Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 8

8. Gathering the Believers

“We’re trending on real-time search again!”

“The reaction is pretty good!”

“Yeonwoo is trending, and so are Hyegyeol, Jeongseo, and even Kesh! Well done!”

Employees were shouting from all directions.

The members initially looked bewildered but soon smiled brightly.

The effects of noise marketing were all or nothing. Thanks to Yeonwoo’s crazy antics, they had gained attention, but they were nervous about which way things would go. Fortunately, it was going well.

“Thank you!”

Jeongseo, as the leader, politely greeted the staff, and the other members followed suit.

Only Rembrary, who had nothing to be thankful for, stood upright until Jongwoo pushed him, forcing him to bow.

The employees burst into laughter at the sight.

Taein was the only one with a sour expression, as he hadn’t made it into the real-time search rankings.

“You and Kesh are both vocalists. Kesh had a lot of high-note parts this time, so she stood out. Don’t be too disappointed, okay?”

Jeongseo tried to comfort him as the leader, but Taein’s expression didn’t brighten.

Regardless, Rembrary slipped into the office and casually asked Hyegyeol, “Does ‘real-time search’ mean real-time search rankings? Is there something good about trending there?”

“You idiot, you don’t even know that? Oh, right, you lost your memory. Sorry. It increases buzz.”

“Is that important?”

“Buzz is the most important thing in this industry, bro.”

Hyegyeol smiled bitterly.

“Idols who get cursed at but have good buzz get called around more than idols with a good image but no buzz.”

“Ah.”

Rembrary nodded and asked again, “You said we, no, you guys haven’t been successful at all for three years, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Why was that?”

“Are you picking a fight?”

“No, I was just wondering if it wouldn’t be better to do something crazy if buzz is more important, even if it means getting cursed at.”

Jeongseo, who had been listening to their conversation, answered instead.

“Because the image gets worse.”

“But you said buzz is more important than image?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s not good in the long run. If you only have buzz with a bad image, you can’t shoot commercials or anything like that. You just become a megaphone or a prop, getting dragged around like a disposable item.”

‘This place is quite complicated,’ Rembrary thought to himself. Jongwoo, who had been walking ahead, then stepped back and held out his phone to Rembrary.

“Yeonwoo! Your photo is here! It turned out great!”

In the phone, ‘Woo Yeonwoo’ was lying in a coffin wearing a suit, his face pale but his eyes darkly circled, staring this way.

Rembrary thought he looked like a corpse that hadn’t slept in a hundred years, but Jongwoo and the members were constantly exclaiming in admiration.

Even Taein, who had been looking gloomy, grudgingly said, “It turned out well.”

Rembrary tilted his head, thinking the aesthetics of this world were quite peculiar.

* * *

Since the employees and even CEO Im praised him, Rembrary hoped he could reduce the tiresome dance practice.

It’s not that he didn’t need to practice dancing.

But he didn’t want to dance all day long.

He needed to find a way back to his original world. Being tied up with dance practice all day made it difficult to even get used to this world, let alone find a way back.

But Rembrary had no choice, and they had to practice the choreography even harder as soon as they returned to the agency.

Even worse, the next morning, only a small egg and salad were served for breakfast.

“What is this? Is this a meal or what? Why is this all there is?”

Jeongseo, the leader, had brought out the egg and salad for breakfast, but when Hyegyeol, the youngest, whined and protested, he bluntly conveyed the manager Jongwoo’s words.

“Everyone needs to lose 3 kilograms [approximately 6.6 pounds] overall. They say you look bloated on screen.”

“If I lose 3 kilograms from here, I’ll be too skinny?!”

“I don’t know. They said to lose it, so we have to.”

Lunch and dinner were similar, and despite the meager meals, dance practice continued all day long.

As soon as they returned to the dorm in the evening, the members washed up and immediately collapsed.

There was no time to talk or anything.

Fortunately, Rembrary was able to heal his body with divine power.

And on Sunday, the day of their third performance.

Rembrary danced and came down from the stage with a slightly more relaxed feeling than the second performance.

Instead of getting annoyed, Jongwoo boasted that next week’s performance was also scheduled.

Rembrary yawned and watched the stylists take things off his clothes.

And it was when he changed clothes and went outside the broadcasting station building.

He was walking to the parking lot where the car was parked when a few women screamed softly not far away.

Looking over, they were screaming while looking this way.

‘Why are they screaming?’

It wasn’t a scream of pain. It was too quiet for that.

As Rembrary looked at them in confusion, they hesitated and looked at each other, then simultaneously ran towards him, holding out papers in their hands.

One woman held out a paper bag, which contained flowers, letters, and smaller rectangular boxes.

“What is this?”

Rembrary asked, inadvertently receiving them, and the women looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Then, with flushed faces, they giggled and said things that were hard to tell if they were answering or talking to themselves.

“It’s a gift!”

“We’re your number one fans!”

“We knew you’d make it big!”

“I’ve been buying your music since your debut!”

Rembrary’s bewildered feeling quickly disappeared.

Rembrary understood the situation.

Even when he was in his original world, believers would flock to him and do these things.

Rembrary burst into laughter, put the boxes the women handed him on the back of his hand one by one, and smiled brightly.

“Thank you. The young believers are truly generous.”

“Believers?”

The women looked dazed at Rembrary’s words but soon laughed again and answered.

“Are we your believers?”

“We’ll be believers, let’s start the Yeonwoo Church, Yeonwoo Church!”

“Please be our leader!”

The women were saying it jokingly, but Rembrary took it seriously and smiled contentedly.

‘The charm of gathering believers doesn’t fade no matter which body I’m in.’

After being treated like a madman and dragged around after entering the body of the idol ‘Woo Yeonwoo,’ he felt comfortable and familiar with the love of his familiar believers.

Rembrary suddenly thought that it might be okay to become a clergyman in this world after quitting being an idol.

Of course, he wasn’t going to become a clergyman of the god here.

He was going to become a clergyman of the ‘Redrin God’ he originally served.

His body was overflowing with divine power, so wouldn’t it be possible?

If he filled this world with believers of the Redrin God, he could become a high priest even in this world…

‘No.’

Rembrary shook his head.

It was quite tempting, and it wouldn’t be bad to try it later, but what was important right now was finding a way back to his original world.

The people there must be waiting for Rembrary’s salvation.

He had to find a way back quickly.

Building a temple and receiving believers could be done later.

“I will become your leader if the number of believers increases.”

But Rembrary left room for the possibility of building a temple later.

The women screamed again, laughing once more at those words.

Rembrary hugged the gifts and gave them a familiar finger kiss, and the women were even more delighted.

Getting into the car, Jongwoo, who had been watching the whole scene with a dumbfounded expression, asked.

“It seems like you’re even better at taming since you lost your memory?”

“Taming?”

“Your fan service skills have improved.”

“Fan service? Ah, you mean managing believers.”

“What?”

“But why do you call it taming?”

“I don’t know.”

Jongwoo tilted his head but said worriedly.

“But fans call it taming because they intentionally lower themselves, but in reality, we’re the ones acting cute, you know, Yeonwoo? It’s good to have a concept, but don’t cross the line.”

Instead of answering, Rembrary carefully asked.

“Jongwoo, are there religions here too?”

“Religion?”

Jongwoo asked back, bewildered at Rembrary’s sudden question.

“Why religion all of a sudden?”

Hyegyeol giggled.

“Are you really going to start the Yeonwoo Church?”

Rembrary shook his head.

The reason he asked if there were religions was because he wanted to communicate with the god of this place.

If there was a god here, he could ask for a way back, couldn’t he?

It was the idea he came up with after the idea of the Redrin Temple.

Jongwoo answered hesitantly.

“There are religions. Many.”

“Which force is the largest?”

“Buddhism, Catholic Church, Protestant Church, Islam, Judaism, Confucianism? It seems like Buddhism, Catholic Church, Protestant Church, and Confucianism are the most common in our country. There are also many non-religious people.”

“Many.”

“Why? Are you going to have a religion?”

“…Which religion is the closest to the dorm?”

Kesh from the side

“Hansol Catholic Church.”

And answered instead.

“It’s where I go. Why? Are you coming too? Aren’t you Buddhist?”

Rembrary looked at Jongwoo and asked.

“Is it okay if I go there for a while on Monday?”

* * *

It was sudden, but Jongwoo allowed it, and Hyegyeol said he would go with him.

As soon as Monday came, Rembrary pestered Hyegyeol and went to Hansol Catholic Church in the morning.

It was a weekday and morning, so there weren’t many people.

Rembrary tried to find traces of the god of this place, scanning the inside of the church.

He felt like he could faintly feel something… but it wasn’t easy.

‘Is it because it’s the god of another world?’

While he was thinking about whether he should meet the priest of this place.

Kesh, who was pointing and explaining here and there without knowing that Rembrary was thinking something else,

“This way.”

And said, pulling Rembrary’s arm.

Following him, there was a stone plate on a long and narrow wooden stand.

Looking at it, wondering what it was, Kesh explained.

“This is quite famous, so people come to see it. It’s a sacred object.”

“Sacred object?”

“They say holy water fills up when an angel visits.”

After saying that, Kesh added cynically as if it was strange.

“I think it’s just rainwater filling up that’s been exaggerated.”

“I see…”

Rembrary, who thought he might be able to find traces of God here and return to his original world, felt a bit deflated at Kesh’s words and nudged the plate.

He didn’t nudge it with any intention, he just nudged it by accident.

There was no sign saying not to touch it, and there was no sign saying not to touch it.

However, the moment Rembrary touched the plate.

Suddenly, clear water began to fill from the bottom of the plate.

“And also-”

Since Kesh turned his head, the startled Rembrary overturned the plate with one hand and took out a handkerchief with the other hand to catch the water.

Almost at the same time, there was a strange clicking sound from behind.

When Rembrary turned his head, someone he didn’t know was holding out a cell phone this way.