Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 611

◈ 611. Kim Murok Withdraws

After a moment of silence, the air exploded with screams. The piercing noises amplified the terror of the scene.

“It’s an accident!”

“119! 119 [Korean emergency services number, like 911]!”

“It’s a monster!”

Some people even ran off, searching for a monster that wasn’t there.

As panic spread, even those who initially tried to calmly assess the situation began to get swept up in the hysteria.

“What’s all this noise?”

“Looks like something happened.”

Rembrary, who was on his way to buy cotton candy, heard the commotion and ran towards it with his group.

“Make way! Make way!”

Pushing through the crowd, he found Kim Murok, wearing a strange mask, lying face down and writhing on the ground.

A torn half-mask lay beside his face, the other half missing.

Seeing Kim Murok’s bloodied hands and ears, Rembrary immediately rushed over and placed his hands on the injured areas.

Meanwhile, Mulu picked up the pieces of a cell phone scattered on the ground.

One of the pieces, marked with scorch marks, had a finger attached to it.

“It looks like the cell phone exploded.”

By the time Mulu brought it to Rembrary, Kim Murok’s injuries had already healed completely.

Rembrary pointed to the cell phone debris and the finger remains, asking Kim Murok.

“Kim Murok, are that cell phone and the finger yours?”

“Hukk!”

Startled by the sight of the severed finger, Kim Murok raised his hand, thinking his own hand had been cut off, then closed his mouth upon seeing that his hand was fine.

“This… the hand… the hand….”

“I healed you. You’re okay.”

Even after hearing Rembrary’s words, Kim Murok trembled.

“Earlier, the cell phone, the cell phone…….”

The sound of sirens began to approach. Rembrary straightened his legs, which he had bent to heal Kim Murok.

Shortly after, paramedics and affiliated Hunters emerged from the arriving ambulance.

“Who’s injured?”

The paramedics were taken aback when they arrived and found no one visibly injured, but when people pointed to Kim Murok, they brought a stretcher over to him.

“I’m… no, it’s nothing.”

Kim Murok’s body was fully healed, but his limbs continued to spasm, so he obediently followed the paramedics’ lead.

“There are more fragments here, High Priest.”

Meanwhile, Mulu found more cell phone fragments and handed them to Rembrary.

Rembrary shook his head.

Ninrin clicked her tongue and said.

“I guess the person who competed with the High Priest in the bumper cars earlier was that guy.”

“He said he had something to say to me.”

“Shall we follow him?”

“No, it’s fine. He doesn’t seem to be in the right state of mind to talk. If it’s important, he’ll contact me again.”

* * *

“There was an accident a little while ago, so it might look strange if we keep playing here, High Priest.”

At Ninrin’s suggestion, the group skipped the Ferris wheel they had planned to ride last and returned home.

Back home, Kim Je-woo was watching TV, completely unaware of the incident at the amusement park.

“Does one injured person make the news these days?”

Kim Je-woo said cynically after hearing about the amusement park incident from Mulu, then turned his gaze back to the screen.

‘When I first came, even one injured person would make the news.’

“High Priest, please go wash up quickly. I’ll make some ramen.”

* * *

However, after Rembrary took a bath,

While eating the ramen Ardor had cooked and talking about today’s events with the Redrin followers,

Rembrary’s cell phone rang.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Yeonwoo.”

Rembrary answered the phone with a puzzled expression.

“Oh, hello Yeonwoo. What’s the matter?”

[Did you hear?]

But the voice that came through was urgent.

“About Nakru deciding to side with someone other than us?”

Rembrary made his own guesses at the urgent voice, but it wasn’t that.

[What? What are you talking about?]

“Ah. It’s not about that. What’s the matter?”

[What’s the matter with you? Nakru is siding with someone else? Nakru is joining the demons?]

“Ah, about that.”

Rembrary blew on the noodles; it was too complicated to explain, so he changed the subject.

“This story is too long; let’s talk about it later. I’m eating something right now.”

[Hey, you’re making me nervous! No, but food isn’t the problem right now! Kim Murok announced that he’s scrapping your documentary!]

“Oh, really?”

At Rembrary’s reaction, Woo Yeonwoo slammed something repeatedly against the receiver.

[Why is your reaction so apathetic?]

After exchanging a few more words with Woo Yeonwoo, Rembrary hung up the phone, and Mulu, who was next to him, asked worriedly.

“Is it because of what happened at the amusement park?”

“Did you hear?”

“Yes. The volume was high, so I heard everything.”

Looking at the others sitting at the table, it seemed that not only Mulu but everyone else had heard Woo Yeonwoo’s shouting.

Rembrary shrugged.

“As you heard, he didn’t say that far. But wouldn’t it be related?”

Rembrary’s answer was cheerful and simple, but the Redrin followers couldn’t brighten their expressions along with him.

It was strange that Kim Murok’s cell phone exploded, and it was also a bit strange that such an accident happened when Rembrary was nearby.

“Will you be okay, High Priest?”

But unlike Ninrin, who was worried, Rembrary didn’t seem to care.

“Wouldn’t it be a good thing for us if Kim Murok gives up on that documentary?”

“That’s true, but…….”

* * *

―Is Kim Murok really quitting?

―He was grinding his teeth. Did he grind them all down?

―Didn’t Worldboom put pressure on him? Shin Jo-woon is close to Rembrary.

ㄴWould the company president put pressure on him out of personal feelings?ㅉㅉ [Korean internet slang for ‘tsk tsk’]

ㄴIt might be possible for a Hunter company, even if it’s not a regular company? Shin Jo-woon *is* Worldboom?

ㄴThere’s a line even for Hunter companiesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Korean slang indicating laughter] You can tell you’ve never worked thereㅋㅋㅋ [Korean slang indicating laughter]

―I heard that Rembrary directly threatened Kim Murok to make him quit.

ㄴWhat’s the basis?

ㄴAnyone can say anything.

ㄴhttp://********** Go in here

ㄴWhat is it;; There’s a strange video when I went to the link above

ㄴIs the person wearing the mask Kim Murok?

ㄴWow, that’s scaryㅋㅋㅋㅋ What is thatㅋㅋ;;

―http://********** I’m writing it one more time here. If you go in, there’s a scene of Rembrary harassing Kim Murok on the day of the accident. The person wearing the mask is Kim Murok, and the person chasing him is Rembrary.

―There was some strange rumor about Rembrary.

ㄴWhat rumor?

ㄴLook it up yourself.

ㄴCould that rumor be true, and he dealt with Kim Murok because he was trying to dig it up?

ㄴBut I heard Rembrary also treated Kim Murok

ㄴSo ㅇㅇ [Korean slang for ‘yes, yes’] it could all be planned

* * *

However, unlike the group, who took this situation lightly, Kim Murok’s declaration to give up on the documentary began to spiral in a strange direction.

When Kim Murok suddenly gave up on making the documentary, people began to speculate why. Then, they found out about the accident at the amusement park on the day he gave up, and that Rembrary was with him at the time of the accident.

In the meantime, someone cleverly edited and uploaded a video of Rembrary and Kim Murok riding bumper cars, and people began to whisper even more.

Rembrary checked it himself, wondering what kind of video it was, and found that all the parts where Kim Murok was picking a fight were omitted, and scary music was added to it.

Just looking at the video, it looked like Rembrary was deliberately harassing Kim Murok.

“It’s malicious. I don’t know why they put music from a horror movie on the High Priest.”

“I guess the people who gathered and watched at that time took it. But is this the only video? It seems like there were more than one or two people holding up their cell phones.”

“Videos of Kim Murok picking a fight first have also been uploaded, but people aren’t watching them.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue, but people didn’t stop there.

Two days later, Daeju even called and subtly informed him.

[The Kim Murok situation is having a bigger impact than I thought. I thought they would just talk. In reality, the number of believers is decreasing little by little, High Priest.]

Rembrary searched for Kim Murok’s name on the Internet.

Some people were clearly treating Kim Murok like a hero who was trying to uncover the truth alone but was defeated by Rembrary.

* * *

As the situation spiraled in a strange direction, Jang Taeri, who had spoken with Kim Murok, eventually visited him again.

“Who are you?”

“PD [Production Director] Kim. It’s Jang Taeri.”

Kim Murok tried not to meet anyone, but when he heard Jang Taeri’s name, he thought for a while and then opened the door for her to come in.

Jang Taeri entered the office that Kim Murok was temporarily using, carrying a fruit basket.

As she went inside, she saw Kim Murok getting a cup of water from the water purifier and taking medicine.

As she put the fruit basket on the table and looked at him, Kim Murok said plaintively.

“Since that incident, I can’t even talk properly unless I take medicine.”

She came wondering if Kim Murok was maliciously trying to frame Rembrary, but surprisingly, Kim Murok really seemed a bit unstable.

“What happened?”

Kim Murok rubbed his neck a few times, as if the medicine wasn’t going down well, then sat down in a chair and sighed.

“What else could it be? The sponsor gave me a warning.”

“A warning?”

“I looked into Rembrary after listening to CEO Jang. He’s crazy, but he doesn’t seem to be someone who came to destroy the Earth. As CEO Jang said, I thought things would get worse if he wasn’t there.”

Jang Taeri sat across from Kim Murok.

“So you decided to quit the documentary?”

“No. Someone will keep filming the documentary even if I quit anyway. So I decided to keep filming the documentary, but edit it so that people can also think about Rembrary’s position. I was talking about that with the staff on the phone.”

“…….”

“But as soon as I said that, the phone exploded.”

Kim Murok shuddered, as if he was afraid just imagining it.

“The sponsor warned me. That’s the only way it looks.”

“It might not be the sponsor, right?”

“Either way, wouldn’t the intention be the same? Coincidence? It could be a coincidence. But I don’t want to risk my life believing in that possibility.”

For someone like that, he was a non-awakened person and didn’t even go into dungeons well.

Kim Murok waved his hand at Jang Taeri’s sullen expression.

“I’m not an evil person who sells the Earth to benefit myself. But I can’t be a hero who saves the Earth by sacrificing my life. I can only help within a range where I’m not in danger.”

“…….”

Jang Taeri couldn’t help but get up after seeing the pile of medicine packets next to the water purifier.

It was hard to urge Kim Murok, who was terrified, to continue what he was doing even if his life was in danger.

“Okay. Thank you for changing your mind, even for a moment, PD.”

“Wait a minute.”

Just as Jang Taeri was about to open the door and leave, Kim Murok called from behind. Jang Taeri turned her head.

“When I talked to the sponsor after CEO Jang visited, the sponsor knew about it. Be careful, just in case.”

* * *

Rembrary was looking at a dictionary at the table.

He heard someone opening the front door and coming in, and it was Shin Jo-woon holding a large pizza box.

“Anchovy [Rembrary’s nickname].”

He was happy to see the pizza and quickly gestured for him to come. Shin Jo-woon handed over the pizza box and sat down right across from him.

Then, he watched Rembrary take out a slice of pizza and eat it for a while before speaking.

“Taeri went to see Kim Murok. It seems like there’s a force that made Kim Murok withdraw from this. Kim Murok thinks it might be the sponsor.”

“I already heard about it from Taeri yesterday. He said that as soon as Kim Murok thought about taking my side with the documentary, that happened?”

Rembrary ate a slice of pizza in an instant and laughed.

“Did you come because you were worried about that?”

“No, I forgot for a while because we were talking about the black clothes and the demons’ purpose before.”

“What?”

“Woo Sung-woo told me that you might join the demons and gave me three other prophecies as evidence.”

“?”

“Two of them have had roughly similar things happen. There’s one more that hasn’t come true yet. I thought it would be better to tell you in advance, just in case. The last prophecy was a bit strange.”