Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 627

◈ 627. Lost Memories

Before me lay a landscape of fallen leaves and towering trees ablaze with autumn colors.

Rembrary stood alone in a field that perfectly embodied the beauty of autumn.

Jang Tae-ri was nowhere in sight, and he wasn’t responding to calls.

“Tae-ri.”

Rembrary called out to Jang Tae-ri again, then pulled out his phone to call him.

-Hello?

Fortunately, the call connected. Hearing Jang Tae-ri’s voice, Rembrary felt a wave of relief wash over him and asked, “Tae-ri, where are you?”

-It looks like I’m at an ice rink… Where are you, Rembrary? I thought you’d be right behind me, but when I turned around, I only saw strangers.

“I’m in an autumn mountain.”

The sound of distant chatter crackled through the phone.

Rembrary clicked his tongue. Just as he suspected, he and Jang Tae-ri had been sent to completely different dungeons.

-We came in together. How did we get separated?

“There aren’t many pillars left. And we can destroy the first pillar once we clear this dungeon. It seems like they’re not giving in easily.”

-Didn’t those demons say they wanted you to destroy the pillars?

“It could be a whim… or it could be a strategy.”

Rembrary muttered, his voice trailing off as he noticed a strange figure lurking behind a large tree.

-Rembrary?

“There’s someone here.”

-There are some here too. Too many, in fact.

Rembrary remained wary of the figure staring at him from behind the tree, quickly surveying his surroundings as he asked, “What do you think the condition for escaping the dungeon is? I haven’t figured it out yet.”

-First place in a figure skating competition.

“Tae-ri, what’s figure skating?”

-…Something I’m bad at.

“How bad are we talking?”

-If it’s speed skating, I could give it a shot, but figure skating…

Rembrary still didn’t know exactly what figure skating was, but he could tell that Jang Tae-ri was severely lacking in confidence.

“If it’s a competition, Tae-ri, just eliminate the competition. That solves everything.”

-Hmm. Cheating results in automatic disqualification.

“The rules are detailed.”

-There are worse rules. If you don’t get first place, you have to work here as staff.”

“!”

Rembrary recalled the trap that Woo Sung-woo had fallen into. Woo Sung-woo had ended up trapped in the first dungeon because of that very condition.

If Rembrary destroyed the first pillar this time, Woo Sung-woo would be freed as well.

“Tae-ri, then rather-”

Rembrary was about to tell Jang Tae-ri, ‘Rather, just stall for time, and I’ll destroy the dungeon quickly.’

Instead of risking participating in a competition he wasn’t confident in, it would be better for Rembrary to quickly destroy the dungeon and help Jang Tae-ri escape.

However, Rembrary had only managed to say ‘Rather’ when the call abruptly cut off.

“Tae-ri?”

He tried to call again, but this time, the call wouldn’t connect at all.

The demons must have realized that Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri were trying to cooperate, even in different dungeons, and taken action to prevent it.

“They’ve been working hard.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue. The more he thought about it, the more resentful he felt towards the demons.

Deliberately sending them to different dungeons, cutting off their phone connection, and sending Jang Tae-ri, who was skilled in combat, to a dungeon where there was no fighting.

Even that dungeon was a land of ice, the opposite of Jang Tae-ri, who controlled fire.

Suppressing his rising anger, Rembrary stopped trying to call Jang Tae-ri and addressed the stranger hiding behind the tree.

“Are you just going to keep hiding there?”

At Rembrary’s question, the stranger stirred.

But that was all. He didn’t come out any further. He only peeked half his face out from behind the tree, staring intently.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Hoping that the person might reveal the conditions for escaping the dungeon, Rembrary patiently spoke again.

However, the person remained silent this time as well.

‘Is he not human?’

To determine whether he was a real person or some kind of illusion created by Noir [likely referring to a demon or entity controlling the dungeon], Rembrary picked up a fallen leaf from the ground, infused it with divine power, and threw it towards him.

The leaf, now imbued with divine power, resembled a butterfly from afar.

As the leaf fluttered slowly closer, he could see the person opening his mouth and staring blankly at it.

The person reached out towards the leaf, seemingly curious, but quickly retracted his hand before it made contact.

As the leaf hovered around the stranger and then gently fell to the ground, Rembrary took advantage of the distraction and walked closer.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was someone he didn’t recognize.

However, he didn’t appear to be a demon or an illusion. He looked at Rembrary with curious eyes and asked, “Rembrary… right?”

“Who are you, and why have you been hiding and watching me?”

Hearing Rembrary’s sharp tone, the person seemed relieved and cautiously stepped out from behind the tree.

He had an intelligent look about him but wasn’t particularly remarkable in appearance. He carried a winding weapon at his waist.

“I came here with a friend to test our abilities before the dungeon collapsed. I’m an Awakened [a person with supernatural abilities], and so was my friend.”

“And?”

“When I came in here, my friend was gone… no one was there… I want to leave, but I don’t know how…”

As the person was lamenting his situation, an arrow suddenly appeared behind him.

Unexpectedly, the sharp end of the arrow was pointed directly at him.

And inscribed on the arrow shaft were the words: Only one of the two.

‘Only one of the two can leave.’

* * *

The butler realized that the situation was unusual the next morning.

“Who is ‘Piggy’?”

The butler was ascending the stairs to bring Shin Jo-woon freshly made French toast when he paused, hearing the question from below.

Shin Jo-woon was standing at the bottom of the stairs, as if he had just returned from a walk.

The butler descended the stairs, handed Shin Jo-woon the plate, and cautiously observed him.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Is there anything to joke about?”

“‘Piggy’ is Rembrary’s nickname, sir.”

Shin Jo-woon wiped his hands and frowned as he picked up a piece of toast.

“Rembrary?”

“Yes. The Redrin’s…”

“You said that name yesterday too.”

The butler was shocked and his mouth fell open at the implication that Shin Jo-woon was hearing the name Rembrary for the first time yesterday and only for the second time today.

“Why that expression?”

“Sir. Do you not remember Rembrary?”

“Not remember?”

The butler tried to calm his racing heart and asked, “Rembrary, CEO Jang Tae-ri, and you, sir. Aren’t the three of you the closest of friends?”

Shin Jo-woon looked at the butler with an expression as if he was hearing this information for the first time. There was also a hint of displeasure in his eyes.

After staring for a moment, Shin Jo-woon spoke, his tone colder than usual.

“We haven’t been close since we were kids.”

Something was definitely wrong. His expression had been strange ever since he returned yesterday. What had he said about seeing a demon?

The butler tried to pinpoint the moment when Shin Jo-woon had changed and suggested, “Sir. It seems your memory is not in good condition right now. You can check your phone to see if what I’m saying is true. To not remember at all is very strange.”

“My phone is dead right now.”

“Pardon?”

“I thought the battery was dead, but it won’t even charge.”

“Then it would be good to ask CEO Jang Tae-ri or your secretary, sir. I’m worried that there might be some other scheme at play, not just memory loss. You also mentioned seeing a demon yesterday.”

“…….”

Shin Jo-woon was puzzled by the butler’s serious and worried expression.

He didn’t feel any particular gaps in his memory. He was simply bewildered by the butler’s excessive concern.

But knowing that the butler wasn’t one to fabricate stories, Shin Jo-woon picked up the remaining piece of toast from the plate and went up to his room.

Shin Jo-woon finished eating the toast as he ascended the stairs, washed his hands, and then used the house phone to call Jang Tae-ri.

However, Jang Tae-ri didn’t answer; only the ringing tone continued.

‘Is he in a meeting?’

Shin Jo-woon turned on the computer and checked for messages from Jang Tae-ri.

-Piggy and I are going to a dungeon lol [laughing out loud]. Blame yourself for not answering.

‘Piggy’ again? The nickname ‘Piggy’ had surfaced again. Shin Jo-woon frowned and examined the conversation, then checked another chat room, remembering something.

‘Is this it?’

There was a group chat room labeled ‘Tae-ri, Piggy’.

Shin Jo-woon clicked to enter.

‘What is this?’

But perhaps because he rarely accessed it on the computer, it displayed a message stating that recent conversations could not be loaded.

However, the group chat room clearly existed. A group chat room with the three of them, as the butler had said.

‘I can’t forget just one person.’

Shin Jo-woon checked other chat rooms this time, but there were no chat rooms created separately with the names ‘Rembrary’ or ‘Piggy’, even though they were supposedly close friends.

Shin Jo-woon’s strange feeling intensified even further after he arrived at work.

“Oh? President, you’re here early?”

A secretary who saw Shin Jo-woon asked brightly.

“I didn’t think you would come in today since there was no word that the pillar had collapsed. It seems this dungeon was easier than I thought?”

“The pillar collapsed?”

When Shin Jo-woon asked back with an expression of genuine surprise, the secretary blinked blankly and replied.

“The pillar. You said you were going to enter the 1-6 entrance with Rembrary yesterday.”

There it was again. Rembrary.

Shin Jo-woon stared blankly at the secretary, feeling as if he had been transported to another world, and then asked, “Am I close to that ‘Rembrary’?”

“Yes?”

The secretary was even more puzzled by Shin Jo-woon’s question, which seemed obvious to everyone.

“Aren’t you best friends?”

“Enough to say that the two of us would go into a dungeon together with him?”

“Going into a dungeon together might not always be because of social reasons… Yes. You said the two of you would go.”

At Shin Jo-woon’s stiff expression, the secretary was surprised and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The butler also says I’m close to him. But I have no memory of him.”

“Yes? Really? You even went missing with him somewhere?”

What was going on? Going missing together? Shin Jo-woon pressed his fingers to his temples as he walked to his seat.

The feeling of simply thinking, ‘What is this?’ was now gradually transforming into anxiety.

Everyone claimed he was close to this person, but he had absolutely no memory of him, leaving him feeling utterly lost.

The secretary, who had been carefully observing Shin Jo-woon, added, “The appointment to go to the dungeon with Rembrary at three o’clock was a hastily made one, President. You didn’t mention it at the company that day, but you told me briefly by phone in the evening. So…”

The secretary checked the call history and finished speaking.

“The time you called me was 8 PM, so it seems there were no problems with your memory until then.”

8 PM. As soon as he heard the time, Shin Jo-woon recalled the demon who had dropped his leash behind him and asked him to pick it up.

Did something happen then?

‘Come to think of it, what did that demon say before he disappeared?’