Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 526

◈ 526. Area 2-2

“What are you talking about? You’re going in?”

Team Leader Gu Se-ji, who was writing an email on his phone in the passenger seat, turned around in surprise.

Woo Yeon-woo said calmly once more.

“Just as I said. I’m going in. Area 1-3. To find hyung [older brother/respected male figure].”

“No way.”

Team Leader Gu Se-ji firmly opposed. Of course, he couldn’t allow it.

Woo Yeon-woo wasn’t as strong a Hunter as Woo Seong-woo, but in terms of presence, he was on par with Woo Seong-woo.

He was once the nation’s top hero, and even after losing his healing ability, he continued his celebrity activities, so he wasn’t forgotten.

Woo Yeon-woo was firmly established in people’s minds as a representative of Nakru.

In this situation, they couldn’t afford to lose Woo Yeon-woo after Woo Seong-woo.

Besides, Woo Yeon-woo…

“You still can’t handle your abilities properly. It’s dangerous.”

“This area doesn’t require combat abilities, does it?”

“Still, there’s no need to take risks.”

“Hyung said so. To use abilities properly, you have to keep using them. If you just hide because you’re not used to it, you’ll never be able to use them.”

Team Leader Gu Se-ji frowned.

“There’s no need to train in dangerous places. That’s why Seong-woo sent you with Rembrary when he went. Damn it. I regret saying it now. I should have told you to come out without completely cutting yourself off.”

Woo Yeon-woo’s newly acquired ability, or rather, his first ability, was very strong if he became proficient in it.

The problem was the various conditions required to use that ability.

Woo Yeon-woo’s ability was ‘writing,’ and if you wrote ten characteristics of the person to be attacked and the state after the attack in the air, it would be executed as is, which sounded like a cheat [an unfair advantage or exploit].

If you wrote ‘instant death’ or ‘death’ in the state after the attack, they would die as is.

The problem was that you had to write those eleven things continuously without interruption, and you couldn’t hesitate or stop even a little in the middle.

In addition, the attacking opponent had to be secured in his field of vision, and the effect didn’t reach if he was more than a certain distance away.

Of course, the enemies wouldn’t wait for him to write the letters while fighting, so he had to write the letters while avoiding attacks, and he couldn’t completely hide and attack the enemy because the letters would be ineffective if the enemy wasn’t visible.

Attacking while checking the location with binoculars like a sniper was also difficult due to the distance limit, so he had no choice but to train hard to improve his stamina, strength, and agility.

Besides, it’s said that there are ten characteristics, but who can immediately identify ten characteristics of the opponent while fighting?

Ordinary courage and judgment were not enough.

Since there were so many restrictions, Team Leader Gu Se-ji naturally didn’t want to send Woo Yeon-woo to dangerous places.

Woo Yeon-woo looked down at his hands, clenched and unclenched his fists, and said again.

“I can’t just hide and wait alone.”

“…….”

* * *

In a Russian roulette-like situation where no one knew who would die among the twenty, it was necessary to inform them of the situation and receive resources.

“You don’t really die if you die there. But you have to be trapped there until you knock down the pillar.”

“If you’re trapped, will there be food?”

“There probably will be. Rembrary said that the trapped person washes dishes inside.”

“Pardon?”

“…Maybe they clean. Anyway, they seem to be working inside the mansion.”

“Then it’s not bad, is it?”

“The problem is that this is uncertain. ‘The dungeon is governed by rules,’ but the dungeon managers keep adding and subtracting things from the dungeon to interfere. You might go and die while working. It might take decades to remove the pillar, which takes longer than you think.”

“Oh, that’s bad.”

“That’s right.”

Team Leader Gu Se-ji finished speaking with a dark face.

“Think carefully and apply. It’s not easy to die, even if it’s a fake death.”

* * *

For Nakru, Woo Seong-woo’s existence was like a hero.

Moreover, since it was said that there was uncertain danger but they wouldn’t really die, about forty applicants appeared.

There were more than expected because the premise was that they didn’t have to be hunters.

After checking various conditions for three days, such as whether there were any family members who opposed it, whether there were any people who were so weak that they would die of illness inside while waiting for the pillar to collapse, whether they were mentally strong enough to endure the situation, and whether they could be a force in the upcoming battle with the demons.

Nakru sent a group of twenty people, including Woo Yeon-woo, to the 1-3 entrance.

Among them, only three people, including Yeon-woo, had been inside a dungeon.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yeon-woo, please change your mind even now.”

Woo Yeon-woo opened the door with force, defying even the people who were going to Area 1-3 with him, who were trying to dissuade him.

And Woo Yeon-woo didn’t know, but at that moment.

Rembrary, Shin Jo-woon, and Jang Tae-ri were also standing in front of Area 2-2.

* * *

Unlike the Nakru team, which thoroughly calculated the number of people and made a list to go to Area 1-3, this side was closer to a sudden situation.

The beginning was two people.

“It seems more difficult to take care of them because there are so many people. Should we just go by ourselves?”

Shin Jo-woon suggested that, and Rembrary accepted.

“Good.”

‘Anchovy is physically weak, but his abilities are useful.’

Besides, his ability was thoroughly focused on attack and defense was also possible.

If he got hurt, he could heal him in real time, so it seemed like two people would be enough.

So the two of them came to Area 2-2 without reporting to Daeju.

But just as they were about to go inside. Unexpectedly, a familiar car stopped in front of them, and Jang Tae-ri got out.

“Jang Tae-ri?”

Shin Jo-woon frowned and called out his name at the sudden appearance.

“Why are you here?”

Jang Tae-ri slammed the car door shut and smiled brightly.

“The two of you think too much.”

“What?”

“I’ll show you what a real dungeon clear is.”

“You came because of that? What about work?”

“I took a vacation.”

He took a vacation and came when there might be something dangerous inside? Wastefully?

Shin Jo-woon opened his mouth in absurdity, but Jang Tae-ri was already taking his luggage out of the trunk.

“Jang Tae-ri. It’s dangerous.”

“The two of you were trying to go into that dangerous place, weren’t you?”

“…….”

“(Are you going to say that one of us should stay behind because of the company? Then you can stay this time.)”!

Shin Jo-woon sighed and couldn’t stop Jang Tae-ri as she said that and walked towards the door.

He realized that Jang Tae-ri had followed them out of concern because even with such a strong team of Sa Gam-jae, Woo Sung-woo, Rembrary, and Shin Jo-woon in Area 1-3, one person hadn’t made it out.

With Shin Jo-woon and Rembrary having gone missing before, it was clear that this dungeon incident had reminded her of that and made her anxious.

In the end, the three of them entered Area 2-2 together.

* * *

As soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by tremendous cheers.

Rembrary took out a snack from his carrier and looked around.

It was just an ordinary, wide road, with a few cars and people lined up around it.

The people were cheering for the cars.

“What is this?”

“It’s a car.”

“I know it’s a car. I’m asking what the people are doing surrounding the car.”

While Rembrary was bickering with Shin Jo-woon, Jang Tae-ri, who was entering the dungeon for the first time, looked around in amazement.

The implementation was on a completely different level from what she had seen in the 3D video, and she couldn’t help but exclaim.

This was clearly a fake world inside the dungeon, and the people cheering around them were illusions.

If you didn’t consider that, it just looked like the real world.

“Tae-ri. Did you read the dungeon rules? Should I tell you?”

“Ah, I saw it in the report. Each dungeon has rules, and you can find out the rules no matter what, right?”

“Yes.”

Rembrary was about to suggest that they walk until they found out the rules when suddenly, a person on the edge of the road approached them and began to recite quickly as if they had a set script.

“I’m so glad the three of you arrived now. Oh, I was so worried about what would happen. I was surprised because three participants suddenly said they couldn’t come right before the race was about to start. It was so urgent.”

Rembrary stopped and stared at the person reciting the lines.

Jang Tae-ri also asked Shin Jo-woon quietly.

“Is that person telling us the rules?”

Shin Jo-woon shook his head, indicating he didn’t know yet either.

“I’ll have to listen more to know.”

The person waited until Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri stopped whispering to each other, and then continued speaking when they stopped talking.

“It might be dangerous, but I really appreciate you participating.”

‘Dangerous?’

“Now, come this way quickly.”

As the person walked towards the main street, Rembrary, Jang Tae-ri, and Shin Jo-woon followed him for now.

The illusion that had approached the three of them went near the cars lined up on the main street and pointed to them with his palm.

“As you may already know, I’ll tell you one more time. You have to race in these cars and win a prize. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, any of the three is fine. You just have to be in the top 3.”

The next thing he said was praise and flattery to elevate the three of them. Words that didn’t seem very useful.

After that person stepped back a little, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri moved a little closer to Rembrary.

“It seems like they want us to race? In those cars.”

Jang Tae-ri had a bright face.

“It doesn’t seem difficult.”

On the other hand, Shin Jo-woon was muttering with a darkened face.

“I guess it’s a relief that they’re not real racing cars.”

“Are you not confident, Sardine?” [Sardine is a nickname for Shin Jo-woon.]

“I’m not confident. In your skills.”

“Don’t be discouraged.”

As Rembrary comforted Shin Jo-woon, Jang Tae-ri also tilted her head.

“What’s wrong? You’re a good driver.”

“I am good.”

“Then cheer up. Let’s have the three of us take first, second, and third place and get out of here in the shortest amount of time!”

As he listened to Jang Tae-ri shouting with enthusiasm, Shin Jo-woon glanced at Rembrary.

“One person’s problem isn’t the ranking, but finishing the race.”

But Rembrary was even more enthusiastic than Jang Tae-ri.

“Is Rembrary good at driving?”

“This is my area, Tae-ri. I’m a racer.”

Shin Jo-woon looked at the two excited people and thought he should have come alone.

But now that he was already here, there was nothing he could do. He approached the person who had told them the dungeon passing rules and asked.

“Do we have to ride in separate cars? It seems like three people could ride in one car together.”

“No, you can’t.”

However, the person who had approached them with the premise of ‘thank you for helping us in an emergency’ refused firmly.

“All three of you must sit in the driver’s seat.”

Shin Jo-woon asked suspiciously.

“Honestly, it’s not an emergency, is it?”

He said it was urgent, but he insisted that all three of them ride separately.

“…….”

“What’s the course?”

“The navigation is set, so just follow it.”

Shin Jo-woon watched Rembrary excitedly choosing a car, and then deliberately got into the car behind the one Rembrary had chosen.

* * *

‘I’m glad this one is easy anyway.’

Jang Tae-ri had acted brightly, but she couldn’t help but be worried, so when she got into the car she would drive and was alone, she smiled and felt relieved.

She already knew that Shin Jo-woon was a good driver.

And since Rembrary himself said he was a racer, it wouldn’t be too difficult for the three of them to drive around the city once.

They had to fight for the rankings, but if the three of them helped each other, wouldn’t they be able to block the other cars?

As she was thinking about that, the countdown numbers 10 9 8 7… started appearing on the navigation.

‘Huh? Already? I haven’t even made a strategy yet?’

Jang Tae-ri, flustered, tried to open the car door, but it was no use.

Eventually, when the number reached 3, Jang Tae-ri grabbed the steering wheel.

And the moment she was about to start when she heard the mechanical sound of ‘Start!’ from the navigation.

Before she could start, she heard a loud bang from around her.

Jang Tae-ri, surprised and looking out the window, opened her mouth in even greater shock.

‘Shin Jo-woon, you crazy bastard?’

The wheels of all the other cars were frozen.