Chapter 26: Mutual Worship (1)

Following the confusing greeting, the Demon God threw out even more unbelievable words.

“Now, vanish.”

Ki-han was inwardly startled.

‘What on earth is he saying to the writer?’

While Ki-han was briefly questioning his own common sense, the Demon God’s voice reached him again.

“Are you refusing to move? In that posture?”

Only then did Ki-han realize those words were directed at him.

Since he had frozen while giving a 120-degree bow to Writer Song Hwi-na, Ki-han’s posture and position were quite awkward.

“Urgh.”

He had become a laughingstock in front of Pantheon, the very group he had been mocking just a moment ago.

Ki-han tried to move quickly out of embarrassment, but his steps got tangled again, and he fell to the side.

– What, is he doing physical comedy?

– I think that happened while he was trying to step aside.

– He was just picking a fight with Pantheon. He probably wanted to get away quickly.

Ki-han sought out his members with a face so red it looked ready to explode.

Even the Ennexion members, who had looked out for Ki-han on Agola, turned away from him.

From the members’ perspective, it was shameful that he had initiated a fight only to come back crawling after falling like that.

“Hmph.”

Having lightly disposed of Ki-han, the Demon God looked at Writer Song Hwi-na and PD Choi Ji-seung. The two had already approached Pantheon.

“Sun-woo, I’m sorry. I wanted to give you a pre-recording slot or a private waiting room. It was difficult this time because there are so many senior teams.”

“Strive harder in the future.”

Song Hwi-na whispered to the Demon God apologetically.

“So this is the Sun-woo the writer mentioned. Seeing you in person, your aura really is incredible. But that historical drama speech is also hilarious.”

“You guessed the aura correctly. However, my speech is not hilarious. It possesses dignity.”

Director Choi Ji-seung also burst out laughing after talking to the Demon God.

“Hello! We are Pantheon!”

Led by Tae-young, the other members gave their greetings.

Song Hwi-na, who had met them before, greeted them warmly, and Choi Ji-seung also looked over each member with a smile.

Then, he spoke unexpectedly.

“Ah, excuse me, are you Producer Hoon?”

Those words were directed at the CEO.

The name he used as a producer was Hoon.

“?”

“The songs written by Hoon were always to my taste. I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

In the past, photos of the CEO had often appeared in interview articles. He had recognized the CEO, who had regained his looks from those days thanks to the weight loss.

“Hahahat, so Director Choi liked my songs.”

The CEO’s goal today was to completely open up a route for appearing on Music Trouble.

There was no way he would miss such a golden opportunity.

The CEO immediately pounced on the PD and the writer.

“Then how did you find this song? It’s different in style from my previous works, but I poured myself into it.”

“Poured yourself in?”

“Yes. About 15kg worth?”

The PD and writer laughed, taking it as a joke.

Since it was a busy situation before the live broadcast, they inevitably had to head back out, but the CEO stuck close and walked out with them as if he were part of their original group.

It was a truly skillful maneuver.

“My songs have been used a lot as variety show BGM. Oh? Come to think of it, Writer Song, you do a lot of variety shows too, right? Did you see the recording studio video we produced with plenty of CG? Our kids’ variety sense is—”

Adding in some expert tongue-wagging, the CEO disappeared just like that.

“…….”

The hall fell into the same silence that had occurred when Pantheon first opened the doors.

No, it was a deeper silence.

Because they had seen the director and writer of MusicNet—who held high status in the idol world—be won over right before their eyes.

No one spoke, but the way they pricked up their ears showed how much they were paying attention to Pantheon.

At some point, one person courageously broke the silence.

“Ha-gyeom, hey!”

“Oh? Do-yoon? Hey! Is SHOOT still doing music shows? How many weeks are you guys promoting?”

A member of another idol group who had a connection with a Pantheon member had come over to say hello.

This was the beginning.

“Tae-young, long time no see!”

“Yoon-seo, have you been well?”

“Ji-ho! We met once before, right?”

Teams that barely had any connection started flocking over.

Predicting a commotion, the Team Leader stepped forward.

The square-jawed man stood firmly and raised his voice.

“Form a line!”

***

Music Trouble is a live broadcast.

A moment of commotion passed.

Excluding Ennexion, whose spirits had died,

The idols were heating up again with the tension and excitement of the stage.

Naturally, Pantheon was the same.

Expectations had risen even further after capturing the staff’s attention during several rehearsals.

“There’s a reaction!”

“It’s true, everyone was focusing on us during the rehearsal.”

Yoon-seo and Ha-gyeom spoke excitedly.

“Ugh…”

Unlike his usual cool-headed self, Ji-ho was suffering from pressure.

“Sun-woo, will you be okay?”

Tae-young asked the Demon God.

“With what?”

“There will be about three hundred people out there right now. The pressure is no joke when you see it with your own eyes.”

“Three hundred? How cute.”

To the Demon God, who had waged wars across the stars, three hundred people was child’s play.

While the Demon God laughed leisurely, a staff member came to announce the order for the live show.

“Let’s go.”

Led by Tae-young, Pantheon arrived just beneath the stage.

“U-Ugh… Ugh…”

Ji-ho was making sounds as if he were dying.

“I am fine, but is Ji-ho alright?”

“He’s fine. He does better on stage when he’s like that. If he actually vomits, we get the best performance.”

“Then shall I deliver a punch to his abdomen?”

“No!”

Setting aside the Demon God’s method of resolution.

“Whew….”

Tae-young, having regulated his breathing, looked back at the members.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing to say before the main stage starts. But everyone, you worked hard to get here.”

His eyes, looking over Sun-woo, Yoon-seo, Ha-gyeom, and Ji-ho, were filled with genuine pride.

The members also faced their trusted leader, Tae-young.

“Hyung… I don’t know if I should say this either…”

Yoon-seo spoke hesitantly.

Since Yoon-seo rarely spoke up in such important moments, the members focused on him.

“I… I… Ugh, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“What is it? Just speak comfortably.”

“Tae-young hyung, you received an offer from Izm too, didn’t you…?”

““!!!!””

If it was an offer from Izm, it was obvious. It was the same offer that took Kang-yul away.

Tae-young had received a transfer offer as well?

“Because hyung always placed first in the monthly evaluations even at Izm. I thought it made sense. So when Kang-yul hyung disappeared, I was so scared that you would disappear too…”

Yoon-seo’s eyes welled up.

“Hyung, thank you. For staying and not leaving.”

The team had been severely shaken after Kang-yul left.

If both Kang-yul and Tae-young had left at once? There would be nothing left to see. They would have disbanded already.

And they would have each returned to their homes.

Carrying only bitter memories.

“I guess you heard the phone call.”

“It’s just, I didn’t do it on purpose—”

“It’s okay.”

Tae-young moved to stroke Yoon-seo’s head, but lowered his hand since they were about to go on stage.

“You must have suffered mentally. Thank you for holding on.”

“Hyung….”

Tae-young also met the gazes of Ha-gyeom and Ji-ho.

“Thank you both too. Ha-gyeom, thank you for holding on despite your sensitivity. Ji-ho, thank you for holding on while blaming yourself because of Kang-yul. Thank you all for enduring.”

““Hyung.””

And finally.

He met the gaze of Sun-woo—now officially nicknamed the Demon God—Demon God Sun-woo.

“Is this a staring contest? I shall not lose.”

“Hmm.”

Tae-young briefly closed his eyes instead of meeting the gaze.

He was incredibly grateful, he was an indispensable existence now, he looked forward to working together in the future—he had many things to say.

“Hmph.”

The Demon God laughed.

“I know.”

And he said just that one thing.

The Demon God was also feeling it now.

To him, it was a punishment, but to the members, it was life itself. He knew how desperate they were.

The Demon God was one who stood on the battlefield.

He does not abandon the person standing beside him.

“Trust me. I shall present you with the greatest stage.”

For the Demon God himself, for the members, for the ten fans, and for the people encountering Pantheon for the first time today—today’s stage had to be the best.

Tae-young opened his closed eyes.

“Let’s head up.”

***

In the short interval of taking their positions on stage and waiting for the lights to come on.

‘Oh.’

The Demon God was impressed.

He understood why Tae-young had mentioned the pressure.

Three hundred subordinates under his command and three hundred idol fans were completely different feelings.

‘I suppose it is natural.’

The three hundred to be commanded and the three hundred to be made to admire were qualitatively different.

‘The punishment called an idol makes it impossible to lower one’s guard.’

Until he came up, he thought his inherent aura would be enough.

Of course, that alone could achieve a certain level of success.

But what the Demon God wanted now was not just that much.

If so, the task was clear.

‘I shall release all the aura corresponding to my recovered strength.’

Whoosh.

The demonic aura headed toward the audience from the stage, where the lights had not yet turned on.

The audience on-site, who had heard about Pantheon’s unusual presence from the fans at the arrival walk, were already focusing on the stage.

– I feel a bit strange.

– Yeah, me too. It’s a bit chilling.

– Somehow… don’t you think it’s because we’re looking at the stage?

And then it began.

The song of worship.

“I can feel the one and only you.”

Within a synth sound like fog, a voice filled with demonic charm whispered from the stage, from the speakers, to the idol fans.

That he could feel you.

– Ah.

Once again, a short exclamation.

At the call that sounded as if it were addressing the fans themselves, they focused on the Demon God.

And the beginning of the group dance.

The speed wasn’t fast, giving a languid feeling, yet an unexpectedly high-difficulty choreography unfolded.

“?”

While engrossed in the choreography, the Demon God felt a strange sensation.

‘What is this now?’

He had released all the strength he had recovered so far.

He knew exactly how much that strength was.

But now, an aura beyond that was being released.

“When I saw you in the sky where light does not reach”
“I became a comet and headed toward you.”

Tae-young’s solid voice took over the Demon God’s voice, and Yoon-seo followed, finishing the verse with a more lyrical and faint tone.

Toward you.

I am heading toward you.

And here too, the Demon God encountered a fascinating phenomenon.

‘Are the members’ voices resonating as if they are pulling from and using my aura? Furthermore, it is producing an effect greater than the power I have manifested now.’

Thanks to that, an immense destructive power was generated from the intro and the first verse.

Three hundred audience members fixed their gazes on the stage to see the approaching entity.

In the pre-chorus, Ha-gyeom built up the tension, followed by the rap parts of Tae-young, Yoon-seo, the Demon God, and then Ji-ho.

As the song entered its middle section, the sense of rhythm gradually strengthened and the BPM rose.

The demonic aura also gradually ascended.

Not just Ha-gyeom, but all the members amplified the aura while pulling from it through their vocals, rap, and choreography.

That meant each member was manifesting skill beyond what they were capable of.

Worship, elevation, and transcendence.

– Pantheon—!!!!

The shout let out by the ten fans from somewhere hit the ears.

The idol fans followed that shout and cried out.

“Pantheon! Pantheon!”

Long live the mature K-pop culture that cheers along even for other groups.

Because thanks to that, they could cheer for Pantheon at this moment without any psychological burden.

And because Pantheon was speaking too.

“That I became complete because you are here.”

It was the Demon God’s third line, following Ji-ho’s rap part.

The one who makes me complete is you.

Do you know that?

How could one just stand there without cheering for the Demon God who speaks like this?

– PANTHEON!!!! PANTHEON!!!! PANTHEON!!!!

Intense cheering followed, born of pure admiration without any proper cheering guide.

Simultaneously, the song headed toward its climax.

With a magnificent sound, craving you, the worship is completed.

The demonic charm also reached its peak.

‘Amplification of the aura? This is possible?’

That is why they are a team, and that is why they are members.

Gazes crossed between the Demon God and the members.

Trusting each other, making each other stand out more, and standing out even more through each other.

This was another form of mutual worship.

The Demon God laughed, shivering.

“Forever—”

Along with that laugh, the final line approached.

“—worship.”

A whisper.

To the members.

And to the fans.

In everyone’s ears.

That single word united the audience seats.

An immense exclamation flowed out, and the idol fans shivered too.

It was the moment a single word was engraved in their hearts.

It was.

– Worship.

The song of worship enveloped the scene.

***

Stepping down from the stage, the Demon God spoke to himself involuntarily.

“Colleagues, I see?”

To be able to share and amplify the demonic aura—isn’t this just like colleagues?

“Pardon? What did you say?”

Yoon-seo, who heard the Demon God’s mutter, poked his head in.

“It is nothing.”

“Eh? You definitely said something though?”

Along with a strange realization, the Demon God looked around at the members. Tae-young, Yoon-seo, Ha-gyeom, and Ji-ho, panting from the residual heat of the intense stage, came into his view.

They felt his gaze and raised their heads.

“Why are you looking at us so unenthusiastically?”

“Narrowing your eyes and pouting… Hyung, did you not like the stage?”

“I loved it so much! You did great too, Sun-woo!”

“It was perfect.”

The Demon God spoke reluctantly.

“Well…, you were quite useful.”

Colleagues, indeed.

Let’s just settle for ‘quite useful subordinates.’

For now.