Chapter 27: Mutual Worship (2)

The stage where the demonic aura was shared and amplified.

Pantheon’s performance quality did not end with their own satisfaction.

It plunged everyone who witnessed it into awe.

First, the in-ears were practically exploding with praise from PD Choi Ji-seung.

Usually, only simple cue signs come through the in-ears, but this time was different.

• This is insane! How long has it been since I’ve seen a stage like this? Producer Hoon told me to look forward to it, and he wasn’t lying! The vocals, the dance, the synergy between members—everything is just crazy!

“May you also go mad along with us.”

The Demon God replied briefly to the human who was making a fuss over the obvious result.

“Kyaaa! Sun-woo, Pantheon members! You did so, so well! The other writers are all blown away right now too!”

As soon as he took off his in-ears and stepped down from the stage, Writer Song Hwi-na came running from somewhere.

She must have been busy since the broadcast was still ongoing, yet she came just to say that one thing.

“Tell the other writers to worship me as well.”

The Demon God responded calmly this time as well.

“Guys! My Pantheon!”

“Guys! The CEO’s and my Pantheon!”

After following the designated path and exiting the backstage area, the CEO and the Team Leader came running with cringeworthy comments before they could even reach the waiting room.

Their faces had brightened so much that the fatigue they had shown before the music show was nowhere to be found.

“I belong to myself.”

The Demon God was, of course, firm.

And the positive reaction was the same on the way home, leaving the broadcasting station.

Not to mention the ten fans.

– Please film a challenge with our oppas later!

– Do a collab too! Film a variety show together!

Even fans of other idols who had seen the stage waved their hands to see them off.

“I shall consider it.”

The Demon God left a greeting in response to their sincerity and departed.

Thus, the inside of the van carrying Pantheon was happy, harmonious, and overflowing with affection.

“This is somewhat unpleasant.”

Only the twisted Demon God kept tossing and turning, find the atmosphere far too sweet.

“Sun-woo! Just be happy! Our harvest today is huge!”

Ha-gyeom came closer, panting with excitement.

“Why do you keep thrusting your head forward while speaking? If you just stick out your tongue, you would look exactly like…”

‘Didn’t he say he wasn’t a dog?’

The Demon God harbored a small doubt.

However, Ha-gyeom followed his head by thrusting his phone forward.

“Look at this! Look! Look! Look at this!”

Come to think of it, the other members were also burying their heads in their respective phones.

“What is it?”

What appeared on Ha-gyeom’s phone were the reactions to the music show.

[ Pantheon has completely transformed ㄷㄷ ]

└ [ ㄷㄷㄷㄷ ]

└ [ How can they change this much without giving up the ‘god’ concept? ]

└ [ So shocked ㄷㄷ I’ve heard their previous song before, and back then they were like delicate gods, but here they’re like gods of war ]

└ [ No, no, they were demon gods ]

└ [ Right. Everyone was radiating a demonic charm for some reason ]

The eyes of idol fans were indeed sharp.

They had detected the sharing and amplification of the demonic aura without fail.

Furthermore, they clearly recognized the change.

“Have the idol fans perceived the change in concept?”

“I’m telling you, they have!”

The CEO and the Team Leader burst into laughter in the front at the conversation between the Demon God and Ha-gyeom. They simply seemed to be in a great mood.

The Demon God read more of the internet reactions.

[ Is the center member a bit crazy? Is there any other member who fits the concept this well? ]

└ [ Yeah, it feels like they changed the concept because this member joined ]

└ [ Even in the festival video, there was a crazy vibe with his eyes flashing. It’s even more intense on stage. I thought my heart would stop every time a close-up shot came on ]

└ [ He just stares intensely even during the ending lol. Without blinking even once lol. Did the company not train him on this? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ]

└ [ Changing the center was actually a divine move ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ]

“It was indeed a divine move.”

The Demon God nodded.

“Oho! Confidence!”

“It is merely the truth.”

It was literally a move made by the God of the Throne, after all.

The Demon God felt slightly better at the admiration directed toward him.

It felt as though he was finally receiving what he originally deserved.

[ Since the center changed, the other members’ colors changed completely too. Their charms suddenly exploded ]

└ [ Exactly. Even the members who seemed like they wouldn’t fit pulled it off perfectly. It’s natural for idols to digest various concepts, but this is almost mysterious ]

The members revealed a different charm from when they had a fresh and refreshing concept.

The reason it felt like their charms had exploded beyond just being ‘different’ was, as expected, thanks to the sharing of the aura.

The Demon God nodded and checked another reaction.

“Ah, you don’t have to look at that one.”

Ha-gyeom tried to stop him, but the Demon God’s quick eyes and hands had already read the reaction.

[ Well? Isn’t it common to flip the concept when things aren’t working out? They’ll just fade away like that anyway ]

└ [ True lol. If they were going to blow up, they would’ve blown up with the original concept ]

└ [ Isn’t it pathetic how they forcibly manipulated and uploaded that festival video? They’re doing all sorts of marketing because they’re failing ]

Ha-gyeom tried to take the phone back.

Unlike the members who had been preparing to be idols for a long time, he thought Sun-woo wouldn’t have any immunity to such malicious comments.

Certainly, the Demon God’s expression changed.

Until now, he had been wearing a faint smile, but now that smile—

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Became an incredibly deep smile.

“This is it. This is what I needed. Where can I see more reactions like this?”

“…….”

Ha-gyeom was confused by the Demon God’s question.

“Sun-woo, do you have a taste for…?”

“Indeed. I prefer this side.”

It was a statement that could easily be misunderstood.

“Does it not stimulate one’s competitive spirit to see such remarks?”

“Ah, competitive spirit. Phew….”

Fortunately, the conversation flowed toward protecting Ha-gyeom’s sanity.

“Unfortunately? There aren’t many reactions like that because our stage was so good.”

“Tsk, you are right, Ha-gyeom. It is a pity.”

“…….”

Leaving behind the still confused Ha-gyeom, the Demon God took his own phone and set out with a pouting face to find more hate comments….

In the meantime.

The other members also finished checking enough of the stage reactions and raised their heads.

““Phew….””

A collective sigh of relief escaped the members.

The concept change, which they had been anticipating yet anxious about.

It was a success.

A definite success.

“CEO.”

Tae-young spoke in a low voice.

“Shall we check now?”

“Hmm, shall we?”

The CEO replied as if he understood exactly what he meant.

He was even quite serious, unlike his previous flighty mood.

“What is it? What are you talking about?”

The Demon God, disappointed by the lack of hate comments, also looked up at the conversation between Tae-young and the CEO.

It felt like they were trying to check something based on the positive internet reactions.

It seemed to be something they had to prepare their hearts for.

“Checking the music charts.”

“Hmm?”

“We released the track at noon. You remember that, right?”

“Indeed.”

Tae-young’s explanation followed.

Songs released by idols are distributed in digital form, and their trends are tallied on various music charts. This can be checked hourly, and the standard is a 24-hour period.

Now, on their way home after the music show, nine hours had already passed since the digital release.

They were talking about checking the ranking on those music charts.

“Of course, we’ll be comparing other artists’ 21 hours with our 9 hours.”

“Hmm.”

The songs released before them had their trends tallied for 21 hours starting from midnight.

21 vs. 9.

Even the Demon God thought it would be difficult to reach number one instantly.

“Will we be around 10th place?”

At those words, everyone in the van was left speechless.

“10th?”

“10th place?”

“Um, Sun-woo. Ambition is good, but.”

“That is completely unrealistic.”

The Demon God knitted his brows.

“What? Even with this body present, is 10th place difficult?”

“Entering the chart at all will be hard. First of all, it’s not easy for us to get onto the music charts. We don’t really have a fandom.”

Ji-ho pointed out coldly.

“It’s really difficult for a rookie boy group to make a breakthrough with digital sales first.”

Tae-young also nodded and added.

The Demon God tilted his head at their words.

“Then, around what rank is our position expected to be?”

Silence hung in the van for a moment.

They wanted the rank to be high, but it wasn’t a situation where they could expect much.

“CEO, do you think within the top 300 is possible?”

“Well, I wonder.”

Tae-young asked, but the CEO gave a vague answer, and silence flowed for a moment.

The CEO, Team Leader, and members, all of whom had experienced the failure of the first album, couldn’t provide any hopeful predictions—

“It is there.”

Only the Demon God declared with a firm voice.

“Right, Sun-woo. I hope it’s as you say.”

Tae-young smiled slightly at Sun-woo’s ever-proud confidence.

“Yeah, Sun-woo hyung. I hope it’s like you said.”

Yoon-seo also gave a faint smile.

“Sun-woo worked so hard this time. I’d really like it if we were in the top 300.”

Ha-gyeom also smiled broadly.

“I agree with that too. I hope we are.”

Even Ji-ho chuckled softly.

“What on earth are you all talking about? I just searched while I was speaking. I’m telling you, it is there.”

““What?!””

The van was stirred.

“Didn’t you say nine hours have passed? So I checked. Why are you dawdling?”

The reason they weren’t checking immediately was, naturally, because of hesitation.

Even if they looked without expectations, they couldn’t abandon the tiny, minuscule hope in a corner of their hearts.

They had hesitated because checking the rank felt like it would be a death sentence for that hope.

But the Demon God had no such thing as hesitation.

Small hope dies?

What of it?

You can just revive it with a large hope.

“Check for yourselves.”

“Sun-woo? You even know how to use the music app?”

“I am no fool! You just install the app, go in, enter the song title, and press detailed info!”

“That’s actually hard… No, that’s not what’s important right now.”

Everyone scrambled to pick up their phones and enter the title track.

[ Worship ]

“Hmm?” “Wait?” “It’s here!” “It really is!”

Each member shouted.

“It’s there? CEO, is it there?”

The Team Leader, who was driving, asked excitedly.

“Team Leader Oh, it’s there. It really is.”

The CEO also answered dazedly.

“What rank is it?”

The Team Leader naturally asked for the rank.

The prediction was that it would be a relief if it were even within the top 300.

Of course, the further forward the better, so they hoped for the top 200, but that felt too greedy—

“134th.”

“Pardon?”

It wasn’t greed.

It was quite far ahead, even within the top 200!

““Uwaaaaa!!””

A shout that felt like it would burst the van erupted.

“We made it in!”

“Ugh.”

“It’s near the front! It’s in the front!”

“134? From the start? Is it not an error?”

Voices were chattering without distinction.

“It’s the first day. It’s only the first day!”

“Within the top 200? And that far ahead? 134th?”

The noise didn’t stop easily. The CEO and the Team Leader also threw away their dignity and shouted along.

“Huff, huff, huff. Sun-woo, Sun-woo.”

The CEO, exhaling roughly from the excitement, looked back at the Demon God.

No matter how much he thought about it, this was largely thanks to Sun-woo.

The fact that Pantheon, which didn’t even have a fandom, rose to 134th meant the general public had listened to the song that much.

If asked how the public knew Pantheon, it was, no matter how one looked at it, the videos that had trended.

And Sun-woo’s role in those videos coming out was immense.

The members, who understood the meaning behind the CEO’s gaze, also looked at the Demon God. As expected, they looked at the Demon God with eyes similar to the CEO’s.

“Hmph.”

The Demon God smiled.

“Think of the next step. Do you intend to be satisfied with 134th?”

A smile was a smile.

The Demon God had no intention of resting.

Because he planned to become a top idol as quickly as possible.

There was something he had realized today.

Specifically, his power recovered by the number of people who ‘directly’ told the Demon God they were his fans.

On the commute walk, he had met nine fans in addition to the girl named Yeon-hee, and he had recovered that much power.

On the other hand, since he had appeared in person and even performed on stage, there must have been those among the audience who became fans, yet no more power was recovered.

Therefore, he had to quickly become a top idol and confirm their fan love.

“We must go higher.”

In an instant, the van was filled with emotion for the Demon God.

Right, our Sun-woo is more sincere about idol activities than anyone else.

Even if the kid is a bit like that normally….

Tae-young finally regained his senses and spoke.

“You’re right. The chart ranking can go even higher from now on, right?”

Today was the first day of activities.

There are more music shows and content to be filmed in the future.

As those are released, the rank could rise even further.

“What was the next schedule again?”

Even the always calm Tae-young’s heart was fluttering for a moment, and he couldn’t remember tomorrow’s schedule immediately.

“I know it.”

The Demon God, who used to pay no mind to the schedule, opened his mouth.

“It was a schedule I was quite looking forward to.”

“You were, Sun-woo?”

A YouTube variety show shoot was scheduled for tomorrow.

“I heard we are going to see some dogs.”

“?”

Abbreviated, U-Gae-Dal.

[ My Dog Has Changed ]

The Demon God thought of cute Hellhounds.