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Join the ServerThe day promised by the CEO after finishing the concert.
The moment of Pantheon basking in the lingering emotions of the concert was brief.
“It is time.”
10:50 AM.
With Tae-young’s announcement, all the members came out to the living room.
Actually, they hadn’t made any particular promise.
Nonetheless, as if they had prearranged it, they sat in a circle on the floor and exchanged glances.
This moment of waiting for 11:00, ten minutes from now—
The Demon God opened his mouth solemnly.
“What is this? Why are we sitting like this?”
“…….”
The members stared at the Demon God.
“I asked why?”
The Demon God was merely bewildered.
“Then why did you come out, Sun-woo Hyung?”
“Since everyone was coming out, I came out thinking there might be something interesting happening.”
At the truly Demon God-like reason, Yoon-seo scratched his head.
“Interesting…. Well, in a broad sense, this is an interesting thing.”
“?”
Then Ha-gyeom shouted with a smile.
“Of course it’s interesting! It’s our first payout, so it’s so exciting and interesting!”
Ji-ho also added a word from the side.
“Do not let your guard down. If you think of too large a sum, you might be disappointed.”
Nonetheless, Ha-gyeom shook his head.
“No, the CEO even warned us. Would he do that if it were a small amount?”
“That’s true. He did have an extremely patronizing look on his face.”
Ha-gyeom and Ji-ho continued to exchange opinions.
Hearing the two speak, the Demon God could understand the current situation.
When the CEO brought up the payout, he said he would deposit it at 11:00 AM.
It was a consideration for them to sleep in sufficiently and check their accounts.
Currently, it was a gathering to wait for that time together.
“Money, is it.”
Back when he had the mind to escape from the idol punishment, he had calculated the penalty fee.
But after checking the amount, he cleanly gave up.
Conversely, when the opportunity to obtain money arose, it was after he had made up his mind to execute the punishment.
Since then, room, board, and basic clothing were provided by the company, so he had no particular interest in money.
In this world, there was no occasion for the Demon God to mobilize wealth.
It wasn’t as if he would purchase or manufacture a magic sword.
Nor did he need to construct a Demon God Palace or create a vast hunting ground.
‘Come to think of it, have I not been solely focusing on idol activities?’
How did I end up….
It was the Demon God feeling a somewhat bizarre sensation.
“What is wrong, Sun-woo? Your expression is suddenly blank.”
“A-Ahem. It is nothing.”
Let’s temporarily forget about dancing, singing, and researching fan service.
The Demon God quickly shifted the topic.
“So? What do you intend to do once you have money?”
At the Demon God’s question, the members answered without hesitation, as if they had already thought of something.
First, Tae-young.
“Savings.”
Everyone stared at Tae-young.
Putting savings first in a modern consumer society.
On one hand, it was very like Tae-young.
“Hoh? You shall not spend it?”
“Yeah. My younger sister wants to be a musical actress. I’m thinking of saving up for her lesson fees.”
“I recall she was exceedingly young to decide her future, though?”
“I must prepare for when she makes that decision.”
It was an even more Tae-young-like answer.
He was a brother who normally cherished his younger sister terribly. He seemed to intend to raise her himself.
This time, Yoon-seo opened his mouth.
“I’m thinking of replacing my mother’s bag. And I want to get an oven.”
Yoon-seo also gave a very Yoon-seo-like answer.
Caring for family, and acquiring cooking equipment.
While Tae-young cared reliably, Yoon-seo was on the meticulous side of caring.
“Ha-gyeom, what about you?”
“I’ll buy my parents what they want too. And I’m going to spread gifts to my village!”
“The village?”
As the Demon God recalled quietly, Ha-gyeom occasionally received parcels.
When asked, he had answered that the village sent him ingredients.
“There are barely any kids in our village. So I received a lot of love since I was young. It’s the same even when I go down now.”
It seemed he grew up in a village where children were rare.
Ha-gyeom’s bright personality was likely thanks to the love the entire village gave him.
And Ha-gyeom was also overflowing with love for the village to that extent.
“Krrr—”
“Hm? What is wrong, Sun-woo?”
Ticklish.
He was tickled all over by the overflowing affection and goodwill.
The Demon God ended up displeased.
“Ji-ho! You alone shall pursue self-interest without caring for those around you, right?”
“Do I have that kind of image…?”
“Answer quickly!”
“Sorry, but no. I’m going to take care of my sister and family too. Of course, I’ll buy a limited edition plastic model for my share, though.”
“Kuaaa! Why is everyone acting like this!”
The Demon God couldn’t endure it and let out a shout.
He had seen numerous crowds who betrayed family and friends, stabbing them in the back to get their hands on treasure.
Honestly, weren’t there far more of those?
Yet, why are these guys!
“I told you to keep it for yourself! And spend it on yourself! Do not give it to others! Even if you tear the money up, spend it on yourself!”
The Pantheon members slightly backed away from the Demon God….
“Sun-woo, then where will you spend yours when you receive the payout?”
Tae-young, who was watching for a moment, asked quietly.
As the other members also stared at the Demon God with wide eyes.
Where on earth would Sun-woo, who threw a fit over spending on family, spend his money?
“Hm? Mmm?”
But faced with the question, the Demon God also tilted his head.
What does one do once money is obtained in this world?
“Hmm— Hmmm—.”
The Demon God fell into deep thought with a serious expression. An extremely rare occurrence for him.
But he truly didn’t know.
The members spend money fitting their respective personalities and growth processes.
‘If so, should this Demon God not spend money in a way befitting a Demon God?’
What indeed was spending money befitting a Demon God.
And he reached a conclusion.
“M-My….”
““Why?””
The Demon God ended up shivering.
He could absolutely not accept the usage that crossed his mind.
Namely, it was—
“I should spend it on the fans?”
““Something like a reverse-tribute?””
“S-Something like that?”
Since he is a Demon God, naturally shouldn’t he spend it on the Demon God’s believers.
No.
Really, how did this happen?
At this rate, does he not seem like an idol who only knows fans!
And.
“Kyahahaha!”
Yoon-seo burst into laughter first.
“You told us to spend it on ourselves?”
Tae-young smiled softly.
“You are truly a born idol! Pfft!”
“You told me to pursue self-interest. How absurd.”
Ha-gyeom and Ji-ho were the same.
Since they were sitting in a circle, they began to tease him relentlessly.
“A natural-born idol!”
“A fan fool who only knows fans!”
“An idol who has nowhere else to spend money but on fans!”
“S-Stop! Everyone, shut your mouths!”
Just as he was considering whether to throw a big tantrum to escape this crisis.
In the meantime.
It became 11:00, as the CEO had warned.
Bzzzt—
♩♬♬♪
Each of their phones notified them of a deposit.
The members all hurriedly lifted their phones and entered their banking apps.
“Huh.” “Ah.” “Oh.” “CEO-nim?”
They stared at the screens with blank faces.
100,000.
Five zeros.
One hundred thousand won.
Exactly 100,000 won was stamped on the banking app.
It was enough to buy and eat something delicious, and if they pooled it together, they could have a company dinner in their own way, but.
No, still, to call this their first payout was far too lacking—
“Hmph.”
Only the Demon God wore a victorious smile.
“I’m saying you received it too? It’s your money.”
“Ah.”
It wasn’t a victory at all….
As the Demon God was belatedly flustered.
Bzzzt—
♩♬♬♪
The first deposit was the CEO’s joke.
11:01 AM.
The second deposit was made.
The proper payout amount.
And this time, everyone’s exclamation was unified in a single word.
““This much?””
It was an amount the members had not imagined.
It far exceeded their expectations.
““…….””
They had also thought in advance about how to spend the payout.
They had just spoken about it. Thus, they thought they would let out cheers when the money came in.
It wasn’t like that at all.
Rather, seeing such a large sum of money, everyone was at a loss for words.
“To this extent?”
After a long while, Tae-young mumbled to himself.
Nonetheless, the other members also regained their senses at those words.
“Exactly. Did we do this much?”
To Yoon-seo’s question, Ji-ho, who was quick with calculations, answered.
“We must have made profit across all areas without exception.”
“All areas?”
All areas such as albums, digital music, concerts, advertisements, pictorials, goods, Nutube, and so forth.
If things don’t work out, they consume investment capital, but if things go well, every single area earns money.
“Haa, during trainee days, even ten-thousand-won units made my heart flutter…. Now it has leaped far beyond….”
Ha-gyeom let out a sigh.
Even Ha-gyeom, who seemed most likely to jump up and down, was blank when actually facing the amount.
To idols, a payout does not simply mean money.
Most idols do not get to experience a payout, and some even end up with debt like trainee expenses.
But receiving the first payout meant they had now risen to some level, like the conversation shared on stage after the first concert ended.
Having thought this far, Ha-gyeom naturally came to look at the Demon God, who had dragged the team this far—
“…….”
As it happened, the Demon God sitting on the opposite side was just sitting vacantly.
Come to think of it, when the 100,000 won came in earlier, he was also looking at Yoon-seo’s phone in the next seat.
“Sun-woo? Why are you not looking at your phone?”
“Indeed. What is everyone looking at on their phones?”
“O-Of course, the banking app.”
“Banking app?”
“Yeah, the one with the account you mainly use—”
Ha-gyeom suddenly stopped speaking.
And the other members listening to this conversation also stared at the Demon God.
“Sun-woo, do you have an account?”
“Hm? An account?”
What is all too natural for people to have is sometimes completely absent for someone.
Conscience, shame, humility, and something like an account.
“None!”
The Demon God had none of those.
“Wait a moment. Then how is the CEO intending to deposit for Sun-woo.”
The moment Tae-young spoke, a call came through to the Demon God’s phone.
“It is the CEO.”
The Demon God switched to speakerphone and answered the call.
“CEO.”
– Sun-woo? Your account isn’t written down?
“Didst thou know that fact only while depositing? Exceedingly incompetent.”
– No…. Something was written down, you see. But when I actually tried entering it, it said no such account exists.
The Demon God looked up at the sky outside the window.
The god bastards, they handled the task sloppily again. They must have set up the account haphazardly.
“Exceedingly incompetent.”
– No, I said that’s not it?
“I was not speaking to the CEO.”
– ?
The Demon God shook his head as if there were no choice.
Who did it. Is it the god of finance. Next time we meet, I shall make sure to beat him.
“So? What should I do?”
– Huh? You’ll have to make an account, right? Can you make one alone— no, that’s too anxious.
“That is correct, CEO-nim.”
Tae-young chimed in from the side.
– I’ll send Team Leader Oh. Because it’s sensitive information, I can’t send just anyone.
“You may send anyone. Because if they try to touch it, they shall receive punishment from a god.”
– I didn’t know you believed in heavenly punishment, Sun-woo. A guy who seems unlikely to believe.
“Because it exists. For reference, it is on the extremely harsh side.”
Nonetheless, the CEO decided to send Oh Dae-ho.
Not long after, he appeared driving the van.
“You guys are going to go all together anyway, right?”
It was Oh Dae-ho, who knew Pantheon well.
““Of course. It is Sun-woo’s first time going to a bank.””
Letting Sun-woo loose alone was a bit.
Pantheon’s opinion was in agreement with both the CEO and Oh Dae-ho.
***
“I see. You wrote ‘demonic idol’ in the profession column….”
Fatigue was already contained in the bank clerk’s voice.
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