Chapter 8

**Holy Idol - Chapter 8 (8/902)**

8. Gathering the Followers

“It’s trending again!”

“The reactions are pretty good!”

“Yeonwoo is trending, and so are Hyejeol, Jeongseo, and Kashi! Well done!”

Voices of employees shouting from all directions could be heard.

The members, initially looking bewildered, soon broke into bright smiles.

The effect of noise marketing was all or nothing. Thanks to Yeonwoo’s crazy actions, they gained attention, but the uncertainty of how things would turn out made everyone anxious. Fortunately, things went well.

“Thank you!”

As the leader, Jeongseo bowed politely to the employees, and the other members followed suit.

Only Rembleri, who had nothing to be grateful for, stood with a straight back until Jongwoo pushed him, forcing him to bow half-heartedly.

Seeing this, the employees burst into laughter.

The only one with a sour expression was Taein, who didn’t make it to the real-time search rankings.

“You and Kashi are both vocalists. Kashi stood out this time because there were a lot of high notes. Don’t be too disappointed, okay?”

Jeongseo, acting as the leader, tried to console Taein, but his expression didn’t brighten up.

Regardless, as they entered the office, Rembleri casually asked Hyejeol:

“Does ‘real-time search’ mean the trending keywords? What’s so good about being on them?”

“Are you serious? You don’t know that? Oh, right, you lost your memory. Sorry. It means you get a lot of attention.”

“Is that important?”

“In this industry, attention is the most important thing, man.”

Hyejeol smiled bitterly.

“Even if you get a lot of hate, an idol who gets attention is called more often than an idol with a good image but no attention.”

“Ah.”

Rembleri nodded and then asked again:

“You guys, or rather, we, didn’t trend at all for three years, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Why was that?”

“Are you trying to start a fight?”

“No, if getting attention is important even if it means getting hate, wouldn’t it be better to try something crazy?”

Jeongseo, who had been listening to their conversation, answered for Hyejeol:

“Because our image got worse.”

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

“That’s true, but in the long run, it’s not good. If your image is bad but you have high attention, you can’t do things like commercials. You just become a loudspeaker or a backdrop, used and discarded.”

This place is quite complicated.

As Rembleri was thinking this, Jongwoo, who had been walking ahead, turned around and handed his phone to Rembleri.

“Yeonwoo! Your photo is here! It looks amazing!”

On the phone, ‘Yeonwoo’ was in a suit, lying in a coffin, his face pale but his eyes dark, looking this way.

To Rembleri, it looked like a corpse that hadn’t slept for 100 years, but Jongwoo and the members kept praising it.

Even Taein, who had been gloomy all along, grumbled, “It looks good.”

Rembleri, thinking about the unique aesthetics of this world, tilted his head.

* * *

With everyone, including Mr. Lim, praising him, Rembleri hoped that the annoying dance practice would be lessened.

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

But he didn’t want to dance all day.

He needed to find a way back to his original world. Being tied up in dance practice all day made it impossible to even think about how to return, let alone get used to this world.

However, Rembleri had no choice, and as soon as they returned to the agency, they had to practice even harder.

The next morning, they were served only a small egg and a salad for breakfast.

“What is this? Is this supposed to be a meal? Why is this all we get?”

The leader, Jeongseo, had brought out the egg and salad. When the youngest, Hyejeol, complained, Jeongseo bluntly relayed what the manager, Jongwoo, had said:

“Everyone needs to lose 3 kilograms. We look too heavy on screen.”

“If we lose 3 kilograms here, we’ll be too thin!”

“Tough luck. You have to lose it.”

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

When they returned to the dorm in the evening, the members immediately washed up and fell asleep.

There was no time for conversation or anything else.

At least Rembleri could heal his body with divine power, which was a relief.

On Sunday, the day of the third performance, Rembleri danced with a slightly easier mind than the second performance.

After coming off the stage, instead of getting angry, Jongwoo boasted that the next week’s performance was also booked.

Rembleri yawned and watched as the stylists removed various items from his outfit.

When he changed and went outside the broadcasting building, something happened.

As he was walking to where the car was parked, a few women nearby let out small screams.

When he looked, they were screaming while looking at him.

Why are they screaming?

It wasn’t a scream of pain; it was too small for that.

Confused, Rembleri looked, and they hesitated, looking at each other, then ran over and extended papers in their hands.

One woman offered a paper envelope, which contained flowers, letters, and smaller rectangular boxes.

“What is this?”

Rembleri, having taken them, asked, and the women burst into laughter, looking at each other.

They giggled with red faces, and it was unclear whether they were answering or talking to themselves:

“Gifts!”

“We are your number one fans!”

“We knew you would become famous!”

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

Rembleri’s confusion quickly disappeared.

He understood the situation.

In his original world, when Rembleri appeared, his followers always acted like this.

Rembleri burst into laughter, took the boxes one by one, and smiled widely.

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

“Followers?”

The women looked bewildered at Rembleri’s words but soon giggled again.

“Are we your followers?”

“I’ll be a follower, let’s build the Yeonwoo Church!”

“Yeonwoo, be our leader!”

The women were joking, but Rembleri, understanding them sincerely, smiled happily.

‘The charm of gathering followers doesn’t fade, no matter which body it’s in.’

After being treated like a madman and dragged around in the body of ‘Yeonwoo,’ receiving familiar love from his followers made him feel comfortable and familiar.

Suddenly, Rembleri thought that even if he quit being an idol, becoming a priest in this world might be fine.

Of course, not a priest of this world’s god, but a priest of the ‘Redrin God’ he originally served.

With divine power overflowing in his body, it should be possible.

If he filled this world with followers of the Redrin God, he could become a high priest in this world as well...

‘No.’

Rembleri shook his head.

It was quite tempting, and trying it later wouldn’t be bad, but the most important thing right now was to find a way back to his original world.

The people there were waiting for Rembleri’s salvation.

He needed to find a way back quickly.

Building a temple and gathering followers could wait.

“If the number of followers increases, I’ll be the leader.”

But to leave room for the possibility of building a temple later, Rembleri left a hint.

The women giggled and screamed again.

Rembleri, holding the gifts, gave a familiar hand kiss, and the women were even more delighted.

When he got in the car, Jongwoo, who had been watching the scene with a bewildered expression, asked:

“Why does it seem like you’re better at training now that you’ve lost your memory?”

“Training?”

“Your fan service skills have improved.”

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

“What?”

“Why do you call it training?”

“I don’t know.”

Jongwoo, tilting his head, said worriedly:

“But the fans are lowering themselves to call it training. In reality, you’re just being cute, Yeonwoo. It’s good to have a good concept, but don’t go overboard.”

Instead of answering, Rembleri asked carefully:

“Jongwoo, is there religion here?”

“Religion?”

Jongwoo, surprised by the sudden question, asked back.

“Why are you suddenly asking about religion?”

Hyejeol, standing next to him, giggled.

“Are you really trying to build the Yeonwoo Church?”

Rembleri shook his head.

He asked about religion because he wanted to communicate with the gods here.

If there were gods, he could ask them for a way back.

This was the second idea that came to him after the idea of building a Redrin temple.

Jongwoo, though hesitant, answered:

“There are religions. Many of them.”

“Which one is the most powerful?”

“Buddhism, churches, mosques, synagogues, Confucianism? In our country, Buddhism, churches, Confucianism are the most common. There are also many people with no religion.”

“Many.”

“Why? Do you want to join a religion?”

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

Kashi, standing next to him, answered:

“Hanseol Church.”

“It’s where I go. Why? Are you going to join? Are you a Buddhist?”

Rembleri looked at Jongwoo and asked:

“Can I go there for a short time on Monday?”

* * *

Although it was sudden, Jongwoo allowed it, and Hyejeol said she would go with him.

As soon as Monday came, Rembleri pestered Hyejeol and went to Hanseol Church in the morning.

There were few people there, being a weekday and early in the morning.

Rembleri looked around the church, trying to find traces of the gods here.

He could faintly sense something, but it wasn’t easy.

‘Is it because they are gods of this world?’

While he was thinking, Kashi, unaware of his thoughts, pointed around and explained:

“This way.”

She led Rembleri to a long, narrow wooden stand with a stone dish on top.

Curious, Rembleri looked, and Kashi explained:

“This is quite famous. Tourists come to see it. It’s a holy relic.”

“A holy relic?”

“An angel visited, and holy water fills it.”

After saying this, Kashi added sarcastically:

“I think it’s just rainwater that has been misinterpreted.”

“Yeah...”

Thinking that he might find traces of the gods and a way back to his original world, Rembleri felt a bit sad and touched the dish.

He didn’t have any specific intention; he just touched it casually.

There was no sign or warning not to touch it.

However, the moment Rembleri touched the dish, clear water started to fill it from the bottom.

“And again-”

Kashi turned her head, and in a panic, Rembleri overturned the dish with one hand and took out a handkerchief with the other to catch the water.

At the same time, a strange sound came from behind.

When Rembleri turned his head, an unknown person was holding out their phone.