Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 502

◈ 502. Why Are You Smiling?

As Rembrary entered the counseling room and sat on the plush chair, the teacher stammered, flustered. “That’s, uh, my seat…”

“Is something the matter?”

Rembrary seemed oblivious, so the teacher hesitated and sat in the chair intended for parents.

The topic they were about to discuss was a bit sensitive, so he let it slide.

However, even after sitting down, it was difficult to start, so the teacher paused for a moment.

“Teacher, how is Si-yeong doing in school?”

Only after Rembrary asked did the teacher manage to speak with difficulty.

“Actually, Si-yeong’s guardian, I have some difficult news to share.”

“?”

“Since Si-yeong is an Awakened [a person with supernatural abilities], there’s a bit of concern. We worry about potential accidents.”

“Has he caused an accident?”

“Not yet, but in Si-yeong’s case, if he argues with friends, he threatens them with his abilities. Recently, he told a friend, ‘I’ll put your head and neck in a different space. I’ll put that nasty tongue in another space. I don’t know if it will work properly when I put it back.'”

Talking about it gave him a headache, and the teacher sighed.

“If other kids said this, I’d just scold them, but Si-yeong is actually an Awakened with space-related powers.”

Rembrary blinked blankly, then frowned. What was he talking about?

“He also gets angry easily, so the teachers find it difficult to discipline Si-yeong.”

“Has Si-yeong ever used his abilities on others?”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“Then shouldn’t we worry about that later?”

“Later when? After Si-yeong causes an accident? After someone is already hurt or worse?”

* * *

-Really?

“Yes. But I don’t know much about the school system here. I don’t know how to respond, Tae-ri. I don’t even understand why they’re worrying in advance. What should I say?”

After finishing the consultation and coming out, Nin-ling was nowhere to be seen.

When Rembrary asked other parents, he learned that Nin-ling was still in consultation, so Rembrary went to a secluded place to inform Jang Tae-ri about the meeting and seek advice.

Jang Tae-ri clicked her tongue over the phone.

-There have been occasional discussions about young Awakened ones anyway.

“Causing accidents?”

-Some have caused accidents. Others haven’t, but those around them are scared.

Jang Tae-ri sighed again.

-But the number of Awakened under 16 is quite small. Even when it’s brought up, it always fizzles out. Because there are so few, it ends with, ‘Then just have them study at home!’

While on the phone, Rembrary went to the window of the classroom where Si-yeong was studying.

He had been dozing off earlier. Now awake, Si-yeong was passing notes with the friend in front of him.

He looked much brighter than at home. Rembrary was perplexed and asked,

“Then what should I tell Si-yeong’s teacher?”

-…Let’s discuss it together.

* * *

Just in time, Dae-ju said he had something to report regarding the maze, so all those involved gathered at Rembrary’s house in the good school district.

In this lull, Rembrary asked Si-yeong why he had fought.

“Si-yeong. Your homeroom teacher said you were going to twist your friend’s head. Is that true?”

Si-yeong widened his eyes and corrected him firmly.

“I said I’d put it in another space, I didn’t say I’d twist it, Healer!”

“Why did you say that?”

“That jerk called me an orphan living in someone else’s house.”

“Did you let it go?”

“I twisted his mouth.”

“Good jo-”

Rembrary was about to praise him, but Jang Tae-ri blocked his mouth with Jin-yang [her cat].

While Rembrary was distracted by the cat’s belly, Jang Tae-ri first sent the two children up to the second-floor room and took only Rembrary to the dining room.

Afterward, the adults who had gathered to save the world put their heads together and began to discuss Si-yeong’s matter first.

But no one was helpful.

“Many people have told me what to do since I was young.”

Rembrary was similar to Si-yeong in that he had outstanding abilities and was often provoked, but he did not have any experience that would be helpful in this situation.

“But I’ve never paid attention to them….”

“Didn’t the training priests worry that you would hurt those kids?”

“They did not. Because it wasn’t wrong for me to hurt them. We were in a world of social hierarchy.”

“….”

“….”

Even if the pyramid’s apex from a hierarchical world was like that, the others weren’t of much help either.

“Do I have to announce in advance that I’m going to harm someone? I don’t even know why that kid caused a problem by announcing it in the first place.”

Shin Jo-woon, who was different on the inside and outside, was not someone who would help the child’s emotional well-being.

“I tend to respond with the same kind of insults when someone throws a parental insult at me.”

Jang Tae-ri, who worshiped Hammurabi [famous for the code of Hammurabi, an ancient legal code based on ‘an eye for an eye’], was also not of great help in modern child education.

“I’ve never fought with my friends.”

Nin-ling, who had a good personality, had never been hated by her peers.

“The place I was trained was a knife. If there is any room for problems, it is cut off immediately. There is no room for the child to step in.”

Mulu’s experience was also not helpful.

“What? What do I do if someone swears at me? My mom called their mom and made them apologize.”

“If someone swore at me, my brother would call them and scold them.”

“I’m a grim reaper….”

Hwa-saja and Woo Yeon-woo, who were native to Earth, were not very helpful either, and Sa Gam-jae was a grim reaper.

Woo Seong-woo quietly ate spaghetti while listening to the conversation, and when people looked at him with ‘What about you?’ eyes, he quietly informed them.

“First of all, we’re not gathered here to figure out how to respond when a child is insulted.”

“!”

“The problem isn’t that Si-yeong fought with a friend, but that other people are afraid because he has the power to scare even adults. So my experience won’t be helpful either.”

Rembrary looked at Shin Jo-woon as if he were a worthless anchovy at Woo Seong-woo’s calm answer.

Shin Jo-woon was dumbfounded, but Rembrary refocused on Woo Seong-woo.

“Looking at the situation, Rembrary and Si-yeong are in the most similar situation….”

“This is not a world of social hierarchy.”

“That’s the problem. The positions are similar, but the backgrounds are completely different. Besides, Si-yeong is outgoing but has a quick temper, and you don’t listen to others and make them angry.”

Sa Gam-jae nodded and wondered for a moment whether to tell Rembrary, who was listening intently to the story, ‘That’s you they’re talking about.’

But while he was thinking about it, the group all became quiet and just looked at each other.

They wouldn’t know about their own affairs.

It was difficult for them to tell others to act according to their own personalities when it came to other people’s affairs, especially those of young children, and it was difficult to give plausible answers.

This went on for about three minutes.

Unable to bear the atmosphere, Hwa-saja brought up a realistic problem.

“I think it would be better to find parents or a proper guardian to adopt the kids.”

“We’re here, aren’t we?”

Nin-ling, who had grown fond of the children, was surprised and retorted, and Hwa-saja asked sullenly.

“You guys are going back to your original world when you’re done, right?”

“!”

“Are you going to take the kids with you then? What are you going to do if you take them? You said it’s a world of social hierarchy there. You’re all temple people, so you can’t get married. So you can’t give them your status. Or are you going to raise the kids in the temple?”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

As Nin-ling clenched her fists and glared at Hwa-saja, Dae-ju, who had been watching the situation, quickly stepped in to change the subject.

“That issue is important, so let’s talk about it calmly. Let’s talk about the maze story first. I’ve investigated people who have been in there to destroy the maze pillars.”

The atmosphere didn’t improve right away, but everyone focused on Dae-ju’s words with different expressions.

Dae-ju felt this subtle air but pretended not to notice and took out a large map he had brought and spread it out on the table.

“As a result of combining people’s accounts, there are a total of four pillars. Based on that, when I divided the area into four, there were six doors per area.”

“Are you sure there are four pillars?”

“Well. There may be hidden pillars, or pillars that don’t appear often… but the pillars that survivors have witnessed are of four types. Why do you ask, High Priest?”

“If the pillars are important, the Demon King would have told his close aides to protect them. But as far as I know, the Demon King has six closest aides.”

Dae-ju stared at the map with a serious expression and muttered.

“Then I’ll look into that further. There may be more. And destroying the pillars is important, but I think we should find the people we’re looking for first, so I’ve looked into that as well.”

Woo Seong-woo glanced at Dae-ju as if he were amazed.

“You’re looking into it quickly?”

“Yes, we don’t do things like hunting saints.”

“…Are you making fun of Nakru right now?”

“Yes, because I hate that place.”

“!”

Woo Seong-woo was about to say something in anger, but he closed his mouth, thinking that he would be outnumbered if he got angry here.

Dae-ju continued to speak in this lull.

“There were people who were investigating separately before….”

To summarize Dae-ju’s explanation:

1) There are several types of demon realms besides vanilla ice cream.

2) Even if you enter through the same door, the same area does not appear. It is presumed that the internal environment changes depending on the time difference or some other condition.

3) As a result of another hunter’s investigation, if you enter the ice cream area, break the ice cream area, and come out, you will never be able to return to the ice cream area.

4) A strategy guide combining these was already circulating in a small way. However, there are still many gaps.

5) If the ice cream area door where Rembrary saw Emperor Shin Jo-woon is called door 1-1 in area 1, the illusion area unfolds in door 3-3 in area 3.

6) It is estimated that Emperor Shin Jo-woon is in area 1-1 and Ardor is in area 3-3.

* * *

Kim Mu-rok was still planning the broadcast, and Rembrary had not yet decided whether to participate, so Rembrary decided to enter the 3-3 area, where the illusion zone was said to be, alone to find Ardor first.

The ice cream area had not been resolved, and since escaping with the help of Emperor Shin Jo-woon was a solution, Rembrary postponed it because he could not enter that area again.

At first glance, Emperor Shin Jo-woon didn’t seem to be in bad shape.

Many people volunteered to go with him, but Rembrary refused them all and went alone to the door of 3-3.

‘If Ardor is agitated and out of his mind, he might start shooting as soon as he sees the other party. Because he seems to be lost in an illusion,’ Rembrary thought.

Rembrary took a selfie in front of the 3-3 door, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

‘Huh?’

But as he opened the door and walked in, a familiar world appeared.

Rembrary looked around and walked slowly, then flinched when he heard people shouting, “Rembrary-nim!”

The sound of ‘Rembrary-nim’.

Many people on Earth have come to love Rembrary, but it is rare to call him ‘Rembrary-nim’ [a respectful title in Korean, similar to ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’].

But now, countless people were shouting ‘Rembrary-nim’.

Rembrary looked in the direction of the sound.

A village could be seen down there, and a procession was passing through the streets.

The people were shouting ‘Rembrary-nim’ toward a white carriage with gold leaf.

‘Where is this…?’

Rembrary widened his eyes.

This was the world where Rembrary originally lived. The world before the Demon King invaded.

And the person riding a large white horse in front of the carriage was Mulu.

Nin-ling on horseback can also be seen nearby.

‘Is it showing the past as an illusion? Or is it just an area that shows the past?’

With doubts, Rembrary rubbed his eyes.

In the group of holy knights on horseback were Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon, and Ardor.

Ardor was fine, but Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were wearing holy knight uniforms?

* * *

‘Even a good person can’t handle it if they lose everything.’

Watching the scene through a crystal ball, the demon who was guarding the pillar in this area by order of the Demon King smiled.

‘Especially High Priest, the more you have, the more you will lose. No matter how great you are, you will eventually find our god when you lose everything.’

The demon giggled and liked Rembrary’s blank expression and even zoomed in on his face.

But when the demon looked closely at his expression, he soon flinched and frowned.

‘What is that? Why is he smiling?’