Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 881

881. Rembrary’s Invitation (1)

“Mr. Rembrary is still… still enjoying his food, I see.”

Jang Taeri stared blankly at Rembrary, who was happily eating, and exclaimed, half in admiration and half in helpless resignation. Of course, Rembrary wouldn’t understand the nuance.

“Yes. I’ve missed it all this time.”

As expected, Rembrary didn’t grasp the subtle meaning, just as Jang Taeri had predicted.

Normally, Jang Taeri would have smiled and let it go. But today, she pressed further, asking, “Just the pizza?”

Rembrary replied gently, “Of course not.”

The answer came easily, but Jang Taeri’s disappointment didn’t lessen.

“But it seems like you only missed the pizza. You finally come back, and yesterday it was shrimp pizza, the day before it was combination pizza, and before that, pepperoni pizza. You keep eating only pizza. Tell me honestly, did you come back just to eat pizza?”

Having said goodbye as if they might never see each other again, Jang Taeri expressed her disappointment more strongly than usual after their reunion.

Just as Rembrary was about to respond kindly, Ardor, who had been struggling to contain himself, finally interjected.

“Isn’t that enough? What more do you expect?”

Shin Jo-woon, Jang Taeri, and Rembrary all turned to him. But Ardor continued without hesitation.

“Surely, you don’t think my busy and great High Priest, who has a mountain of things to do, returned just because he missed a short-lived connection on Earth. You shouldn’t delude yourselves into thinking that the High Priest came here because he missed the two of you. The High Priest is here to eat pizza.”

At his quick and fervent declaration, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Taeri fell silent.

Rembrary set down his cup and quietly called out, “…Ardor.”

“Shall I pour you some cola?”

“I also wanted to see Taeri and Myeolchi [Shin Jo-woon’s nickname].”

Jang Taeri smiled at Rembrary’s directness. But Ardor’s eyes turned red as he protested, “I cannot accept this.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Shin Jo-woon pointed at Ardor and asked Rembrary, “Why did you bring this one along?”

Before Rembrary could answer, Ardor preemptively whispered loudly enough for Rembrary to hear, “High Priest, I want to tell that wicked heretic that I am breathing the same air as Rembrary-nim in the Great Temple.”

“Why don’t you just tell me?”

“High Priest, I want to tell you that this Ardor does not associate with that cunning heretic.”

It had only been about half a year since they last met, but Jang Taeri’s head was already throbbing.

The slight familiarity she had gained with the fanatic over the past few months had completely vanished.

“You should have come with Ms. Ninling or Mr. Mullu.”

Jang Taeri couldn’t help but mutter sincerely.

Shin Jo-woon handed Rembrary a glass of cola filled with ice and asked, “Isn’t it hard living there?”

“It’s my hometown. Why would it be hard?”

“But your hometown is in ruins.”

Worried that Rembrary might be saddened, Jang Taeri gently poked Shin Jo-woon’s side, shaking her head. He was being too blunt.

But Rembrary didn’t seem particularly upset. Rather, perhaps because he had enjoyed a satisfying meal, he asked in a much brighter voice, “Are you all so curious about how I’ve been?”

“Aren’t you curious about how we’ve been, Mr. Rembrary?”

“I knew that Taeri and Myeolchi were doing well. Daeju told me.”

*We didn’t hear anything about that,* Jang Taeri thought, blaming Daeju for the impersonal response.

“Still, it would be nice if you asked us in person.”

It wasn’t so much that she was genuinely upset that he hadn’t asked how they were doing, but rather that Rembrary, who had returned with such fanfare, was acting as if he had only been away for a short while, which made her feel inexplicably resentful.

But Rembrary paused for a moment at those words and then made an unexpected suggestion.

“Then, would you like to come with me?”

Shin Jo-woon didn’t understand Rembrary’s suggestion and asked, “Come with you where?”

Rembrary replied with a look that questioned why he was asking such an obvious question. “To my world, of course.”

The answer was nonchalant, but it wasn’t an answer to be taken lightly.

Jang Taeri’s eyes widened, and she jumped up, then sat back down as she asked, “We can go?!”

“Of course. You can go if you’re with me,” Rembrary replied readily.

Shin Jo-woon glanced at Ardor, who was making a face as if someone was holding his nose to prevent him from breathing.

That expression only confirmed that Rembrary’s suggestion was not just empty words.

Shin Jo-woon and Jang Taeri exchanged glances.

* * *

Rembrary spoke as if it were an easy task, but Shin Jo-woon and Jang Taeri checked with Daeju to ensure that it was possible for them to follow Rembrary to his world.

This was because they had directly witnessed the side effects that people from Rembrary’s world experienced when they came here.

“Of course, you can go. And you can go even if the High Priest doesn’t personally take you there,” Daeju replied after receiving their questions, with a subtle nuance.

“Going there isn’t the problem.”

Shin Jo-woon detected a negative sign in Daeju’s words.

“It seems like there’s a problem upon arrival.”

“Yes. But if you two are as strong as you are, it won’t matter. And Rembrary-nim said he would go with you, right?”

* * *

On the way back after talking with Daeju, Jang Taeri walked down the hallway and asked Shin Jo-woon, “What are you going to do? Do you want to go to Mr. Rembrary’s world?”

Shin Jo-woon answered immediately, “I’m going to go.”

Then, he asked back as if he found it strange, “Aren’t you curious?”

Jang Taeri scoffed and replied listlessly, “Of course, I’m curious. The problem is our work.”

“Ah. That’s true.”

Shin Jo-woon immediately agreed. They had many responsibilities that they usually took on and were in positions to make important decisions.

For such people, taking a long leave of absence was not an easy task.

It would be fine if they could just take a short trip, but being invited to another world and only staying for two or three days would be a waste.

If they could travel back and forth frequently, it would be nice to take short trips multiple times, but they didn’t know if they would be able to go there again in the future.

Therefore, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Taeri decided to take a month off and began preparing to clear their schedules for that month.

As a result, they became even busier, to the point where they couldn’t find time even when Rembrary asked them to hang out.

“Myeolchi, a lot of new things have popped up in the last half year. Don’t you want to go together?”

“I’ll assign you a secretary. Go and come back together.”

“Taeri-ssi, several new delicious restaurants have opened. Don’t you like cake, Taeri-ssi? Let’s go together.”

“I’m too busy today, but should I have them buy you a cake and bring it to you?”

Watching this, Ardor attempted to drive a wedge between them from Rembrary’s side.

“The hearts of heretics are like this, High Priest. If it were me, no matter how busy I was, I would have spared no time for the High Priest. I would have taken you to every new *matjib* [popular, highly-rated restaurant], starting from the ones closest to your home.”

But Ardor was also feeling conflicted.

It was good that Rembrary wasn’t associating with those heretics, but it was unpleasant that those heretics were rejecting Rembrary’s requests.

Moreover, weren’t those heretics so busy because they were planning to visit their world? He didn’t like that either.

But a few days later, despite Ardor’s concerns, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Taeri finally came to Rembrary’s house in a neighborhood with good schools.

“We can go now.”

* * *

When Shin Jo-woon and Jang Taeri arrived, Rembrary hastily began packing other items into the luggage he had already packed.

These were items that couldn’t be packed in advance, such as *kimbap* [seaweed rice rolls] wrapped in foil, ice cream in a cooler pack, sandwich sets, and various drinks. It was all food-related.

“Are you going to take all of that? Can you eat it all?”

Shin Jo-woon teased, looking down at the bags of food that Rembrary had piled up at the front door.

“There are four people, aren’t there? We need at least this much,” Rembrary smiled contentedly.

But Ardor was displeased by even that and coldly interjected, “Do you have a problem with our High Priest’s judgment, heretic?”

Shin Jo-woon frowned. He usually didn’t care how other people’s dogs barked.

But this time, he had spent several days working almost all night to clear his schedule for a month.

Rembrary had restored his fatigue with divine power, but the sensitivity that came from sleep deprivation had not disappeared.

“Alright, alright, let’s not fight,” Jang Taeri said, waving Rembrary’s arm between Ardor and Shin Jo-woon, deliberately laughing loudly to defuse the tension.

Later, when they packed their luggage and went outside, Daeju had already brought the car and was waiting.

Since the passage to Rembrary’s world was located inside a restricted area, there was no place to park even if Shin Jo-woon or Jang Taeri brought their cars.

“I’m worried. Their expressions are like this even before we’ve started,” Daeju clicked his tongue, checking the group’s expressions from time to time while driving.

Finally, the car stopped near the restricted area.

Daeju couldn’t relax until the end, even as he watched them enter the cave.

*I wonder if they’ll be alright.*

* * *

However, contrary to Daeju’s worries, the group was surprisingly at ease.

Rembrary was excited at the thought of showing Jang Taeri and Shin Jo-woon his world.

Jang Taeri and Shin Jo-woon were tired, but they were still filled with curiosity and excitement.

Ardor was the least comfortable among them, but he wasn’t as anxious as Daeju.

The group became uneasy when Rembrary pointed to the entrance of another small cave inside the cave and said, “It’s this way.”

“Wait, wait a minute!” Jang Taeri urgently grabbed Rembrary, who was about to enter without any further explanation.

“What is it?”

Jang Taeri pointed with her eyes at the narrow cave that looked perfect for triggering claustrophobia and asked, “Is this safe?”

“Of course. Ardor and I came this way. Why?”

“Is it safe to go in the opposite direction?”

“Um.”

When Rembrary couldn’t answer immediately, Shin Jo-woon quietly took off his suit jacket and put it in his bag.

“You haven’t… checked, have you?”

When Jang Taeri asked again, Rembrary replied brightly, “It’s okay to go!”

The answer was bright, but it wasn’t a confirmation that he had checked. As Jang Taeri turned away, Shin Jo-woon grabbed her.

“He said it’s a stable passage. He wouldn’t have said it’s stable if he had only checked one side.”

Shin Jo-woon turned to Rembrary and asked, “Right?” Rembrary burst into laughter and said, “It’s only like this at the entrance. The inside is wide enough for three or four people to walk together, so you can rest assured.”

After finishing his words, Rembrary dragged his luggage and entered first. Ardor also entered without hesitation, so the two had no choice but to follow in a line.

Fortunately, as Rembrary said, the width quickly expanded as soon as they entered the cave and took a few steps.

It wasn’t just the width that had expanded; the space itself had become strange. It felt like something was swimming beyond the walls of the passage.

In fact, the walls occasionally rippled, and bizarre shapes would press their faces against the wall and shake their heads wildly as if trying to look at them.

Jang Taeri couldn’t shake the chilling suspicion that those grotesque things were watching them as they walked through the passage.

Then, when they finally reached the end of the passage, Jang Taeri felt relieved and quickened her pace.

Ardor was the first to exit the passage.

Rembrary, who was exiting next, stopped and turned back just before stepping out, then faced Jang Taeri and Shin Jo-woon, smiling and spreading his arms.

“Welcome to a world filled with the blessings of Redrin.”