Chapter 22: The True Beginning

It was a proper evil spirit.

It was the kind of evil spirit that dug into the gaps of the human heart, making people think or act differently than usual, eventually dominating them completely.

One might wonder why Ji-ho, who was known to be rational and never believed in superstitions, had come all the way here.

The answer lay right here.

While the disciples outside were deluded by the fake Great Sage General, Ji-ho had been manipulated by this evil spirit.

“Ji-ho, wake up! What’s wrong with him? He won’t snap out of it!”

The light that had been returning to Ji-ho’s eyes stopped at a certain point.

Ha-gyeom, who was already blaming himself, did not know what to do when he saw Ji-ho’s condition.

He looked completely soul-less, yet Ha-gyeom didn’t dare shake him recklessly.

“Ji-ho!”

Ji-ho’s older sister also didn’t know what to do and could only keep calling his name.

At that moment.

“Everyone, stop for a second.”

Tae-young, the leader, calmly settled the group.

Everyone, flustered and lost, looked at Tae-young.

However, Tae-young was looking at the Demon God.

“Sun-woo, you have a way, don’t you?”

It was Sun-woo who discovered the talisman in Ji-ho’s room.

It was Sun-woo who subdued the Great Sage General and his followers upon arriving here.

Perhaps Sun-woo had a solution.

“I was planning to wake him anyway.”

Everyone, including Tae-young, let out a sigh of relief.

As expected, he had a way.

If it was Sun-woo, he could solve it.

“Hyung, is there anything we should do? Should we step aside?”

“It is fine. It is quite simple.”

A very simple action unfolded before their eyes.

Sun-woo walked up to Ji-ho and finished with a hand gesture, as if picking something off Ji-ho’s shoulder.

Well, rather than picking, it was a more violent motion—for example, it looked like he was grabbing something by the throat.

Regardless, he had only made a single hand gesture.

“Ugh… uh? Everyone…?”

Ji-ho, who hadn’t been able to snap out of it when the members called him, regained consciousness in an instant.

“Ji-ho!! Noona is here!”

Ji-ho’s sister hugged him while crying.

Ji-ho, however, looked like he still had no idea what was going on.

“Tae-young hyung? Ha-gyeom? Even Yoon-seo? Why is Noona here too? No, before that, what happened to me…”

As he recognized the people around him, Ji-ho made eye contact with the Demon God.

“And you are…?”

“Later. Sleep for now. You must be tired.”

As soon as the Demon God finished speaking, Ji-ho closed his eyes as if he had fainted.

“Ji-ho?”

“Do not worry. He has simply fallen asleep. Let us move him to the car and take him back.”

Tae-young offered his back without hesitation, and Ha-gyeom and Yoon-seo placed Ji-ho on it.

With a grunt, Tae-young stood up and headed outside the thatched house.

Even so, he didn’t forget to say something as he passed by the Demon God.

“Sun-woo, thank you.”

“Hmph. Repay me with worship.”

The gratitude didn’t come only from Tae-young.

Ji-ho’s sister, Ha-gyeom, and Yoon-seo all made sure to say thank you before leaving.

And Yoon-seo added one more thing.

“What about you, hyung? Aren’t you coming out with us?”

“You move Ji-ho first. I shall follow shortly.”

Yoon-seo nodded once and left.

In this way, only the Demon God and the evil spirit remained.

The movement of grabbing something from Ji-ho’s shoulder was, naturally, the act of capturing the evil spirit.

“Hmm.”

It was the first proper evil spirit he had seen since coming to this world.

The Demon God turned the spirit this way and that, as if selecting a fresh apple.

The evil spirit had a lustrous black sheen and gave off a thick scent of malice.

“You are packed with malice, and having clung to Ji-ho until just now, you look quite delicious.”

“Gwek, gwek.”

The evil spirit, sensing its end, let out a pathetic shriek.

And that was the end of it.

The Demon God casually tore off the part corresponding to the spirit’s head with his other hand.

“To think you would interfere with my comeback. And by possessing a member, no less. You shall repay that sin by becoming my snack.”

When he squeezed the torn head, both the head and the body instantly turned into black mist.

The Demon God activated his Authority, [Spiritual Feast].

“Huuuh.”

With a deep breath, all the black mist was sucked into the Demon God’s lungs.

Creeeeak—

An extremely minute cracking sound echoed from the chains.

“Oh.”

He could feel the power.

It was an incredibly faint power, but he could definitely feel it.

Like parched earth soaking up water during a drought, the Demon God absorbed that small bit of strength and savored it.

The power obtained from Fan No. 1.

And the power obtained by absorbing spiritual energy.

This was demonic nature and terror.

On the day all his power was restored, the Demon God would go out into the world and—

“Hmm?”

The Demon God, who was savoring the power, tilted his head.

“Huh?”

He felt the power again.

Something was strange.

The nature of the power obtained from the fan and the power obtained from the evil spirit was different.

It felt as if they existed separately.

The Demon God, who used to obtain the same kind of power from both spiritual energy and worship, was slightly puzzled.

‘Is this a trick of the gods?’

Even if that were the case, both types of power were definitely something the Demon God could use.

It wasn’t as if he was unable to use one of them.

The Demon God looked up at the ceiling of the thatched house.

Of course, what he saw was the sky beyond the ceiling.

‘I do not yet know the intention. But as long as it does not prevent me from recovering my strength, I shall eventually figure it out.’

As a being that does not perish, time was ultimately on the Demon God’s side.

The Demon God did not panic.

On the contrary, he was relaxed.

With such leisurely steps, the Demon God left the thatched house and headed toward the vehicle.

Tap, tap.

He patted the black ghost doll, the Shadow, inside his pocket.

“You saw how it ended, didn’t you? I trust you will behave yourself.”

The Shadow trembled.

The Shadow had learned that it could do nothing and would simply perish before a being of such an immeasurably high status.

The Shadow replied not in its forced language, but in a sound fitting its status.

“Kyu.”

***

Inside the car, Ji-ho slept deeply without waking up.

Even after arriving home, he was carried on Tae-young’s back to his room, where he slept for about two more hours.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling.

“This is…”

It was his own room.

His room, which was always perfect in its cleaning, organization, and arrangement.

Memories slowly returned.

They were strange memories.

Because he had done so many things that he normally wouldn’t do.

It wasn’t that he never felt self-reproach, worry, or distress.

But even so, this was too much.

Worrying about the team’s future was one thing, but to hole himself up because of it?

To worry about his own presence instead of being happy about the new member’s success?

Most of all, seeking out a shaman he happened to hear about after all that agonizing?

“Ugh.”

His head throbbed.

It felt as if he had been possessed by something until now.

As he held his head alone, he heard the sounds of the members talking outside.

“Sun-woo? That’s not how you do it.”

“No. Do you think I am unable to do even this much?”

“Hyuuung, you’re doing it wrong right now.”

“I told you, no. Just trust me.”

“Let Sun-woo do what he wants. I’m on Sun-woo’s side now.”

“Hmph, Ha-gyeom. Have you finally become a loyal subordinate?”

The unfamiliar voice was likely the new member, Sun-woo.

According to Yoon-seo, Sun-woo used strange historical drama speech and called the members his subordinates; it was true.

Judging by the conversation, Sun-woo was doing something, but it seemed the members didn’t think he was doing it right.

“Wait? All the members are here? Are they still on vacation?”

He picked up the phone plugged into the charger by the bed and checked the date.

“What? The date has already passed?”

Instinctively, Ji-ho searched for [Pantheon].

Vacation was over, so why were all the members here? Had they really failed?

But then.

“They announced a comeback?!”

The more he searched, the more he broke into a cold sweat.

The new member Sun-woo was highly trending, and the group was moving again.

Yet here I was, having sought out a random shaman and cut off all contact.

The reason all the members were here.

Could it be because of me?

Suddenly, as he turned his head, he saw an empty spot on the plastic model display shelf.

The spot where the T-62 should have been.

He had put the talisman inside it while assembling it.

It was a talisman he hadn’t even believed in his whole life.

“What on earth was I doing?”

Ji-ho talked to himself, feeling utterly lost.

And, though Ji-ho himself didn’t know it, because the evil spirit was gone, his original personality had returned.

A rational, logical, and planned personality.

That personality immediately brought up the order of things he had to do.

The first thing to do was clear.

“I have to apologize first.”

Ji-ho took a deep breath and sprang up from the bed.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘I don’t think I was myself.’

‘Sun-woo, nice to meet you.’

As he walked toward the door, thinking of the words he absolutely had to say.

Bang.

The door swung open.

“Whoa!”

“Oh, Ji-ho. Are you awake?”

The one who kicked the door open and entered was the Demon God.

“Sun-woo? You’re Sun-woo, right? Nice to—”

“I have exercised my creativity on this.”

“?”

It took a few moments to identify what the object Sun-woo thrust forward was.

Caterpillars, a barrel, soldier figures—

“Th-th-this… This is the limited edition I kept so carefully without even opening the packaging?”

The limited-edition plastic model had turned into ‘something that used to be’ a limited-edition plastic model.

The head of a soldier figure was inside the tank barrel.

The caterpillars were broken and folded in half.

Even a tank destroyed by an actual shell wouldn’t look like this.

It was a surreal sight, as if a demonic being had held the tank in its hand and fiddled with it.

What did he just say?

Exercised his creativity?

“How about the title ‘Battlefield Touched by the Demon God’?”

A title that was not a lie, though Ji-ho didn’t know that.

Because it matched his own impressions strangely well, he felt even angrier.

He clenched his fists from the shock.

“I smashed the tank that was over there. I made this thinking of placing a new one in its spot.”

“What?”

“The tank that contained the talisman and the business card. Come to think of it, why did you put a business card in there? I found you easily thanks to that.”

“You… you smashed that, Sun-woo?”

“Yes. Something about it felt strange.”

Was the finishing strange?

Or the paint job?

With such a misunderstanding, Ji-ho was at a loss for words.

If so, then Sun-woo was his savior.

He himself had put the business card inside because he didn’t want to leave it anywhere else out of shame, and to think Sun-woo discovered it.

“Ji-ho.”

Behind Sun-woo, his sister and the members entered.

Thanks to Sun-woo, these people were able to find me.

Ji-ho faced them all.

Now was the time to speak.

To say he was sorry. To say thank you. And to ask for forgiveness.

The rational, logical, and planned Ji-ho was about to open his mouth.

“Ev-everyone… Ahem. Hmm.”

What was this?

The words didn’t come out easily.

“Everyone—”

They were words he obviously had to say, and now was exactly the time, yet the words just wouldn’t come out.

“Uh—”

As he stood there like a fool.

Thump. Tae-young touched Ji-ho’s shoulder.

“It’s fine.”

“Tae-young hyung?”

“I said it’s fine.”

Then thump, thump.

There wasn’t a hint of hesitation or reproach in his touch.

“Ji-ho hyung! We’re doing great thanks to Sun-woo hyung. You’ll be surprised when you hear the new song! Let’s go together quickly!”

This time, Yoon-seo ran over and spoke vibrantly.

Yoon-seo’s sparkling eyes were, as always, clear, and no resentment toward Ji-ho was visible.

“Whew…”

Next to approach was Ha-gyeom.

Because he had heard those strange words during the phone call with Ji-ho, Ha-gyeom had been distressed throughout this whole ordeal.

He had every right to be angry.

“I’m so relieved. Really.”

He gave Ji-ho a hug and then pulled away.

From his friend’s embrace, he felt no blame toward Ji-ho at all.

Behind the members, his sister was wiping her eyes.

How could no one blame me even in this situation?

Even though I caused such trouble like a fool during this important period?

To think they would forgive me like this.

Ji-ho’s eyes also began to moisten.

“Ji-ho, your sin is quite great.”

Cough.

His sister, who was wiping her eyes, made a sound of disbelief.

“U-uh? Right?”

A flustered Ji-ho looked at Sun-woo.

The new member had an incredibly serious expression.

Just as he wondered if he should apologize to him separately.

“Therefore, I believe this will be acceptable.”

With those words, he thrust forward the remains of the plastic model from earlier.

“…….”

And it didn’t even end there.

“Now, and this is for you, Ji-ho.”

Sun-woo stood a single photo atop the remains of the plastic model.

“It is my official profile photo.”

“Huh? Why this?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?”

The Demon God looked at him strangely instead.

Ji-ho was flustered, wondering if he had misunderstood something.

“Naturally, it means you should worship me from now on.”

Ji-ho thought to himself.

‘What is this guy?’

***

Two days later, at the recording studio.

The first lyrics of the song flowed out.

“I can feel the one and only you.”

Now, it was truly the beginning.