Chapter 31: The Demon God Eliminates

“Then strive your hardest.”

The Demon God’s encouragement was so warm that A-GON’s tempers flared in an instant.

“What did you just say?”

“Strive our hardest? To us, your seniors?”

Of course, the Demon God remained dignified.

“Are you planning not to strive your hardest then?”

“That’s not it! Of course we’ll work hard!”

“Then why the fuss if you’re going to do it anyway?”

Every single word from the Demon God made their blood pressure rise.

Even though they weren’t at that age yet, the members of A-GON all clutched the backs of their necks.

“This bastard!”

Just as they were about to explode, unable to hold back any longer.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

The sound of knocking echoed.

– Can I come iiiin?

Then came a cheerful voice.

The A-GON Team Leader, who had been ignoring his group’s behavior until now, spoke urgently.

“It’s time for ‘Assault! The Waiting Room.’ Snap out of it! Get it together!”

[Assault! The Waiting Room]

A segment where Lua, a member of the girl group Aegis and a music show MC, personally visits waiting rooms for interviews!

They usually feature one or two teams per broadcast, and this time, A-GON was the target.

The concept was a sudden visit, like an ‘assault,’ but naturally, it happened after all prior agreements were made.

One member of the team even becomes a special MC to interview their own group alongside Lua.

“X, get ready for the special MC spot. The rest of you, watch your expressions. Smile. I said smile.”

Since they couldn’t keep the broadcasting station staff waiting outside for long, A-GON was forced to suppress both their anger and their blood pressure.

“You Pantheon punks, especially you with the arrogant speech. No matter how much you act out, you’ll never beat Izm.”

With that final curse from the leader, X, A-GON turned their backs on Pantheon.

Having observed the situation up to that point, their Team Leader spoke to Team Leader Oh.

“Pantheon’s Team Leader. Kids’ squabbles are their own business. You know well enough to clear out when ‘Assault! The Waiting Room’ arrives, right?”

“Hmph. Kids’ business? You were just standing there snickering with them.”

“No, that was just happenstance…”

“Forget it.”

Team Leader Oh snorted but spoke to Pantheon.

“Our camera rehearsal is soon. Let’s go.”

If they picked a fight here, Pantheon would be the ones getting blamed by the production crew. The Team Leader made the wise decision to focus on the rehearsal instead.

As things were being wrapped up.

“Hello, this is Lua from Aegis! A-GON seniors! Pantheon everyone!”

Lua entered and offered a vibrant greeting.

The broadcasting station staff also busily crowded inside.

A-GON welcomed the people with forced smiles.

And amidst Pantheon vacating the area, the Demon God offered A-GON his final observation.

“Indeed, you were going to work hard anyway. It is good to see you doing so with smiles.”

Crash!

A-GON’s smiles shattered into pieces instantly.

***

“Ugh, seriously!”

Main Writer Jang Bo-mi vented her irritation as she entered the sub-control room.

“What’s wrong?”

PD Joo Hak-sung asked casually.

“It’s A-GON. They were stiff and a total mess during the ‘Assault! The Waiting Room’ segment. And they’re already three years into their career.”

They had ultimately failed to recover from the mental damage caused by the Demon God.

Even so, as Jang Bo-mi said, they were professionals in their third year, so there was no excuse.

“The ones we need to grab are Pantheon. Pantheon.”

This was something Jang Bo-mi had been telling Joo Hak-sung repeatedly since before the music show started.

“Please listen to me. Their atmosphere is great after the member change. This comeback has plenty of buzz. We should have sent ‘Assault! The Waiting Room’ to Pantheon.”

A-list idols only appear on cable music shows like MusicNet. They don’t even look at our broadcast.

We need to build good relations while they haven’t blown up yet so we can scout them later.

However, Joo Hak-sung lowered his head without a word.

“…….”

Staring at the PD, Jang Bo-mi was suddenly struck by a doubt.

“Director, it’s not that, is it?”

“Hmm?”

A startled Joo Hak-sung asked back defensively.

“A-GON is an Izm label. Director, you’re not still involved in something with Izm, are you?”

“No, no.”

“You’ve already been caught in several accidents. You even received a warning that you’d be fired if there’s one more problem.”

Jang Bo-mi’s gaze grew increasingly sharp, but Joo Hak-sung waved his hands dismissively.

“Hey, I told you it’s not that.”

Then he even sprouted some preposterous nonsense.

“Is building a stable line with Izm only good for me? Scouting artists becomes easier, right?”

“We both know it’s not because of scouting.”

“Ah, and do I eat alone? Huh?”

This was clearly about money.

“You do eat alone.”

“Ahem.”

Joo Hak-sung had nothing to say and averted his gaze.

“I’m coordinating everything. If you just wait a little—”

“Coordinating, my foot. Why don’t you try coordinating the crypto ratio in your assets? Everyone knows you did that because you lost money on crypto. And you only picked the weirdest shitcoins to invest in.”

“Stop. That hurts. That hurts way too much.”

Joo Hak-sung shut down the conversation.

Jang Bo-mi lamented and beat her chest, but she couldn’t overturn the Director’s decision immediately.

“Anyway! This is all the Director’s responsibility! Ugh, we have to keep Pantheon!”

Overwhelmed by irritation, she ended up leaving the control room.

Left alone, Joo Hak-sung looked out the window.

– Pantheon is going up for camera rehearsal.

the assistant director announced through the intercom.

“Is that so?”

There was something Jang Bo-mi didn’t know.

Down, down, and further down.

Joo Hak-sung’s trashy coins were still plummeting.

To someone like him, the ‘pocket money’ handed over by Izm was incredibly sweet.

And what he was planning to do to Pantheon now wasn’t just a matter of excluding them from one segment.

Tsk.

With a click of his tongue, Joo Hak-sung instructed the assistant director.

“You know the drill, right? Once Pantheon finishes their final rehearsal, go and deliver the news.”

He added the final words.

“That they’ve been excluded from today’s performance.”

Excluded from the music show entirely.

***

Music shows are a series of rehearsals.

From pre-rehearsal, camera rehearsal, and dry rehearsal to the final rehearsal right before the live broadcast.

Pantheon finished all those rehearsals successfully.

“The Director hasn’t said much, but he keeps saying it’s good?”

“Are we really doing that well?”

While they were having this conversation.

“Of course you’re doing well!”

The CEO, who had returned from meeting a broadcasting station executive, walked inside.

“How was the meeting?”

When the Team Leader asked, the CEO nodded.

“It went well. Since our current atmosphere is good, they were friendly.”

At those words, the mood in the waiting room brightened even further.

“Just perform the stage well and come down.”

The CEO requested with a smile.

Naturally, his words were filled with trust that they would do well.

And just then.

Knock, knock.

The sound of knocking was heard, and the assistant director entered.

“Um, Team Leader.”

The assistant director, failing to recognize the CEO, spoke to the Team Leader.

“Yes. Oh, this is our Origin CEO.”

“Gasp! The CEO?”

It wasn’t just a surprised reaction.

It was accompanied by an incredibly troubled expression.

“?”

“Ugh, I’m just delivering a message.”

A troubled tone was added to the troubled expression.

It was an even more ominous development.

“What is it? Please speak.”

“The Director says he’s sorry. He says today’s filming will be… difficult.”

“What did you say?”

Even the conclusion was bad.

The Team Leader couldn’t hold back and raised his voice.

“You’re telling us to drop out?”

“Ah, yes. The Director says he doesn’t have the final margin to fit in one more team.”

The assistant director kept talking about the PD.

Well, the decision-making power rested with the PD.

There was no point in scolding the assistant director.

However, one thing in the assistant director’s words was bothering him.

“You said it’s about the margin to fit in one more team at the end? But we were on the cue sheet from the beginning.”

“Yes, that is true, but…”

The Team Leader narrowed his eyes.

“Then tell me. Which team is going in instead of us?”

There was no need to ask.

“It’s A-GON.”

The air turned heavy instantly.

The assistant director offered a small, mumbling greeting.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Only then did he cautiously leave the room.

“…….”

The waiting room grew quiet.

Only the people from Origin Ent remained.

“We’ve been hit.”

The CEO spoke in a low voice.

“We were hit by Izm. So they brought A-GON here from the start just to do this.”

The CEO was aware of A-GON’s presence, having been reported by the Team Leader via messenger.

“Even though they haven’t been seen much on cable lately, they suddenly appeared here.”

“Yes, they were sent intentionally. They weren’t on the cue sheet because they were meant to take our spot.”

“It seems the way they picked a fight with our kids at the beginning was intentional too.”

The CEO and the Team Leader pieced the circumstances together one by one.

“A warning? Mockery? No, it’s both.”

“It’s exactly as Team Leader Oh said.”

No matter how hard Origin tried, no matter how good Pantheon’s atmosphere was, Izm could blow them away whenever they felt like it.

A warning and a mockery.

Receiving this, the CEO and the Team Leader hung their heads in misery—

“These bastards! I was just with an executive, huh? We ate, huh? We drank tea, huh? I did every meeting I needed to do!”

“CEO! Let’s flip the broadcasting station upside down! The PD is definitely playing tricks in the middle. Shall I go grab him by the collar?”

Instead of hanging their heads, they were raging.

Of course, they weren’t actually going to cause a violent incident. Still, it was worth lodging a protest through the executive now.

They were saying that this wasn’t the Origin of the past, nor was it the Pantheon of the past.

“Telling us we’re excluded at this timing must have been ordered by Izm. Team Leader Oh, you know which bastard works this dirty, right?”

“I know. Isn’t it that slick-bearded bastard?”

The CEO and the Team Leader knew the faces of Izm’s high command well.

A certain person with a well-managed, gentle-looking beard—who was not gentle at all—popped into their minds.

“Director Jang Young-bae.”

“That’s right. It seems that man is at it again.”

Their opinions were in agreement.

The CEO and the Team Leader simultaneously whipped around to look at Pantheon.

“Guys!”

““Yes.””

“Since time is tight, the cancellation of the broadcast appearance is likely unavoidable. But I won’t let you leave with your heads hanging!”

The members also spoke in unison.

“We already got a good reaction from the Music Trouble stage.”

“That’s right, the stage is a pity, but we can make up for it in the second week of promotions.”

Actually, they weren’t wrong.

Scouting offers were already coming in from everywhere.

“Tsk, the only downside is the wasted effort for today’s stage.”

“We should just consider it practice.”

While everyone was grumbling but coming to an agreement.

“Excuse me? I have not yet understood.”

The Demon God spoke with a puzzled face.

“Ah, is the situation still hard for Sun-woo to understand? Which part don’t you get?”

The CEO asked the Demon God kindly.

“Specifically, can we not simply perform the stage and then lodge a protest?”

“Ah, you see. Even if we lodge a protest, it takes time to reflect. But the stage is happening right now.”

“Hmm.”

The Demon God seemed to understand, then asked another thing.

“I know music shows well now. Isn’t it a big problem if there’s a hole in the schedule right before the live broadcast? Shouldn’t the Director have to put us on to prevent that?”

The CEO still explained with patience.

“It’s not a hole because A-GON is going in instead of us.”

“That is not what I mean.”

The Demon God still posed his question.

“I am talking about a case where someone ‘eliminates’ A-GON.”

“…….”

“Then wouldn’t it be a hole in the schedule?”

No, then it wouldn’t just be a matter of a hole in the schedule.

The faces of everyone surrounding the Demon God turned pale.