Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 532

◈ 532. Golden Pillar

“That’s not a good idea.”

—Why? He may not be a formal Hunter, but gathering information from various sources, he seems quite strong. Plus, his ability is quite unique.

“He’s not someone who will be bound by rules.”

—Oh, that’s true…….

“I’m sorry. I’m in another meeting right now. Unless it’s urgent, I should hang up. It would be rude to the people waiting.”

* * *

“Hello? Hello?”

The man in the blue uniform moved the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. The call was disconnected.

“Tch. What a temper.”

The uniformed man frowned and grumbled.

“This is why I don’t like him.”

At that, the uniformed man’s secretary glanced at him and asked,

“Who are you talking about?”

“Who else but Shin Jo-woon.”

Answering as if it were obvious, the blue-uniformed man folded his phone and grumbled for a while.

The secretary looked at his superior and thought, ‘That’s why people call him the most talkative Hunter,’ but he didn’t bother to say it out loud.

After grumbling for a while, the blue-uniformed man leaned back deeply in his chair as the secretary was about to leave and asked,

“Is there a ship going to Korea?”

“Why?”

“There’s someone I want to meet.”

“Shin Jo-woon?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

The blue-uniformed man’s expression immediately soured.

The secretary muttered indifferently, “I’ll check,” and went outside.

As soon as the secretary left, the blue-uniformed man frowned for a moment, then grinned and muttered,

“Shin Jo-woon is close to that Rembrary guy, but he’s not the one himself. I should ask Rembrary directly. He might be interested in a high-end Hunter.”

* * *

Unaware of what was happening outside, Rembrary and Hwasa-ja finally had Sa Gam-ja bring the fish he had caught.

Hwasa-ja was very pleased to see that the fish Sa Gam-ja brought looked like a centipede.

“You brought the right thing!”

He seemed happier that Sa Gam-ja had failed to avoid this ordeal alone than by the centipede’s grossness.

Seeing that, Sa Gam-ja threw the centipede at Hwasa-ja, and although a fight broke out between Hwasa-ja and Sa Gam-ja, it was a decent ending.

At least, that’s how Rembrary felt.

‘So, can I go back now?’

But it was when Rembrary went out to read the sign one more time. The Black Dragon approached from behind.

“Are you planning to attack from behind?”

Rembrary noticed the presence and asked immediately, but the Black Dragon smiled without showing any signs of being caught.

“Is the High Priest’s house far from here?”

At the sudden question, Rembrary turned his gaze from the sign to the back.

But what he saw when he turned around was not the Black Dragon. It was outside the Devil’s Maze [a series of interconnected zones with unique challenges].

As he was wondering, Sa Gam-ja muttered not far away.

“Looks like he passed.”

Looking at him, Sa Gam-ja was talking while grabbing Hwasa-ja by the collar.

When their eyes met, Sa Gam-ja let go of Hwasa-ja’s collar, and Hwasa-ja irritably dusted off his collar.

Rembrary watched them bickering and then stared blankly at the firmly closed door.

‘What did he mean by what he said at the end? Was he just saying it? Is he coming to find me?’

* * *

Anyway, he safely passed through another zone.

Sa Gam-ja returned to the underworld right away, and Hwasa-ja left as soon as he dropped Rembrary off at Redrine headquarters, so Rembrary had to go to Dae-ju alone and tell him about this zone.

“You came out faster than I thought? It seems like it wasn’t too difficult this time?”

“It wasn’t difficult physically. It’s hard to prepare myself, though.”

“What’s it like there?”

As Rembrary explained the zone, Dae-ju’s expression became strange.

“I see. Indeed. It seems to be a place that stimulates people’s instinctive… something.”

“Can you handle bugs well, Dae-ju?”

“I haven’t tried to touch them.”

“Then I should have taken you with me.”

“Why?”

“Ignorance can lead to courage, can’t it?”

“……Not really. I don’t want to go into such unknown territory.”

Dae-ju shuddered as if he hated the thought of it.

Then, while Rembrary ate and had snacks, he busily ran around, and later returned to Rembrary with a newly organized and printed guide to each zone.

“After organizing it, Zone 1 is difficult, Zone 3 is the easiest. Zone 2 seems to involve using the body. Zone 4 features animals. Zone 4 is not difficult, but it’s a place where mental strength is consumed… is that right?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only been to Zone 2 or Zone 4 once.”

“Anyway, now the High Priest only has to pass through eighteen more zones.”

Why does it sound like so many when I hear them all together?

Rembrary nodded blankly while eating cherry tomatoes and sighed.

“Anyway, I should go to Zone 3 next. If I pass through three more in Zone 3, I can approach the pillar.”

‘Also. What does Cheol-soo mean by the 5 or the palm? I still don’t know.’

* * *

But it was when Rembrary finished his meal and came out of headquarters to go home.

While waiting for Dae-ju’s secretary or someone else to bring the car, Dae-ju unexpectedly came out again and called Rembrary.

“High Priest!”

Wondering what was going on, Rembrary turned around, and Dae-ju quickly told him.

“You might get a call from an unknown number.”

“Are you making predictions now?”

“No, the high-end Hunters asked if you could temporarily be in the high-end rank.”

Rembrary was about to ask what a high-end Hunter was, but he remembered that Hunters were divided into several ranks, and Shin Jo-woon was at the very top, and his face lit up.

“So, I’ll be on the same level as Mulchi or Nana?”

“Yes. There will be readjustments when Woo Sung-woo returns later, but wouldn’t that be the case for now?”

“Woo Sung-woo? Why Woo Sung-woo?”

“Woo Sung-woo was a high-end Hunter, High Priest. He went missing, so they’re looking for someone to fill the spot.”

Dae-ju’s words were not wrong, and Dae-ju didn’t mean it in a bad way either.

However, Rembrary became a little more indifferent than before when he heard that he might be replacing Woo Sung-woo.

It wasn’t because he was unpleasant to replace someone.

“If I go to the place where Woo Sung-woo was, wouldn’t it be easy to be misunderstood?”

“That won’t happen. It’s not a position you can enter just by forcibly creating a vacancy.”

“…….”

“Do you dislike it?”

“I’m still not drawn to it. Trying to fill the number right away means it’s a busy group. But I’m busy right now.”

* * *

As Dae-ju said, he received a call from an unknown number on the way home in the car.

When he answered the phone, a cheerful voice came from inside.

—Excuse me. Is this Rembrary’s phone?

The voice was so cheerful, the complete opposite of Shin Jo-woon, that Rembrary briefly thought, ‘Is this a call from a high-end Hunter?’

Still, when Rembrary asked, “Is this high-end?” the other party immediately answered.

—Yes!

At the refreshing voice, Rembrary inadvertently looked at the phone screen, but what appeared on the screen was not a person’s face but the time of the call.

When Rembrary put the phone back to his ear, the other person started talking brightly.

He spoke so fast and so much that he ended up listening absentmindedly, but it was mostly about what high-end Hunters do and the benefits of registering as a high-end Hunter.

The person who called to tell him these things seemed quite proud of being a high-end Hunter.

—How is it? Are you happy? When can you start?

After explaining, the high-end Hunter smiled brightly and asked. In a tone that didn’t even consider Rembrary’s refusal.

But…….

“I’m not interested. I’m busy.”

Rembrary refused immediately. He even told them why he was refusing, in case they kept trying to persuade him.

He wasn’t making up a lie. Rembrary was actually very busy.

Wasn’t he the person who had passed through the most mazes so far?

Even to save Woo Sung-woo, Rembrary had to go around all the pillars in a short time.

But was it because he refused so firmly? The caller was flustered and asked, “Why?” and soon asked suspiciously.

—Did you talk to Shin Jo-woon or…….

“No. Why is Shin Jo-woon’s name coming up?”

—I told Shin Jo-woon about you first. Shin Jo-woon immediately said he didn’t want to include you, so that’s why you’re like this too.

“Why are you telling my story to Mulchi [Shin Jo-woon’s nickname], Shin Jo-woon?”

—It’s rumored that you’re close.

“?”

He was thinking that even though they were close, it wasn’t right to ask Shin Jo-woon about his schedule, when the high-end Hunter on the other end asked again.

“Then let’s put off coming as a formal Hunter. Would you like to try the high-end Hunter work at least once and then decide?”

* * *

Rembrary forgot about the high-end Hunter for three days after that.

During that time, Rembrary took a break, occasionally visited Jang Tae-ri to worry about his condition, and visited Shin Jo-woon to brag about the epic and heroic battle he had fought in the Black Lake.

He also heard that Hwasa-ja was now in the castle with his mother without running away.

He thought he would run away right away. Anyway, this mission seemed easier for Hwasa-ja than the last one, even though it was unsettling.

Then, on the fourth day.

Rembrary’s peaceful schedule changed a little when the high-end Hunter actually came to visit.

“I thought it would be hard to imagine what kind of work I do if you just hear about it, so I came in person.”

“I understood everything…….”

“Still. I’ll show you once. You’ll like it, Rembrary.”

The high-end Hunter wanted to take Rembrary with him, so he stayed at his house, eating snacks, and Rembrary reluctantly followed the Hunter around.

It was about going around looking at things, taking pictures occasionally, and continuing to have various discussions, and later listening to people asking for help and recording it, which was very busy, unlike what he claimed, so the thought that Rembrary had while following the Hunter was, ‘I shouldn’t be a high-end Hunter after all.’

Then, when they went to deal with a monster that people couldn’t easily catch. While waiting for the hidden monster to come out, the high-end Hunter said something unexpected.

“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you this.”

“What is it?”

“Because the sky path is blocked, planes can’t fly between countries. Because of the black cloud phenomenon and the sky monsters.”

“So what?”

“Oh, so there are almost no overseas trips these days. But the Devil’s Realm is a unique phenomenon that only appears in Korea. It’s a hot topic overseas. So, some Hunters are planning to come and see it, taking the volunteer ships.”

‘What’s the point of that?’

As he was wondering why he was telling him this, the high-end Hunter tilted his head and added.

“I also went into that area once out of curiosity. There’s a strange golden pillar there, and even if you try to approach it, the golden pillar doesn’t get any closer. Only that golden pillar―”

Rembrary was listening as if he was listening hard, even though he wasn’t very interested, but he was startled by the story of the golden pillar and interrupted.

“Wait a minute. Did you say golden?”

“Yes.”

“Was it really golden? You didn’t see it wrong?”

“Yes, I saw it right. I’m not colorblind either. Why?”

Rembrary tilted his head. Golden? There were no golden pillars among the four zones Rembrary had seen so far.