They Started to Find It Strange

Those two facts set off a flood of theories.

Sharp-eyed netizens seized on photos of Rembrary repeatedly glancing upward and concluded that the culprit had to be lurking somewhere up above. The sharp-eyed but suspicious-minded crowd went further, insisting that no one could catch a person falling from the sixth floor and walk away without a scratch — therefore the photo itself had to be doctored. And now that word was spreading about Woo Yeon-woo's strange abilities, their claim was that the agency was playing the press with the whole spectacle.

But Im Yu-han, the woman at the center of it, and Jungseo, the witness, both kept their mouths shut as they waited for Yeon-woo's return — and Yeon-woo had simply vanished. There was no one left to answer a single question. Starved of solid information, the midnight bulletins kept swelling, rumor piling on rumor.

"It's called Nakru."

"And what, pray, might that be?"

"An organization. One devoted to the 'voluntary' sacrifice of Saints."

At that very moment, the very Woo Yeon-woo everyone was scouring the city for was on his way back from the handover, listening to Sa Gam-jae's assorted explanations.

"Did I receive some other explanation of the word? Or is the meaning of 'voluntary' different between my world and this one?"

"That was sarcasm, Mr. Woo Yeon-woo."

"My name is Rembrary, as it happens."

"And my name, as it happens, is Gamja Saja."

"Very well. Gamjae."

"Yes, Mr. Woo Yeon-woo."

Rembrary answered Sa Gam-jae's deadpan retorts halfheartedly, but he had no energy for anything and trudged along, shoulders slumped. It grieved him that the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠road back to his original world had grown so murky — but what soured his heart even more was that he could no longer learn so much as whether Lady Redrin was safe.

What was he to do now? Was he simply to ask Sa Gam-jae, at regular intervals, 'Has contact with Lady Redrin still not been restored?'

"Perhaps I should found a new religion in this world and welcome Lady Redrin into it, and then—"

But the moment he tried to muster even a scrap of optimism, Sa Gam-jae cut in beside him. "What did you just say?"

"I believe something extraordinarily dangerous was just spoken aloud?"

"I said nothing whatsoever."

After trading a few more barbs like that, Sa Gam-jae naturally escorted Rembrary back to the dorm.

"Why have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you come all the way here?"

"It became a habit."

"But tell me, Gamjae. With matters turned out as they have, do you still intend to remain my manager?"

"Am I an inconvenience?"

"No, it is only — if you came here as a manager on my account, I wonder whether you truly need to hold two posts at once."

"But if I do nothing but follow you around, people will mistake me for a stalker, Mr. Woo Yeon-woo."

"Then — would it not be simpler simply not to follow me at all?"

At Rembrary's question, Sa Gam-jae tilted his head with an expression that said, does one?

"It seems that possibility had not occurred to you."

"It had not. But I cannot leave you unattended at present. My superiors will issue the same order regardless."

"Why?"

"Because protecting you is my mission now."

"Is that because of Nakru?"

"Nakru. And while I am charged with protecting you, I must simultaneously protect our world from you."

"Protect your world from me?"

"You are, for all practical purposes, a foreign entity classified as a disruption risk. I am required to keep you under observation."

"What did you say?"

"And that thing of yours, crouching in your shadow and refusing to come out — that also sits poorly with me."

Sa Gam-jae tilted his chin toward Rembrary's shadow, which stood out conspicuously darker than anything else under the streetlamp's glow.

Rembrary knit his brow and stared down at his own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shadow.

Before parting with the King, he had asked him point-blank what the thing he'd been dragging along from his original world actually was. The King had answered that he didn't know. The shadow concealed itself far too cunningly, and it kept a soul tucked away to use as a shield, so even the King could not identify it at a glance — and since the powers of that world and this one ran along entirely different tracks, even Rembrary's divine power could only be judged maybe divine, maybe not, which made classification all the harder. There was no way to pry it loose, either, so Rembrary had ultimately come back here with the thing still clinging to his shadow.

That was the story Sa Gam-jae had been alluding to.

"Understood. Then I shall go inside now."

He had just bid his farewell and opened the door when shrieks erupted from within the moment it swung wide. "Yeon-woo!" "He's here!" "We found him!"

Rembrary blinked, looking from one member to another. Hye-gyeol and Cathy he could perhaps understand, but even Taein was gathered white-faced on the sofa.

"What is the matter?"

At his question, the members came tumbling over one another and shouted:

"Where did you go?"

"Why'd you come back this way?"

"Where's Jungseo? Have you been in touch with Jong-woo hyung?"

"They're still out looking for you!"

"The Im Yu-han thing has everyone losing their minds right now!"

"Speak one at a time, I beg you. You are scrambling my thoughts."

As Rembrary calmed them down, it dawned on him: the place Sa Gam-jae had taken him for the handover to the underworld had been Im Yu-han's home. And that same grim reaper had then escorted him, of all places, straight to the Wild Animal dorm.

"That scoundrel……"

Rembrary clicked his tongue, but Sa Gam-jae was long gone. He would no doubt be collared by Jong-woo soon enough, but first he fished out his phone and called him. The ringtone sounded exactly once before Jong-woo snatched up the call and roared:

Before long, Jong-woo came straight over, and Rembrary rode in his car to the agency office. Not once during the drive did Jong-woo say a single word.

"Are you angry with me?"

Rembrary wondered if that was the reason for the silence, but Jong-woo said it wasn't. Only after he'd parked the car did he finally speak, in a voice that could have been fury or could have been tears.

"Where on earth did you go? You're supposed to TELL someone when you leave! They say Im Yu-han fell from way up high. They say you caught her. Then they say somebody pushed her, and now they say you're unreachable. Do you have any idea what that does to a person?"

"You were worried?"

"Do I look like someone with nothing to worry about? Everyone involved is gathered at the office right now!"

The 'everyone involved' Jong-woo meant was Im Yu-han and her manager, the CEO of her agency, CEO Im of LLL Entertainment, Jungseo, and the security guards who had combed through Im Yu-han's building.

They were crowded into a large office where phones had been ringing off the hook, one call after another, the entire time. The moment Im Yu-han and Jungseo spotted Rembrary, they rushed over.

"Where did you go?"

"Why didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you answer your phone! Are you okay?"

"Ah. I briefly visited the underworld—"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I am not hurt. I am quite all right."

Rembrary soothed the two of them as they fussed. It felt as though ages had passed, but when he checked the clock, only two hours had gone by since he'd followed Sa Gam-jae to the underworld. And all this chaos had erupted in that span.

"So everyone was worried about me?"

"How can you look pleased at a time like this?"

Jong-woo barked, then heaved sigh after sigh before glaring at his phone and grinding his teeth. "Damn it, what is that bastard Sa Gam-jae up to this time that he won't pick up?"

A little later, once the group had settled down, Sa Gam-jae materialized, and Rembrary papered over his whereabouts with a suitably vague account.

"I was on my way out to fetch my phone when I thought I glimpsed something. Following it, it seems our paths diverged. It was never my intention to cause worry. My apologies."

"You weren't caught on the CCTV leaving, though?"

"I departed through the corridor window."

"Really?"

When Rembrary glanced instinctively at Sa Gam-jae, Sa Gam-jae gave a solemn nod, as if to corroborate the answer. He seemed to have his methods, so Rembrary took him at his word and nodded along.

Meanwhile, Sa Gam-jae had quietly texted Sa Jikjae, asking her to take care of a few of the CCTV cameras in Im Yu-han's apartment building.

Once Jong-woo had calmed, the CEO of Im Yu-han's agency asked next. "Did you really save our Yu-han?"

"That's what I've been telling everyone," Im Yu-han answered for him.

When Rembrary said, "Yes," the man leaned in and scrutinized his arm.

"You caught someone falling from the sixth floor... but your arm looks perfectly fine."

Jungseo showed Rembrary the photo from the news article — a gentle hint that with evidence this airtight, there was no way around admitting it.

Once again, Rembrary improvised his way to an acceptable answer. "She was very light, my lady predecessor."

Im Yu-han chimed in beside him. "I am light. Light as a feather, they call me."

Her agency's CEO hesitated a moment longer, then burst out, "But Yu-han jumping like that — was she trying to—"

"She was not."

At Rembrary's flat certainty, the man finally exhaled and sank into his own seat, boneless with relief.

This time it was CEO Im who pressed urgently. "Yeon-woo, people are saying somebody pushed Im Yu-han. Is that true?"

Jungseo showed him the article photo again: Im Yu-han talking with Jungseo, while Rembrary kept glancing upward, again and again.

This time, Rembrary had no ready answer, and he held his tongue. Sa Gam-jae, for his part, offered no guidance either way, silently waiting on Rembrary's response.

If someone had pushed her, that was a crime — and if no culprit ever surfaced, then Im Yu-han and Rembrary would become the bizarre pair who had staged the whole thing themselves. If she had merely slipped, then she became the strange one, and people would mutter, then what was Woo Yeon-woo staring at up there the whole time? and the suspicions would only multiply. And he couldn't exactly come clean and say a demon beast had shoved her — they'd call him insane. Worse, in the middle of all that, an outfit like Nakru might well prick up its ears—

"Hey, it's scarier when you go quiet like this."

Jong-woo urged him on with a frightened face, but the answer did not come easily. Only after a long, drawn-out pause did Rembrary dust off the excuse he'd made earlier and deploy it once more.

"I looked up because I suspected someone had pushed her. When I went to retrieve her phone, I did see something strange. I don't know what it was."