Chapter 60: Idol Diplomacy

A cursed object, a ‘juju.’

“Where did it come from?”

He thought humans only made convenient things like smartphones.

Unexpectedly, they seemed quite adept at making cursed objects too.

“Oh, that—”

If he found the maker, he would make them create cursed objects for him and take them as subordinates.

“Someone I know found it, and I got it from them.”

“Hm? They found such an item?”

A cursed object just lying on the street?

“More like…. He said he bought it for a pittance at Dongmyo market. I asked for it because it looked pretty.”

Lua recalled and answered.

Dongmyo was said to be a market where all sorts of miscellaneous items gathered. It wasn’t a place where the origin of the cursed object could be traced.

However, the Demon God was still suspicious.

“For something obtained in such a manner, you touch it every time you feel uneasy?”

“Well, you see. I got it from a psychological counselor at a healing center.”

The healing center was connected to Izm, and it was responsible for the mental care of artists and executives.

Lua said she had also received counseling there due to her stage fright.

“Still, after counseling, I felt a bit stable then. You could say touching the bracelet brought back that feeling… it was my own healing item.”

She accidentally acquired an item that someone else accidentally bought, and she was using it as a healing item.

Of course, a cursed object naturally seeks out someone for its curse to take root, so it couldn’t simply be dismissed as coincidence.

Even so, the fact that the maker was unknown remained unchanged.

“A pity.”

“Did you like the bracelet? It was the only one….”

“That works out well.”

“?”

It was not good for cursed objects to circulate widely.

They only drove humans into abnormal states.

‘For the only abnormal state I permit is the worship of the Demon God.’

“Hmph.”

The Demon God smiled contentedly and turned his body.

“Tell that counselor not to buy such strange things in the future.”

“Uhm, huh? It’s been a while since I went there. I’ll tell them if I ever go.”

That was enough.

Since it was the only one, it was just a minor disturbance.

Even if the counselor were to buy antiques again, cursed objects weren’t that common.

There would be no need to worry about it further.

“Sun-woo! Where are you? The kids are waiting!”

As he stepped out into the corridor, he heard the team leader’s voice.

It was a signal to return to his duties as an idol.

The Olympic Gymnastics Arena had a capacity of fifteen thousand seats.

He couldn’t neglect a stage in front of such a crowd.

“I am here. I shall go that way.”

His rightful place.

The Demon God strode arrogantly towards Pantheon.

***

The concert of top-tier idol group Novior began.

There had been minor incidents before the start.

Such as Ultranova’s executive briefly falling asleep due to overwork,

Or Lua, a guest, and her manager team leader taking an early leave due to poor condition.

But they were just minor.

The executive, who had fallen asleep, woke up refreshed and busily ran around,

And Lua had other managers, so there was no disruption to her schedule.

All the guests, including Lua, finished their rehearsal in top condition, and as time passed, fans entered the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in succession.

Thus, the concert began without any problems.

– Gyaaaah!

– Nyaaaah!

– No! Vi! Or! No! Vi! Or!

Cheers were vividly audible even to Pantheon in the waiting room.

“It is magnificent.”

The Demon God was impressed anew.

They could watch the performance on the monitoring screen in the waiting room.

Zion, a fan who worshipped the Demon God, was also a shining idol in front of his own fans. A top-tier composure was discernible in his attitude towards the fans.

“To freely interact with such a large number of fans.”

The Demon God also noted that KSPO Dome had a capacity of fifteen thousand seats.

He had broken one chain and opened the Authority [Deep Sleep Inducement] during a fan meeting of 100 people.

What about a scale this large?

Even subtracting the number of fans he had met previously, a tremendous recovery was expected.

Just then, Tae-young spoke beside him.

“Let’s all observe carefully. We need to be like that someday too.”

The Demon God strongly agreed.

“Tae-young speaks truly. We must also hold our own solo concert. Grandly. On an even larger scale than this.”

At that, the members nodded, looking at the Demon God.

“Sun-woo hyung is really serious about idol activities.”

“Right. Sometimes it feels like he doesn’t do it for himself, but simply loves idol activities.”

“That’s true.”

The Demon God felt a twinge of guilt, but—

“That is correct. Let everyone emulate me.”

It was alright to feel a twinge.

The Demon God’s conscience, true to his nature, was incredibly robust. Such a minor prick didn’t even make him budge.

“Alright, shall we focus on the monitoring?”

He nonchalantly shifted his gaze to Novior’s performance.

– We’ll move on to the next song.

The third song was already playing on the monitor.

“Ugh, they’re so cool. I’ve been to concerts as an audience member, but seeing it from this perspective is really different.”

Yoon-seo seemed to have particularly deep emotions.

“Oh? So Yoon-seo has attended concerts as an audience member. Was it an idol’s concert?”

“Ah, yes—. Though they’ve disbanded now.”

Aside from a few successful teams, idol group activity periods weren’t very long, so that was understandable.

“We’re just getting started.”

Tae-young said softly.

They had won the Rookie of the Year Award at MAMA, but it was a bewildering success, and they didn’t feel settled yet.

Indeed, articles criticizing Pantheon on the internet claimed they were a flash in the pan, riding on the back of a changed concept.

Such negative articles would eventually disappear if they directly proved otherwise.

“Today, let’s at least make sure Novior’s fans are all convinced.”

“Sounds good.”

“Let’s go for it!”

“Agreed.”

The Demon God also nodded arrogantly.

If there were those who dared to resist his demonic charisma, he would have no choice but to make them feel it directly, as he had in the past.

What kind of being the Demon God was.

What kind of power his demonic charisma possessed.

***

“Today’s performance has a secret guest!”

After Novior’s sixth song, Zion grabbed the microphone.

It was Pantheon’s turn to appear.

“I once almost got into big trouble after getting lost in Japan.”

– Ah— Ah—

– Our Zion got lost overseas ㅠㅠ

– He must have been scared ㅠㅠ

Even though it was an event from the past, cries of sympathy flowed from the fans.

Everyone was well aware of the incident.

Zion, famous as a horror enthusiast, had gone to a horror-themed amusement park and gotten lost.

Not just him, but a considerable number of people got lost, causing the theme park to be suspected of safety issues and face ruin—

No, instead, it gained word-of-mouth and was operating successfully.

A ‘real’ horror theme park where mysterious disappearances occurred, they said.

But to bring up that incident during a guest introduction?

– No way?

– Nah, it’s a male idol concert?

– Still? Or why else would he bring up that story?

“That’s right! That very day! The one who saved me! Who has now become a close junior!”

Zion dramatically spread his arms wide behind him.

“I called Sun-woo, and Sun-woo’s team Pantheon!”

– Whoaaah!

– Thank you for saving our Zion!

– Sun-woo, you’ll be blessed! Pantheon, you’ll do great!

Cheers erupted from the fans.

It was because they already held a strong fondness for Pantheon.

Moreover, the combination of their bias in peril, a junior idol coincidentally appearing to rescue them, and the ensuing camaraderie, was akin to another piece of content for the fans.

The difference in their debut years, which meant less competition, also made them more immersed in the two groups’ friendship.

– I knew it! They suddenly did a challenge together!

– Right. They filmed it inside the company, not even at a broadcasting station. Anyone can see it was a blatant preview!

Novior’s fans called out Pantheon.

– Pan! The! On! Pan! The! On!

Pantheon’s fan chant hadn’t been decided yet.

Still, the word ‘worship’ was unofficially always included, but it probably wasn’t appropriate to shout ‘worship’ with Novior, their main group, right in front of them.

The fans loudly cheered, shouting Pantheon’s team name.

– I can feel you, the one and only

Pantheon’s ‘You’ flowed out.

To respond to Novior’s invitation.

And to show Novior’s fans that Pantheon didn’t just come for friendship.

The five members performed their best on stage.

– Worship forever

The song flowed quickly until the very end.

– They’re really good, aren’t they? It’s great when talented people are friends.

– They weren’t just thrown in because they were thankful. They were invited because they had the skill.

– Right, right. It’s a concert of a certain quality, you can’t just invite anyone.

Novior’s fans were also very satisfied.

The guest who performed at their bias’s concert truly enhanced the stage.

“Please greet our Galaxy everyone.”

After the performance, greetings followed.

““Hello, we are Pantheon!””

Zion handed a personal microphone to each member, starting with leader Tae-young, so they could greet the fans in turn.

The Pantheon members expressed their gratitude to Novior’s fans who enjoyed their performance.

“Sun-woo, it’s your turn now, lastly.”

The microphone Zion handed over reached the Demon God.

Tense.

The members grew nervous.

Tae-young moved next to the Demon God, ready for transcendental translation, and the other members were poised to raise their voices at any moment.

“Novior’s fans.”

– Kya-ha! He really talks like that!

– It’s exactly like in the videos, isn’t it? How does he maintain that concept?

– But he seems perfectly normal about it… Amazing.

Novior’s fans, out of goodwill towards Sun-woo, easily accepted his historical drama style of speaking.

But then, into this.

“Do you worship?”

This line was dropped.

– Uh—, that’s a bit much.

– What? Because of what he just said?

– It’s probably Sun-woo’s signature line, isn’t it? Asking if people worship him.

The swelling goodwill was slightly reined in.

To ask if Pantheon worshipped themselves at Novior’s concert.

They knew it was his signature line, but it was awkward for Novior’s fans to respond.

In fact, it felt beyond awkward, bordering on disrespectful. A momentary silence even flowed as they didn’t know how to respond—

“So, what Sun-woo means is…”

Deploy!

Tae-young and the members, who had been on standby, quickly stepped forward, just as they were about to execute a transcendental translation and supportive reactions.

“Do you worship Novior?”

The Demon God’s question continued.

It turned out that the ‘worship’ question was a Novior version, slightly adapted from his signature line!

– !!!!

It wasn’t for the Demon God himself.

This was Novior’s concert. It was a question for them and their fans.

The next moment, an enormous cheer erupted from the fans’ mouths.

– We worship! Worship! Worship!

– Wor! Ship! Wor! Ship!

– We worship Novior—

Novior, hearing the word ‘worship,’ looked embarrassed but pleased.

The already good concert atmosphere became even more heated.

“Then does Novior also worship its fans?”

Following the signature question was a variation of the signature answer: if so, I too shall worship you.

“Of course, we worship them.”

Novior answered without a moment’s hesitation.

– Gyaaaaaah!

– We worship too!

– Let’s worship each other!

The fans were once again swept up in cheers,

After a long period of happy commotion, the Demon God delivered his final remarks.

“Hmph. Then you are doing well. Worship your idols. Worship your fans.”

As a secret guest, it was the best remark to boost the atmosphere for the main artist.

It satisfied Novior and their fans, maximizing goodwill towards Pantheon—

“Hmph.”

It was natural.

The Demon God never disappointed his own fans.

Zion, with an even more fiercely burning worship, stared intently at the Demon God.

“Sun-woo. From now on, I will be even more enthusiastic—”

“I decline.”

The Demon God was even pushing away his own fan a little.

***

And as expected, Pantheon’s appearance as a secret guest caused a huge sensation.