Chapter 30: The Demon God Manufactures a Jinx

Following Thursday’s Music Trouble and the weekend’s U-Gae-Dal shoot, they appeared on their second cable music show on Tuesday.

It was a place they had appeared at during their last promotions thanks to the CEO’s established connections, and the atmosphere remained favorable.

– CEO Gu, it seems like you’re getting a reaction lately? Congratulations!

– Congratulations for what. There’s still a long way to go.

And on Wednesday, they even came to appear on their third cable music show.

“Wow… we’re actually following a real schedule.”

Yoon-seo murmured.

It seemed he couldn’t believe that they had a schedule like real idols and that the van was actually moving.

“We are.”

Even in Tae-young’s short reply, a joyful mood was contained. It seemed he couldn’t suppress it, no matter how calm he tried to be.

After all, this was a flow they couldn’t have imagined until now.

“If we appear here, we’ve pretty much done all the music shows!”

Ha-gyeom shouted along.

However, the Demon God tilted his head.

“Is that so? I believe there are more broadcasting stations. What about K, M, and S?”

He was questioning the public broadcasting networks.

Ha-gyeom said they were doing all the music shows, but what about those stations?

“Well, it’s already too late for this time?”

In a single music broadcast, around ten to twenty idol teams appear.

Considering the number of idols, one could see that there were far more teams that never even set foot on a music show or just brushed past them.

And Pantheon was one of those teams.

When they applied for the appearance, they weren’t at a level for the public networks to consider them yet.

Of course, Izm wouldn’t be sitting idly by either.

“But next time will be different! The atmosphere is great thanks to you, Sun-woo!”

At Ha-gyeom’s hopeful prediction, the Demon God sought out Ji-ho for verification.

“Recite the dark future, Ji-ho.”

“It’s not dark! I’m just looking at it objectively!”

“In any case, recite it.”

“Tsk.”

Ji-ho felt wronged but eventually answered the Demon God’s question.

“I don’t think it’s completely impossible.”

“Oh?”

“First of all, our music chart position.”

Ji-ho answered based on objective evidence.

Over the weekend, their track finally entered the Top 100.

It was rank 86.

The Top 100—what people call the ‘Top Baek.’

The range where it’s noticeable even without searching, and where it’s officially exposed to the general public.

When they confirmed the ranking, the members, excluding the Demon God, were almost at the point of tears.

Idol fans in the community reacted immediately as well.

[ Pantheon is at #86? ]

└ [ Wow… that’s a huge hit for Pantheon lol ]

└ [ They finally hit double digits; it’s faster than I thought ]

└ [ Honestly, you have to admit they made it this far ]

“Furthermore, as U-Gae-Dal becomes a hot topic, the views on the variety shows we filmed before are rising together. Mentions are increasing overall, not just in the community.”

The views on even a single short video clip rose vertically, and comments saying ‘now is the time to stan’ were being exchanged.

Ji-ho’s eyes sparkled sharply along with his sharp analysis.

The Demon God was impressed by his multifaceted sharpness.

“Ji-ho, you are magnificent. If what you say is true, scouting from public networks should be coming soon.”

A different kind of expectation from previous activities began to drift inside the van.

The expectation that things were going well, that they could do better, and that it was okay to look beyond.

The CEO and the Team Leader, who had been listening to the members’ conversation, added a word from the front seats.

“So, finish today’s stage well too. Got it?”

“If the stage becomes a hot topic three times in a row, we’ll break through to public networks next time. I’m counting on you!”

Origin Ent was also exerting its maximum sales power.

The CEO even followed them to every music show they visited for the first time.

He encouraged the members, feeling that they were just a little, just a little bit away from breaking through.

Of course, the members’ answer was already decided.

““Yes!””

“Understood.”

It wasn’t exactly in unison.

But the will to do it was what mattered, the will.

***

By now, even the Demon God had a sense of how music shows flowed.

A structure of waiting in the waiting room, going through several rehearsals, and then filming the live stage.

However, the waiting room had changed.

“Oh? We’ve been assigned a waiting room this time?”

The treatment had improved to a waiting room shared by two teams, even if it wasn’t private.

“Yes. This isn’t even a place where the CEO has connections, yet they’re doing this for us.”

The CEO had disappeared somewhere for networking, and the Team Leader was moving with them.

Pantheon and the staff arrived in front of the waiting room in a good mood.

Then they checked the team names attached to the door.

[ A-GON ]

[ Pantheon ]

The names of the two teams were written like this.

“Uh oh.”

The Team Leader’s face hardened slightly.

Seeing this, the Demon God asked out of curiosity.

“What is the matter? Are they those with whom an ill fate continues, like Ennexion?”

It was a question befitting a lover of ill fate like the Demon God, but Yoon-seo shook his head slightly beside him.

“It’s a bit different. It’s not a personal ill fate. A-GON is a label team under Izm. Even teams like that keep their distance from us since we’re from Origin.”

Izm was a giant entertainment agency that commanded several subsidiary-like labels.

The Demon God nodded.

“Oh, so they do not associate with the enemy. A proper attitude.”

“…….”

Everyone more or less brushed off the Demon God’s words, but they were all startled by his next words.

“But why are their names not on the cue sheet?”

“Eh? Sun-woo, you know how to read a cue sheet?!”

“What are you talking about? This is already the third time. I learn everything quickly.”

The Demon God scanned the cue sheet.

He memorized the MC names, stage order, and even special stages at a glance.

“Wow! Our Sun-woo!”

The members burst into exclamations in unison.

“What do you take me for.”

When the Demon God glared unenthusiastically, everyone quickly avoided his eyes.

A cue sheet organizes the order and content of the broadcast day. Especially in live broadcasts, a cue sheet was absolutely necessary to run the program without hitches.

“Cue sheets can change depending on the situation on-site. Maybe a team bailed. It’ll probably be revised soon.”

“Is that so?”

The Demon God nodded at Tae-young’s explanation.

The situation on-site.

All sorts of things could happen.

***

Pantheon opened the waiting room door.

On the waiting room floor, tape had been used to divide the left and right sides.

A-GON was positioned on the left.

They were checking their preparations with their own staff.

Pantheon and their staff headed indifferently to the right.

“It’s Pantheon.”

Someone from A-GON’s side spoke up, then offered a half-hearted, ambiguous hand wave.

“Oh.”

They weren’t in a relationship where they usually exchanged greetings.

Tae-young bowed his head slightly at the unexpected greeting.

However, the A-GON member who gave the hand wave had already turned his body, so the timing was off.

In this way, it looked like they had received a greeting first but didn’t respond.

“Guys.”

Tae-young thought for a moment, then called Pantheon and explained the situation in a whispering voice.

“We should approach them first.”

Everyone nodded at Tae-young’s words.

Since A-GON were seniors of three years, and they were in the same waiting room.

However, they looked at Sun-woo, not knowing how he would take it.

“It cannot be helped. Fine.”

“Phew…….”

Fortunately, Sun-woo seemed to agree more or less, so everyone lined up and headed toward A-GON.

Pantheon approached in a line.

“Hello, we are Pantheon.”

The members bowed their heads in unison.

And—

There was no word.

Not a single person replied.

They didn’t smile, and they didn’t accept the greeting.

“…….”

The A-GON member who had raised his hand first turned his head away sharply, and the other members also avoided their gaze and immersed themselves in their own work.

“We were hooked.”

Ji-ho, whose mind worked quickly, spoke in a low voice.

They had created a situation for a greeting but then didn’t actually accept it.

“Heh! These guys are as clueless as ever.”

A slight burst of laughter came from among A-GON.

And their inner thoughts leaked out.

“I don’t know if they became a topic of conversation because they did well a couple of times, but you can’t succeed once you’re marked by Izm.”

“You know that well, so why do you try so hard?”

“Isn’t it about time you disappeared?”

The gaze of A-GON looking at Pantheon was filled with blatant superiority.

The pride of being under the giant agency Izm; the Pantheon that was marked by that giant Izm.

To them, Pantheon was an opponent that didn’t even count as a competitor.

Was that why?

“But what are you? Why didn’t you even greet us?”

A-GON, who hadn’t even accepted the greeting themselves, picked a fight only with the Demon God.

“What?”

The Demon God was incredibly puzzled by the A-GON member’s question.

“Was I not the one supposed to receive the greeting?”

“!”

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