Chapter 55: The Spirit Who Backed Away

“…….”

“…….”

The Demon God and the spirit stared at each other for a brief moment.

And in the next instant, the spirit lowered its gaze.

‘Good. As it should be.’

The Demon God was satisfied, yet he examined the summoned spirit.

‘Could it be an evil spirit would appear? Is it because of this body’s singing?’

If it were a human, no matter how perfectly the conditions for summoning a spirit were met, only a mere common ghost would appear.

The spirit that appeared, drawn by the Demon God’s and Ha-gyeom’s song, was an evil spirit.

It was only quietly submitting here, sensing the Demon God’s presence, but in truth, it was a being that had tormented humans for a long time.

‘Hmph.’

The Demon God chuckled softly.

Perhaps it was even better that an evil spirit appeared.

What if he were to destroy it and absorb its spiritual power?

There were two ways for the Demon God to strike at the chains of restraint bound to his back.

One was to gather fans and receive worship, as the God of the Throne had commanded.

The other was to vanquish such spiritual beings and absorb their spiritual power.

The latter method was not what the God of the Throne had suggested, so he had to be careful.

He felt as though he shouldn’t neglect being an idol and only focus on absorbing spiritual power.

‘But this case occurred during an activity, so.’

Of course, it was as good as the Demon God having deliberately summoned it, but he neatly ignored that fact.

‘It is your fault for mistaking this for an opportunity to torment humans and for being lured in.’

The Demon God, as always, asserted 100% of the fault to the other party. There was no negotiation.

‘How about it? Will you resist with your power? Or will you obediently perish?’

He conveyed his intent not through words, but through spiritual power.

The evil spirit, naturally, did not perish obediently.

– Kiiyaaaah!!!!

The evil spirit let out a shriek that only the Demon God could hear.

Simultaneously, the static noise in the studio became ear-splitting, and the lights began to flicker wildly.

It seemed as if a broadcasting accident was about to occur.

Yet, these phenomena did not transmit through the radio frequency at all—

“I behold hope—”

Ha-gyeom’s warm voice was sweet amidst all this.

– Kiiyak!

The evil spirit’s gaze turned towards Ha-gyeom.

It didn’t want to be destroyed by the Demon God, and it was afraid to fight him.

So, what was its next move?

The evil spirit’s form blurred.

It began to ripple like some kind of wave.

For example, it resembled a sound wave.

‘I see. It appeared because it was an evil spirit associated with song in the first place.’

The evil spirit attempted to possess Ha-gyeom!

It tried to enter through Ha-gyeom’s vocal cords while he was still singing.

Gasp.

Ha-gyeom took a deep breath.

His pupils dilated widely, and for a moment, his body stiffened.

Signs that control of his body was about to pass to the evil spirit.

However, the Demon God looked back and forth between Ha-gyeom and the evil spirit, then asked the evil spirit.

‘It is not easy, is it?’

It was true.

It was not easy.

The Demon God would never leave Ha-gyeom in danger.

Pantheon members shared his aura while working with the Demon God. Unbeknownst to them, they had developed resistance.

‘You, of all things, cannot swallow Ha-gyeom in one go.’

However, prolonged exposure to an evil spirit was not good for a human.

He was about to raise a hand to banish the evil spirit at this point.

“like the sun rising on the horizon—”

Was it not Ha-gyeom, exhaling the lyrics with the deep breath he had taken?

“?”

The Demon God stopped his hand.

Ha-gyeom was not only resisting possession but fighting back with all his might.

If the control of his body wavered, so would his song.

Ha-gyeom did not want his song to falter midway.

‘Ha-gyeom? Could it be, by his own power?’

“Warm sunlight surrounds me, body and soul.”

“I lift my eyes to the sky. An endlessly wide sky.”

The song continued without stopping.

Ha-gyeom’s face reddened and sweat trickled down, but the song absolutely did not stop.

A battle for control of his body.

The trembling from it was sublimated into vibrato.

The pain of resisting possession.

That was sublimated into high notes.

“At last, I have met the morning.”

And just like that, he perfectly delivered even the last lyric.

– Kiiiii?

And at the same time the song ended, the evil spirit ultimately failed its possession attempt and was expelled.

Even the evil spirit itself seemed dazed by this absurd situation.

Ha-gyeom, on the other hand, wore a puzzled expression as he rubbed his throat.

He felt something strange, but he didn’t seem to know exactly what it was.

“Hmph.”

The Demon God looked at the neutralized evil spirit.

‘Come hither.’

The Demon God destroyed the evil spirit and deliciously absorbed its spiritual power.

“Am I seeing things right now? Is that really a ghost?”

After the song ended, during the commercial break.

Everyone was completely pale.

Ki So-eun, the writer, the technical director, and even Ha-gyeom and the team leader outside the studio, all of them.

“Hm? What are you saying?”

Except for the Demon God, of course.

“Sun-woo, didn’t you just do something with a ghost? You stared at it, said something, and it disappeared, right?”

At Ki So-eun’s words, everyone focused on the Demon God.

The evil spirit had manifested a physical form, so everyone present had clearly witnessed it.

A situation arose where he couldn’t deflect or lie—

“What words are these? I saw naught.”

“Huh?”

Of course, the Demon God ignored the entire situation. He brazenly lied.

“A ghost? Do you believe in such things?”

Even though he had just conversed with an evil spirit, he shamelessly and nonchalantly frowned.

And going further.

“Now that I think of it, everyone’s complexions have been poor, yet nothing has happened since earlier. Did you perhaps experience a mass hallucination?”

“M-Mass hallucination?”

A phenomenon where a group temporarily experiences the same hallucination.

He accused them all of it.

“It seems everyone is weary. Is it due to being awake at night?”

““…….””

Everyone had clearly seen it.

The temperature had dropped so much that even their breaths were visible.

“I definitely saw it—.”

As Ki So-eun mumbled to herself, the writer next to her also nodded.

However.

“A ghost, you say? Such a thing does not exist in reality. You should know well, should you not?”

Reason and logic were on the Demon God’s side.

No one knew why they were on his side, but for now, they were.

To someone who spoke like that, would you say, ‘You’re the only one who didn’t see the ghost here’?

No one here was willing to take on that role.

“That could be it. Everyone’s been tired lately.”

The technical director was the first to declare surrender.

“I-Is that so? Was I tired?”

The writer tilted her head and surrendered.

“I clearly saw it…. You mean it wasn’t real?”

Ki So-eun put up the last fight, but there was no evidence for a spiritual incident. It was impossible to insist on it alone.

So, as a last resort, she asked Ha-gyeom for support.

“What about you, Ha-gyeom? What do you think?”

“Phew….”

Ha-gyeom, who was rubbing his throat, glanced at Sun-woo once and then spoke.

“It seems I must have been tired.”

“What?!”

Ki So-eun’s request for support was immediately rejected.

“But Ha-gyeom, you were the palest, weren’t you? I saw your body trembling.”

It seemed she had observed his physical reaction from resisting possession.

“I was nervous about singing well.”

“?”

“I guess I practiced too much to do well after coming here today. And I was also worried about the pronunciation since it’s a pop song.”

“!”

Ha-gyeom retreated into the realm of reason and logic.

Left alone, Ki So-eun had no choice but to accept the situation.

“Is that so….”

And then, the Demon God’s finishing blow.

“Indeed. If not, then inspect the studio CCTV later.”

The CCTV that would have been erased black by the Demon God’s aura.

“Shall I do that….”

And so, the Demon God buried the incident.

Overturning common sense was an extremely difficult task.

With the common sense that ghosts don’t exist, or even if they do, they don’t appear before him, combined with the Demon God’s brazen attitude, there was nothing to be done.

Moreover, the song was performed exceptionally well, and there was no broadcasting accident.

Since it wasn’t a visible radio broadcast, the spirit’s form wasn’t captured anywhere, and amidst the chaos, everyone bravely continued to sing and deliver their lines.

There were no verbal mistakes that the team leader had worried about.

“May all regain their composure. And when you return home, partake of nutritious food, warm your bodies, and sleep soundly.”

“…….”

Everyone felt somewhat wronged by the unnecessarily proper advice….

Meanwhile, the short commercial break ended.

Even in her daze, Ki So-eun opened her mouth.

The words she uttered were a ment, re-mentioning the program name after the commercial.

2 AM, the perfect time for us to meet.

I’m DJ Ki So-eun.

“2 AM, the perfect time for ghosts to appear. I’m DJ Ki So-eun.”

“…?”

In the end, someone did make a slip of the tongue.

In the guest waiting room after the broadcast.

The team leader sprawled out, his tension released, and Ha-gyeom was trying out the song again, not even asking about the phenomenon that had occurred.

Beside him, the Demon God reviewed what had just happened.

‘Humans can even create songs that summon spirits?’

The appearance of the spirit was of no interest.

It was merely a common spirit, seen everywhere, that was drawn to the song and appeared.

The Demon God’s interest was directed towards the song itself.

He had actually experimented with it.

Of course, several conditions had to be met, but it was clearly a song capable of summoning spirits.

Just as it was extremely difficult for spirits to intervene in the human world, it was also extremely difficult for humans to intervene in the spirit world.

The human world and the spirit world were separate.

It was normal for them to live apart.

If a spirit appeared, drawn by a human song, which side should be considered to have intervened first?

Depending on the perspective, since humans called the spirit, it could be seen that humans intervened first.

Human music was quite something.

“At last, I have met the morning.”

And, humans themselves were quite something.

Ha-gyeom’s song, after successfully resisting possession, had somehow risen another level in quality.

“What is this? Is it my delusion?”

He himself was puzzled and tilted his head.

“Nay, it is certainly more pleasant to hear.”

The Demon God affirmed.

“Huh? Really?”

“Ha-gyeom, you have grown through the events in the studio. You may take pride in it.”

The Demon God praised his subordinate’s growth.

Seeing Ha-gyeom stare blankly for a moment, he seemed to be moved by the praise.

“So, what was that thing earlier?”

“Hmm?”

It seemed he wasn’t staring out of being moved.

“Was that really a ghost?”

“It was a mass hallucination….”

The Demon God turned his head away.

“That’s ridiculous! You said it was an experience in the studio that led to my growth, didn’t you?”

Just as Ha-gyeom leaned in closer, about to interrogate him.

Knock, knock.

A knock was heard at just the right time, and Ki So-eun entered.

Her face was somewhat paler than before the program started.

“Did you… rest well…?”

Her voice was subdued.

It seemed her mental state was quite battered by the broadcasting accident.

“A mere broadcasting accident, can it not be dismissed as a mistake due to mass hallucination?”

The Demon God asked.

“Don’t say such terrible things! They’ll think we took some bad drugs. You’ll be arrested by the police!”

Ha-gyeom jumped up in Ki So-eun’s stead.

He then suggested Ki So-eun take a break.

“Uh, you don’t have to worry about us and can rest—”

“No…. I have something I want to tell you two….”

“?”

“Your vocals, both of you.”

“!”

This was it.

Today’s goal, advice from composer Ki So-eun.

“You heard our song amidst the confusion?”

“Of course. Even though it was scary and confusing, both of your songs were beautiful enough.”

“Hoh.”

While the Demon God was impressed.

“First, Ha-gyeom.”

“Yes!”

Ki So-eun offered advice to Ha-gyeom.

Ha-gyeom occasionally interjected with questions, so it was closer to a conversation than a one-sided lecture.

The Demon God also listened to the conversation beside them, but it was too technical and detailed for him to understand everything.

“And, Sun-woo.”

“Is it my turn?”

“Did you really not see the ghost?”

“…….”

Ki So-eun gave the Demon God a suspicious look, then soon shook her head.

And returned to her calm DJ Ki persona.

“Sun-woo, you’ve been relying on your basic skills, haven’t you?”

“That is so.”

“Indeed. And yet, to still feel unique and different, you have innate talent.”

“There is little I cannot do.”

Ki So-eun unexpectedly nodded in agreement.

“Because you interpret songs well and convey emotions effectively, it was fine even with just basic skills.”

“Is that so?”

The Demon God himself was not entirely sure about that point.

“Sun-woo, you’re not at the stage of honing your vocal skills like Ha-gyeom. Your direction might even be entirely different.”

Aside from diligently honing his basic skills so they wouldn’t waver in any song, Ki So-eun gave the Demon God one piece of advice.

That was, to broaden the range of emotions he could convey.

To become accustomed not only to serious and heavy emotions but also to light, lively, joyful, and loving emotions.

“Ugh?”

Light, lively, joyful, and loving emotions, and so on.

Even the Demon God wore a rather troubled expression.

“Remember. Unless you only want to do songs with a specific concept, you’ll definitely need to get used to them.”

Since it wasn’t wrong, the Demon God did not retort.

Pantheon’s second album contained the Demon God’s colors.

The third album would follow that trend, but it couldn’t continue like that indefinitely.

He had heard that if one clung only to a specific concept, only fans who liked that concept would remain.

At some point, a transformation was necessary.

“Understood.”

Ultimately, the Demon God replied.

‘Light, lively, joyful, and loving emotions, you say….’

The idol punishment truly had no end to its severity.

To become accustomed to various emotions, it was crucial for the Demon God to experience many things.

Some time after the broadcast, at the dorm.

– Ding.

A text message arrived.

“Huh?”

The Demon God raised his head and looked at the members who were with him in the living room.

Everyone was gathered.

This meant that everyone who might text the Demon God was present here.

Company staff would text Tae-young or use group chatrooms.

“But who could it be?”

The Demon God picked up his phone to check.

[Sun-woo!!!! Pantheon is guesting at our solo concert (／≧ω＼)?]

Checking the name, it was ‘Zion’.

A member of the top-tier idol group Novior.

And Zion, who had gone missing at MAMA and was rescued by the Demon God.

The Demon God stroked his chin for a moment.

“Who was that again?”

The Demon God decided to forget trivial matters.