it the truth?”

“Yes, I said it is!”

“It is the truth.”

Remberry kept asking the same question and then raised his eyebrows, muttering to himself, causing Jeongseo to look at him with a puzzled expression.

But Remberry was lost in thought, stroking his chin.

What he had just done was a ‘Truthful Bet,’ where, by infusing divine power and invoking the name of God, the speaker had to answer truthfully.

The activation condition was to give the person a chance to tell the truth twice before making the bet.

In other words, the ‘Truthful Bet’ began with the third question, at which point the speaker had to answer truthfully, and would be punished by God if they lied.

If they lied, a mark that only Remberry could see would appear on their forehead, and they would be punished by God within a week.

But the young man calmly insisted that his words were true, and no mark of divine punishment appeared on his forehead.

Remberry couldn’t help but be puzzled.

‘Did Hyegyeol really break that young man’s leg?’

Remberry frowned with a serious expression.

But he still couldn’t fully trust the young man.

There were loopholes in the ‘Truthful Bet,’ so it was possible to lie and still win the bet.

The condition was that the speaker themselves did not realize that their words were false.

Remberry changed his question this time.

“Is everything in the post you uploaded true?”

“What are you trying to do? Did you call me here to keep talking about this?”

“Is it true?”

“Yes, it’s true. But shouldn’t you be apologizing right now?”

“I swear to God, is it true?”

“Yes, I said it is!”

The moment the young man became agitated, a small mark appeared on his forehead.

That mark would automatically bring divine punishment after a week, but Remberry could detonate it in advance at his will.

And the longer it was left, the stronger the effect would be.

There was no need to wait a week now, so Remberry detonated the mark right away.

As the young man grumbled and reached for his water glass, it suddenly shattered with a sharp sound, scattering everywhere.

“Huh.”

The young man gasped in surprise, staring at his hand.

The water from the broken glass flowed down the table and soaked the young man’s clothes.

“Oh, seriously.”

The young man couldn’t even curse properly because of the recorder, and he nervously tore off napkins to wipe his hand.

“What kind of cups does this place use… Ugh.”

Jeongseo silently stared at the broken glass, then glanced sideways at her colleague. *Maybe?* Several superpower movies flashed through her mind. Telekinesis or something…

But she soon dismissed her thoughts. Still, healing powers plus telekinesis would be too overpowered.

If he had such abilities, her member should be saving the Earth, not being an idol.

No, even if he didn’t save the Earth, he should have become an athlete, doctor, or herbalist.

Then, with that scam-like face of his, he would have been even more popular than he was now.

And, contrary to Jeongseo’s thoughts, Remberry couldn’t use telekinesis.

However, there were no limits to the divine punishment received when making a ‘Truthful Bet’ with Remberry.

‘So, he thinks his leg was broken because of Hyegyeol. But he knows that the post he uploaded is a lie…’

“Hyegyeol pushed you and broke your leg, or so you say. Is that true?”

“Why do you keep asking questions? Are you interrogating me? Seriously, this is making me feel bad.”

“Is it true?”

“It’s true, I said? More importantly, what about the apology? Shouldn’t you apologize first?”

“I swear to God, is it true?”

“Damn it, I heard you were a piece of trash, but are you crazy- Ack!”

The young man suddenly jumped up in the middle of his sentence and looked down at the chair.

Then, he cursed, “Ah, damn it, damn it,” and grabbed the back of his thigh with his hand.

Soon, with his face contorted, the young man pulled something out with all his might. There was a piece of broken glass stuck in it.

The young man was taken aback, saying, “What is this?”

Pieces of broken glass could get stuck in his body, but he had been sitting on the chair the whole time without lifting his butt [buttocks].

But the glass fragment was found not on the exposed part, but on the part that was in contact with the chair.

Realizing that fact, he felt something eerie.

Belatedly, the young man realized that Remberry’s questions always followed the same pattern.

Two questions. Followed by ‘I swear to God’ once.

The young man stared blankly at Remberry.

Remberry smiled and opened his mouth again.

“According to Hyegyeol, you insulted her parents first. Is that right?”

“…”

The young man didn’t think that the two things that had just happened were Remberry’s doing, but he didn’t answer, just in case.

Remberry continued to speak without concern.

“Is that right?”

“…”

“I swear to God, is that right?”

“…”

The young man didn’t answer until the end, and nothing happened this time.

The young man was relieved, but he was scared, wondering if that slick piece of trash celebrity had really done the previous two things.

He decided to go back quickly and opened his mouth.

At that moment.

A perfectly fine front tooth suddenly broke, and blood dripped from his mouth.

The young man’s eyes were stained with fear, and he sat back down in his chair.

He wanted to run away, but he couldn’t because his legs had given out.

Remberry stared at him intently, then smiled kindly again and asked.

“Shall we start over from the beginning? The post you uploaded, is it true?”

* * *

The terrified young man eventually confessed the truth.

And he took out the recorder he had brought and handed it to Remberry and Jeongseo. Jeongseo deleted the recorded content and returned the recorder.

Afterward, Jeongseo recorded the young man’s apology on her phone, had him take down the post he had written in front of her, and then had him upload a clarification.

Even if he uploaded a clarification now, the malicious antis [anti-fans] would never believe it, but opinions would be divided.

It was unfair, but they couldn’t let this matter grow any bigger ahead of the new song.

The same went for suing.

If the agency sued this young man, it would definitely go in the direction of defamation, but the antis were likely to not care whether it was defamation for spreading false information or defamation for stating facts.

If there were no fans to fight the antis, the voices of the antis would easily become the voices of the public.

Also, they could argue that the reason Hyegyeol wasn’t punished was because Korea weakly punishes violence that occurs within schools.

So, although it made her grind her teeth, she was making him directly deny his own words.

Fortunately, the young man was surprised by the bizarre phenomenon he had experienced and obediently followed the instructions.

After everything was done.

Remberry made the young man swear that he would not reveal today’s events to anyone and that he would never lie about Wild Animal again.

After all the work was finished.

The young man disappeared, trembling.

Jeongseo was dazed for a moment, then said softly to Remberry.

“Pull the curtains about halfway.”

And when Remberry pulled the curtains, she put her hand in her inside pocket and took out the recorder that the agency’s legal team had given her.

Jeongseo breathed a sigh of relief only after deleting the recorded content.

The young man’s voice confessing his sins was recorded on her phone. That was enough.

“Why are you deleting that?”

“This has everything recorded, including how that person was trembling earlier. You might not be able to tell the whole story just by listening to that much… but just in case.”

“I see. Well done. You are clever.”

Jeongseo made a strange expression at Remberry’s compliment.

“You’re really weird.”

“Aren’t I admirable?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“I guess I’m not admirable.”

Remberry, who had become sullen, put the coffee cup, which was almost completely melted, to his mouth.

“Oh, it’s so bland.”

Jeongseo, watching Remberry grimace and smack his lips, asked with a slightly nervous expression.

“Why didn’t you use that on me?”

“Jeongseo, the coffee is bland. And what are you talking about?”

“That thing about swearing to God.”

“Hmm?”

“You made that person swear not to tell anyone about what he saw. Why didn’t you do that to me?”

“Ah.”

Remberry inadvertently put the bland coffee to his mouth again, then spat it out and looked up.

Jeongseo looked at Remberry with expectant eyes.

Why didn’t he use it? Because it had no effect, so he didn’t use it.

The young man had suffered several hardships because of Remberry, including having his hand injured, his leg stabbed, and his tooth broken, and Remberry had treated the young man afterward. Even his leg.

With all this pain, fear, and miracles laid out in front of him, the young man had assumed that the oath Remberry was making him take was cursed. Jeongseo as well.

However, simple oaths had no effect.

There were oaths that had an effect, but they required a lot of complicated procedures and all sorts of materials.

But…

Remberry discovered the expectation filling Jeongseo’s eyes and gave her the answer he thought she would want the most.

“I trusted you, so I didn’t.”

Shindo 23’s face was filled with emotion.

“…I’ll grind you tomatoes again today.”