Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 645

◈ 645. A Notice for Image Refreshing

Rembrary, with his hands behind his back, burst into laughter.

“You’re going to see Moroso?”

It wasn’t a mocking tone. Nor was it dismissive.

However, Woo Yeon-woo felt offended. He couldn’t understand why Rembrary was laughing at his courageous statement.

“Yes, I’ll take responsibility. It’s because of me.”

Woo Yeon-woo shouted once more in a fit of pique. Regret washed over him as soon as he said it, but he didn’t take back his words. He stubbornly stared at Rembrary.

A part of him hoped Rembrary would stop him, but another part strongly wished he wouldn’t.

Woo Yeon-woo began to get confused about what he was even saying.

How long had it been? Rembrary chuckled and patted Woo Yeon-woo’s shoulder, saying,

“Don’t go. Let’s go inside and eat something delicious.”

As soon as Woo Yeon-woo heard those words, he turned around and ran down the stairs.

Rembrary thought Woo Yeon-woo was very hungry and had rushed off to eat something delicious first.

However, when he leisurely followed to the kitchen, Woo Yeon-woo wasn’t there.

“Where’s Yeon-woo?”

Puzzled, he asked, but everyone just looked at each other. It seemed Woo Yeon-woo hadn’t come to the kitchen at all.

“He didn’t come here?”

When no one answered, Rembrary frowned. He remembered Woo Yeon-woo mentioning Moroso.

‘Was he serious? Did he really go to tell Moroso the truth?’

“What’s wrong?”

Nin-ling immediately asked, sensing Rembrary’s expression.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Rembrary shook his head and went out of the kitchen. When he opened the front door, he could see the lights of a car already moving away.

“It’ll be useless.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue.

* * *

“…He wouldn’t see me. I was turned away right at the entrance. I said I had something to say, but they wouldn’t let me in.”

As expected, Woo Yeon-woo, who appeared an hour and thirty minutes later, mumbled dejectedly.

Rembrary, who was sitting on the garden swing eating a snack, said with a smile,

“I told you not to go.”

It was a natural outcome. Moroso wasn’t even answering Rembrary’s calls.

In this situation, there was no way he would listen to Woo Yeon-woo, who had no connection to him, coming to tell him the truth.

Woo Yeon-woo sat down next to Rembrary, looking gloomy, and leaned his forehead against the swing rope.

“How could I not go? Don’t you know problems are popping up everywhere because of that jellyfish-like guy?”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces.”

“They say you get infected if you’re attacked by that guy, and people keep talking about it. But Moroso suddenly said it’s all your fault. How could I not go?”

Rembrary blankly offered him a snack.

Woo Yeon-woo grumbled and took the snack, but then, looking at Rembrary’s expression, he suddenly opened his mouth wide.

“Why are you doing that?”

Rembrary asked, puzzled by the sudden display of mouth size, and Woo Yeon-woo stammered.

“You, you, you, don’t know? You don’t really know what’s going on, do you?”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows.

“I told you, I know. The jellyfish guy is attacking people everywhere.”

However, Woo Yeon-woo continued to look shocked.

Wondering why he was acting like that, Rembrary stared back, and Woo Yeon-woo covered his head with both hands in despair.

“Ah, damn it. I thought you were too calm. You were so calm it was weird. I’m so used to you being weird that I couldn’t tell!”

“What are you talking about?”

Rembrary asked, puzzled by the string of incomprehensible words, and Woo Yeon-woo gestured as if to grab his collar before shouting,

“That hunter who turned into a jellyfish—they say you turn into something similar if you’re attacked by that hunter, so there’s chaos everywhere! People are so scared that it’s going to be like a zombie attack!”

“Is that so?”

“It’s not just ‘is that so’! People are listening to Moroso and starting to blame you!”

Rembrary blinked blankly.

Recently, Rembrary hadn’t bothered to look up stories about himself online unless he was posting pictures on social media.

Because of Moroso’s bizarre remarks about Rembrary, the Redryn headquarters had been monitoring public opinion, but that was it.

Once the incident was resolved, wouldn’t all the talk die down? There was no need to delve into it deeply.

But looking at Woo Yeon-woo’s attitude now, it seemed the public opinion was more intense than he thought.

“Oh, dear.”

“It’s not ‘oh, dear’! Ugh, you’re so frustrating! You need to make Moroso retract what he said!”

* * *

Rembrary realized the extent of Woo Yeon-woo’s anxiety unexpectedly during parent-teacher conferences.

“Is the Healer coming to school today?”

“Which class is he coming to?”

“Come to our class first!”

Before going to school, the children, knowing that Rembrary would be home all day for the first time in a while, begged him to come to the parent-teacher conferences.

Rembrary promised he would and went to the school on time.

Kim Je-woo drove him, worried Rembrary might smash the school walls.

“Je-woo, you can go back first.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait and go together?”

“It’s okay. If I finish early, I can just walk slowly.”

Rembrary sent Kim Je-woo, who had offered to wait and go together after the meeting, back first and entered the school.

Walking down the brightly colored hallway, Rembrary recalled what Si-young’s teacher had said before.

At that time, Si-young’s teacher had said she was worried because the child had a quick temper and was a *n 능 력 자* [person with supernatural abilities]. Did she still feel the same way?

“Si-young’s guardian.”

However, the story Si-young’s teacher brought up today was not of that kind.

“I’m sorry, but I hope someone else can come as a guardian for the next consultation. I heard from the children that there are many family members… Would that be difficult?”

When Rembrary looked at her puzzled, the teacher added in a troubled voice,

“Si-young’s guardian is constantly in the news these days. I’m worried the children might ostracize Si-young and Joo-kyung because of that.”

“Surely the children can tell the difference.”

Rembrary wasn’t worried, but the teacher shook her head with a concerned look.

“In theory, everyone knows they shouldn’t do that. But realistically, it’s hard for children not to be affected by such things.”

Rembrary then understood why Woo Yeon-woo had insisted on going to Moroso right away.

He had thought that everyone would filter out most things since the world had already undergone two major upheavals.

Was it because this enemy was contagious? Moroso’s remarks seemed to be gaining more and more traction.

—Mulu, Nin-ling. You two take care of the children’s parent-teacher conferences.

In the end, Rembrary sent a text message to Nin-ling and Mulu and left the school alone.

* * *

As he walked down the street, he felt people’s gazes from all directions.

However, Rembrary walked on indifferently.

But unlike his outward appearance, his mind was racing.

‘Even if I say now that the demon increasing its activity outside the territory has nothing to do with the demon’s territory shrinking, no one will believe it.’

Moroso had already made the first move, and Moroso was affiliated with an official government agency, while he still hadn’t shaken off the image of being a cult.

Because of Moroso, the already cult-like image had turned into that of a villain.

In this situation, presenting a conflicting opinion would be ineffective.

He couldn’t go to Moroso and try to persuade him either.

If there had been any chance of persuasion, Moroso wouldn’t have abruptly declared Rembrary as the culprit in the first place.

Moroso’s remarks were ultimately the worst for the followers of Camuel as well.

‘Then, should I capture the hunter who turned into a jellyfish to calm this situation down?’

* * *

Because of Moroso, he couldn’t enter the dungeon, and people’s image of Redryn was steadily worsening.

Rembrary decided to take action before the situation got worse, but even then, he pondered for a long time.

Catching the hunter who had turned into a jellyfish himself was the easiest way, but Rembrary didn’t know where that hunter would appear.

Even if he heard the news and went to find him, there was no guarantee he would still be there.

He couldn’t just wait for that hunter to appear.

After racking his brain, Rembrary decided to use a temporary measure first and went to Song Seo-ho’s lab.

“Oh? Mr. Rembrary!”

Rembrary thought that Song Seo-ho, being a government official, might try to avoid meeting him, but surprisingly, he welcomed Rembrary’s visit.

“Mr. Rembrary is coming to our lab on his own. Do you perhaps want to donate blood?”

He seemed to pay little attention to the false rumors about Rembrary.

“No, it’s about that hunter who turned into a jellyfish before. I have something to ask about that hunter.”

At Rembrary’s words, Song Seo-ho immediately understood.

“Hunter Joo Min-ki? That’s been all over the news too. They say he’s completely lost his reason?”

Song Seo-ho chuckled as he spoke.

“People are suddenly blaming Mr. Rembrary for that hunter’s rampage. What’s going on? Did you grab the vice director by the collar or something?”

“That Hunter Joo Min-ki, there were rumors that his attacks are contagious. Is that true?”

“That’s what they say. Their physical condition changes similarly, their aggression becomes prominent, and their reason fades.”

“Didn’t two researchers here get attacked by Joo Min-ki before? What happened to them?”

Song Seo-ho scratched his forehead and entered the lab, telling him to follow.

“Fortunately, there were no changes in those two. We tested everything from their blood, but there was no difference before and after the attack.”

“So, Joo Min-ki isn’t very contagious?”

“We’re currently estimating it to be about fifty-fifty.”

Following Song Seo-ho through several automatic doors, a white circular space appeared.

There were several identical beds in that space, and people whose skin had turned into jellyfish like Joo Min-ki were tied to those beds.

“Who are these people…?”

“These are people who were attacked and infected by Hunter Joo Min-ki. They send the captured people here to find a cure.”

“The method? Did you find it?”

Song Seo-ho shrugged.

Rembrary was glad and slightly shook Song Seo-ho’s arm.

These were exactly the kind of people Rembrary wanted. People who were infected but still alive.

If he couldn’t capture the hunter who had turned into a jellyfish, these were what he could use as a temporary measure.

“Song Seo-ho, would it be okay if I tried to heal these people?”

At Rembrary’s question, Song Seo-ho raised his eyebrows.

“I was going to ask you if it was possible first… What’s going on? You never cooperated with research even when I begged you before.”

“I’m not going to heal them to cooperate with research. I can’t enter the dungeon because of Moroso and Joo Min-ki, so I’m doing this.”

As Rembrary reached out his hand towards a bound patient, the patient, with black veins appearing, bared his teeth and writhed greatly.

“Be careful.”

Song Seo-ho clicked his tongue and urged.

However, Rembrary didn’t bat an eye and placed his hand on the man’s arm.

Then, as he moved his lips, the patient’s black veins disappeared and his skin began to become opaque before Song Seo-ho could repeat his warning.

The person who had been rampaging also suddenly became quiet and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Wow. I think it’s amazing every time I see it.”

Song Seo-ho admired the sight and then asked,

“Can I film this scene? I want to use it for research later.”

He asked, but it seemed like a question he asked assuming Rembrary would refuse.

“I was going to ask you that.”

However, Rembrary unexpectedly said that and asked back in a similar way.

“My healing scene. Can I film it and upload it to social media?”

Song Seo-ho blinked and then laughed.

“Well, I don’t mind. But I thought you didn’t like that kind of thing.”

“I don’t like it, but it’s necessary.”

Rembrary answered briefly, took out his cell phone, entered social media, and pressed the live shooting button.

“Here, you hold it.”

Rembrary handed the cell phone to Song Seo-ho, had him point the camera at him, and then healed another patient as if to show off.

This time as well, when the patient received Rembrary’s divine power, the black veins disappeared and the skin became opaque.

“Did you film it well?”

Rembrary asked, and Song Seo-ho nodded.

“Yes. I filmed everything, from Mr. Rembrary healing people who were attacked and infected by Hunter Joo Min-ki—oh, is it okay to say his name?”

Song Seo-ho even gave a detailed explanation of the current situation, for some reason.

Rembrary smiled contentedly and pointed the now-healthy patient towards the cell phone camera.

“Everyone, did you see?”

Then, he spoke towards the other side of the camera.

Song Seo-ho smiled bitterly, thinking that Rembrary was trying to show off his abilities to dispel the rumors created by Moroso.

He thought that even that person, who didn’t seem to know what he was thinking on the outside, was worried on the inside.

In any case, until the culprit Joo Min-ki and the rift demon were caught, this seemed like a pretty good method, Song Seo-ho thought.

People would realize once again that Rembrary was currently the only healer, even though there was still no connection between Rembrary being able to heal people and the demon’s territory collapsing.

“Even if you get infected and turn into a jellyfish, this body can fix you. So, don’t worry.”

Song Seo-ho watched Rembrary remind people of his healing abilities and thought he was smarter than he looked.

At that moment. An unexpected remark followed.

“But I will charge a healing fee.”