Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 708

◈ 708. The First Preliminary Round Ends

“Yes. One day, the boss brought in a woman with green hair and a long spear and said her name was Mulu and that she was a secret recruit.”

Ardor slammed his gun against the bed upon hearing that Hunter 4 knew Mulu.

Seeing this, Hwasaja, fearing a stray bullet, quickly moved away.

Rembrary signaled Ardor to be quiet and gestured for Hunter 4 to continue.

“Okay, so where is Mulu now? Is she still working there as a newbie?”

“No. We’re not that systematic of a group.”

“Then?”

“Our system is—”

“Our Mulu.”

“Ah. Green hair. Green hair is…….”

Rembrary listened intently to the rest of Hunter 4’s words.

“I don’t know.”

But Hunter 4’s build-up was for naught, and his answer was anticlimactic. Rembrary, dumbfounded, stared at him. Hunter 4 mumbled awkwardly.

“Rembrary-nim has stars in his eyes.”

Rembrary noticed Ardor behind Hunter 4 wearing a ghostly, horror-movie-like expression and quickly changed the subject.

“Why don’t you know? You said you greeted her.”

“As I said, we’re not a group that systematically works together. The only time I saw that green hair was when I bumped into her and exchanged a greeting.”

Rembrary sighed.

‘I thought I’d finally found her.’

But it wasn’t all bad.

At least he was certain that she was there. He didn’t know why, but if it was the same situation as the High-End Hunter staff, Mulu wouldn’t have gone there willingly, so he had to rescue her and heal her quickly.

Then, Rembrary looked at Hunter 4, who was staring blankly at him, and asked in surprise.

“Why are you looking at me so intently……?”

“About Black Ring.”

“Yes!”

“Is there anyone with the ability to brainwash people?”

Hwasaja, who thought Ardor had calmed down, returned, but his jaw dropped at Rembrary’s direct question.

Fortunately, Hunter 4 was completely enthralled by Rembrary, so he wasn’t surprised and immediately answered.

“No.”

Rembrary frowned at the firm answer.

“There isn’t?”

If Hunter 4 wasn’t experiencing side effects, Rembrary would have thought he was lying.

But now, Hunter 4 was staring at Rembrary with more honest eyes than anyone else.

“Yes.”

“That can’t be.”

“No. There really isn’t.”

Rembrary tilted his head.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But our Mulu went in there? That can’t be?”

He didn’t know about the High-End Hunter staff because he had never met them, but Mulu, whom Rembrary knew, wasn’t the type to leave Red Ring and go to a strange place.

Unless Rembrary or other paladins weren’t present. Wasn’t it a world where Rembrary’s stories were all over the internet and TV?

At that moment, Hunter 4 looked at the ceiling and said, “Ah,” as if he had realized something.

“It’s not an ability to brainwash; it’s an ability to make people allies.”

“Oh.”

Hwasaja exclaimed at the words. Rembrary thought that was it and asked.

“Is Mulu also affected by that ability?”

“I don’t know the details. But if Mulu is definitely not the type to join Black Ring, as Rembrary-nim said, wouldn’t she have become a colleague because of that ability?”

“Is the condition for that ability to visit the area where the Demon King is sealed?”

“I don’t know that much. It’s not my ability.”

Hunter 4 thought for a moment and added.

“Ah, the boss uses that ability. I think he said that the boss got this ability thanks to Rembrary-nim. That’s why Black Ring reveres [추앙] Rembrary-nim.”

‘Is the condition for that power to visit the Demon King’s domain, and I’m the one who sealed the Demon King, so that’s why they’re saying that?’

Rembrary speculated about the boss in his own way, and then found a suspicious part in Hunter 4’s words and asked.

“Wait a minute.”

“Yes!”

“Does that mean that your boss already used that power when Black Ring was created?”

“That’s right?”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows.

‘It didn’t seem like the flow of power around the Demon King’s tomb had been around for very long. That’s why Gamjae and the demons were investigating now. But he was already receiving and using power from there?’

Rembrary had a hypothesis, but he asked again to make sure.

“When was Black Ring created?”

“It’s been a few years.”

“Was it there before I disappeared?”

“No, that’s not it. It was created after Rembrary-nim went missing.”

The time after Rembrary went missing is the same time as after the Demon King was sealed. Rembrary tapped the armrest of the chair with his fist. His hypothesis was correct.

‘So, even before a clear flow was created that Gamjae and the demons could notice, was there already a faint flow of power?’

Before he forgot, Rembrary sent a text message about this to Moriso and Sagamjae.

When he looked up, Hunter 4 was still waiting with an expression that he wanted Rembrary to ask him another question.

Rembrary, who had no more questions to ask, was about to tell him to go back to his room, but then he remembered something and asked one more question.

“That boss. Where is he? I want to meet him.”

If he couldn’t find out where Mulu was, he could see the boss. He didn’t know if Mulu had any external injuries, so he didn’t know if he could be healed with divine power.

But if it was the boss himself who used the ability, he would definitely know Mulu’s location and be able to release Mulu.

He asked because he thought everything would be solved if he found him.

“Yes?”

But unexpectedly, Hunter 4 looked bewildered and said something unexpected.

“You’ve already met him, haven’t you?”

“Met him?”

“Yes.”

Hunter 4 blinked and muttered.

“That’s strange. He definitely bragged that he met you…….”

“?”

“He said you’re not a very good driver……?”

As soon as Rembrary heard those words, he thought of the Milk Red Bean Sherbet gathering.

‘Is it him?’

“Oh, dear.”

Soon after, Rembrary sighed at the thought that it was a pity.

Rembrary had met Moigi not just once, but several times, and even had conversations to extract information.

But he had missed him several times right in front of his nose!

“You said you don’t know his location?”

“Yes. We usually find out from the news.”

“So, you must meet him somewhere.”

“Only when he calls.”

“Then, if he calls, tell me, no, wait. Do you know his contact information? It seems like you do since he calls you.”

“Yes? Yes.”

“Give me his contact information. That’ll do.”

* * *

At the same time Rembrary was grilling [추궁] Hunter 4, the Black Ring operations staff was holed up in the operations staff lounge, drinking water and shaking his legs.

‘Did he even say my name?’

After all four participants were caught by Rembrary, the operations staff began to worry.

He hadn’t been in Black Ring for very long, so his identity was still thoroughly hidden.

But Hunter 1, 2, 3, and 4, who followed Rembrary due to the healing side effects, might have already told Rembrary everything about him.

Hunter 1 even attacked his colleague Hunter 4 and pushed him to Rembrary, even though it meant he would be disqualified.

‘Damn it. But why is Rembrary really after us?’

However, the operations staff’s worries were actually very unnecessary.

Rembrary had already found out all the information he needed, so he was no longer interested in the other Black Rings.

Besides, Rembrary couldn’t leave the accommodation [숙소] until the first preliminary round was over anyway, so instead of tiring himself out for no reason, he started his peaceful forest camping life again.

And a few days later, finally, the first preliminary round ended.

The participants recorded and submitted how many monsters they had caught, and the judges also monitored in real time and checked the monsters caught by the participants.

So, when the participants gathered in front of the accommodation [숙소] before parting ways, they expected to hear who would be advancing to the second preliminary round.

Ardor and Hwasaja were among them. In particular, Ardor was very expectant [기대하는 바가 큰지] and proudly boasted [자랑했다] to Rembrary with a pleased smile.

“I’m sure I’ll be selected, High Priest-nim. I know roughly how many the other participants have caught.”

“Is that so? What about Hwasaja?”

“I caught more than Hwasaja.”

“Do you think Hwasaja will be selected?”

“I don’t care, so I don’t know that much.”

Hwasaja glared at Ardor and answered.

“I think I’ll be selected too.”

The participants around them listened to Rembrary’s group whispering [속닥거리는] and became nervous.

However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, the operations staff said this when he saw the participants gathered in one place.

“We will check the cameras one more time for a more thorough inspection. The participants who will advance to the second preliminary round will be announced three days after the review. Thank you for your hard work. Everyone, go back and get some rest.”

Ardor was really anticipating it [잔뜩 기대했는지] and grumbled as he walked to the parking lot.

“I don’t know why they have to check again when they saw it in real time. Don’t you think so, High Priest-nim?”

“Are you that disappointed? You must really want to be a High-End Hunter.”

“Because I can be with Rembrary-nim. It would be really fun to become High-End Hunters together and travel around.”

“I see. But what should I do? I’m planning not to go to the second round even if I’m selected.”

Hwasaja glanced at Ardor. Ardor was looking at Rembrary with a shocked face.

Hwasaja counted the number of monsters Ardor had caught in his head and was satisfied.

He thought he could still advance to the second preliminary round, but he had caught fewer monsters than Ardor.

But if Rembrary dropped out, he thought he would be 100% sure to advance to the second preliminary round.

On the other hand, Ardor asked Rembrary again in an imploring tone, as if he couldn’t accept it.

“Is that true?”

“Yeah. I originally came to find Mulu. If I find Mulu, I don’t need to do it.”

“!”

“If you want to do it, you do it, Ardor.”

“Is this… is this a test? Rembrary-nim, is this a test? Are you testing my loyalty?”

“No.”

Hwasaja smiled happily, thinking that if Ardor dropped out here, his advancement to the second preliminary round would be as good as decided.

Meanwhile, the group arrived at the car, and Rembrary remembered that he had received Moigi’s phone number from Hunter 4 when the story of Mulu came up, so he called Moigi with the returned cell phone.

But just as Rembrary was about to sit in the back seat of the car with his cell phone in one hand.

“Wait a minute!”

Someone shouted like that.

Rembrary thought it wasn’t him they were calling, so he only focused on his cell phone. Moigi wasn’t answering the phone.

‘Maybe it’s a fake number.’

But again, the operations staff who shouted, “Wait a minute!” this time even knocked on the window of Rembrary’s car with his hand and called him.

“Wait a minute.”

Rembrary wondered what was going on and finally opened the car window and looked at him, and the operations staff said something unexpected.

“Rembrary participant, I would like you to come with me for a moment.”

“Where to?”

“To the conference room.”

“!”