Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 539

◈ 539. One Child Laughs, One Child

“This is…!”

Woo Yeon-woo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Rembrary released Joo Kyung’s dad’s wrist and explained.

“He’s not human. He wasn’t properly revived. He’s a monster made from a corpse.”

Woo Yeon-woo asked, feeling uneasy.

“So, the monster is imitating Joo Kyung’s father?”

“He *is* Joo Kyung’s father. He has reason, memories, and emotions.”

“Then isn’t that good enough? For those left behind, that’s better than nothing.”

This time, Nin-Ling answered.

“It’s… a bit complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“Monsters created like this only follow the orders of their creator. If the person who made him is Warion, he will follow that demon’s orders, or the orders of another demon.”

Woo Yeon-woo’s eyes widened.

“Does that mean…”

“Out of all the people, the fact that they bothered to revive this person means they plan to use him.”

Shin Jo-woon added calmly, and Woo Yeon-woo swallowed hard. His throat felt prickly even though he didn’t have a cold.

Woo Yeon-woo hesitated, then asked quietly, thinking it might be a bit cruel.

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to just kill… kill…”

“Kill him?”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Nin-Ling’s expression became ambiguous.

“These kinds of monsters are surprisingly hard to get rid of, and the damage is significant. Do you know why?”

“No. I wouldn’t know…”

“When they’re not receiving orders, they’re in their right mind. They’re just themselves. Imagine your friends, lovers, acquaintances, family, and relatives coming back like this. How could you get rid of them?”

“!”

Woo Yeon-woo imagined his parents or Woo Seong-woo returning in that state.

Definitely. He would lock them up, but he couldn’t kill them. Of course, if Woo Seong-woo were in that state, he wouldn’t even be able to lock him up.

“Then what do we do?”

Rembrary crossed his arms and chimed in.

“Yeah. What should we do? Anchovy, Nin-Ling. What do you want to do?”

“……”

Nin-Ling’s lips moved, but he couldn’t voice his opinion.

Although Rembrary brought Joo Kyung, he was the one who practically raised her, so it seemed difficult for him to express his opinion honestly.

In the end, Shin Jo-woon suggested.

“Let’s take him and lock him up and explain the situation.”

Nin-Ling asked hesitantly.

“Are you sure about the order? Explaining and *then* locking him up…”

“Do whatever is easier. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Ah, okay.”

“If he’s in his right mind when he’s not receiving orders, he’ll know why he’s in danger. He’ll also know who will be most harmed when he’s in danger.”

Nin-Ling, who seemed to be the most anxious among them, asked impatiently.

“What about Joo Kyung? High Priest, can we let her meet Joo Kyung?”

“Let’s decide after we see how the situation unfolds, Nin-Ling.”

*He’s subtly delaying the answer,* Woo Yeon-woo thought to himself, but he kept quiet, mindful of Shin Jae-soo’s gaze.

“If we destroy the pillars and the demons are sealed, there will be no one to give orders, so Joo Kyung’s dad will be free.”

Although the conclusion was ambiguous, the group moved Joo Kyung’s dad to the Redrine headquarters.

It was a shame for Joo Kyung’s dad when he was in his right mind, but there was no other way, as they didn’t know how the demons would try to use him when he wasn’t in his right mind.

* * *

While driving to the Redrine headquarters, the group was lost in their own thoughts and didn’t talk to each other.

Shin Jo-woon wondered when his hand had changed, and Woo Yeon-woo worried that Woo Seong-woo might have ended up in the same state.

Nin-Ling worried that Joo Kyung might get angry if she was rude to her dad.

Rembrary prayed to Redrine.

‘Redrine. Every time I enter a dungeon, the demons show me disturbing sights. And they keep asking if I remember. What is it?’

Surprisingly, an answer came right away.

[It seems they are targeting you intensely.]

‘In what way?’

[If it’s too hard, don’t go into the demons’ territory.]

‘Then who goes?’

[……]

The answer was cut off for a moment. Redrine didn’t seem to have any priests in mind either.

[But you don’t always have to step up.]

‘I can’t make Daejoo do it, Redrine.’

[……]

Even if Daejoo’s divine power was unique and not suitable for combat, there were a few strong paladins and priests.

However, Ardor, Mullu, and Nin-Ling were strong but not quite enough to complete the dungeons.

It wasn’t a matter of being strong or weak, but of passing through the dungeons.

Decisively, Rembrary was the only one with healing abilities.

If Rembrary went along, injuries could be treated unless they were instantly fatal, but the moment Rembrary was absent, all injuries became dangerous.

Naturally, the risk of each dungeon increased significantly depending on whether Rembrary joined, and naturally, the difficulty also increased. That was the biggest problem.

While exchanging serious words, the car stopped before they knew it.

He looked out the window, thinking they had already arrived, and they had already arrived. They were already in front of the Redrine headquarters building.

The group took Joo Kyung’s dad, who had woken up during the move, and entered the building.

“This is Redrine, where is it? That cult… no, anyway, that’s it, right?”

Joo Kyung’s dad initially followed along, fascinated.

“I saw this on TV.”

Joo Kyung’s dad even seemed excited.

He seemed to feel like he was on an adventure, thinking about exploring the building of a group famous as a cult.

But his cheerful expression disappeared completely when Shin Jo-woon put him in an empty room and locked it.

“Wait a minute!”

Joo Kyung’s dad shook the doorknob like crazy, and when he found bars on the window, he stuck his face through them and shouted in horror.

“What is this? Hey, why are you suddenly locking me up here?”

He thought it was just an ordinary empty room. Shin Jo-woon had chosen a room with bars on it.

“I told you, we need to explain first.”

Nin-Ling muttered, seeing the employees running over, wondering what was going on, as Joo Kyung’s dad screamed at the top of his lungs.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s the matter?”

* * *

Nin-Ling said to explain first and then lock him up.

Shin Jo-woon just naturally locked Joo Kyung’s dad up.

The group that was with him was also momentarily taken aback, as they didn’t know that Shin Jo-woon would lock Joo Kyung’s dad up first without further explanation.

After sending back the employees who came, not knowing what was going on, in the end, Nin-Ling was in charge of telling Joo Kyung’s dad the situation.

“Joo Kyung’s father, so your name is…”

“Lim Chi-hoon.”

“Yes, Lim Chi-hoon. I found out while Lim Chi-hoon was unconscious, but Lim Chi-hoon seems to have come back to life, but he’s not *really* alive.”

“Huh?”

“So, Lim Chi-hoon’s current state is not human, well… he’s not human.”

“Huh?”

Like the explanation that he was fine except when receiving orders, Joo Kyung’s dad didn’t properly accept his condition.

“I’m really fine! I don’t have any pain or anything strange, but suddenly you’re saying I’m not human. I don’t think that’s right!”

“A demon made Lim Chi-hoon his subordinate.”

“Huh? No, I’m not!”

“Of course. Because Lim Chi-hoon is no different from before except when giving orders. But if a demon gives an order, Lim Chi-hoon will unconditionally follow that order. He changed like that when he died and came back to life.”

“I won’t do that!”

“Even if Lim Chi-hoon doesn’t want to, he will.”

“No, I’m saying I won’t do that, so why are you deciding my actions in advance?”

Rembrary listened to the story from the side and intervened when Joo Kyung’s dad couldn’t accept it at all.

“I couldn’t tell you this in the dungeon. Joo Kyung is living alone right now.”

While explaining why he was locked up, Joo Kyung’s dad looked at Rembrary and asked when the story suddenly turned to the second child.

“What about my wife? Did my wife decide to stay with Joo Kyung?”

“Since you disappeared and didn’t come back, she went to find Joo Kyung’s mother, wondering what was going on.”

“That…!”

Joo Kyung’s dad shook the bars like crazy.

“Then you should let me out! Not lock me up like this! My child is alone!”

“She’s not living completely alone. She’s living with us. Now, think about it. Imagine the situation where you come and return Joo Kyung to you and the two of you live together.”

“?”

“If a demon orders you to attack Joo Kyung?”

Joo Kyung’s dad’s face turned blue.

“If they order you to take Joo Kyung hostage and get information from our side?”

“That can’t be!”

“It’s no use saying that after the child is dead.”

“!”

Rembrary sent divine power to Joo Kyung’s dad’s hand, which was holding the iron bars.

This time, the hand turned black again. Joo Kyung’s dad stared blankly at his hand.

* * *

Afterward, the group explained the situation to Daejoo as well. Daejoo listened in surprise and hurriedly asked Rembrary.

“Won’t he escape? It’s not as strong as a real prison.”

“I don’t know what they did while reviving him. If they just revived him, there’s no difference in strength from when he was alive, so he won’t be able to escape.”

“What if they didn’t *just* revive him?”

“He’ll escape.”

Daejoo looked at Rembrary blankly with a ‘What is that!’ expression.

“But they probably couldn’t have made him stronger or anything like that. They had to revive him right away.”

“Yes. Then I’ll leave it as it is for now. Instead, I’ll increase the number of people watching around him.”

“More than that, Daejoo. This story.”

“Yes.”

“Should we tell Joo Kyung?”

Daejoo, who had been answering well, suddenly closed his mouth. Since there was no set answer to this kind of problem, everyone seemed to be in trouble.

Daejoo thought for a long time and asked.

“Aren’t there truths that are better left unknown?”

“Are you saying we shouldn’t tell her?”

“I’m saying there’s no need to tell her right away. An eight-year-old is still an eight-year-old, no matter how smart she is. She’s too young to understand this situation. If we tell her, it would be better to tell her when she’s older.”

“Is that so.”

“But that’s just my opinion, it’s not *the* right answer.”

Then Nin-Ling, who had been quiet all along, immediately offered a different opinion.

“I’ve been thinking about it, High Priest. Still, Joo Kyung found her dad, who she wanted to see so much, so I don’t think it’s right not to say anything at all. It’s a deception.”

“Then you think it’s better to tell her?”

Daejoo frowned and protested.

“Sir Nin-Ling. How are you going to handle what happens if you tell her?”

“Well, I mean… Instead of showing her his face directly, how about asking Lim Chi-hoon to film a video message with his phone and deliver it?”

“!”

“Saying that he can’t come to pick her up right now because of the circumstances, but he still loves her, and he’ll go to meet his family later, something like that.”

* * *

In the end, Nin-Ling’s opinion was adopted.

Joo Kyung’s dad, who was angry at being locked up, also did as he was told when he was asked to write a video message to reassure his daughter.

“A letter from Dad?! Did you find my dad?”

Joo Kyung jumped up and down with joy after watching the letter her dad sent her on her phone.

Nin-Ling was relieved and smiled along with her, seeing how happy she was.

But Si-young secretly watched the scene from the top of the stairs and went inside.

It was a good thing that Joo Kyung had contacted her father, but she didn’t want to see that scene directly. Not right now.

Si-young turned on the computer, turned the music volume to the maximum, and tried not to hear the noise.

Then, suddenly, a strange phrase caught Si-young’s eye.

―Among the mazes in the demon realm, there is a maze that grants wishes.