Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 699

◈ 699. The Invisible Battle

The team leader jumped up.

“You’re planning to drop Rembrary! Why would we do that?”

His attitude suggested he hadn’t even considered it. The deputy team leader frowned at his rather convincing display of anger and said,

“It’s hard to explain, but the results are clear. Everyone thinks Rembrary won’t get picked.”

The team leader shook his head at the deputy’s retort.

“That’s ridiculous. This is the most accurate method, isn’t it? Everyone has the same conditions anyway, right?”

“Still…”

“This way, we can see their mental fortitude, and they have a better chance of being chosen based on their skills rather than luck. The reason people aren’t picking Rembrary is that there’s public information about him, so they’re avoiding him. If there was public information about the others, Rembrary wouldn’t be getting so few votes.”

“Even so.”

The deputy team leader put down the papers and covered his face with both hands. He felt like he was going to lose the bet.

* * *

Rembrary spent his time healing people as usual, and soon it was the 20th, the day the preliminaries began.

Although Rembrary’s preliminary was on the 23rd, he went to the assembly point to support Ardord and Hwasaja.

When he arrived in front of the Hunter Management Office, he saw a hunter in uniform surrounded by people in plain clothes.

As Rembrary, Hwasaja, and Ardord approached, the hunter in uniform mechanically asked,

“Are you here for the preliminaries? Please show me the text message you received.”

Rembrary was the first to hold out his phone.

“Here.”

The hunter glanced at the message, raised his eyebrows, and said,

“Hmm… you’re not competing today, are you?”

“I came to support. Is that alright?”

“Ah, yes, that’s fine. Please stand over there to the side.”

Rembrary had considered the possibility of being turned away, but surprisingly, the staff member just glanced at him with curiosity and didn’t tell him to leave.

Moreover, when he went to where the staff member directed him, he found several people who had arrived earlier, awkwardly milling about.

It seemed there were others besides Rembrary who had come on the wrong day.

Rembrary looked at Ardord and Hwasaja. Ardord and Hwasaja showed their messages and went to stand on the other side.

Rembrary looked back at the people who had come on different days.

As Rembrary observed them, they also recognized him and glanced at him.

Some even moved closer, wanting to talk to him.

However, the dignified Rembrary didn’t want to chat with others, so he deliberately kept looking straight ahead, pretending to be busy.

It worked, and no one dared to approach him easily.

For about 30 minutes, Rembrary stood motionless, watching the people who were competing today gather.

Hwasaja and Ardord had arrived early, but some were arriving just in the nick of time, even though it was an important test.

Unfortunately, they weren’t marked as tardy.

When it seemed like everyone had arrived, the national hunter, who had been checking messages and calling out names, put his hands together, held them to his mouth, and shouted loudly,

“Those who are scheduled for today, please follow me! Those who aren’t scheduled for today but came early, please follow from a distance at the very back!”

Rembrary waited for a moment so he wouldn’t stand out as he followed those competing today.

However, it seemed everyone else who wasn’t scheduled for today had the same idea, and no one immediately followed the competitors.

They were all just hesitating. And for some reason, they all seemed to be watching Rembrary.

‘Why are they all watching me?’

Rembrary was dumbfounded by the atmosphere that made him feel like their leader, but perhaps because he was the most famous person there, people kept checking on him, as if they wouldn’t move unless he did.

Eventually, Rembrary took the lead and followed those competing today, and the others trailed behind him.

They moved in a line and entered through a side door of the building, eventually going down to the basement.

When they entered the second basement level, they unexpectedly saw a well-maintained, large gymnasium.

The training area was located below the entrance, and the structure allowed people to lean on the railings around the training area and watch the training from above.

“Those who aren’t scheduled for the preliminaries today can watch from here. The preliminaries are private, so no one other than those involved can watch. Of course, no information about the preliminaries should leak out until they are over. Anyone who leaks information will be automatically disqualified, so please be careful.”

The national hunter shouted loudly to those trailing behind and then shouted again to those competing today,

“Those who are competing in the preliminaries today, please continue to follow me!”

As those taking the preliminaries today went downstairs with the national hunter, one of those participating on another day grumbled to himself, seemingly upset.

“What? They don’t even tell us what the preliminaries are about and tell us to be careful about leaking information. How are we supposed to leak information?”

Some seemed to agree, but Rembrary quietly watched the remaining people with a glint in his eyes, suspecting that some of them, or even some of those who had followed the staff, might be members of Black Ring [a criminal organization].

Then, unexpectedly, a person who appeared to be a reporter showed up, handing out business cards and asking questions.

“Are you all here because of the High-End Hunter expansion? Are you here for today’s preliminaries?”

Rembrary wasn’t particularly interested this time either and walked towards the railing.

But unexpectedly, the gathered people naturally looked at Rembrary again.

To an outsider, it would look as if Rembrary had led them here.

The reporter also naturally turned to look at Rembrary.

However, when Rembrary didn’t say anything, one of the gathered people openly said to the reporter,

“We followed that person.”

It was true, but the nuance was a bit strange. It was as if Rembrary had voluntarily brought them here.

Rembrary was dumbfounded.

Who told them to follow? They had trailed after him on their own, yet they were telling the reporter as if Rembrary had led them here. It was absurd.

He was going to let it go, but this time the reporter seemed to believe it and immediately approached Rembrary, asking,

“Mr. Rembrary, is that you? Did you lead these people here?”

Seeing the reporter using the phrase ‘led here,’ Rembrary realized that he couldn’t just stay silent because it was annoying.

He had been planning to ignore it, but seeing the reporter, he realized that if he gave the wrong interview now, he would easily be portrayed as a strange person.

Besides, he had overheard some of those taking the preliminaries today grumbling, ‘Why aren’t they stopping us from watching? Wouldn’t that be more advantageous for those taking the preliminaries later?’

What if this reporter wrote an article saying, ‘Rembrary dragged people who weren’t scheduled for today to watch the preliminaries’? That would be a disaster.

People would think Rembrary was receiving special treatment, and his hard-earned good image would easily be tarnished again.

Wouldn’t that make Jongwoo [Rembrary’s manager] even more tired?

After thinking it through, Rembrary smiled calmly and said,

“How could that be? The two people who came with me are competing today, and I don’t know any of these others. I have no reason to lead them. Are they my fans and followed me? Is that why they’re saying that?”

Some of the participants who had suddenly become Rembrary’s fans frowned.

However, instead of correcting them, Rembrary asked the reporter,

“But who are you? I thought only those involved were allowed here.”

The reporter immediately replied,

“Ah, I received separate permission.”

His voice was very confident, but as soon as the reporter spoke, another staff member who was passing by approached and shouted,

“Who are you?! Get out!”

The reporter smiled awkwardly at those words and immediately left.

A moment of silence fell.

Realizing that the reporter who had been acting as if he had participated with full knowledge was not officially here, the participants became suspicious of the reporter’s motives and began to wonder if they had made any slip-ups.

However, their thoughts were interrupted by a noise from downstairs.

Rembrary gripped the railing and leaned forward to look down.

Almost all the people who had been taken down were gone, and only three were standing in the training ground, spaced apart.

Strangely, they weren’t facing each other but standing side by side.

‘Why are there only three? Shouldn’t there be six or four to fight?’

Rembrary tilted his head in confusion. Others seemed to feel the same way, and he could hear them whispering nearby.

“I heard they’re fighting one-on-one. Is that one-on-one?”

“Yeah, but there’s an odd number. Is Ardord in the middle?”

“Are they fighting one against many?”

Rembrary leaned further over the railing and confirmed that the person in the middle was indeed Ardord.

‘Is it really a one-on-one match? But why are there three of them?’

But upon closer inspection, the posture of the hunters standing side by side was very strange.

‘Huh?’

Rembrary narrowed his eyes to get a better look.

As he did, he began to hear some people cursing from the unseen area below.

It seemed to be the sound of participants waiting in the wings, where they couldn’t be seen from above.

‘Can they see better from below?’

Rembrary wondered, but he watched Ardord and the other two participants’ reactions more closely.

All three had surprised expressions and were looking ahead. Ardord was acting relatively calmly, but he also looked uneasy.

‘Is there a monster that only they can see? An invisible monster?’

Rembrary continued to watch intently for a long time. Suddenly, a short whistle-like sound came from below.

With that as a start, the person on the far right suddenly screamed and ran back.

The whistle seemed to signal the start of something.

Rembrary was even more puzzled as he watched the fleeing person continue to look back as he ran.

No one was chasing him, but he was running as if someone was after him.

However, only laughter could be heard occasionally from the upper floor; no one was mocking him from the lower floor.

‘Is there really an invisible enemy? Only visible from the first floor?’

Rembrary looked at Ardord. Unlike the other person, Ardord was calmly looking ahead, but he wasn’t running away or launching an attack.

Considering his usual personality of taking out his gun and shooting without hesitation, Ardord’s reaction was definitely unusual.

‘Why are they all acting like that?’

As Rembrary watched, tilting his head in confusion, Ardord began to act even stranger.

He suddenly bowed to the empty air he had been staring at.

‘A bow?’

Before he could analyze why he was doing that, Ardord suddenly collapsed as soon as he took out his gun.

“!”