Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 582

◈ 582. Jong-woo Would Have Danced

That voice was like a devil tempting him to corruption. No, it probably was a devil.

Nin-ling recognized it instantly. It was obvious at a glance. Wasn’t preying on people’s weaknesses and desires exactly what a devil would do?

“How about it?”

The Nin-ling in the mirror whispered again. The devil disguised its temptation as a voice coming from within Nin-ling.

“How unfortunate.”

But Nin-ling immediately rejected the temptation.

“I won’t listen to a single word spoken by a demon.”

“That’s too harsh.”

The Nin-ling in the mirror smiled cheerfully, contrary to his words.

“I can swear, paladin. From now on, I will only speak the truth. God. Whose name should I swear by? How about it? Huh?”

Nin-ling’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. Rather, he felt disgusted.

In the original world invaded by the Demon King, he remembered how those demons destroyed their world, tormented people, and attacked his brothers and sisters.

And they used the High Priest’s appearance to tarnish the High Priest and the temple, Redrin’s honor, and mocked their beliefs and faith.

Nin-ling’s expression grew colder and colder.

“I see. You don’t acknowledge the Demon King as a god, do you? Then… fine. Shall I swear by your god’s name? Redrin?”

Then, the Nin-ling in the mirror raised one corner of his mouth and tilted his chin up, bursting into laughter.

Nin-ling drew his sword and slashed at the demon in his form.

Crack! The sound of the mirror shattering echoed, and a large crack ran across the mirror.

The Nin-ling in the mirror still smiled nonchalantly, as if unaffected, and bowed like an actor finishing a performance.

And where the illusion disappeared, Woo Yeon-woo was bleeding from a sword wound.

“!”

A burst of laughter, ‘Hahahahaha!’ rang in his ears.

Cold sweat ran down Nin-ling’s spine.

He had been suspecting that Woo Yeon-woo might be the ‘fake High Priest,’ but he was being as cautious as possible.

Knowing that Rembrary cherished Woo Yeon-woo, he intended to postpone his revenge until he was certain of his guilt.

He had no intention of slashing him so futilely.

Woo Yeon-woo clutched his stomach, blood flowing from his mouth, and stared at Nin-ling.

His eyes held a complex mix of emotions.

Only then did Nin-ling come to his senses and hurriedly sheathed his sword, trying to approach him.

“Yeon-woo, this is—”

He had to explain that he had been affected by a demon’s illusion, but a sharp piece of metal blocked his path, preventing him from reaching Woo Yeon-woo.

A brown-haired Nakru executive caught Woo Yeon-woo as he lost consciousness and collapsed.

The executive glared at Nin-ling with menacing eyes.

Nin-ling withdrew his outstretched hand.

Conversely, the Nakru executives surrounding him simultaneously drew their weapons and pointed them forward.

Realizing that drawing his own weapon would only escalate the situation, Nin-ling instead raised both hands to show that he had no intention of attacking, and said,

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

However, despite him not drawing a weapon and showing his willingness to talk, no one lowered their weapon.

“I repeat, it’s a misunderstanding. Because of the illusion, Woo Yeon-woo didn’t look like Woo Yeon-woo to me.”

The red-haired Nakru leader of this team sneered at Woo Yeon-woo’s words.

“Really? For someone who says that, the atmosphere between you two hasn’t been good. Woo Yeon-woo has been constantly watching you.”

‘Because Woo Yeon-woo might be my enemy.’ Nin-ling frowned.

He wanted to explain, but that explanation would only sound like the reason he attacked Woo Yeon-woo. Explaining now would only worsen the situation.

A Nakru member checked on Woo Yeon-woo and urged the red-haired leader.

“We need to treat him, even temporarily, and get him out of the dungeon quickly.”

The executives raised their weapons higher.

“There’s no time. Capturing, fighting, and taking him will only make the time tighter. Abandon him or kill him and leave.”

The red-haired leader glared at Nin-ling and said in a low, firm voice.

‘Is there no other way?’

It seemed too late to turn back. Nin-ling slowly drew his sword, even as he recognized that he had fallen into the Demon King’s trap.

* * *

Rembrary sat on the wall, listening to the siren sounds passing in the distance, and lowered his gaze when his phone vibrated.

It was a text from Shin Jo-woon.

A couple of hours ago, Rembrary had texted Shin Jo-woon the phone number he had received from Mullu and asked.

[Is this real? Or a scam? They said it’s a PBS contact.]

Shin Jo-woon said he was in a meeting and would contact him in two hours, so Rembrary had been waiting for the text while getting some air.

Of course, he had also tried calling Nin-ling in between, but Nin-ling still wasn’t answering.

Rembrary unlocked his phone and opened the text message.

[Call]

“…….”

Shin Jo-woon’s reply was concise.

Too concise to understand whether he meant to call, would call, or was telling him to try calling the correct phone number.

Fortunately, the meaning of ‘Call’ was revealed three seconds later when Shin Jo-woon called him first.

“Oh, Anchovy. I was wondering if you texted me because of this, or because of that, or if it wasn’t because of either.”

—I can’t understand half of what you’re saying.

“So…….”

Rembrary was about to explain, but it became too bothersome, so he decided to skip it.

“The important part isn’t that. Did you find out? Is that a real number?”

—It’s correct. It was a PD’s [Production Director’s] number in the PBS entertainment production department.

‘So it’s not a scam.’

—Why did you suddenly ask about this number?

“I heard that Daeju received an interview request from that number. Daeju sent it to Mullu.”

The same siren sound was heard again, so Rembrary leaned out and looked in the direction of the sound.

Shin Jo-woon seemed to be silent for a moment, so Rembrary asked honestly.

“What’s the best thing to do? Isn’t this your area of expertise?”

—First of all, it’s not a news bureau but an entertainment production department PD’s number. And this isn’t certain, but as far as I know, this phone number belongs to a talk show PD.

“Talk show?”

—It’s moderately provocative. But I know it’s a program that doesn’t cross the line. At least, for now.

“Why would they suddenly call me? I haven’t even released an album lately.”

—You don’t watch the news these days, do you? Ever since you destroyed the pillar, that news keeps coming up whenever people are about to forget. That’s probably why they’re calling you. You’ve never talked about it yourself.

Because the siren sound was heard again, Rembrary stood up on the wall and looked far away.

“So, Anchovy. Do you think it would be good for me to go there, or not?”

—It’s rare for you to ask for my opinion.

“I would have gone before. The more famous I become, the more power Redrin-nim will have. It’s the same now, but…….”

—But?

“Kim Mu-rok is investigating me and Redrin-nim, isn’t he?”

He had done an interview that praised Redrin as much as possible, but he couldn’t let that topicality become a good thing for Kim Mu-rok.

After saying that, Rembrary felt quite smart and pleased with himself.

If he had acted like this back in his Wild Animal days, Jong-woo would have been so happy that he would have danced.

“Anchovy. Please dance for me.”

—Why suddenly dance? Did they ask you to dance there?

“No, I just remembered. I think I’ve become a bit smarter. Of course, I was originally intelligent. But it wasn’t in the Earth style, but now I seem to be intelligent in the Earth style too.”

—Does that give me a reason to dance?

“Jong-woo would have danced.”

—Are we talking about different Jong-woos?

This Anchovy is making all sorts of excuses because he doesn’t want to dance.

Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly, but then looked at the baby sloth on his phone’s lock screen and let go of his anger.

Right. I have to treat him well if I want to take him to the dungeon later and see this again.

—Anyway, in my opinion, considering Kim Mu-rok’s situation, it’s better to stay put and watch for now.

“Is there no way to stop Kim Mu-rok’s investigation? I’m going to destroy more pillars in the future, but if I can’t do anything because of Kim Mu-rok, that’s not good either.”

Rembrary wondered if he should release another song to grab people’s attention, but shook his head, thinking that he didn’t have time to do that now.

He had to destroy the pillars quickly.

Before people went further into the ‘Devil’s Domain.’ And what about Emperor Shin Jo-woon, who was somewhere inside?

—That’s right. But even though the documentary Kim Mu-rok is preparing is top secret, the story is already circulating.

“That’s right.”

—If Kim Mu-rok goes missing in the midst of all this, it’ll be even more suspicious. Many people will be suspicious.

“Missing? Why suddenly missing?”

Why would Kim Mu-rok suddenly go missing when he was trying to find a way to stop Kim Mu-rok’s investigation? Puzzled, he asked, and Shin Jo-woon choked and coughed a few times.

“Anchovy? Are you okay?”

Worried, he asked, and Shin Jo-woon suddenly said goodbye.

—I’ll call you later. I have a guest.

Then he hung up without saying anything else. It was puzzling, but the call had already ended.

Anyway, he had asked all the questions he needed to ask, so Rembrary put his phone back in his pocket instead of calling again.

In that state, Rembrary crossed his arms and sat back on the wall, seriously contemplating.

To get Kim Mu-rok to quit broadcasting, he had to persuade him.

‘But how do I persuade him……?’

Kim Mu-rok was a person obsessed with broadcasting, ratings, and topicality. He even prioritized such things over his own face and safety.

There was no way that such a Kim Mu-rok would be persuaded by ordinary words.

If anything, he might be happy, thinking, ‘There must be something, so they’re trying to stop me!’

‘Besides, this time Kim Mu-rok has the justification of legitimacy. The vice president of Mirage, who sponsors Kim Mu-rok. He seemed to know a lot.’

No, no. What if I pressured that Mirage vice president to stop sponsoring Kim Mu-rok? No matter how much of a Kim Mu-rok he is, he can’t make such a documentary without sponsorship, can he?

But Rembrary was in the midst of contemplating.

Someone called out from under the wall, “Rembrary-ssi.”

At the strangely familiar voice, Rembrary looked straight down.

“You?”

Unexpectedly, standing in front of the wall was Woo Sung-woo.

A person who suddenly sided with the demons and created a very subtle situation between Nakru, Redrin, and Worldboom.

Of course, there had been a war of nerves between Worldboom and Nakru members even before that, but the relationship had become so openly twisted after Woo Sung-woo disappeared.

And yet, the person responsible was suddenly here?

“Have you decided to come back to this side?”

Anyway, he was happy to see him after a long time, so he smiled, and Woo Sung-woo faintly smiled along.

But he didn’t talk about any personal circumstances. He shook his head, looked around, and said urgently,

“Yeon-woo is in danger. And one of your people too.”