Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 92

< 92. The Three of Us as a Team>

The two passed a perfectly ordinary-looking cafe and entered a space marked ‘STAFF ONLY.’

Inside was a typical break room, but manipulating a switch in that room revealed a secret passage.

The two entered the passage.

However, for Rembrary, who had been through various dungeons, a straight passage without any traps seemed too ordinary.

“Is the Landlord really here?”

“Yeah.”

“What does the Landlord usually do?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t spent much time with them.”

“Did the Landlord suddenly hand you earrings and tell you to give them to me?”

“Yeah. They spoke as if they might know you.”

“I see…”

Rembrary walked on with anticipation. If the other person also had traces of the Redrin God, what would happen then? If the other person was also a believer of the Redrin God…

“Are you going to break up?”

“Don’t even say such a thing!”

“Jeez, you scared me! Why are you suddenly raising your voice like that?”

“You were the one who said something awful first, sunbae [senior colleague or mentor].”

“I can ask if you’re going to break up if you’re two-timing.”

“Who says I’m two-timing?”

“You did. Earlier.”

“Huh? Are you talking about what I said when you arrived late?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s…”

Rembrary was about to explain that he wasn’t two-timing in a romantic sense, but that he was going to be on a two-timing program.

Suddenly, a commotion arose from behind.

“What’s that noise?”

Rembrary stopped and turned around.

“I don’t know.”

Meng Wu-shin frowned as he answered.

The two listened for a moment. A thumping and scraping sound repeated. They also heard the metallic sound of someone grabbing the doorknob and forcibly shaking it.

Meng Wu-shin’s expression darkened.

“It sounds like someone is trying to force the door open.”

“What does that mean?”

“It seems someone has found out about the secret passage. They’re trying to force their way in.”

“Then it’s not a secret passage.”

“Damn it. Is that what’s important right now?”

“Sunbae, I’m just saying, in case…”

“?”

“If it looks like being seen coming to a place like this will be a problem, you should step up and stop them.”

“Are you really Lim Seo? No, Lim Seo at least has some cuteness. This is real…”

Meng Wu-shin scratched his head and grumbled, “Damn it, who is it really?” Then he sped up and ran down the hallway.

Rembrary also ran after Meng Wu-shin.

As they continued to run, the space suddenly widened, revealing a space like a hotel’s indoor desk.

There, three people were already busily checking small monitors, pressing buttons, and talking quickly on the phone.

One of the women recognized Meng Wu-shin and nodded briefly in greeting.

“Stay here.”

Meng Wu-shin instructed Rembrary and approached the woman.

“It seems someone is trying to break in.”

“Yes. P2 will be deployed to resolve it. They’re coming down now.”

While the two were talking, Rembrary walked over to a small monitor.

The monitor showed the area right in front of the secret passage, the break room marked ‘STAFF ONLY.’

Inside, three people in striped suits and wearing sheep masks were trying to pry open the secret passage door.

They seemed to have guessed the location of the passage accurately, standing right where the door would open if the switch was operated.

But they didn’t seem to know how to operate the switch, so they were trying to open it by force.

As they were doing that, the door connecting to the cafe opened, and a person wearing glasses and an apron came in. They looked like a staff member.

The person discovered the sheep-masked figures and, surprised, said something.

Although the sound wasn’t audible, judging by the fact that they were speaking with the door wide open, they seemed to be asking what they were doing here.

It seemed to have an effect, as the sheep-masked figures obediently lined up and left the break room.

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep…

And just as the last, third sheep was about to leave,

The last sheep suddenly stopped and turned its head towards the CCTV camera.

Then, tilting its head, it stared intently at the CCTV lens.

As if making eye contact from beyond the CCTV.

Rembrary’s eyes widened.

‘That guy…’

“They’ve gone back.”

Meng Wu-shin called from behind.

Incredibly, the last sheep beyond the CCTV turned around and went out of the cafe.

After all three sheep had left, the person who looked like an ordinary part-timer calmly closed the door.

Then, they took out their phone from their pocket and made a call somewhere, and almost simultaneously, the front desk phone rang.

While the woman answered the phone and said, “Yes. Yes. I’ve confirmed it,” Rembrary asked Meng Wu-shin,

“Who were those sheep-masked people from earlier?”

“Why are you suddenly talking informally?”

“Who are they?”

“Who do you think they are? Crazy people. Can’t you tell by looking at them wearing sheep masks?”

“…”

“Why? Don’t worry about it.”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows.

Don’t worry about it? It would certainly be easier if he didn’t have to worry.

But the last sheep he saw on the CCTV just now. The necklace that sheep was wearing. It was definitely the necklace that Woo Yeon-woo’s brother was wearing.

“Let’s go meet the Landlord quickly.”

Meng Wu-shin urged Rembrary.

Rembrary put his uneasy feelings aside for a moment and followed Meng Wu-shin.

However, disappointingly, the woman at the front desk said that they couldn’t meet the Landlord.

“I’m sorry. During the commotion earlier, the Landlord urgently evacuated to another location.”

‘They evacuated in that short amount of time?’

Rembrary was taken aback, but Meng Wu-shin clicked his tongue as if it was not strange at all.

“Bad timing. But it’s a relief that they evacuated safely.”

***

After leaving that secret place,

Sitting side by side in the cafe where the secret place was hidden, Meng Wu-shin explained the situation via text message.

Everyone seemed quite calm. Apparently, this kind of thing happened more than once or twice. Because the Landlord’s power was so great, such crazy people periodically rushed in.

Listening to those words, Rembrary recalled the explanation that Yeomra had given him.

‘Is there a connection?’

Is Meng Wu-shin’s Landlord perhaps a true Saint?

Is that group that forces the sacrifice of Saints targeting Meng Wu-shin’s Landlord for that reason?

Is Meng Wu-shin’s Landlord running away from them?

In the end, Rembrary agreed to make a second appointment with the Landlord, who had unilaterally canceled the first one.

Originally, he wouldn’t have made another appointment even if he felt bad.

But in this situation, he couldn’t help but wonder if the other person was a Saint who worshiped the same god, or at least related to the same world, even if they didn’t worship the same god.

Coincidentally, the person who was supposed to meet him the next day, the expert in dissociative disorders, also said that they couldn’t come due to a busy schedule, and Rembrary ended up just going back and forth to the office and practicing normally until Tuesday.

And before those two appointments, the meeting for the dating reality show that Rembrary was going to participate in was scheduled first.

***

“If you get any signals, signs, or at least a feeling that your personality is changing, call me. Or Gam-jae. Or even just a sign that you’re stretching.”

“Okay.”

“Make a good impression on the director. That director is famous for having a keen eye. They say they can bring out your hidden charms that even you don’t know about.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t know who your two-timing partner will be, but you’ll be filming together for a while, so it’s never bad to be on good terms. Be friendly no matter what.”

“I’m good at that.”

“Even though it’s a dating reality show, just think of it as another form of acting. It’s acting with a realistic setting.”

“Your nagging is getting worse, Jong-woo.”

While listening to Jong-woo’s endless nagging, the car stopped near the meeting location.

While Sa Gam-jae parked the car in the parking lot, Rembrary and Jong-woo got out of the car first and entered the building.

After a while, Sa Gam-jae came after parking the car, and the three went up to the 3rd floor, where the meeting place was.

Jong-woo was constantly on alert in the elevator, worried about running into someone he knew, but he didn’t meet anyone until he entered the meeting place.

The same was true when they arrived at the meeting place.

“Huh? Why is no one here?”

It was definitely marked as the meeting place in front of the door. But there wasn’t a single staff member.

Puzzled, Jong-woo turned his head from side to side.

Sa Gam-jae, with his keen eyes, pointed somewhere with his finger.

“There’s an arrow pointing that way.”

“What? Oh? Really?”

Next to the arrow was a camera.

“Looks like they’re filming a scene right now?”

Jong-woo said in a flustered voice, then shook Rembrary’s arm and pointed to the wall with the arrow.

“Go that way. They’re probably trying to film your reaction when you first find out about your partner.”

“Okay.”

“Use your public persona.”

“I’ll be back, hyung [older brother or close male friend].”

Rembrary still didn’t like the two-timing concept, but he walked towards the arrow anyway.

Then, several photos of people’s faces suddenly floated on the wall.

One of them was Woo Yeon-woo’s face.

‘Are these photos of the participants in this show?’

As he was thinking, light suddenly appeared around Woo Yeon-woo’s face, and the words ‘Two-Timing Victim 1’ floated above it.

‘I see. It must be photos of the show’s participants. They’re showing the roles in this way for fun.’

Rembrary smiled gently, conscious of the camera next to him.

‘Don’t be surprised no matter who becomes your partner,’ he resolved.

‘After all, a High Priest should be calm, composed, and elegant.’

Rembrary quickly scanned the photos of the participants with his eyes.

Since they were all unfamiliar faces anyway, it didn’t really matter who he partnered with, but…

‘Hmm?’

Rembrary’s forehead automatically furrowed slightly.

Didn’t Jong-woo say that there were six teams participating in this show?

Among them, two teams were based on the concept of two-timing and switching partners, so the total number of participants should be fourteen.

But there weren’t fourteen photos.

‘Why is the number so small?’

There were only eight photos.

As he was thinking, light entered the photo of a beautiful woman next to Rembrary, and ‘Wealthy Romance Woman’ appeared.

Following that, light entered the photo of an arrogant handsome man next to her, and the words ‘Wealthy Romance Man’ appeared.

That arrogant handsome man was probably the CEO that Jong-woo had admired, saying that entertainment industry insiders liked him even more.

Then that wealthy-looking woman must be a self-made chaebol [conglomerate owner]…

Rembrary tilted his head. He still couldn’t figure out why there were only eight photos.

In the meantime, the words ‘Wealthy Romance Man’ disappeared, and the light disappeared from the arrogant handsome man’s photo.

‘Huh?’

But the light in the photo didn’t move to the fourth photo.

Light entered the photo of ‘Wealthy Romance Woman’ once again.

Then another word appeared below it.

Two-Timing Perpetrator.

“!”

Before he could think about what this meant,

Light entered the photo of ‘Wealthy Romance Man’ again, and one more word appeared below it.

Two-Timing Victim 2.

Following that, the photos of Rembrary, the self-made chaebol, and the popular CEO flashed simultaneously, and the three photos were grouped together, and the words appeared above them.

Team Two-Timing.

< 92. The Three of Us as a Team > End