Chapter 59: The Demon God Heals, The Demon God Destroys

Lua had no time to worry about the commotion outside.

The Demon God had handled everything too quietly, and anyway, she assumed it was just talk stemming from her own failed appearance.

Above all, the problem she was currently facing was far more significant.

“It’s started again.”

Lua fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist. The healing item, which was supposed to provide stability, was of little use these days.

Her reflection in the mirror was still the same.

One of the few solo female singers who didn’t have to worry about sales.

A cool senior whom female juniors often cited as a role model.

And a vocalist who had broken through to this point with her skill.

“Let’s try one last time.”

As it grew quiet outside, Lua cautiously began to sing.

– In front of the mirror, look at me again

No reason to be discouraged, not a single one

Her initial belting voice had no problems with volume.

That’s why the Novior staff would have heard it and said she was fine.

That’s right.

She was actually fine.

There was nothing wrong with her throat.

The problem began the moment she thought about the stage.

‘I definitely overcame it before.’

Stage fright had returned.

Her heart began to pound, and just thinking about the stage made her breathless.

“To get this bad now, it’s unbelievable!”

She had experienced stage fright even in her debut days, but it naturally disappeared as she gained experience. For a while, the stage was enjoyable, and communicating with the audience was blissful.

But at some point, it started again. At first, it was a slight tremble, then it gradually worsened, and now, just thinking about the stage brought on cold sweats.

Just like now.

No.

It was her juniors’ concert, she really had no choice but to cancel.

And it was a problem for the future too.

The methods she used to overcome it before were useless.

She had no idea how to solve this phenomenon, or how long it would take.

Desperately, she repeated the first section—

– In front of the mirror, look at me again

No reason to be discouraged, not a single one

At that moment.

KABOOM!

The waiting room door was shattered!

“Was it a pull door?”

The Demon God shrugged. Without bothering with such a minor mistake, he entered the waiting room.

Proud and arrogant steps.

And he turned his body to awkwardly fit the door back into place.

“Is this how it works….”

“W-who are you?!”

Lua cried out, then quickly realized it wasn’t the time for questions.

A sudden stranger had broken down the door and entered.

She needed to call for help. Her staff happened to be elsewhere. Lua tried to call out to the manager who had just left.

“Manager! There’s a strange person here!”

“Rest assured, your manager is collapsed in the corridor.”

Help, she really needed help!

It was obvious he harbored ill intentions.

“Are you, are you here because of me?”

A sasaeng? Or a kidnapping for ransom?

If he had impure intentions, what should she do?

“I only just became aware of your existence, Lua.”

“?”

“It is because of Zion.”

“?!”

Lua’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in a subtle way.

It seemed he didn’t have impure intentions.

“Because I am in the role of being worshipped, you see.”

“……”

It seemed he might have impure intentions after all….

Moreover, the stranger’s face was overflowing with an impure charm.

However.

“I do not disappoint my fans, you see. Since Zion desires a perfect concert, I must assist him.”

The Demon God’s intentions were utterly transparent.

He aimed to prevent a situation where a perfect concert was marred and his worshipper was disappointed.

“Lua, would you not consider entrusting your problem to me? You were muttering about stage fright. I shall resolve it for you.”

The Demon God’s offer was truly what Lua desired.

The resolution of stage fright.

If that happened, she could perform not only this concert but all future canceled schedules.

She could avoid disappointing her waiting fans.

It was an incredibly tempting offer, yet incredibly suspicious.

“Then if you were going to do that, you should have gone through my manager. Why did you knock him out?”

“Because your manager misinterpreted your intentions, you see. He played a trick, claiming you were uncomfortable due to Izm and Origin’s relationship. He tried to remove our Pantheon from the concert.”

Lua flinched.

The stranger’s explanation was unexpectedly accurate.

She hadn’t worked with her current manager for long.

He seemed more interested in internal company matters than Lua’s care. It was entirely plausible he would pull such a stunt.

“Haa—, seriously! Why are they doing this to Producer Hoon….”

Hoon was the producer name the Origin CEO used at Izm.

Lua was utterly annoyed that her name was being dragged into company affairs, while—

One of the words the stranger had just uttered resonated with her.

He distinctly said, “our Pantheon”?

“Did you say, ‘our Pantheon’?”

“That is correct.”

“Excuse me.”

“Speak.”

Lua finally recognized the Demon God’s face.

Why hadn’t she recognized him?

She had seen him countless times in the trending videos.

His hair, noticeably darker than others, seemed to contain the very essence of midnight.

His fair skin resembled an endless snowfield, radiating a certain ruthlessness.

And his arrogant and ominous face was, in reality, immensely visual.

“Surely, Pantheon’s Demon God Sun-woo?”

“Will you worship me?”

Ah.

It was certain.

It was the exact same way of speaking she had seen in the videos.

To think she hadn’t realized he was speaking in that strange manner all this time.

Well, everything was just too strange.

When she saw it in videos, she wondered how he maintained that concept—

“You talk like that normally?”

“Like that? Does that imply gravitas?”

It seemed it wasn’t a concept.

How could a person speak like that, she wondered?

Of course, Lua couldn’t know, but he wasn’t human, he was a Demon God.

And, between humans, there were manners to uphold.

“You! What is wrong with you?! Why did you suddenly break down the door and burst in! And why are you speaking informally! I’m your senior, and older than you!”

As the tension she had been holding eased, Lua slumped into the chair.

At the same time, a feeling of unfairness welled up, making her huff and puff.

The Demon God was unconcerned.

“Regain your senses, Lua. Is this a time to mention trivial matters? Your stage fright would be far more important, would it not?”

“Ugh.”

Lua, truly, sobered up completely.

She had almost let her guard down because he was a junior idol, but she realized she couldn’t do that. The thought spontaneously came to her.

“I am also busy, so decide quickly.”

He was even rushing her.

“Alright.”

Lua took a deep breath, then spoke.

“Ah, first, I’ll speak informally too.”

“You are arrogant. However, as I am currently human, it cannot be helped. Do as you wish.”

The Demon God, in truth, didn’t care much for the titles of insignificant humans.

If he sensed even a hint of contempt in the title, he would punish them immediately, but no such feeling was conveyed from Lua.

She just seemed quite scared.

“S-so, what exactly are you going to do? Do you have some good method?”

Lua still hadn’t discarded her doubts.

It was not strange for a much junior idol to experience stage fright, but instead, he was asking her to entrust it to him.

“I do not know. Nor do I know what I intend to do.”

“What?”

“It seemed you were thinking of the stage and singing just before I entered. Is that correct?”

It was as the Demon God surmised.

Lua nodded.

“Do it again, just as before.”

“Ugh.”

It was hard enough just thinking about the stage.

Was he trying to observe her or something?

What on earth was going on?

“Alright.”

It was more out of resignation than trust.

After all, he was a junior idol, so his identity was certain. There was nothing to lose as long as he didn’t do anything strange.

And, somehow, this junior had a peculiar charisma….

With a desperate hope, she began to sing.

– In front of the mirror, look at me again

No reason to be discouraged, not a single one

At the same time, she thought of the stage.

As expected, her heart pounded uncontrollably, and her hands and voice trembled.

This time too, she tried to calm herself by touching her healing bracelet.

At that moment, the Demon God’s eyes were also fixed on the bracelet.

‘Humans can even create such things.’

Behold.

The wicked aura flowing from the bracelet.

Woo-oong—

Along with a vibration imperceptible to humans, a dark red aura, forged from malice, climbed from the bracelet up Lua’s body.

It passed through her heart, through her throat, and finally reached her head.

As it did so, her heartbeat would have surged, her voice would have trembled, and her fear would have reached its peak.

Indeed, Lua was trembling more and more.

Though it was something the Demon God had told her to do, she seemed to be trying to endure until the end while singing.

That aura of malice—

‘[Curse], I see. And one bound to an object.’

Seeing her repeatedly caress it, she seemed to be trying to calm herself.

The bracelet’s true nature, however, was the exact opposite.

It was an item containing a curse that fueled the wearer’s anxiety.

Was there any artist who had not a single speck of anxiety about the stage?

No matter how veteran, it was not easy.

The curse contained in the bracelet preyed on such anxieties.

‘Hmph, but it is merely a trivial object.’

The Demon God had made his judgment.

Destroy the bracelet.

He couldn’t tell the human the truth, so he would make up a suitable reason.

‘Here I go.’

First, he slowly reached out and grabbed the bracelet.

Lua, wondering what the Demon God intended, looked down but did not stop singing.

“Continue. You are doing well.”

The Demon God, who said this to Lua, activated his Authority [Aura].

Not the trivial malice contained in a trivial bracelet,

But a true aura, imbued with the Demon God’s very essence.

It could not even be called a clash.

The moment the Demon God’s aura revealed its noble form before the malice.

CLANG!!!!

The bracelet shattered.

“Do not be surprised, continue.”

He did not forget to instruct Lua to keep singing.

An inexplicable power was imbued in the Demon God’s voice.

Lua, following that command, continued to sing.

– It’s okay, it’s fine to waver

It’s fine to fall, it’s okay

Even the days that don’t shine

Are my days after all

She imagined the stage exactly the same way, singing on—

‘I feel comfortable?’

Her eyes widened.

‘What just happened?’

She felt no symptoms at all. She was just her usual self.

Her usual self, anticipating the stage, enjoying the stage, and repaying her fans through the stage.

She wasn’t afraid.

Aside from the appropriate fear she naturally should have, the fear that unnecessarily made her cower had vanished.

‘This is incredible—.’

Lua was overcome with emotion.

She had merely sung because he was a junior, not out of trust.

But truly, was there some amazing method after all?

Perhaps that was why.

When the Demon God reached out his hand, just as he had when he grabbed the bracelet, she remained still.

Lua waited for what was next with a trusting heart.

The Demon God’s two hands, having destroyed the bracelet, slowly moved—

“?”

He grabbed Lua’s sideburns.

‘Surely not?’

‘Surely not’ always gets people.

The Demon God forcefully pulled Lua’s sideburns upwards!

“Heal!”

“Gyaaaaah!!!!”

The song was cut short by a scream.

When the Demon God let go, Lua clutched her ears, slumped in the chair, and writhed.

“What, what are you doing right now!”

“I have seen it in variety shows. Doing this causes one to break through their limits, does it not?”

An old variety show, 30 minutes long.

It was a clip the Demon God also enjoyed watching.

“That’s when you’re hitting high notes! And anyway, it’s just a variety show! It’s not real!”

“Is that so? But try thinking of the stage and singing again. It should be fine now.”

“I was already fine! Since the bracelet broke!”

“Oh?”

It was more effective than the Demon God had anticipated.

He thought it would take time for the ingrained malice to dissipate, but it became fine immediately upon destruction.

“Destroying the bracelet is also in the same vein. Creating an unexpected situation to alleviate fear, you see.”

So, he pulled out her hair for no reason?

“I shall take my leave.”

The Demon God turned his body.

“Hey! Just a minute!”

“I am also a guest today and must go prepare.”

“Juuust a minute!!”

Lua’s huffing breath felt almost as if it was on the back of his neck.

Would he be ‘sued’?

The Demon God thought to himself that he could just leave human legal procedures to the CEO.

However.

“Thank you.”

Words of gratitude flowed from Lua.

“I don’t know what you did, but it was you, Sun-woo, right? I’m fine now. I’m okay.”

The Demon God subtly turned his head back, and let out a ‘Hmph,’ smiling.

An arrogant smile, as if saying, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’

Lua had expected Sun-woo to take some credit.

But what he said was entirely different.

“You may trust yourself more, Lua.”

“!”

The Demon God was sincere.

The malice contained in the bracelet was powerful.

Though trivial to the Demon God, it was difficult for a human to endure.

Nevertheless, Lua seemed to have resisted the bracelet’s malice quite considerably.

If she had given up, she would have already been completely consumed.

Lua, who had been watching the Demon God for a while, let out a sigh.

“You said Zion is your fan, right? Good for him. To be a fan of an idol like you.”

“If you too become my fan, you will never be disappointed.”

“Is that so?”

“Will you worship me?”

“N-no.”

“I think you will worship me?”

“No!”

If she was going to worship him, just a little later.

If she worshipped him right now, her senior dignity wouldn’t survive.

Anyway, he was a junior one couldn’t let their guard down around.

“Then I shall go.”

The Demon God pulled the door.

CRASH!

The broken door came off completely.

The Demon God exited between the door and the wall, then outside, he propped the door back up.

“Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha.”

Laughter flowed from Lua’s lips.

She had no idea what kind of experience she had just gone through.

From the moment Demon God Sun-woo broke down the door and entered, everything felt like a dream.

A kind of wondrous yet unpredictable dream, like an unknown being coming and going beside her.

“Oh, Lua.”

But it wasn’t a dream.

One wouldn’t usually turn back in a wondrous dream because they remembered something they wanted to say.

“About that bracelet. Where did you obtain that item?”

The wondrous and unpredictable Demon God had returned, curious about that.