Chapter 2: The Punishment is Harsh

I have no intention of accepting this punishment submissively.

Bring happiness to humans?

Through this unknown ‘idol’ punishment?

No, I will certainly find the loophole in this sentence and escape.

The relaxed smile of the God of the Throne as he declared the punishment flashes through my mind.

I will make sure to crumple that face of his.

To do that, the acquisition of knowledge is the top priority.

What exactly is this punishment called an ‘idol,’ and where is this place?

[HOT & COOL! Come to the Guesan Chili Pepper Festival!]

Of course, an incredibly clear banner was welcoming the Demon God.

The Demon God could read the characters as if he understood the human language.

“HOT? COOL? Chili Pepper?”

However, he was merely reading the letters themselves, not understanding their full meaning. He could only interpret parts of it.

The only word he understood from the banner was ‘festival.’

Certainly, looking around, there were many people.

On the stage set up in the plaza, an event was in full swing, and in the tents lined up along the small stream over there, food and souvenirs were being sold.

‘Is it a festival? What is it to commemorate?’

A simple question occurred to the Demon God, and he suddenly shuddered.

“Could it be? Because of me?”

Are they commemorating the capture of the Demon God?

Does ‘Chili Pepper’ refer to me?

The Demon God’s teeth clenched.

Yes, even originally, the gods would hold grand festivals in those worlds whenever they caught a demon god. They would tie the captured demon god in the middle of the festival and subject them to mockery.

To think I didn’t realize that even after seeing the word festival.

It is an insult following the human jailer.

I will surely escape and take my revenge.

Just then, the Team Leader approached.

“Sun-woo, what did you just say?”

“Hahat.”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly sneering?”

“Since it has come to this, I will become a chili pepper that can never be forgotten.”

The Team Leader stared at Sun-woo in silence.

It was a statement where he had no idea where or how to even begin a conversation.

“Team Leader-ah.”

“What?”

It was getting worse.

There were people who called the Team Leader ‘Road-ya’ when he was young.

But he had never been called in such a way.

Especially by an idol who was much younger than him.

“Sigh, I don’t know if it’s okay even if he’s from overseas. Do I have to teach him how to address people first?”

However, regardless of whether the Team Leader sighed or not, the Demon God continued his questions.

“So, where is this place?”

“Gasp!”

The Team Leader, who had been sighing, now sucked in a sharp breath.

“Sun-woo, you shouldn’t say things like that carelessly!”

The Team Leader even reached out his hand, trying to cover the Demon God’s mouth.

Of course, the Demon God did not stay still; he extended his long arm and pushed the Team Leader away.

“I will not forgive such rudeness.”

“The rudeness is what you just did!”

“What? It was a simple question. I asked where this place is.”

“Quiet! You must never say such things.”

“Never? Why is that?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?”

The Team Leader looked around with a tense face and whispered.

“At local festivals, they hate it most when you don’t know the name of the region.”

“?”

This was something that not only idols but all celebrities attending local events had to be careful of. The moment you stumble over the name of the region, the atmosphere turns uncontrollably cold.

“Didn’t you hear when I was explaining? This is Guesan. Chili peppers are the local specialty.”

The Team Leader pointed around with his finger.

Come to think of it, there were decorations with small red fruits hanging.

Apparently, those were the chili peppers.

The Demon God stored the knowledge that he was not a chili pepper in his mind.

“It seems I have misunderstood something.”

“Did you confuse it with another region? They hate that too, so be careful.”

“I see I was not a chili pepper.”

“…….”

The Team Leader looked at the Demon God gloomily.

Should he say he isn’t a chili pepper, or should he say he is?

“Pfft.”

The young men who had gotten out of the car with the Demon God—the Pantheon members—had been staring only at the ground until now.

For the first time, laughter broke out from among those members.

“He’s supposed to be from overseas, but he knows how to make quips.”

Through the context, the Demon God noticed that ‘quip’ meant a joke.

“A quip? I am serious right now. I was merely finding out whether I am a chili pepper or not.”

Another original member laughed again.

It wasn’t much, but because a handsome guy said it so seriously, it was somehow funny.

The Team Leader’s head went back and forth between the members and Sun-woo.

He couldn’t change the atmosphere no matter what he did, but thanks to Sun-woo, the original members finally laughed.

Did he make a joke aiming for this?

Surely not?

“Team Leader, answer what I ask from now on.”

“Mhm.”

The Team Leader listened, anticipating what kind of quip Sun-woo would make next.

“I only see one sun in the sky. Is this not Earth, where humans live?”

It was like a riddle from the Sphinx.

A question like: what creature walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?

He tried to answer for now.

“That’s right, this is Earth.”

“Then why is the air different?”

“The air?”

The Team Leader sniffed the air and nodded.

“Is it spicy? It’s because of the chili peppers. Chili peppers are spicy, aren’t they?”

“Is that so? I am not spicy, so I am certainly not a chili pepper.”

Pffft.

Laughter broke out again among the original members.

“I have some vague knowledge about humans. I remember Earth is divided into several nations. Which nation is this?”

“Korea. You came to Korea to be an idol.”

Human realm, Earth, Korea.

The Demon God nodded.

He had identified the location. Actually, the next question was the core.

“Then, what exactly is an idol—”

But then.

“Pantheon? You’re Pantheon, right?”

A man who came running from the event area called out to Pantheon and cut off the Demon God’s words.

“Sun-woo, this is a local official. I’ll listen to your quips a bit later.”

His words were cut off, and his serious question was treated as a quip.

As a demon god, he would have been justified in overturning everything right now.

But the Demon God endured for a moment with the sole thought of finding out about the punishment.

“Pantheon? Correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. We are Pantheon from Origin Ent.”

The Team Leader handed a business card to the official with a smooth, professional smile.

However, the official didn’t even look at the card.

“Oh dear, what should we do?”

“Pardon?”

He started with an ominous opening.

“The order in front has been pushed back. A trot singer scheduled for later bailed on us.”

What on earth was he saying?

The first sentence and the second sentence couldn’t be connected.

“Yes… and?”

“The busking is cancelled. Just have one member go up and sing some trot.”

“!”

Originally, busking feels like a sudden performance on the street, but at local festivals, they tend to set up a specific busking spot and recruit artists.

Pantheon was also scheduled to sing their previously released songs through busking today.

“Without singing our kids’ songs?”

The Team Leader was flustered, and the members all turned their heads toward him at once.

“Yes, that’s how it turned out.”

The official didn’t even seem particularly sorry.

“The person singing should change ‘At Pyeongdong Station’ to ‘At Guesan Station’ and do one song. The rest of you can just participate as appropriate.”

“Then what about the other members?”

“There are many events here. Please scatter to different event sites and participate. The MCs there will introduce you.”

The Team Leader couldn’t answer for a moment.

Normally, he would have just agreed.

Since the details of an event were bound to change a lot depending on the situation on-site.

But the timing was bad.

It was right after Sun-woo had encouraged the completely demoralized members with a joke.

“Is it possible?”

But the official, who couldn’t possibly know their situation, kept prodding.

“The event schedule is tight. You have to give me an answer now.”

At that moment, someone among the members answered instead of the Team Leader.

“Of course. We can do it.”

The Team Leader looked back at the members once at those words, then nodded to the official.

“It’s possible. It won’t be difficult.”

“Oh, right? These days, there are many friends who become trot singers after being idols.”

It was a story whose source was unclear.

Unless it’s a special project, it’s usually a case of entering that field because their idol activities aren’t going well.

One doesn’t switch to being a trot singer when things are going well as an idol.

“Hmm?”

Meanwhile, the Demon God gained two pieces of information through the conversation between the two.

They were calling not only the Demon God but also the young men who came with him ‘idols.’

It seemed the young men were also subjected to the idol punishment.

‘That’s why their faces weren’t bright. Now I understand.’

Also, the Team Leader seemed to be speaking on the side of the Demon God and the young men.

‘Are they receiving the punishment together? Or are their interests intertwined?’

In that case, there might be room to persuade them when escaping the punishment.

Synthesizing this information, the Demon God was not alone.

There were those who would go through the punishment called idol together.

In human terms, companions.

In the Demon God’s terms—

‘They are my subordinates.’

Originally, subordinates laugh at whatever their superior says. They also get scolded for laughing thoughtlessly when the superior is being serious.

The Demon God understood the previous quip situation and felt inwardly satisfied.

While he was organizing his thoughts, the official left and the Team Leader called the members.

“Guys.”

The Demon God and the members all gathered around.

“Everything like this is experience. It’ll give you something to talk about when you go on variety shows. Right? And you never know if an event fancam will blow up. You guys know, right? That there are teams that climbed back up the charts with things like that?”

There were indeed such teams.

A group might rise as a member gains attention through a dance video from a university festival fancam, or a song might climb back up the charts due to a military base event fancam.

But those were all girl groups.

Furthermore, it’s not easy to go viral with a video of singing trot at a chili pepper festival.

He knew all this.

The Team Leader mustered his energy to encourage the members. Since even the performance had become difficult, he could imagine how the members felt.

“The song should obviously be done by our main vocal! Right, how should we divide up the event sites? There are a lot of fun events here!”

The Team Leader spoke in an incredibly cheerful voice.

“Okay, Team Leader.”

The members felt a sense of frustration but did not ignore the Team Leader’s efforts.

First, the main vocal member spoke.

“I’ll go to the stage with the manager hyung. Team Leader, please take care of the other members.”

Then, one of the members followed up.

“If we scatter to the event sites, you can’t follow everyone, Team Leader. Sun-woo doesn’t seem to speak Korean well yet, so go with him. We’ll find our way on our own.”

Another member even encouraged the Demon God.

“Sun-woo, do a good job.”

Then, they each began to prepare.

“…….”

The Team Leader was momentarily speechless at the members’ behavior.

Even in such a situation, they were considerate of each other and diligently found their places.

To think he couldn’t make such guys successful.

A sense of self-reproach washed over him.

“You guys seem quite decent.”

“?”

The Demon God spoke up.

“Us? Are you talking about teamwork, by any chance?”

One of the members guessed what the Demon God meant.

“That is correct.”

Teamwork meant mutual bonds.

The Demon God understood through context this time as well.

“It’s not really like that.”

They were original members who had experienced a member’s desertion.

Assuming Sun-woo didn’t know about that incident, they merely smiled faintly.

“No. This is enough.”

The members asked with their eyes at the Demon God’s unexpectedly firm answer.

Enough for what?

To succeed as idols?

“Enough to be kept as my subordinates.”

The visual member with a cold impression spoke seriously.

The members looked at him for a moment and then let out little chuckles.

The new member was really trying hard for the sake of the atmosphere. Even if it wasn’t very funny, they could laugh at his effort.

As the members laughed and disappeared.

“Sun-woo, you really…….”

The Team Leader, moved by the gesture, approached the Demon God.

“?”

The Demon God had no idea why.

This kind friend, Lee Sun-woo (李善友), was truly a well-chosen name.

.

.

“Right, Sun-woo. Even though your Korean is still awkward, it’s truly wonderful that you can say such things.”

The Team Leader headed toward the event site with the Demon God.

To the Demon God, it was a nonsensical story.

“What is it? What words? I am saying the words I need to say perfectly well even now.”

“Right, right.”

The Demon God tilted his head but soon forgot about it. Because something else was important.

“Never mind that. Just take my question.”

“Oh, another quip?”

“…….”

“What is it, tell me.”

“What exactly is an ‘idol’?”

A fundamental question.

The punishment the Demon God was currently receiving.

He was asking what that was.

“Right, it’s only natural for you to have such questions.”

However, to the Team Leader, it felt completely different.

He thought that while Sun-woo encouraged others with quips, he must have a lot on his mind inwardly after experiencing this kind of thing himself.

“Let’s finish the event first. I’ll explain everything to you after it’s over.”

The Demon God thought about whether to apply torture right now to make him speak.

“Sun-woo, still, you’ll be able to do well. Look at the people.”

“?”

The Demon God looked at the people.

Since it was a festival site, people were constantly passing by.

People regardless of gender or age.

However, there was one commonality. Everyone who passed by fixed their gaze on Sun-woo.

In other words, attention was being concentrated.

“With your visuals and aura, people will definitely react.”

The Demon God thought for a moment and asked.

“Are you saying I am attractive even to humans?”

He had confirmed through the car’s mirror that his face was the same.

As a species, the appearance of demon gods and humans was not that different. There were only individual differences.

Of course, those individual differences meant a massive gap.

The Team Leader looked at Sun-woo’s face again and nodded.

“Yes. You have a demonic charm.”

“Demonic.”

Isn’t that obvious?

I was a demon god, the symbol of being demonic.

“Sun-woo, since it’s come to this, let’s show your face clearly. Let’s tie your hair back.”

The Team Leader and the Demon God arrived at the event site while having this conversation.

But when they actually sought out the MC, he suddenly thrust something forward.

“Wear this on your head.”

“What is this?”

Holes were poked in the brim of a straw hat, and strings were attached to hang chili peppers.

“…….”

The Demon God looked down at the monstrosity for a moment.

He didn’t know much about human aesthetic tastes yet, but even for a demon god, this was not it.

“You must wear it. After all, the main character is the chili pepper.”

There was an idol who was pushed aside even by chili peppers.

It was truly a harsh punishment.