Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 574

◈ 574. Shin Jo-woon’s Decision

After a meeting that was 80% a battlefield.

They fought so much in the conference room that everyone was exhausted by the end, politely greeting each other as they left.

“Goodbye.”

“Yes, see you later.”

Shin Jo-woon acknowledged the Worldboom members’ greetings and tried to speak to Jang Tae-ri.

However, seeing her deep in conversation with the Aegis people, he looked towards Rembrary instead.

But Rembrary, who had been diligently eating something in his seat, was also nowhere to be seen.

‘Where did he go?’ Shin Jo-woon told his secretary to head back first and went out of the conference room to look for Rembrary.

He thought that since they had parted on a somewhat awkward note last time, he would lighten the mood by having meat together for the first time in a while.

But as he came outside and looked around, Dae-ju, who had left first, approached and called out to him.

“Shin Jo-woon.”

It wasn’t urgent, but Shin Jo-woon also had something to say to Dae-ju, so he stopped looking for Rembrary and approached him, saying,

“It’s good timing, I had something to tell you too.”

“Something to tell me?”

“About Rembrary’s lost phone. I found it. You can take the temporary phone back.”

Our High Priest’s name sounded a bit strange just now.

Dae-ju stared blankly at Shin Jo-woon, but Shin Jo-woon had already finished his business and was turning away.

“You should hear what I have to say too.”

At Dae-ju’s call, Shin Jo-woon stopped again and looked back.

“Tell me.”

Dae-ju glanced at the group of people still gathered near the conference room and lowered his voice.

“I noticed that you hardly gave your opinion during the meeting.”

“…….”

“Do you think the third chaos that comes when the pillar collapses is a psychological warfare tactic to prevent the demons from destroying the pillar, or do you think it’s real?”

Shin Jo-woon chuckled.

“You called me because you were curious about that?”

“I usually respect Mr. Shin’s opinion. But today, you only fought and didn’t give your opinion. I wondered if you had other thoughts.”

Dae-ju confessed honestly.

Regardless of personal likes or dislikes, Dae-ju was grateful for Shin Jo-woon’s willingness to go to the other world for Rembrary, and he acknowledged that he was a brilliant person.

The same went for his abilities as a high-end hunter.

And decisively, Shin Jo-woon was neither Redrin nor Nakru. [Redrin and Nakru are likely factions or entities within the story’s world.]

In matters involving demons or gods, he was neutral.

Jang Tae-ri herself was close to neutral like Shin Jo-woon, but Aegis, which she represented, had its origins in a group that protected the saints from Nakru, so the situation was slightly different.

Therefore, Dae-ju wanted to hear Shin Jo-woon’s opinion at the meeting.

But Shin Jo-woon shook his head.

“Whether the pillar collapses or not, the result doesn’t change much, so I didn’t offer my opinion.”

“It doesn’t change?”

“Either way, the rift won’t close immediately. Whether the demons win or Redrin wins.”

“……That’s completely different. I don’t know how you can compare the two.”

“You asked for my opinion, so I gave it.”

Shin Jo-woon checked his watch and turned away, saying, “Let’s meet again later.”

Shin Jo-woon was only protecting the people he wanted to protect, and he knew that there was no need to make his values on this issue known to others.

He went back into the conference room. But in the meantime, Jang Tae-ri was not there.

Not only Jang Tae-ri but also the Aegis executives who came with her were gone.

‘Did they leave first?’

Jang Tae-ri had many people with her, so it was possible. Besides, she brought her secretary.

Shin Jo-woon looked for Rembrary this time.

However, after asking around, he heard that Ardor had come to pick up Rembrary and he had already left.

“Rembrary was looking for Mr. Shin and Ms. Jang. Ms. Jang left first, and Mr. Shin seemed busy talking, so he just left.”

‘Did he leave while I was having a pointless conversation?’

Shin Jo-woon clicked his tongue and finally went down to the parking lot alone.

Shin Jo-woon’s car quickly left the Redrin headquarters parking lot, passing through a smoothly maintained road section.

Then, while Shin Jo-woon was waiting for a traffic light, he received a call.

Since the car and the phone were connected via Bluetooth, Shin Jo-woon answered the phone without checking who was calling.

“Yes, hello.”

But the caller didn’t answer.

“Hello.”

He called again, but it was the same. Shin Jo-woon checked the number, wondering who it was, and realized it was an unknown number.

Shin Jo-woon thought. Should I hang up? It’s an unknown number. And they’re not saying anything. There’s no reason to keep answering, is there?

Finally, just as he was about to hang up, the moment he put his hand on the button.

[Is this Shin Jo-woon?]

A voice as unfamiliar as the number called out to him. At least it wasn’t a call made without knowing his number.

“Yes.”

The light turned green. Shin Jo-woon started driving again and answered. But the answer that came back was very strange.

[Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri are in danger.]

“Yes, I see.”

‘Is this a new type of scam call these days? Things have changed so much that even scams are weird.’ Shin Jo-woon hung up the scam call, which was his first, and smoothly turned the steering wheel.

Just then, a strangely shaped monster was about to appear from a manhole, but Shin Jo-woon’s car narrowly ran over the monster’s head first, and it seemed to fall back down into the road.

Shin Jo-woon wondered if he should freeze it and go, and looked in the rearview mirror. Then his phone rang again. The same number as before.

Instead of answering, Shin Jo-woon pulled the car over to the side of the road, lowered the window, reached out, and froze the head of the monster that was trying to come out of the manhole again.

After waiting 3 seconds to make sure the monster fell, Shin Jo-woon raised the window again.

The phone, which seemed to stop for a moment, rang again. It was the same number as before.

‘Are scammers usually this persistent?’

After receiving calls from the same number three times in a row, Shin Jo-woon reluctantly answered the phone, feeling a little bothered.

[Why the fuck did you hang up?]

The first thing he heard when he answered the phone was a curse.

“Who is this?”

Shin Jo-woon took out another phone and texted his secretary to track the location of the person he was talking to, while completely parking the car.

It was because he felt hostility towards himself in what the other person had said.

The other person scoffed.

[Jang Tae-ri and Rembrary are your friends, right?]

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know that?”

There might be, but Shin Jo-woon didn’t care and sent a text message to the group chat room with Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri using another phone.

-Where are you? Answer quickly

But even in this situation, there was no reply from either of them. Instead, he heard the unpleasant laughter of the unidentified caller.

[Why? Can’t you reach them?]

Shin Jo-woon stared intently at the number on his phone. What is this?

He wasn’t thinking that the other person had hacked his phone.

The caller didn’t seem to know at all that Shin Jo-woon had instructed his secretary to track him.

But he knew that he had contacted Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri. In other words, he was either very perceptive… or he could see Rembrary or Jang Tae-ri’s phones.

Shin Jo-woon asked a little more seriously than before.

“Why are you asking about my acquaintances?”

[Jang Tae-ri, Rembrary. Both are in dangerous situations. Jang Tae-ri is on the way to City B, and Rembrary is on the way to City C.]

Shin Jo-woon rested his arm on the window frame and tapped his chin with his finger.

To go to City B, you have to go east, and to go to City C, you have to go west. The roads to the two cities were in completely opposite directions.

In other words, this person was claiming that Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri were on completely opposite roads.

[You can save them if you hurry.]

The caller ended the call with those words. He didn’t even say how the two were in danger.

Shin Jo-woon narrowed his eyes and stared at the phone screen.

Whoever did this, the culprit’s purpose seemed obvious. To deliberately put Jang Tae-ri and Rembrary in opposite directions.

‘Of course, I don’t even know if that’s true or not.’

Basically, while thinking that Jang Tae-ri and Rembrary would both be safe, Shin Jo-woon decided to go to the places the person mentioned anyway. Just in case.

‘Jang Tae-ri. Rembrary. Opposite directions.’

* * *

“Where do you think Shin Jo-woon will go?”

The red-haired person next to the meerkat mask, who was staring intently at the screen, asked. The meerkat mask didn’t take his eyes off the screen and answered.

“The Deputy Director said Shin Jo-woon will go to Jang Tae-ri. That’s what the plan was based on.”

The red-haired person kept looking at Shin Jo-woon’s location displayed over the meerkat’s shoulder and asked, puzzled by the answer.

“Why? Isn’t Jang Tae-ri stronger? She doesn’t step up often, but when she does, it’s no joke. Then wouldn’t he naturally go to Rembrary? He’s a recovery ability user.”

“Exactly. Rembrary is a recovery ability user. So he’ll go to Jang Tae-ri.”

“Why is that?”

“He’s not just any recovery ability user, he’s an amazing recovery ability user. He heals himself even when he’s injured.”

“So why is that?”

“Jang Tae-ri doesn’t have that self-healing ability. So if there’s an emergency, Jang Tae-ri might fight back and forth with the enemy and die. But what about Rembrary? He doesn’t die easily even if he fights back and forth. Even if the enemy is overwhelmingly strong and catches him, the enemy won’t kill Rembrary. Killing the only healer in the world. That’s crazy.”

“Ah!”

The red-haired person finally understood and sighed.

“Then Shin Jo-woon has no choice but to go to Jang Tae-ri.”

“That’s right. Because he wasn’t told who the enemy was, just that they were in a dangerous situation.”

The meerkat mask smiled inside the mask and added.

“But that’s the perspective from the outside.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“They’re close, but how would a friend feel if their friend went to save another friend instead of them?”

“Well, I wouldn’t feel good. But it can’t be helped. We can’t leave both of them in danger. Rembrary knows he’s a healer, so he’ll understand.”

“Knowing and feeling bad are different. Shin Jo-woon will feel guilty, and Jang Tae-ri will be bothered and reluctant to see his face. Then Rembrary will be left out of the group. Just like the Deputy Director intended.”

The red-haired person opened his eyes wide and said, “Huh?”

“Wasn’t the Deputy Director trying to kill Shin Jo-woon?”

The meerkat mask realized that the red-haired person hadn’t heard a word the Deputy Director had said.

It was clear that the red-haired person still only listened to the words of the missing Director.

“He said he doesn’t think he can kill him. The Deputy Director is trying to get Shin Jo-woon away from Rembrary. Shin Jo-woon is interfering with Kim Mu-rok PD [PD likely refers to a Production Director or similar role in media] because of Rembrary. If they become distant, he won’t interfere.”

The red-haired person listened to the story with his mouth open and clicked his tongue.

“The Deputy Director is really bad.”

At that moment. The meerkat mask, who had been watching the screen all along, raised his voice and said, “Oh!”

“He’s moving now.”

* * *

Shin Jo-woon, having made his decision, started the car again.