Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 538

◈ 538. Shin Jo-woon Grabs a Hand

Just then, Joo-kyung’s dad, who was usually quite talkative, suddenly spoke up.

“I want to take Lee-kyung with me when I get out of here.”

Rembrary, realizing his mistake, looked at him. He couldn’t believe he’d said it first!

But stopping him now would be even stranger.

“Ah, Lee-kyung is my daughter. Actually, I still don’t know if she’s dead or alive. But if she’s dead, I’ll take her out with me. If I don’t take her out… then it means she’s alive, which is a relief.”

However, the moment Joo-kyung’s dad smiled bitterly, Ning-ling, who had been quiet all along, stepped forward with a displeased expression.

“Excuse me, Heretic.”

“Heretic? Me?”

“You’re coming with us because you’re not confident in escaping alone, right? That’s fine. But we’ve decided to send that person out first.”

Ning-ling pointed at Shin Jo-woon when she said, ‘that person.’

“If you want to go out first, go in a different direction from us. If you’re coming with us, that person will go out first.”

Woo Yeon-woo was taken aback.

He had also been thinking, ‘Oh? We were going to send Shin Jae-soo first?’ when he heard the man Rembrary brought.

But Ning-ling was saying it so openly.

Even if she seems nice, a Redrin follower is still a Redrin follower. She doesn’t mince words. Woo Yeon-woo clicked his tongue.

Joo-kyung’s dad was also flustered and couldn’t continue speaking. But he soon laughed it off awkwardly.

“My daughter might not be dead. She probably isn’t dead. I’ll just go with you.”

After encountering a few more strange ghosts, the group finally arrived at what looked like a movie theater entrance.

The ghost guide stood in front of it and said,

“You can go inside. Now, please melt me a little.”

Woo Yeon-woo didn’t think Shin Jo-woon would release the ghost, but surprisingly, Shin Jo-woon melted the ice encasing the ghost’s lower body.

The unexpected happened elsewhere.

“Huh?!”

Lee-kyung’s dad, who had been quietly following, suddenly jumped into the entrance.

Shin Jo-woon, Ning-ling, Woo Yeon-woo, and even the ghost guide were all stunned.

He said he wanted to save his daughter, but he gave up too easily. He was deliberately lowering their guard and looking for an opportunity.

Ning-ling, who had even given a warning, muttered in dismay.

“What a nasty Heretic.”

Shin Jo-woon frowned.

The guide ghost, thinking Shin Jo-woon might vent his anger on him, quickly ran away as soon as his legs were free.

Woo Yeon-woo, watching Shin Jo-woon’s reaction, nudged Rembrary’s arm. Hey, comfort him a little.

However, before Rembrary could grant Woo Yeon-woo’s request, Shin Jo-woon unexpectedly entered the entrance for the second time, unfazed.

Woo Yeon-woo clicked his tongue, even though he disliked Shin Jo-woon, thinking this wasn’t right.

“There are so many weird people. Backstabbing here? Right?”

But Rembrary, who was closest to Shin Jo-woon, was surprisingly calm. His indifference was so off-putting that Woo Yeon-woo nudged his instep with his toe.

“Aren’t you worried that your friend lost a good opportunity?”

“It seems like you’re the one who’s worried, Yeon-woo.”

“Usually, people care in this situation.”

“Ning-ling isn’t worried.”

“I… I’m worried too, High Priest.”

Rembrary, who was wondering which order he should enter, noticed Ning-ling and Woo Yeon-woo looking at him strangely and explained.

“That guy who followed us was already dead. So, the first person to leave is still Anchovy [Shin Jo-woon’s nickname]. Rest assured.”

Ning-ling asked in surprise.

“He was dead?”

“Yes. His head and body were separated, so I just reattached them. But it wasn’t immediately after they were separated. He’s probably dead.”

“!”

* * *

As Rembrary said, Shin Jo-woon met Lee-kyung’s dad again in a completely black space where he couldn’t distinguish front, back, left, or right.

Lee-kyung’s dad, who had entered the door first, was just standing blankly in the middle of the black space, looking very dejected.

When he met Shin Jo-woon’s eyes, he reached out to Shin Jo-woon, crying.

“I’m already dead, so I can’t get out of here. Please, take me out with you. Please?”

Shin Jo-woon glanced at him as he walked, and that was it.

He looked straight ahead and continued walking. He didn’t look back even once.

As he continued, he heard a giggling sound.

Looking towards the sound, a tall man with long black hair tied back was quietly laughing to himself while looking at him.

He was holding someone’s hand, but the hand had no body. In other words, only the hand was floating in the air.

When Shin Jo-woon looked at him, the tall man held out the hand he was holding towards Shin Jo-woon and said.

“Clotte called you talented. You really are an unlucky human.”

“?”

“Clotte meant it as a compliment. Don’t be so happy, human. The only things that guy compliments are beasts.”

The tall man seemed to be a demon. Shin Jo-woon wondered if this man was the demon Rembrary had mentioned, ‘Warrior.’

But he didn’t want to bother asking his name, so Shin Jo-woon asked only what he was most curious about.

“I thought I got to choose who to take with me.”

“This child is the person you want to take.”

“You know who I want to take?”

“I don’t know. But I know your earnest desire.”

The tall man shook the hand in the air, asking if he wasn’t going to take it.

Shin Jo-woon was reluctant, but he grabbed the hand.

Then, he realized that unlike what it seemed, this hand wasn’t just floating in the air.

The hand was properly attached to a body. Only the parts excluding the hand were invisible.

Still, he didn’t have much faith, but even as he thought that, Shin Jo-woon grabbed the hand and walked forward.

The tall man followed Shin Jo-woon from three steps behind and advised.

“I’ll give you one piece of advice. No matter who calls you from behind, you must not look back. Otherwise, it’s useless.”

It was a requirement that could be found in Greek mythology.

“I won’t.”

Shin Jo-woon thought it wouldn’t be difficult at all, so he answered easily and continued walking forward.

Soon, a door made of faint light appeared in the black darkness. It seemed he just had to pass through that door.

But as he was walking, he heard someone calling him from behind.

“Anchovy.”

Surprisingly, it was Rembrary’s voice.

Shin Jo-woon was about to turn around immediately, but he remembered meeting a ghost in this dungeon who was impersonating Rembrary.

That ghost also called Shin Jo-woon ‘Anchovy.’ Even the appearance looked like the real Rembrary to Shin Jo-woon.

It was only after talking for a bit that it became clear it was a fake.

“Anchovy.”

As he hesitated, Rembrary called him again from behind.

Shin Jo-woon thought for a moment and then walked out the door.

If it was the real Rembrary, they could talk outside. There was no need to turn around right now.

The moment he passed through the light, he was in front of the door to District 3-4.

He had only passed through one door. The hand Shin Jo-woon had been holding now had a complete appearance, not just a hand.

And that person was….

“You acted so cold, but you’re actually a kind person. Thank you for saving me!”

It was Lee-kyung’s dad.

Shin Jo-woon hurriedly pulled his hand away and looked at him with a disgusted expression. What is this?

The hand the demon had given him was white and slender, like a pianist’s hand. On the other hand, Lee-kyung’s dad’s hand was just a normal hand.

The two hands looked distinctly different. Yet, Shin Jo-woon didn’t even know when or how the two hands had changed.

“I was really sad when you just left. I never imagined you would take me with you in your heart….”

As he stared blankly at the man burying his face in his hands and sobbing, he heard Rembrary clicking his tongue from behind.

When Shin Jo-woon turned around, Rembrary was coming out of the door and saying.

“You look surprised. You should have listened to me.”

“Listened to you?”

“I kept calling you, didn’t I?”

“That was really you?”

“Yes. I was going to ask if you were really taking that guy with you.”

Shin Jo-woon frowned deeply.

Could it be that demon…? Was he deliberately tricking him? Was that why he said not to look back no matter who called?

“Was the person I was taking from the beginning this, no, this person?”

“I don’t know about that. But when I went inside the door, you were already holding Joo-kyung’s dad’s hand and walking.”

“!”

Shin Jo-woon looked at his hand in shock and then belatedly asked.

“Whose dad?”

The man Shin Jo-woon had inadvertently brought out said, sniffling.

“I’m Lee-kyung and Joo-kyung’s dad.”

“Joo-kyung is probably not the little kid living in my house, is she?”

As Shin Jo-woon muttered, Rembrary nodded in agreement.

Shin Jo-woon closed his eyes and took a deep breath to suppress his rising anger.

As he was doing that, Woo Yeon-woo, who came out next, looked back and forth between Joo-kyung’s dad and Shin Jo-woon, then covered his mouth with one hand and chuckled.

Receiving Shin Jo-woon’s cold gaze, Woo Yeon-woo quickly composed himself.

But Rembrary helpfully interpreted Woo Yeon-woo’s expression from the side.

“You want to say, ‘That person is precious? Pfft,’ right, Yeon-woo?”

Rembrary was the one who said it, but Woo Yeon-woo was almost grabbed by Shin Jo-woon and thrown back into the door.

“We didn’t do ventriloquism! Rembrary said that, not me!”

Fortunately, Ning-ling bumped her forehead against Woo Yeon-woo’s as she was coming out, so that didn’t happen.

Ning-ling grabbed her forehead and looked at Woo Yeon-woo and Shin Jo-woon in confusion, then became even more puzzled when she discovered Joo-kyung’s dad.

“Huh? That person?”

In the meantime, Woo Yeon-woo quickly hid behind Rembrary.

Ning-ling’s expression soured.

“Why is that person here?”

She spoke coldly even inside the dungeon. Ning-ling seemed to dislike Joo-kyung’s dad.

“Shin Jae, Shin Jo-woon saved that person.”

Even with Woo Yeon-woo’s explanation, Ning-ling’s expression soured even more.

She suspected that Joo-kyung’s dad had selfishly begged Shin Jo-woon, stealing Shin Jo-woon’s opportunity.

Joo-kyung’s dad also seemed to sense that Ning-ling disliked him, and he blinked awkwardly.

“Ah, right. Ning-ling.”

“Yes, High Priest.”

That awkward atmosphere became even steeper as Rembrary properly introduced Joo-kyung’s dad.

“This person is Joo-kyung’s father.”

“!”

Rembrary also pointed at Ning-ling and said to Joo-kyung’s dad.

“This friend is Joo-kyung’s temporary guardian.”

“!”

Ning-ling opened her mouth in shock, and Joo-kyung’s dad also looked uncomfortable when he heard that the young man who had been showing hostility towards him was taking care of his daughter.

Looking back and forth at the ambiguous atmosphere, Rembrary first poked Joo-kyung’s dad’s back with his finger.

He only poked him once, but Joo-kyung’s dad immediately lost consciousness.

“Rembrary! What are you doing!”

To Woo Yeon-woo, who was screaming in horror, Rembrary handed over the unconscious Joo-kyung’s dad.

“I thought I should put him to sleep.”

Woo Yeon-woo inadvertently received Joo-kyung’s dad.

Rembrary also poked Shin Jo-woon, who still seemed angry, in the back.

Woo Yeon-woo thought Rembrary was going to put Shin Jo-woon to sleep too, but that wasn’t the case.

“I didn’t say it in case there was a chance. But Tae-ri’s younger sibling probably couldn’t have been revived here, Anchovy.”

“!”

“So don’t cry. Demons don’t have the ability to revive anyone.”

Shin Jo-woon shrugged with an indifferent expression.

“I’m not crying. I expected he couldn’t be saved. I’m just angry that my hand was used.”

But it’s a good thing for that kid Joo-kyung. Shin Jo-woon added.

Rembrary shook his head.

“I can’t really say it’s a good thing for Joo-kyung.”

Woo Yeon-woo asked.

“What do you mean? Of course, it’s good that her dad is back.”

Ning-ling reluctantly agreed.

“Joo-kyung will probably like it. It’s Si-young who becomes pitiful.”

Rembrary shook his head again and grabbed Joo-kyung’s dad’s wrist. Surprisingly, the part Rembrary grabbed quickly turned black.