Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 510

◈ 510. Where Did the Emperor Go?

Woo Sung-woo hesitated, and everyone noticed something was up, focusing their attention on him.

Finally, Woo Sung-woo continued, “I heard he was with someone.”

Rembrary immediately asked, “With whom are you speaking?”

“Someone with pink hair.”

“Pink? Perhaps, pink eyes too? What was their relationship like?”

“I don’t think I saw that far. It was a side view. As for their relationship… I’m not sure. I just heard they were walking side by side.”

Woo Yeon-woo, listening to the conversation, glanced at Rembrary and asked, “Why? Do you know them? Are you a cultist?”

The way he specifically asked about eye color and their relationship didn’t seem like he was just gathering information.

Daeju was still displeased with Woo Yeon-woo’s expression of calling Redryn a cultist and glared at him from across the room.

Rembrary frowned and muttered, “I do know a few people with pink hair.”

Woo Yeon-woo was horrified to hear that he knew several people with unusual hair colors and asked, “Not just one or two? How many are there?”

There were cases of celebrities, especially idols, dyeing their hair pink, but that was dyed hair.

The pink-haired people Rembrary was talking about weren’t dyed, were they? And there were even more than just one or two.

“There’s even one among the Demon King’s close aides.”

When Rembrary mentioned the Demon King’s aide, the atmosphere, which had briefly lightened while discussing hair color, became heavy again.

Rembrary shrugged. “Again, there’s more than one. I can’t be sure.”

* * *

The meeting ended, and everyone was scattering.

Shin Jo-woon was walking down the hallway, checking a text message he received during the meeting, when someone poked him on the shoulder from behind. He turned around.

Rembrary was standing behind him with a finger raised.

“Let’s talk, Sardine.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Do you really think of me as a pig? It’s something else.”

Shin Jo-woon put his phone away and nodded.

After receiving permission, Rembrary opened a few nearby rooms at random, and upon finding a suitable room, he went inside.

Shin Jo-woon followed him in, and Rembrary closed the door and called out in a low voice.

“Sardine.”

It didn’t seem like he had called him simply to eat something delicious together or to make a light joke.

Shin Jo-woon nodded to tell him to speak, and Rembrary immediately continued, “Sardine, Emperor Jo-woon is another you, isn’t he?”

“No, he’s not.”

Shin Jo-woon was displeased and immediately denied it. Of course, regardless of his unpleasant feelings, he knew that what Rembrary said was correct.

“You may want to deny it, but he’s similar to you. Of course, I know he’s not exactly the same as you. People are greatly influenced by their environment. That world and this world are different. In fact, Great King Sardine isn’t as close to Tae-ri as you are.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Sardine, if you were in his position, would you be able to cooperate with the demons if necessary?”

Shin Jo-woon looked at Rembrary as if surprised.

After talking about Emperor Shin Jo-woon in the meeting room, he didn’t show any reaction when the topic changed.

“Looks like there was something you didn’t say earlier.”

When Shin Jo-woon pointed it out, Rembrary readily admitted it.

“Yes. Actually, earlier I said I knew several pink-haired people. But there’s really only one. Noir, a close aide to the Demon King. That color is quite unique even in our world.”

“!”

“Someone with that unique hair color is even in the demon’s domain. It might be a coincidence, but it’s a bit concerning.”

“So, you’re asking if I might side with the demons depending on the situation? Since that emperor is also fundamentally the same human as me, you’re trying to infer his actions from my answer?”

Rembrary nodded, and Shin Jo-woon chuckled softly.

“Why are you laughing?” Rembrary, who was waiting for an answer, was bewildered by Shin Jo-woon’s sudden smile.

“He’s not me.”

Shin Jo-woon stared at Rembrary for a moment, then drew a firm line.

“I know.”

Rembrary replied as if wondering who wouldn’t know that.

Thinking that was enough, Shin Jo-woon opened his mouth again.

“But if it were me…”

However, before he could answer, the door clicked open, and Jang Tae-ri came in.

“What are you two doing? Rembrary, Daeju is looking for you.”

Rembrary was curious about what he was going to say, but Shin Jo-woon stopped talking.

“No. It’s nothing.”

Then he turned and left.

Rembrary also went out of the room. Watching his slowly receding back, Rembrary guessed what Shin Jo-woon was going to say.

* * *

Sitting in front of the TV, Rembrary was lost in thought about Emperor Jo-woon, Noir, and the Demon King.

Si-young and Joo-kyung were behind Rembrary, grabbing handfuls of his hair and playing with it.

Rembrary let the children play as they pleased and blankly stared at the TV.

As he did so, Kim Je-woo brought a plate of fruit and placed it on the coffee table, then slyly grabbed the remote control.

“I’ll put on the news…”

The children stopped playing with Rembrary’s hair and immediately turned their attention to the fruit and the TV.

Rembrary didn’t say anything, so Kim Je-woo felt relieved and changed the channel.

Rembrary watched the TV screen without much thought, as before.

Then, he frowned, recognizing a surprisingly familiar scene.

“Isn’t that a broadcasting station?”

It seemed so. And in front of it, a reporter was holding a microphone and saying something, with Kim Moo-rok’s name appearing from time to time.

Rembrary quickly snapped out of it and focused on what the reporter was saying.

-Even though the world has changed drastically, many people are worried that broadcasting something that could lead to death is too dangerous. This is XXX News, XXX.

It seemed to be about the ‘Demon Realm Variety Show’ that Kim Moo-rok was planning.

“Everyone on the internet is talking about it anyway.”

Kim Je-woo cautiously chimed in when Rembrary seemed to lose interest again and wore a blank expression.

“Kim Moo-rok?”

“Yes. Nakru were experts, but they all went missing after entering the maze recently. After that happened, people are a bit… no, very worried. There are many non-awakened people among the staff, and they’re worried about what might happen if they go along.”

“So everyone knows about Nakru’s disappearance.”

“How could they not? They’re a famous group.”

Nakru, which used to be a secret group, had now become a famous group. Rembrary found it somewhat amazing.

At that moment, Joo-kyung, who was eating an apple, suddenly shouted.

“That! Maze! I saw that maze too!”

“Joo-kyung. You shouldn’t watch things like that.”

Kim Je-woo was immediately alarmed by the mention of the maze and tried to cut off the child’s interest, but Joo-kyung bravely shouted while holding a fork.

“All the kids are watching it! It’s okay!”

“Those things are bad, Joo-kyung. It’s better not to watch them.”

“It’s not bad! Angel, haven’t you seen it?”

“I don’t deliberately look for bad things.”

“I’m telling you it’s not bad. I’m talking about the inside of the maze. The kids showed it to me. The teacher saw it too.”

“Where?”

“It’s all over the place! The teacher said the inside of the maze looks similar to the world before the Cataclysm [a sudden, devastating event].”

Rembrary didn’t understand everything Joo-kyung was saying.

Feeling frustrated, Joo-kyung found something on her phone and held it out.

Rembrary took the phone and checked it.

Unexpectedly, the screen showed a peaceful scene like Earth before the Cataclysm.

A person holding a camera was walking through the scene, excitedly talking.

“The people who used to live here will remember everything. It’s exactly the same. Except for the small number of people, everything is the same. Damn. Even my favorite regular store is still there. It’s not the demon realm, it’s just, just where we used to live.”

Only after watching the video did Rembrary understand the conversation between Joo-kyung and Je-woo.

Apparently, someone was filming the inside of the ‘demon realm’ and broadcasting it on the internet.

Not the kind of dungeon that Rembrary or Nakru went to, but the kind of scene you would see inside when you entrusted yourself to the Demon King.

Rembrary swiped up on the video to see the comments below.

*

-Yeah, right lol

-Who would believe that lol

-Still, it’s sad to see it like this ㅠㅠ That’s what it used to be like.

ㄴI’m glad to see it like this, though ㅠ I really miss the days when we lived normally, only seeing monsters in movies.

ㄴWatching movies and talking with friends, eating together, and hanging out… I miss it.

ㄴYou can still watch movies now, right?

ㄴI was lucky enough to survive inside the ‘city.’ But I’m still anxious when I’m walking around. Even in the city, you never know where frog eggs might appear. About 1/3 of my friends lost contact during the Cataclysm…

-They’re deliberately showing things like this to lure people in ㅇㅇ Never believe it. If you believe it and go in, you’re screwed

*

The video had a high number of views, but people didn’t seem to believe the content of the video.

The number of views was high, and there were many comments, but most of the comments were mocking.

However, the high number of views and comments clearly showed their nostalgia for the world before the Cataclysm.

Then, Rembrary felt a gaze and looked up.

Kim Je-woo, who had a bitter expression, avoided his gaze.

It seemed that Kim Je-woo also knew the world before the Cataclysm well, so he felt uneasy even while calling it ‘bad’ to the children.

While Rembrary was looking at his expression with a heavy heart,

Joo-kyung slyly took her phone back from Rembrary’s hand.

* * *

No wonder. Kim Moo-rok’s story kept coming up every time I turned on the TV for the past two days.

In the end, it seemed that the variety show that Kim Moo-rok was ambitiously planning was canceled again.

[Rembrary, don’t worry. It’ll be okay. We can overcome it! Right?]

Rembrary, who had entered the Redryn headquarters to re-enter District 3-2, was dumbfounded by Kim Moo-rok’s text message.

‘Why did he send it as if I was trying to go on his variety show and it got canceled?’

Rembrary wondered whether he should send Kim Moo-rok a text saying ‘Yes >ㅅ<' or draw a line and reply, but he simply didn't reply. Then, when he went to the agreed-upon place, Daeju, who was waiting with the luggage Rembrary would take, quickly told him to come over and explained. "I packed based on the background that the High Priest mentioned before. Since communication seems important, I doubled the number of phone chargers, and I also included power strips. It seems okay to eat there, so I mainly packed emergency food and water. And the clothes..." "Who's going this time?" Daeju, who was about to continue the explanation, stopped talking at Rembrary's question and mumbled vaguely. "Ah. Well, that is." Then, he suddenly looked at the door and immediately waved his hand. "You're here just in time. Come in." Who is he talking to? Rembrary turned his head. Surprisingly, Maeng Woo-shin was entering with a disgruntled expression. Rembrary exclaimed with delight. "Maeng Senior!" Maeng Woo-shin's expression turned unpleasant as soon as he saw Rembrary, but Rembrary was excited to see an old acquaintance after a long time and asked Daeju. "Is Woo-shin going with us too?" "Hey. You called me senior earlier." Maeng Woo-shin, who had approached, started an argument, but Rembrary didn't lose his smile. Daeju gestured to Maeng Woo-shin to 'behave himself' and explained. "Woo-shin is a defense Awakener [a person with supernatural abilities]. We don't know what kind of environment will unfold, so I included him just in case." "That's a lie." However, as soon as Daeju finished speaking, Maeng Woo-shin, who seemed to be in a bad mood, grumbled softly. "A lie?" When Rembrary asked after hearing those words, Maeng Woo-shin said as if drawing a line. "I'm only going because we're short on people. Remember that. I would never follow you otherwise." "Short on people?" When Rembrary looked at Daeju, Daeju avoided his gaze. "Well, that is..."