Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 525

◈ 525. A Kind Opinion in Its Own Way

“Anchovy.”

Rembrary, arriving with Worldboom, entered Shin Jo-woon’s office and abruptly held out his palm.

“?”

Shin Jo-woon instinctively gave him a high-five, and Rembrary smiled in satisfaction.

“So, you’re like me.”

“What are you talking about?”

When Shin Jo-woon didn’t understand, Rembrary took a step back and asked again, showing his palm.

“If it’s not a high-five, what do you think this means?”

“Give me food?”

“No, I mean if you did this to someone else, what would it mean?”

“Hand?”

“Yes, hand.”

“No, when you ask for a hand. Like, ‘hand.’ You tell a dog, ‘hand.'”

“That’s not what it seemed like.”

Shin Jo-woon didn’t understand Rembrary’s words, order, or train of thought at all.

As he raised an eyebrow and looked at him, Rembrary sat on the sofa and explained.

“Cheol-soo told me you were Shin Jo-woon and then held out his palm like this. So, I gave him a high-five, like you. But that’s not what he wanted.”

“Then?”

“He only said that much before leaving. The way he looked around and sized things up, it seemed like he was worried someone might be listening to him.”

Rembrary paused for a moment, and after confirming that Shin Jo-woon was still listening, he continued.

“I think it’s ‘anchovy.’ Cheol-soo might be King Anchovy.”

“That guy? Why?”

“Why, didn’t I say I vaguely saw him at Entrance 1-1? The missing Nakru team members said they saw ‘you’ with pink hair. If the demon with us in Zone 1-3 was Noir, then Cheol-soo with him might be King Anchovy. Don’t you think?”

At first, Shin Jo-woon listened with skepticism, but as Rembrary continued, he nodded as if it seemed plausible.

“That’s true. It’s possible. He imitated me well, too.”

Rembrary, pleased that his opinion was accepted, asked excitedly.

“Then again. Let’s say you’re Cheol-soo. If you gave me important information and then showed me your palm, what would that mean?”

Shin Jo-woon pondered more seriously than before.

While he gathered his thoughts, Rembrary drank the fruit juice that Shin Jo-woon’s secretary had brought.

After a while, Shin Jo-woon tilted his head and muttered.

“I wonder if it meant five, not a palm.”

“Five? Five what?”

“I don’t know. It’s too broad.”

“Could it mean to come to Zone 5?”

“Didn’t you say there were four pillars?”

“That’s what they say. But maybe there’s one more inside.”

“Inside?”

“Isn’t the maze what surrounds the demons’ territory in a circle? Around the center of that. Or does it mean to come to Entrance 1-5?”

Rembrary stopped talking when Shin Jo-woon didn’t answer his question.

Shin Jo-woon seemed interested in the Zone 5 story Rembrary had mentioned, muttering, “Zone 5. Zone 5?” while staring into space.

*He’s thinking hard*, Rembrary thought, watching him quietly until he muttered, “Maybe it’s possible.”

Just as Shin Jo-woon seemed to be finishing his thoughts, Rembrary called out, and Shin Jo-woon finally turned to look at Rembrary.

“Yeah? What?”

“Could it mean to come to Entrance 1-5, or could it mean something else? Don’t just think about Zone 5.”

Shin Jo-woon replied as if it were obvious.

“Of course. But shouldn’t we consider the possibility? We might invest all our forces in destroying the four pillars and then struggle at the end.”

“So, the conclusion is, you don’t know what Cheol-soo meant either?”

“I don’t know.”

Rembrary frowned, looking down at the bottom of his empty teacup.

“It would have been nice if he had been more specific.”

“That’s true, and Woo Sung-woo.”

“Sung-woo? Why?”

“If he stays there, will he even meet that demon and the Emperor?”

“Why do you ask?”

“When we brought Woo Sung-woo, I was wondering if Woo Sung-woo could tell us more about them…”

* * *

“I still want to take Fire Lion with us.”

“It would be good to take him. The problem is that he’s avoiding contact.”

“Is he still doing that?”

“I heard he was back while the High Priest was in the maze.”

“!”

They were choosing the personnel for the next dungeon and discussing how to handle the situation with Woo Sung-woo, a key force, who had disappeared at Redrine headquarters.

Nakru wasn’t participating, and only a few people from Worldboom came out to talk when Dae-ju’s secretary came in and announced in a hurried voice.

“Dae-ju, Nakru is forcibly entering right now.”

Rembrary, who was eating the sandwich that Dae-ju had prepared for him to eat during the meeting, glanced at Dae-ju.

Dae-ju looked surprised for a moment but quickly calmed down and replied.

“It’s okay. Let them in.”

“Yes.”

After the secretary left, Dae-ju only checked something in addition to the meeting contents he had been organizing. He was calm.

After a while, the door opened, and several members of Nakru appeared.

One was Woo Yeon-woo, and a few others were people he recognized, though he didn’t remember their names.

They all had angry faces, and when they saw Rembrary and Shin Jo-woon, their expressions hardened faster than when they came in, as if their anger had increased.

Rembrary thought they would talk to him or Shin Jo-woon, but the person who seemed to be in the highest position among them immediately approached the seat where Dae-ju was sitting, slammed his hand on the table with a thud, and demanded urgently.

“We expect you to enter Entrance 1-1 again to save Woo Sung-woo.”

Dae-ju stared blankly at the hand on the table before raising an eyebrow.

“You’re making a rather aggressive request?”

He seemed upset that a stranger had suddenly slammed the table.

Whether it was because he knew Dae-ju’s abilities or because Dae-ju was also an Awakened [a person with supernatural abilities] and had become intimidating, the stranger slowly took his hand off the table.

Even so, the person repeatedly demanded.

“We expect you to enter Entrance 1-1 again to save Woo Sung-woo. I think it won’t be difficult since you have all safely completed the other dungeons so far.”

Shin Jo-woon, who wasn’t used to being ignored, smiled and watched the man.

Before Dae-ju could answer, Rembrary swallowed the sandwich he was eating and interjected.

“Even if we go into Entrance 1-1, it won’t necessarily be the Ice Cream Zone or the Role Mansion Zone [dungeon areas]. How are we going to save Sung-woo?”

It was also difficult to send additional hunters.

Rembrary was going in and out of every entrance to seal the demon’s territory, but what the other hunters mainly did was not enter the maze but deal with the monsters roaming around.

It was difficult to freely adjust the already tight manpower.

Both sides. That was the part Rembrary was pointing out.

The stranger from Nakru frowned.

“Then are you going to leave Woo Sung-woo there? He might die if time passes.”

“Who said we’re leaving him there?”

“Just now—”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to clear Zone 1 completely and break the maze there?”

“!”

The people from Nakru exchanged glances and nodded.

“I see. Then I hope you can finish Zone 1 quickly.”

“But Zone 1 is too difficult.”

The slightly softened voice became harsh again at Rembrary’s words.

“Then are you just going to abandon Zone 1 because it’s difficult?”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to finish Zone 3?”

Woo Yeon-woo, who couldn’t stand it any longer, shouted.

“My brother isn’t in Zone 3!”

“That’s true. But we have to clear Zone 3 anyway.”

“Then isn’t it okay to start with Zone 1?”

“I said it’s difficult.”

“It’s something we have to go to anyway, even if it’s difficult!”

A person from Nakru who had been watching the situation opened his mouth coldly.

“Our side even sent a team to Zone 1-1 as a group to find someone who had nothing to do with us. The whole team disappeared. But you, is it so hard to find one of your colleagues who went with you and didn’t come back?”

Another person immediately added.

“I don’t know what the point of a cooperative relationship is where only one side unilaterally sacrifices. If you continue like this, we will not join hands with you and will act separately.”

Nakru, who had suddenly rushed in and poured out what they had to say, was about to leave as suddenly as they had come.

At that time, Shin Jo-woon, who had been doing something on his laptop without interfering, said while still staring at the monitor.

“There is a fastest and easiest way to save Woo Sung-woo.”

At those words, the Nakru people who were about to leave stopped abruptly and looked at Shin Jo-woon.

Shin Jo-woon was still only looking at his laptop monitor in that situation.

“What are you talking about?”

When one of the Nakru members asked, Shin Jo-woon finally raised his eyes and smiled.

“Go into Zone 1-3.”

“Are you kidding me—”

“If you’re lucky, you’ll enter the area where Woo Sung-woo is trapped. If you kill the person in charge of the villain role there a week ago, all the people who have been caught will be released.”

“What? Really?”

“The person in charge of the villain role will have to stay and not escape, though.”

“!”

The Nakru people seemed flustered at the thought of sacrificing one person to save Woo Sung-woo.

Shin Jo-woon smiled kindly and added.

“Shall I tell you an easier way? There are twenty people mobilized for the role play there. So, bring twenty people from the start. Promise in advance that the person in charge of the villain role will commit suicide. Then you can save the people you want with minimal damage. How about it?”

It was a really simple, efficient, and inhumane method that sounded like a joke.

Rembrary clicked his tongue.

“You’re really mean, Anchovy.”

Shin Jo-woon didn’t refute or laugh, just shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m just telling you because you want the fastest way.”

* * *

After Nakru left and the meeting within Redrine ended,

Rembrary asked while having a meal with Shin Jo-woon.

“Do you think Nakru will use the method you told them?”

Shin Jo-woon replied immediately.

“They will.”

“They will? No way.”

“It’ll be faster for Woo Sung-woo to save the others by saving Woo Sung-woo first than for others to save Woo Sung-woo.”

“Is that so?”

“Are you worried?”

“After all, he went with us and went missing.”

Shin Jo-woon didn’t answer.

Watching him, Rembrary asked again.

“Then have we decided what we’re going to do now? Are we going to solve Zone 1 first, as they said, or are we just going to finish Zone 3?”

But the answer that came back was quite unexpected.

“I was thinking of going into Zone 2.”

“Zone 2? Why Zone 2 all of a sudden?”

Rembrary was bewildered when the story of Zone 2, which was not even a candidate, came up.

“Do you want to go to Zone 2?”

“It’s not that I want to go. I just want to check the difficulty of the other places overall. I also want to know what type the demons in charge of the pillars are. They seemed to know quite a bit about demons. Or not?”

“That’s true.”

It seemed like a good idea. If we can find out who the demon in charge of Zone 2 is, we might be able to come up with a plan.

But…….

Rembrary asked with a sullen face.

“Wouldn’t Nakru think we’re making fun of them?”

Instead of Zone 1, which they asked for, or easy Zone 3, it’s suddenly Zone 2.

Shin Jo-woon’s eyes curved.

“If they realize that, they have some sense.”

“!”

* * *

“What are you going to do?”

The Nakru members were also having a serious conversation as they returned to their headquarters.

Shin Jo-woon’s words were the main topic.

His words sounded like mockery disguised as kindness, which was annoying, but it made sense.

Twenty people enter the mansion area, and the person in charge of the villain role commits suicide.

That was the fastest way to rescue Woo Sung-woo.

The problem was that the fast method was a method that guaranteed the sacrifice of one person.

That wasn’t the only problem. Even if they went in with that determination, there was no guarantee that they would enter the mansion area.

What if only twenty weak people were put in, and when they went in, it turned out to be an area where strong people were easy to survive? Or the Ice Cream Zone?

Then they would just be wasting manpower. Also.

At that time, Woo Yeon-woo, who had been anxiously fiddling with his cell phone in the back seat, stepped forward.

“I’ll go.”