Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 706

◈ 706. Adoration

Hunter 3 was certain that Rembrary would come this way.

Of course, he might not. But even if he didn’t, at worst, he’d just be a laughingstock for being scared. Preparing in advance was much more beneficial.

How long had he waited? When he sensed a slight rustling from beyond the bushes, Hunter 3 grinned, thinking he knew who it was.

‘No matter how much you scheme, you’re still in the palm of my hand!’

Hunter 3 thought to himself. Taking out his weapon and boldly pointing it towards the bushes, he shouted.

“I knew you’d come. Come out!”

Some viewers were impressed by his confident shout.

—Ooh, the spirit

—Was that shouted at Rembrary?

—But aren’t Blackrin supposed to be Rembrary worshippers?

ㄴ They just borrowed Rem’s name lol

However, the one who emerged from the bushes was not Rembrary, but Resident Gi, a hunter who had developed jellyfish-like skin.

At the silent appearance of the jellyfish hunter, Hunter 3’s eyes widened so much that wrinkles formed on his forehead.

On the other hand, viewers who had been expecting to see Rembrary and Hunter 3 fight were in an uproar.

—Spirit lololololol

—Wow, the person he was waiting for wasn’t Rembrary but that guy. I misunderstood lololol

—Can’t help it. Even if it’s Blackrin, that’s 인정 [acknowledged/respected]

—I thought Blackrin only caused trouble. There are people who step up for the greater good lololol

—Still, now that it’s come to this, I hope he catches that hunter ㅠㅠ

Hunter 3 was confused, wondering what was going on. He couldn’t understand why Rembrary hadn’t come and this guy had.

Then, as the Resident Gi hunter, transformed like a jellyfish, took an attack stance, Hunter 3 knew this wasn’t the time to be like this. He took out his main weapon – paper – and sent it flying.

Unlike ordinary paper, the papers controlled by Hunter 3 were sharper than most blades and didn’t break easily.

However, the jellyfish hunter had lost his mind and turned into a monster, but as he was originally a hunter belonging to the country, his skills were by no means low.

Moreover, now that he was no longer human, he had surpassed his physical abilities from when he was human, easily dodging the papers Hunter 3 was throwing and charging like a beast.

“!”

Hunter 3 cursed inwardly while dodging the jellyfish hunter.

‘Rembrary should be showing up around now? Why isn’t he showing up? Could Rembrary have summoned this jellyfish? No way.’

Hunter 3 was dealing with an unexpected adversary while having all sorts of thoughts, and then belatedly realized that if he subdued Resident Gi hunter, he could advance to the second preliminary round as the top priority.

He had been flustered and forgotten about this, only realizing it now.

As Hunter 3 remembered this rule, he hoped that Rembrary wouldn’t appear until the matter was resolved, though he didn’t know why.

But as soon as he had that thought, a palm-sized poisonous needle that shot out from Resident Gi’s mouth pierced through Hunter 3’s hand.

“Argh! Damn it!”

Hunter 3 cursed, not even looking at the wound, and continued to fight the jellyfish hunter.

Then, Hunter 3 belatedly recognized something strange. His hand wasn’t moving as freely as before.

It wasn’t moving strangely on its own, but it had become heavy, making it difficult to move as he wanted.

Confused, Hunter 3 looked at his hand and was horrified to see black veins protruding around the wound pierced by the poisonous needle.

“Eek!”

Unfortunately, Hunter 3 was not one of those lucky individuals who remained unharmed even after being attacked by Resident Gi hunter.

After that, Hunter 3 tried his best to reverse the situation, but once the control over his hand began to decrease and the black veins spread, his body became sluggish and his mind became anxious.

As his mind became anxious, mistakes occurred one after another, and he couldn’t even make attacks that should have worked.

Then, Hunter 3 tripped over a stone and fell backward.

Now that even his legs wouldn’t listen to him and he couldn’t stand up, he was terrified and screamed without realizing it.

“Rembrary!”

But the Rembrary he was looking for didn’t come, and only Resident Gi hunter slowly approached him.

“Rembrary!”

Being a follower of Rembrary for a month was much better than becoming a mindless monster.

Hunter 3 screamed at the top of his lungs the moment the jellyfish hunter struck his neck.

“Rembrary!”

At that moment. A hand that came out of the bushes behind him grabbed Resident Gi’s wrist before the jellyfish hunter’s attack reached Hunter 3.

It didn’t seem like much force was applied, but Resident Gi hunter’s expression distorted, and he shook off the hand that was holding him and retreated in agony.

When Hunter 3 slowly turned his head, he saw Rembrary walking out from behind the bushes in a still elegant manner even in this situation.

Seeing this, Hunter 3’s nose tingled, and the viewers were in an uproar.

—Wow lolololol final boss lololol

—I thought he was just a crazy person, but seeing him like this, he seems strong

—He’s the most villainous lol

People were even more enthusiastic when the jellyfish hunter unexpectedly tried to run away as soon as he saw Rembrary.

If Rembrary had seen that reaction, he would have waved his hand, but there was no audience to applaud here.

So, Rembrary left Hunter 3 alone and immediately followed the jellyfish hunter.

A little later. When Rembrary walked out holding the jellyfish hunter dearly, the server of the chat window connected to this camera crashed.

Rembrary, unaware of this, approached Hunter 3 as he was, and Hunter 3 stared at Rembrary with his mouth open.

He was surprised, but that wasn’t the only reason. The control over his body was gradually disappearing.

Now, it was hard for him to even express surprise.

Still, Hunter 3, with his remaining reason, hoped that Rembrary would quickly heal him, but Rembrary put the jellyfish hunter next to him and tried to heal him, only to sigh and mutter.

“This one seems to have already changed species. Healing is not possible.”

Hunter 3 didn’t care and thought to himself to heal him first before he changed species along with him.

Then, Hunter 3 was suddenly afraid that Rembrary would not heal him and leave him like this.

Perhaps Hunter 1 and Hunter 2 had told him everything about him suspecting Rembrary.

But just before the fear grew even bigger. Rembrary stopped trying to heal Resident Gi hunter and finally touched Hunter 3’s wound.

The comfortable, sunlight-like sensation that started from there slowly entered his skin and made his whole body clear.

Hunter 3 felt all the bad energy that had been taking away his control disappear.

And as all that energy disappeared, Hunter 3’s eyes automatically welled up as soon as he saw Rembrary.

Hunter 3 now understood what Hunter 1 and Hunter 2 had said. Rembrary was… a miracle.

* * *

Hunter 3 then naturally joined Hunter 1 and Hunter 2 and began to follow Rembrary.

However, the viewers who watched this did not suspect Rembrary at all, despite Hunter 3’s request to the camera.

It was clear to anyone that Hunter 3 was experiencing side effects, but it was he who had set the trap, not Rembrary, and he had even asked Rembrary for help himself.

Not only that. Rembrary easily caught the jellyfish hunter, who had been a problem for years, immediately earning the right to advance to the second preliminary round, as well as winning the public’s favor at once.

All of this happened in less than an hour.

In fact, the national hunters and judges in charge of the first preliminary round had not been feeling well seeing Rembrary, who was the most famous and capable, just playing around half-heartedly.

Fortunately, it was already well known that Rembrary’s personality was originally crazy and that he treated everyone the same; otherwise, they would have thought that Rembrary was being very arrogant.

Anyway, they had been feeling uncomfortable watching Rembrary for several days.

But Rembrary caught the jellyfish hunter, who was like a joker card, all at once.

Moreover, the jellyfish hunter, after being treated by Rembrary, had not returned to his original state, but had become noticeably docile and was willingly captured.

Seeing this, the national hunters unknowingly admitted, ‘As expected, Rembrary is Rembrary.’

“Now everyone will know the majesty of Rembrary and respect Rembrary. I am very happy, but on the other hand, I feel a little sad when I think about the many people who will come between me and Rembrary. Rembrary-nim, still, this Ardor will be Rembrary-nim’s first 종 [servant], right?”

“This hunter doesn’t know anything about Mullu either.”

The one who was not the most excited in this situation was, unexpectedly, Rembrary, the central figure.

After confirming that Hunter 3 was experiencing side effects, he asked, ‘Have you ever seen a green-haired person in that group?’ but Hunter 3 said that he had never seen one either.

Ardor was a little sulky as Rembrary ignored his words full of respect and sincerity, but he quickly recovered in a few seconds.

When he thought about it, even Rembrary’s cold appearance was like a painting.

As Ardor recalled Rembrary ignoring him, he was moved and his eyes welled up, thinking that he was the only one who had seen Rembrary’s cold side.

Seeing this, Hwasaja stepped aside, thinking that Ardor’s condition was getting worse and worse.

He wanted to encourage Rembrary to heal Ardor’s head, but he was too afraid to suggest it, thinking about the side effects that might appear there.

* * *

If the least excited person among the participants was Rembrary, the most anxious person was ‘Hunter No. 4, watched by Rembrary,’ who belonged to Blackrin but was hardly known to be affiliated with it.

Hunter 4 bit his lip as he watched Hunter 3 following Rembrary with Hunter 1 and Hunter 2 with a happy expression from behind.

He belatedly regretted not responding more actively to Hunter 3’s concerns.

But Hunter 3 was already completely under Rembrary’s control and was ready to believe everything Rembrary said.

‘That friend was right. Rembrary is targeting us. But why? Why is he targeting us? What’s the purpose?’

Hunter 4 sat on a restaurant chair, tapping his leg anxiously. Now, he was the only remaining participant belonging to Blackrin.

Unlike Rembrary’s suspicion, Hunter 5 was someone Blackrin was trying to recruit and was not yet Blackrin.

‘This won’t do.’

Hunter 4 became so anxious that he would have indigestion even if he chewed his food thoroughly, so he decided to ask for help from someone he shouldn’t normally acknowledge.

‘I was told not to approach if possible, but I can’t help it. Whatever the reason Rembrary is targeting us, his next target is definitely me. I need to request protection.’

Hunter 4 carefully went out of the restaurant and went to the staff member who was on their side through the back road.