Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 702

However, Jongwoo, being a skilled manager, decided to conceal his true feelings for the time being and escorted Rembrary into the LLL headquarters.

Rembrary entered the familiar practice room and excitedly inquired, “What kind of special training are we doing?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Why?”

“I was put in charge so suddenly. Let’s brainstorm together.”

Jongwoo was already feeling irritated, but Rembrary’s face lit up at the prospect of having no immediate obligations.

“Then, should we grab a bite first?”

“Why does the conversation always gravitate towards food?”

“Let’s think while we eat.”

Rembrary headed to the LLL cafeteria and, instead of contemplating, became engrossed in reminiscing about the past.

Jongwoo observed him closely, feigning nonchalance.

After their meal, they relocated to the lounge, sipped coffee, and exchanged updates on their recent activities.

“How have you been?”

“It hasn’t been that long since we last met, has it?”

“Time has still elapsed since then.”

“Oh, me? I’m just the same as always.”

“You know, I’ve encountered someone who resembles you.”

“Oh, really? Who is it?”

“I can’t recall what they do.”

“?”

“But aren’t most people, besides myself, essentially the same? Anyway, I was pleased to see someone a bit like you.”

“!”

The more Jongwoo interacted with Rembrary, the more his suspicions intensified.

Rembrary enjoyed eating, spoke his mind freely, and possessed a limited vocabulary.

While the limited vocabulary could be attributed to his origins from another world, the former two traits aroused suspicion.

However, even though Wooyeonwoo and Rembrary bore striking similarities, the critical issue was their separate existence.

It wasn’t a case of one person being awake while the other slumbered in a hospital bed.

Given their distinct existence and actions, Jongwoo couldn’t progress beyond his deep-seated suspicion.

‘It’s too ambiguous to be certain.’

* * *

The preparation time allotted to Rembrary was insufficient to merely indulge in suspicion.

Jongwoo entertained the idea of confining Rembrary to a room and meticulously documenting his actions in a research paper. However, to address the task at hand, he led Rembrary to the practice room and inquired,

“Have you decided on your specialization?”

“My public image needs a significant boost.”

“That’s easily achievable.”

“Easy?”

“Just diligently follow instructions and contribute effectively to team projects. Although, I’m unsure if team projects exist in your line of work.”

“What’s a team project?”

“Group assignments.”

“High-end Hunters rarely engage in collaborative endeavors. Would group assignments even be relevant? Besides, observing them firsthand, they all operate independently and possess distinct personalities.”

* * *

Four days later, Jongwoo, having continuously observed Rembrary, reached a conclusion.

‘The more I observe him, the more he resembles Yeonwoo?’

After regaining his memories, Yeonwoo became more discerning and prone to irritation. However, he also demonstrated increased sensibility.

His eccentric tendencies had also diminished considerably, leading those unaware of Wooyeonwoo’s amnesia to remark, ‘He seems to have matured!’

Conversely, Rembrary mirrored Wooyeonwoo’s persona precisely as it was when he suffered amnesia. Completely.

‘Is it merely a case of similar personalities? Ordinarily, that would be the explanation. However, when Rembrary was absent, Yeonwoo’s personality exhibited eccentricity, and upon Rembrary’s appearance, Yeonwoo’s personality reverted to normal. The timing is peculiar.’

Furthermore, his singing ability is also telling.

One day, Jongwoo presented Rembrary with several interview transcripts and instructed him to review them, before briefly excusing himself from the practice room.

Upon his return, Rembrary had discarded the transcripts and was idly lounging around.

As Jongwoo prepared to enter, intending to reprimand him for his idleness, he faintly detected singing emanating from within.

Assuming that he was enjoying himself even while at another company, Jongwoo listened intently and experienced goosebumps.

Despite the distinct vocal timbre, Rembrary possessed all of Yeonwoo’s singing strengths from his amnesiac period.

Then, as he became more immersed, he transitioned into rapping, revealing remarkably poor rapping skills.

Unable to endure it any longer, Jongwoo entered and casually inquired of Rembrary,

“Wow, you could be an idol. You sing well, really well. Are you a good dancer too?”

If his dancing proved equally clumsy, Jongwoo might have despaired.

However, Rembrary regarded Jongwoo with a peculiar expression and ceased his rapping and singing.

Subsequently, Jongwoo never witnessed Rembrary engaging in any activity within the practice room.

Pondering these events, Jongwoo arrived at a decision.

‘Should I subject him to a test?’

Something from Yeonwoo’s period of amnesia. What if I tested him with something that only Yeonwoo and I would know?

‘What could that be?’

* * *

Jongwoo, scouring even his phone’s photo gallery to retrieve past memories, barely recalled one incident.

Rembrary had once participated in a temple stay [a program where individuals experience monastic life].

Jongwoo wasn’t present at the time, but he had heard numerous accounts of it, including many stories that weren’t publicly disclosed.

Could he leverage that to test him?

Having resolved to do so, Jongwoo observed Rembrary lying down and sleeping in the practice room. He shook his arm to rouse him and said,

“Rembrary-ssi. Rembrary-ssi.”

Rembrary raised his eyelids and shifted his gaze.

Jongwoo, meeting his crimson eyes, momentarily flinched at the piercing gaze.

However, he steeled himself and feigned indifference, stating,

“Rembrary-ssi, when you attended the temple stay previously, the head monk had something to convey to you. I just remembered it now.”

However, Rembrary neither acknowledged remembering nor inquired about the subject matter. He merely stared at Jongwoo with the same expression he had upon being awakened.

Jongwoo, who had been smiling, gradually began to feel uneasy under that gaze.

“Why. Why?”

Jongwoo asked, unknowingly trembling slightly.

It unnerved him for no apparent reason when Rembrary, who typically spoke with a gentle smile, stared at him in this manner, as if engaged in a staring contest.

“Jongwoo-ya. You’re the ‘you already know the answer’ type of person.”

Due to that unsettling sensation, Jongwoo didn’t immediately comprehend Rembrary’s words.

“Yes?”

Jongwoo glanced back at Rembrary, bewildered.

Rembrary rose, yawned, and then massaged the back of his neck with one hand.

While briefly admiring him for making even mundane movements appear like a commercial scene, Jongwoo finally deciphered Rembrary’s statement.

“You!”

Jongwoo’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth.

However, even after exclaiming “You!”, Jongwoo hesitated to continue, apprehensive that he might have misinterpreted Rembrary’s words.

After a prolonged pause, Jongwoo lowered his voice and directly inquired,

“Are you Yeonwoo?”

“There was a time when I was Yeonwoo.”

“!”

Despite having harbored suspicions all along, Jongwoo was horrified and recoiled backward.

“Are you okay?”

Rembrary extended a hand and helped him up.

Listening to Rembrary’s calm and gentle smile and tone, Jongwoo felt like an idiot.

Everything from his expression to his tone was already identical, and he didn’t seem to be attempting to conceal it, so why had he merely been harboring suspicions?!

‘No, of course, it’s typically an unimaginable scenario. If the upheaval hadn’t occurred, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it either.’

Jongwoo continued to ponder, stammering, and barely managed to ask,

“How?”

It was a question laden with implications.

Rembrary shrugged. That aspect was intricate and challenging to articulate.

Jongwoo stared at Rembrary for an extended period, then slumped down with his back against the mirror wall and lowered his head.

‘As expected, there can’t be two crazy people like that in the world.’

Rembrary gazed down at Jongwoo’s crown and then squatted down opposite him, inquiring gently,

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Jongwoo was on the verge of shouting, asking if he appeared happy, but he buried his face in his knees, overwhelmed by the rising despair.

“What should I do? Knowing that you’re you makes me even more hopeless. I couldn’t do it even when I stuck to you and tried to control you. There’s no way I can make you a person suitable for a hunter broadcast in just a few days.”

Rembrary might be unaware, but when Rembrary was Wooyeonwoo, he could speak relatively freely thanks to CEO Im’s tacit approval.

Besides, there were several members, so even if Rembrary said whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t cause a major accident, they could somehow refine the images of the other members and improve the overall average.

But now there was only Rembrary. Although his close fanatic and Hwasaja were participating together, they weren’t the ones Jongwoo was in charge of.

Pondering this, Jongwoo became distressed.

“You can’t control your mouth!”

Jongwoo couldn’t help but exclaim, and Rembrary, who had been hovering around Jongwoo, happy to see him, raised his eyebrows.

“I’m always in control of my mouth.”

“It looks like you’re not in control to others!”

“No, Jongwoo-ya. Others make mistakes. I’m saying what I want to say, and others hope it’s a mistake. There’s a difference.”

“Argh! That’s why I’m going crazy!”

Jongwoo, clutching his head and rolling on the practice room floor, saw the date on his phone as it fell out of his pocket and quickly sat back up, realizing this wasn’t the time to do this.

“Your image management really doesn’t need anything else. Just shut your mouth. You have an artistic aura, so just shut your mouth and act. If you don’t open your mouth, you’re perfect! Your evaluation will increase tenfold!”

Rembrary’s eyebrows drooped sadly.

“Then won’t I feel suffocated?”

“You said you wanted to improve your image! That’s why you came here!”

“I want people to like me as I am.”

“Don’t use those words like that! That’s something you say to yourself, like ‘Let’s love myself as I am’!”

“What? Do others have to put in effort for something so obvious?”

“!”

Jongwoo’s head almost exploded.

He regretted not suppressing his suspicion that Rembrary was Yeonwoo and pretending not to know.

Was it merely his imagination? As soon as he realized that Rembrary was Yeonwoo, Rembrary seemed somewhat excited, and that annoyed him.

“I really want to slap you in the mouth just once.”

“Don’t attack me just because you can’t love yourself.”

“Ah! Hey!”

* * *

After numerous twists and turns, the day of the first preliminary round finally arrived. Now, 20 contestants had to compete to eliminate 17, leaving only 3.

Rembrary, proceeding to the assembly point, issued brief instructions to Ardor and Hwasaja.

“Ensure that the three of us advance. Understood?”

“Of course, High Priest.”

“Okay.”

“And, we need to incapacitate the three confirmed Black Ring members and the two suspected ones.”

“Of course, High Priest! I’m confident!”

“Okay.”

“However, we mustn’t be disqualified. We must inflict injuries fairly. Understood?”

“Of course, High Priest! I worship you!”

“…….”

Rembrary felt like he had assumed the role of a leader and was about to offer further nagging. However, Shin Joowoon initiated a call, preventing him from doing so.

‘This anchovy [a nickname, possibly implying someone small or insignificant] is calling to cheer me on.’ Rembrary ceased his nagging and answered the phone.

“Hey, Anchovy.”

However, Shin Joowoon’s message was unexpected.

[I’m calling to inform you about a recently acquired piece of information that Blue is concerned about.]

“Blue?”

[If I hadn’t heard the story about Mullu from you, I wouldn’t have been concerned. After hearing the story about Mullu, I’m concerned.]

“What are you talking about?”

[I’m referring to the employee who abruptly became a Black Ring member, stole information, and died, despite having no prior connection. That employee also ventured near the location where the Demon King is sealed.]

“!”

[And besides the passersby, there are individuals serving as judges, correct? Exercise caution. Among those individuals, there’s someone who approached the site where the Demon King is sealed to select the duel location.]

“Who is it?”

It appeared that Shin Joowoon was about to reveal something, but someone snatched the phone away, preventing Rembrary from hearing the name.

Looking up, one of the staff members who had confiscated Rembrary’s phone pressed the end call button and said with a weary expression,

“You were conversing with Shin Joowoon, correct? Receiving tips from established High-end Hunters constitutes cheating. And you’re required to submit your phone.”