Gathering the Believers
"It's trending again!"
"The reaction's actually pretty good!"
"Yeon-woo's blowing up, and Hye-gyeol, Jungseo, and even Cathy made the search rankings! Great job, everyone!"
Shouts rang out from staff members all over the office. The members had worn bewildered expressions at first, but soon broke into bright smiles.
Noise marketing was all or nothing. Thanks to Yeon-woo's insane antics, they'd secured their share of buzz, but with no way of knowing which direction things would swing, everyone had been biting their nails. Thankfully, it had gone the good way.
"Thank you so much!"
When Jungseo, the leader, bowed politely to the staff, the other members followed suit.
Rembrary, who had absolutely nothing to be thankful for, had been standing with his back ramrod straight when Jong-woo pressed down on him, forcing a half-reluctant, half-bowed greeting out of him anyway. The sight sent the staff into fits of laughter.
The only one whose expression hadn't lightened was Taein, the sole member who hadn't made the real-time search rankings.
"You and Cathy are both vocalists, right? Cathy had a lot of high notes this time, so that's why he stood out. Don't be too discouraged, okay?"
Jungseo did his best leaderly consoling, but Taein's face didn't brighten one bit.
Oblivious to it all, Rembrary headed into the office and casually asked Hye-gyeol, "This 'trending' — it means the real-time search rankings, does it not? What good does it do to appear there?"
"You idiot, you don't even know that? Oh right, amnesia. Sorry. It means your buzz goes up."
"And that matters?"
"Buzz is the single most important thing in this industry, hyung."
Hye-gyeol smiled bitterly.
"An idol with great buzz who gets trash-talked everywhere gets more work than a well-liked idol with no buzz at all."
"Ah."
Rembrary nodded, then asked again. "You — no, we — never trended once in three years, did we?"
"Right."
"Why was that?"
"Is that supposed to be an insult?"
"No. If buzz matters even when it comes with mockery, I wondered why we never simply tried doing something crazy."
Jungseo, who had been listening in on their conversation, answered in his stead. "Because it ruins your image."
"Did you not just say buzz matters more than image?"
"It does, but in the long run it's bad. If your image is bad and all you have is buzz, you can't do anything else — no commercials, none of that. You just end up being dragged around like a megaphone or a folding screen, treated as disposable."
So this world is rather complicated as well.
While Rembrary was mulling that over, Jong-woo, who'd been walking ahead, backpedaled up to him and thrust out his phone. "Yeon-woo! Your photo came out! It looks amazing!"
On the phone screen, 'Woo Yeon-woo' in a formal suit, lying inside a coffin, was staring at the camera with a pallid face and pitch-black rings around his eyes.
To Rembrary it looked like a corpse that hadn't slept in a hundred years, but Jong-woo and the members kept oohing and aahing over it. Even Taein, who had been sour-faced the entire time, muttered a grudging "Not bad."
Rembrary tilted his head, thinking that the aesthetics of this world were truly peculiar.
* * *
With even CEO Im joining in on the praise, Rembrary had hoped he might at least be spared some of the tedious dance practice.
Not that he thought he was excused from it entirely. He simply had no desire to spend all day, every day, dancing.
He needed to find a way back to his original world. But shackled to dance practice from morning to night, he could barely even acclimate to this world, let alone search for an exit.
Rembrary had no say in the matter, though, and the moment they returned to the agency, they were drilled even harder on the choreography.
Worse still, the next morning's breakfast consisted of a single small egg and a salad.
"What is this? Is this a meal or an offering? Why is this all there is?"
When Hye-gyeol, the youngest, whined his protest at the egg-and-salad breakfast Jungseo had set out, the leader flatly relayed what Manager Jong-woo had said.
"Everyone's cutting three kilos. The camera adds weight."
"Losing three kilos from here would make us skeletons!"
"Don't know what to tell you. If they say cut, we cut."
Lunch and dinner were much the same, and even while eating such meager fare, the dance practice went on all day long.
The moment they got back to the dorm each evening, the members washed up and collapsed into bed. There wasn't even time to talk.
It was fortunate for Rembrary alone that he could heal his own body with his divine power.
Then came Sunday, the day of their third stage. Rembrary danced and came down feeling a touch more at ease than he had for the second one.
Instead of losing his temper when he stepped off stage, Jong-woo bragged that they'd already been booked for next week's broadcast.
Rembrary yawned and watched as the stylists peeled this and that off his outfit. Then, changed into his own clothes and out the front of the broadcasting station, he was heading toward the parked van when a few women not far away let out small shrieks.
He glanced over. They were staring in his direction, making those shrieking sounds.
Why are they screaming?
They weren't cries of pain — the sounds were far too small for that.
As Rembrary looked on, puzzled, the women hesitated, exchanged glances with one another, and then at last came running over all at once, holding out the papers in their hands. One of them offered a paper envelope, inside of which were flowers, letters, and several small square boxes.
"What are these?"
When Rembrary accepted them and asked, the women looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then, faces flushing red, they giggled out words it was hard to tell were answers to him or just chatter among themselves.
"They're gifts!"
"We're your very first fans, oppa!"
"I knew you'd make it big!"
"I've been buying your songs since debut!"
Rembrary's bewilderment melted away quickly. He understood this situation perfectly well.
Back in his original world, believers would swarm to him at the mere sight of him and behave in exactly this manner.
Rembrary laughed aloud, slipped each of the boxes the women held out onto the backs of their hands one by one, and beamed.
"My thanks. The young believers of this age are truly generous of heart."
"...Believers?"
The women wore dazed expressions at his words, but soon enough they were giggling again.
"Are we your believers, oppa?"
"Let's be believers! Let's found the Yeon-woo Cult — the Yeon-woo Cult!"
"Oppa, be our cult leader!"
They were only joking, but Rembrary took their words completely to heart and smiled contentedly.
The charm that draws believers together does not fade, no matter which body it resides in.
Ever since he had entered the body of the idol called 'Woo Yeon-woo', he had been dragged around and treated like a madman, so receiving the familiar love of believers made him feel at ease. It felt like home.
Then it occurred to him — once he quit this idol business, perhaps he could become a priest in this world. Not a priest of this world's god, of course. He meant to become a priest of Redrin, the goddess he had always served.
His divine power overflowed through this body; surely it would be more than possible. And if he filled this world with believers of the goddess Redrin, then even in this other world, he could be a High Priest—
No.
Rembrary shook his head.
It was a tempting idea, and there would be no harm in attempting it someday. But what mattered right now was finding a way back to his original world. The people there were waiting for Rembrary's salvation. He had to find the road home, and quickly. Founding a temple and gathering believers could wait.
"If my believers multiply, I shall serve as your cult leader."
But considering the possibility of a temple someday, Rembrary left the door open.
At those words, the women shrieked and collapsed into giggles all over again. Rembrary hugged the gifts to his chest and blew the familiar hand-kiss, and the women delighted in it all the more.
Once he climbed into the van, Jong-woo — who had watched the entire scene with an expression of pure incredulity — asked, "How come losing your memory made you even better at taming?"
"Taming?"
"Your fan service got better."
"Fan service? Ahh. You mean tending to my believers."
"What?"
"And why do you call that 'taming'?"
"Beats me."
Jong-woo cocked his head, then said worriedly, "Look, fans call it 'taming' because they're letting themselves be treated as beneath you, but really it's us doing the aegyo for them — you get that, right, Yeon-woo? Playing a concept is fine, just don't cross the line."
Instead of answering, Rembrary asked carefully, "Jong-woo. Are there religions in this world as well?"
"Religion?"
Jong-woo echoed the question, taken aback by the non sequitur. "Where'd that come from?"
Beside them, Hye-gyeol snickered. "You're actually going to found the Yeon-woo Cult?"
Rembrary shook his head. The reason he'd asked whether there was religion here was that he wished to attempt communion with this world's god. If a god existed here as well, might he simply ask it the way back?
It was the next thought that had come to him after his idea about a temple of Redrin.
Jong-woo answered, looking none too pleased about it. "There's religion, all right. Tons of it."
"Which sect holds the greatest sway?"
"Buddhism, cathedrals, churches, Islam, Judaism, Confucianism? In this country I'd say Buddhism, cathedrals, churches, and Confucianism are the biggest. Lots of nonbelievers too."
"Plenty, then."
"Why? You thinking of joining one?"
"...Which faith lies closest to our dorm?"
From beside him, Cathy answered in his place. "Hansol Cathedral. It's the one I go to. Why, you wanna come too? Aren't you Buddhist?"
Rembrary looked at Jong-woo and asked, "Might I be permitted to visit there briefly on Monday?"
* * *
Bizarre a request as it was, Jong-woo gave his permission, and Hye-gyeol offered to come along.
The moment Monday arrived, Rembrary hauled Hye-gyeol out of bed and dragged him to Hansol Cathedral in the morning. Perhaps because it was a weekday, and morning besides, there were hardly any people about.
Rembrary swept his gaze here and there through the cathedral's interior, straining to find some trace of this world's god. He could faintly sense something... but it wasn't easy.
Is it because the god is of another world?
He was wondering whether he ought to seek out a priest of this place—
entirely unaware of Rembrary's wandering thoughts, Cathy had been pointing all over the cathedral with his finger, explaining this and that, when he said, "Over here," and tugged at Rembrary's arm.
Following along, they came upon a long, narrow wooden stand, on which sat, of all things, a stone basin. As Rembrary stared at it, wondering what it could be, Cathy explained.
"This thing's pretty famous — people come here just to see it. It's supposed to be a holy relic."
"A holy relic?"
"They say that when an angel passes by, it fills with holy water."
Having said it, Cathy added with a cynical air, as if the whole thing embarrassed him, "Personally, I think it's just rainwater collecting in it and the story got twisted somewhere along the way."
"I see..."
Rembrary, who had half-hoped he might find a trace of god here and find his way back to his original world, felt the hope gutter out at Cathy's words, and in his dejection he tapped the basin with a finger.
There was no intention behind it. He had simply touched it without thinking. Nothing had told him not to; there was no sign forbidding it.
But the moment Rembrary's finger met the stone—
from the very bottom of the basin, clear water began to rise.
"And another thing—"
Cathy had turned his head away, so the flustered Rembrary flipped the basin over with one hand while producing a handkerchief with the other and catching the water in it.
Almost at the same instant, a strange click sounded behind him.
When Rembrary turned, a stranger was holding a phone out toward him.