Chapter 121: Changes in Many Ways

`[The next awakening is near]`

The broadcast of the online con ended with the words that the next awakening was not far off.

Gulp.

The anti-fan gulped.

Even watching it through the online con, the actual atmosphere at the scene must have been tremendous.

Just looking at the level of frenzy of the fans on the screen made it obvious.

In the end, even she herself ended up whispering the worship.

“Whew, I guess the time for a decision has come.”

The anti-fan crawled out of bed.

Originally, she had started watching while lying on her side in bed.

She had even set her laptop sideways to watch in that posture.

A group like Pantheon, this kind of posture was more than enough.

Thinking like this, she sat up from the very first song.

With her laptop on her lap, she ended up watching until the end as if sucked into it.

The anti-fan opened her room door and grabbed the doorknob of the room right next to hers.

Rattle, rattle.

It did not turn.

“Hey! Did you lock it again? Didn’t Unni tell you not to lock the door!”

“Knock first! And I’m busy right now!”

A normal conversation between sisters went back and forth.

The anti-fan considered simply kicking the door down at this point.

In the first place, the reason she spent her hard-earned money to watch the online con was because of her younger sister, who was a Pantheon fan.

To find materials to attack Pantheon and pour out venom.

And that right after the online con ended.

She had intended to demonstrate her dignity as the older sister—

“Hey, Pantheon was actually decent.”

To think she would end up saying such a thing.

The anti-fan tried to turn around immediately after speaking.

Now was the timing for her sister to run out and tease her relentlessly.

She headed quickly toward her room.

Click.

Along with the sound of the door opening, her sister shouted words of mockery.

“Pantheon welcomes converts!”

“?”

Those weren’t words of mockery?

She isn’t teasing?

Wondering if it was a trap, she looked back.

“Ugh, creepy!”

Her sister was standing there with her eyes sparkling, her face flushed with excitement, puffing through her nose, and above all, holding a handful of Pantheon photos in her hands….

“Going to paste them immediately?”

Meaning, was she going to plaster her walls with Pantheon photos like her sister’s bedside.

A fanatic itself.

A core fan itself.

“S-Slow down a bit.”

“Heheh! I can wait. Because you’ll end up pasting them on your own soon anyway.”

The sister proudly approached the anti-fan, no, now the convert.

“Unni.”

“Only at times like this you call me Unni?”

“Anyway! You didn’t even seem to like EXI that much, why did you cross over so late. Welcome to conversion.”

“Tsk.”

The convert couldn’t be called an EXI fan.

She had merely gone to the opposite side of the Pantheon that her sister liked.

So even if she converted, there wasn’t much bothering her mind.

“But the fans who really like ISM and EXI won’t leave much.”

“That’s probably true.”

There is taking a break, but there is no leaving the fandom.

Once entered, the stanning heart is not that light.

“But EXI is really strange? There was such a massive scandal.”

The scandal mentioned here was, of course, Kwak Su-eon’s intrusion and expulsion.

“At first they said it was Izm’s management problem, but in the end they just covered it up as an individual’s sudden action, right? Still, those who know would know, so how is the fandom still intact?”

It went exactly as the sister said.

Unlike the early atmosphere, Kwak Su-eon took all the blame alone, and it ended.

It was quite bizarre even to say it was because it was a large agency.

“I don’t know in detail either. But since Pantheon fans are that fanatical, would EXI fans not be?”

“I don’t think they had this kind of atmosphere over there, though?”

The sister tilted her head, but that wasn’t important right now.

Welcoming the convert comes first.

She must report this joyful news to the Demon God.

“I’ll buy chicken.”

“What?”

The sister was one to accept treats but never buy.

But for the welcome of the convert, she could do this much.

And it didn’t end with just chicken.

A single photo chosen after careful and careful selection.

“Even if you don’t paste it at your bedside yet, take this one first. If you worship morning and night, your condition will improve.”

“Tsk.”

Although it was nonsense, the physical and mental health of the Pantheon fandom was knowingly or unknowingly rumored among idol fans.

“I’ll take it with a grain of salt.”

“Try it, try it. Believe, worship.”

The convert slowly reached out her hand and accepted the photo.

Photos in the photo of all five members of Pantheon were indeed handsome.

Furthermore, the center Demon God Sun-woo had a truly special gaze.

He was staring this way as if alive inside the photo.

Ominously, arrogantly.

“We must go to the next concert together, right?”

At her sister’s proposal, the convert thought.

‘Well, maybe it’s not bad?’

Honestly, she was curious about the scene.

***

Step.

The Demon God walked up onto the empty stage.

As if the frenzy until just now was a lie, the inside of the venue was quiet.

The brilliantly shining lights had closed their eyes now too.

The excitement that had filled the stage and the audience seats also quietly held its breath.

Clatter.

Only the sound of the venue staff cleaning up was heard intermittently.

Because the Pantheon fans had left after organizing and tidying up well, even that sound was scarce.

Step, step.

The members approached to the left and right of the Demon God.

Tae-young, Yoon-seo, Ha-gyeom, and Ji-ho also stood on the stage and stared at the empty venue.

“Wow.”

Yoon-seo admired.

“Why is that, Yoon-seo?”

“Um, I mean we filled this place.”

“Hmph. Did you not see it full to capacity.”

“That’s true. But because it’s empty like this, it sinks in anew.”

Ha-gyeom also agreed with Yoon-seo’s sentiment from the side.

“Right. Seeing it like this, it feels even wider. How did the day come when we fill this place?”

August of last year.

Exactly one year ago, Pantheon was on the verge of disbandment.

And Sun-woo appeared.

Destiny began to swirl furiously.

A breathless succession of buzz.

Sudden concept change, and comeback success.

Winning the Rookie of the Year award at MAMA.

Successful release of the first regular album.

And a solo concert.

Despite a somewhat maniacal concept, they grew this far while maintaining public recognition.

This was something that happened in just one year.

“Hmph.”

The Demon God smiled softly.

He could understand Yoon-seo’s and Ha-gyeom’s sentiments facing the empty concert hall.

Because lack makes abundance, and void makes satisfaction, felt even better.

An empty temple after a festival.

An empty barrack after a roll call.

He had experienced such moments numerous times in the past.

What did the Demon God recall back then.

But before the Demon God could revive his memories,

“Everyone knows, right? Today isn’t the end. We have to go prepare for tomorrow’s concert.”

Tae-young pointed out an important point.

The frenzy until just now was waiting again.

“There’s also the additional concert in Busan.”

Ji-ho added his words too.

Another frenzy was waiting in the south, not just in this place.

Today is not the end.

It wasn’t the time to take the strength out of their shoulders.

“Hmph.”

The Demon God smiled once again.

It was so.

The Demon God had also pictured beyond the empty void.

Because he knew that place wasn’t the end, he always looked to the next.

Enjoying the void and silence,

he had planned the subsequent clamor.

“Tae-young.”

“Hm?”

“When this concert is finished, what status will we be in?”

“You mean our position as idols.”

Tae-young of the transcendental translation understood perfectly.

Of course, even so, the Demon God did not think he had spoken terribly.

He had merely spoken like a Demon God.

“Then—”

Organizing his thoughts for a moment, Tae-young opened his mouth.

“You know we suddenly became a rising group with the successful comeback, right?”

“Is it not usually called a rising star?”

“Star—. People do say that. But for some reason, that word is a bit.”

Perhaps because too rapid a change had occurred.

Tae-young still didn’t feel the word star.

“I too have always disliked the word star.”

“You too, Sun-woo?”

“Is it not too tiny a word? I can swallow even a star.”

“…….”

Ah, is that so.

The members stared at the Demon God with narrowed eyes.

“Ahem, right. Sun-woo would be like that.”

Tae-young, a leader befitting a leader, smoothly moved on.

“To answer your original question. Once we successfully complete this concert after the regular album, we’ll become a group that has established a certain position. Some also call it a regular army.”

There is a core fandom.

And public appeal too.

In other words, an idol that makes a profit rather than a deficit when running the group.

“Of course we’ll have to work hard to maintain that, but the basic is like that.”

There are areas lacking to be called a safe zone.

And the way to the top tier is still far.

“I see.”

The Demon God nodded.

The idol punishment, which was exceptionally harsh.

It has been a year since he pledged to surely carve his way through, and it seems he has risen to some level.

“Then what is the next step?”

The step to enter the safe zone and go further to the top tier?

“I shall tell you that!!!!”

““Ugh! You startled me, CEO-nim!””

Except for the Demon God, the members screamed in surprise at the CEO popping out from somewhere.

“Where? Where did you come from?”

“I didn’t come from anywhere, I was below the stage. I heard what you guys were saying.”

The Demon God also nodded.

“I knew from the start.”

“How? You couldn’t see him in your vision.”

“Is the sound not heard.”

Of course, the members couldn’t hear it at all.

“Let us set aside trivial matters. CEO, answer the question.”

“Yes!”

The CEO was also considerably excited.

Actually, if there was someone as happy as the members and thinking about the next, it would be the CEO running the company.

“I’ll tell you the answer first. That is precisely external expansion.”

“External?”

The Demon God tilted his head.

“Yes. Pantheon has public appeal for various reasons. But the songs still have a maniacal tendency.”

“Do people not like them?”

“That’s because the quality of the songs is high so people with different tastes listen well. Even so, you must proceed in a direction where you digest various songs.”

“Mhm.”

It was talk that had been coming out since before.

If they weren’t going to be satisfied with a core fandom, they must be able to digest songs of various concepts.

“Therefore! Supply various songs! And devise various stages fitting those songs! Understand?”

The CEO suddenly raised his voice.

Because there were words to say after this flow.

“You know what this means, right, Sun-woo? You must pull it off.”

“That is—”

The Demon God became slightly displeased.

“It means you must digest various concepts, Sun-woo! Refreshing! Lively! Cute!”

“Ugh.”

To think the story would flow here?

Refreshing? Lively? Cute?

Of course, it was also what the composer Ki So-eun had urged the Demon God.

Learn and express various emotions.

Of course, he had been practicing in his own way.

He had many experiences different from the past and felt unfamiliar emotions too.

However, as a result, whether he had become able to digest songs of various concepts, that was a question.

“I am going to the restroom for a moment…”

With a poor excuse for a Demon God, he tried to turn his body.

But he realized he was surrounded by members before he knew it.

“You guys?”

““We completely agree with the CEO-nim too.””

Pushing them aside and leaving was an easy task, but that would be fleeing.

“I cannot hear well. I am from overseas, so I am not used to Korean.”

““What do you mean after all this time!!!!””

“I came from Brazil. I use Spanish.”

““Where in Brazil!””

“…Lima?”

““That’s the capital of Peru!””

The Demon God keenly felt his blunder.

When Buenos Aires didn’t work, he should have solved the capital quiz.

Ultimately, the excuse of being from overseas was unreasonable.

“Phew….”

The Demon God let out a deep sigh.

If he must go through it to become a top-tier idol, he cannot avoid it forever.

He must do it.

If needed to increase the number of believers, he will bear it.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

At those words, the CEO smiled contentedly and spoke.

“Yoon-seo.”

“Yes?”

“I appoint you as the instructor.”

“What?!”

The Demon God was shocked.

Unlike the usual Yoon-seo, Instructor Yoon-seo was exceptionally strict.

“Tae-young! What about Tae-young?”

He pitifully called the gentle Tae-young.

“No, although I am lacking, I shall take on that difficult responsibility.”

“Yoon-seo? Why are you solemn?”

It was Yoon-seo nodding heavily as if running for a seat in parliament.

At the calm and resolute announcement, the other members clapped in unison.

Clap clap clap clap!

“Yoon-seo, please.”

“You’ll be able to do it. Surprisingly, you guys match well.”

“I can trust Yoon-seo.”

“N-No….”

“Sun-woo Hyung! Follow this instructor’s directions from now on!”

“Yoon-seo? Your way of speaking is strange?”

It was decided like this.

The single step the Demon God forcefully took toward the next stage ended up falling into an endless swamp.

“For the training, we’ll have to go around having various experiences, right? I’ll give you a corporate card. Of course—”

The CEO wiped under his nose and smiled.

“You guys won’t lack money now, though.”

And he added a word.

“Because you guys are going to receive payout now.”

The time for change has come in many ways.

First, let’s spend some money.

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