Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 599

◈ 599. Jang Taeri and Shin Jo Woon’s Past

The mourners were stunned by the death of someone so young.

The parents were too overcome with grief to even attend, so uncles, aunts, and cousins greeted the guests instead.

Young Jang Taeri saw his picture displayed on the altar.

Because the twins, along with Shin Jo Woon, were always together, solo pictures were rare.

Shin Jo Woon at least had some individual shots taken at his house, but Jang Taeri and his sibling were inseparable, even at home, so there were no pictures of them alone.

From their birth photos to baby pictures, first birthdays, and hundredth-day celebrations, they always spent them together.

So, the deceased sibling’s portrait had to be cropped from a photo taken with Jang Taeri.

It was hard to tell who was Jang Taeri and who was the deceased child in the picture.

Next to the photo, numerous white chrysanthemums were in full bloom. The sibling had passed away, and many wreaths had been sent.

Young Jang Taeri didn’t understand why people sent flowers when someone died.

To him, flowers were for celebrations.

He also struggled to grasp that his sibling was gone.

The sibling had gone out to play with Shin Jo Woon. Why did they suddenly die? Why were they lying there, not getting up?

Why wouldn’t the adults let him see his sibling to say goodbye? Why did his parents collapse, crying, when they saw the sibling?

It felt like the coffin lid would open any moment, and his sibling would shout, ‘Surprise!’ and laugh.

But no one was laughing; everyone was just crying.

Just then, young Shin Jo Woon approached Jang Taeri.

Young Shin Jo Woon’s face was pale, a stark contrast against his black suit.

Jang Taeri remembered his parents saying that Shin Jo Woon was the last person with his sibling before they died.

Shin Jo Woon said that his sibling had seen someone injured and ran to help. And then…

Jang Taeri remembered the adults whispering, ‘If that child had been there, they might not have died.’

Young Shin Jo Woon approached Jang Taeri, crying. He seemed to say something, but Jang Taeri couldn’t remember the words.

Young Jang Taeri snatched a chrysanthemum that Shin Jo Woon had picked up and threw it, saying,

“It’s your fault.”

Shin Jo Woon’s eyes, already swollen, widened. Jang Taeri said with conviction.

“They died because of you. If you had been with them, they wouldn’t have died.”

An uncle, aunt, or cousin rushed over and scolded him for saying such things, but his pent-up anger and sadness exploded.

“They died because of you! They died because you let them go alone! They died because you just watched!”

Young Shin Jo Woon stood still and listened to everything, then picked up the fallen white flower, placed it among the others, and bowed.

Then he left without even looking at Jang Taeri.

After a few hours, Jang Taeri began to regret what he had said.

His sibling always tried to help those in pain or struggling, and Shin Jo Woon and Jang Taeri thought that the sibling was kind but peculiar.

The sibling often ran off alone to help someone, and Jang Taeri usually followed slowly rather than running with them.

Even if he, Jang Taeri, had been there instead of Shin Jo Woon, the result would have been the same.

Jang Taeri regretted it, but there was no chance to apologize to Shin Jo Woon.

It wasn’t until a week later that Jang Taeri went to Shin Jo Woon, apologized while crying, and confessed that it wasn’t his true feelings but words spat out in anger.

The two returned to being close friends as before.

* * *

Jang Taeri looked at Shin Jo Woon and sighed heavily.

‘Is that thorn still there?’

As their eyes met, Shin Jo Woon teased with a smile.

“Why are you being gloomy again?”

Jang Taeri shook his head and put on his coat.

“I’ll keep calling Rembrary, too. Don’t worry so much. If Rembrary is right, the demons won’t harm him for the time being. And don’t feel left out. It’s not like he’s only not answering your calls.”

With that, Jang Taeri made a show of calling Rembrary.

“See? He’s not answering, right?”

―Yes, Taeri.

But as soon as he spoke, Rembrary answered the phone.

As blue veins popped out on Shin Jo Woon’s forehead, Jang Taeri unknowingly hung up the phone.

Only later did he realize his mistake and call again, and thankfully, it wasn’t that he was only answering Jang Taeri’s calls on purpose.

―I just got out of the dungeon. When Mullet [a derogatory nickname] calls, I’m usually busy doing something else. Tell Mullet to get a grip.

“Jo Woon is glaring at me from the side.”

―I uploaded a picture in the group chat. Why isn’t anyone looking at it? Did you two eat something else without me?

Jang Taeri avoided Shin Jo Woon’s gaze and quickly checked the message Rembrary sent. A picture of a blue sky appeared.

“It’s pretty.”

He didn’t know why he sent it, but after praising it, Rembrary boasted.

“I took it from on top of a dragon.”

“Wow. I see.”

He didn’t know how he ended up taking it from on top of a dragon, but if he was going to take it from on top of a dragon, it would have been better to include the dragon in the picture.

Jang Taeri thought while looking at the picture that only showed the blue sky, but he didn’t bother to bring it up.

“It’s pretty.”

[How’s the dragon?]

“Um… I can feel the dragon’s breath.”

[Ah! I didn’t upload the picture with the dragon in it.]

“!”

[I uploaded it now. But what were you looking at just now when you said that?]

Jang Taeri handed the phone to Shin Jo Woon.

Listening to Shin Jo Woon talking to Rembrary from the side, Jang Taeri wanted to quickly return to the company.

‘From now on, if they’re going to fight, they should fight it out between themselves.’

* * *

At that moment, when Rembrary was shouting, ‘My car was stolen twice,’ and Shin Jo Woon was confessing that a thief took one and he took the other,

Nakru was unable to grasp what Woo Sungwoo was thinking and was repeatedly discussing it among themselves.

At that time, an unexpected visitor appeared to Nakru.

“The Deputy Director of Shinkiru has come to see you.”

“Shinkiru? That Shinkiru that seemed to be doing well a while ago but suddenly disappeared?”

No one knew why the Deputy Director of Shinkiru, who had little contact with them, had appeared at their meeting or how they knew the meeting time.

“What’s the purpose?”

“Shall we meet them?”

“Tell them to get lost.”

The reactions varied, but after discussion, the team leaders decided to meet the Deputy Director for now.

There must be a reason for coming all the way here.

After waiting for a while, the automatic door opened, and a person with a gloomy aura appeared, staggering slightly.

Even though they were wearing an ordinary suit, their image was like something from a Halloween-themed photoshoot, and Nakru executives exchanged glances.

The Deputy Director took off their hat, gave a brief greeting, pulled out a chair, and sat down in the seat closest to the door, saying,

“Woo Sungwoo’s turning to the Demon King is not a choice for humanity.”

The Nakru executives were flustered, unsure whether to be surprised that the Deputy Director was suddenly talking about Woo Sungwoo as soon as they arrived, or that they knew Woo Sungwoo had changed.

After hesitating for about five minutes without responding, Gu Seji finally asked.

“What do you know?”

“Woo Yeonwoo was once possessed by the Demon King.”

The executives exchanged glances, surprised by this new information.

“Ah, don’t worry. That’s not the case now.”

Eon Dooshin, who used to report to Gu Seji but was now independent as Team Leader of Team C, asked sharply.

“How do you know that?”

The Deputy Director omitted how they knew and continued to say only what they wanted to say.

“At that time, Rembrary hid the fact. Not only that, but he risked his life to help Woo Yeonwoo escape from the Demon King. Woo Sungwoo will never try to confront Rembrary because of that incident.”

They were just stating their piece.

The executives exchanged glances.

Instead of asking about the source of the information, Gu Seji asked again about what the Deputy Director had said.

“Even if what you’re saying is true, it’s strange. It’s as if you’re saying that Woo Sungwoo joined the demons so that he wouldn’t have to confront Rembrary. But Rembrary is also an enemy of the demons. So, Woo Sungwoo is joining hands with the demons for Rembrary’s sake. Isn’t that a contradiction?”

“There is a group that has long been in league with demons.”

“!”

“One of my people is in there. They say that Rembrary will be on our side in the future…….”

The Deputy Director spread out their palm and smiled, giving off a strangely ominous feeling.

Whether this was prejudice or intuition, they couldn’t tell.

This time, the Team Leader of Team B asked.

“What do you want from us here?”

To that question, the Deputy Director put their hand back on their knee and said.

“Our Shinkiru’s representative was driven far away and died because of the Redrin followers and Rembrary.”

“If you’re talking about the Shinkiru representative, that’s the one who went missing…….”

“That’s right.”

The Deputy Director’s eyes, which had been gloomy all along, shone like a human’s for the first time.

“But it’s impossible to take revenge with our power alone. We can’t kill them all or drive them out. Then shouldn’t we at least take off that mask of goodness?”

When Gu Seji looked at Eon Dooshin, Eon Dooshin shook his head slightly.

The executives each considered whether what the Shinkiru Deputy Director was saying was sincere.

The Deputy Director seemed relaxed, as if they didn’t expect them to believe their words right away.

After looking around at the Nakru executives who were discussing for a while, the Deputy Director slowly got up and said.

“Think about it and contact me.”

As the Deputy Director left, the Nakru began to discuss more loudly than before.

The opinions were divided. Some whispered, ‘That side is more suspicious,’ and ‘They’re saying things like that to divide us.’

Some said that they knew that Woo Sungwoo had sided with the Demon King, so there must be an information awakener or an excellent informant, so it was difficult to just dismiss their words.

At that time, one of the Nakru executives raised their hand and said.

“Who was it? The celebrity who does rock and a lot of photoshopping?”

“Do you want to talk about celebrities at this timing?”

“No, it’s not just about celebrities. I was just wondering if there’s a story going around that that celebrity awakened as a prophet but is keeping it quiet.”

“Prophecy?”

Only then did the other executives show curiosity.

Prophecy abilities are very rare, but not nonexistent like healers.

It is known that there are several official prophecy awakeners abroad as well.

However, all of these few prophecy awakeners used their abilities while belonging to the government or large corporations, rather than making prophecies publicly.

This was a natural result because prophecy abilities are abstract and open to interpretation, so they can be easily misinterpreted, and there is a high risk of being maliciously distorted and used.

“Shouldn’t we ask that prophecy awakener? Even vaguely.”

Gu Seji asked worriedly.

“Well. Even if they have prophecy abilities, will they answer the question?”

One of the more radical executives scoffed and slammed the desk.

“Aren’t we working for humanity? Of course, they have to answer. If they don’t want to answer, we have to force them to open their mouths.”