Chapter 66: The Ghost’s Song and the Demon God’s Emoticon

“……”

The CEO put on headphones and listened intently to ‘Lucio Moreira’s’ songs.

He was the very composer the Demon God had chosen.

“This is good?”

The CEO’s assessment after listening to the songs was the same.

He unraveled a serious message contained within the songs with a light beat.

He was deemed the most suitable composer to commission for Pantheon’s songs.

“Wait a moment. I looked him up, and he’s an up-and-coming composer receiving a lot of attention. We’ll have to put in quite an effort to successfully commission him.”

It was obvious that many people would be waiting to receive songs from him.

Of course, unless bound by contract, songs weren’t necessarily given out in a set order. If a song was completed first, it might be sent to a team that suited the song first.

And leaving the waiting list aside, it was uncertain whether he would show interest in Pantheon.

Since he was here on a personal trip, it was also unknown if they could even contact him.

“I wonder if composer Ki So-eun knows. Anyway, I’ll handle things from here.”

Commissioning a composition or the subsequent contract wasn’t something for the Pantheon members to step into.

“CEO, it is time to demonstrate your capabilities as a CEO, not a composer.”

“Ugh…, I know, I know.”

“I trust you.”

“?”

The Demon God moved the CEO with his sudden declaration of trust.

“Sob, my sense of responsibility is welling up. I must do well. Hic, hic.”

In place of the CEO, who was choked with emotion and unable to speak, Tae-young rallied the members.

“You know we have an event in Hongdae right away tomorrow, right?”

The Pantheon members nodded simultaneously, recalling the schedule.

It was an event where they wore clothes from a fashion brand and walked a small runway.

They didn’t need to act like professional models, just naturally.

After that, the schedule included performing one or two songs, and Yoon-seo and Ji-ho introducing the clothing.

“Leave composer Lucio’s side to the CEO. We focus on our work. We can’t have articles about a ruined event popping up when that composer looks up Pantheon, right?”

Tae-young was absolutely right.

Songs were songs, events were events.

Pantheon returned to their main job while waiting for the composer.

And on the day of their main job, they reaped an unexpected harvest.

***

The event itself went smoothly.

The runway wasn’t difficult, Yoon-seo and Ji-ho’s clothing introduction was neat, and the performance was perfect as always.

– Worship forever

“Kyaah!”

“Pan! The! On!”

Fans were now visible even at small events.

“We meet again. Are you sleeping well? Eating well too?”

The Demon God managed the fans’ health as if managing troops in an army.

“Of course! We’re sleeping well and eating well too!”

“You are doing well. Strive to improve your combat power until I summon you.”

“Kyahat!”

“It is not a jest.”

“Kyahahaha!”

“?”

After waving to existing fans, the Demon God made sure to check if new fans worshipped him.

And, he didn’t forget to ask passersby for no reason.

“Will you worship too?”

“Mom, there’s a strange handsome hyung over here!”

“No, mother. Our Sun-woo isn’t that kind of kid.”

It was reassuring that the members were together.

The Demon God managed his fans, and Pantheon managed the Demon God.

A virtuous cycle of caring for each other.

It was perfect, except for the members feeling a little embarrassed.

“I hear it.”

Creak, creak— Creak—

Chains let out sounds of rupture at the steadily accumulating worship.

Others would call it noise, but to the Demon God, it was a deeply satisfying harmony.

Soon, a thin chain would break.

– Ting!

“Hm? Did it break?”

It wasn’t that.

It was a message from Zion….

Although displeased by the mistake, the Demon God checked the fan’s message.

They had come inside the event waiting room to take a short breather.

[Sun-woo! Sun-woo! Sorry for the late contact!]

[I had a chance to talk with Lua sunbae]

[I heard her condition wasn’t good that day but you helped her, Sun-woo?]

Zion, who had expressed gratitude even after the concert, said he would contact him separately to thank him again.

[There is no need to contact me]

[It was merely a trivial matter]

Zzzing.

An answer came to the phone set to vibrate.

[I’m going to eat with Lua sunbae, do you want to come too?]

[Busy]

If an evil spirit were possessed, he would go out, but he wasn’t particularly interested in meeting two mere humans.

[ㅠㅠ Then I’ll replace it with worshipping you more in the future]

[Strive to do so]

Just as he was about to end the conversation—

[Sun-woo! What are you doing today?]

It was familiar, but Zion tended to be somewhat clingy….

[Do not worship more. No, reduce it a little]

[Eh?]

[I am at an event in Hongdae. Busy, so that is all]

[Hongdae? Do you know about that?]

[Know what]

[The ghost story circulating these days?]

[Ghost story, you say?]

The Demon God, who was about to turn off his phone, ended up asking a question at the YouTube thumbnail-level clickbait.

Zion was a famous occult maniac.

He knew more about the dark side of this world than the Demon God.

[Wow *(ﾟﾛﾟ) Sun-woo is showing interest?]

[It had better be an interesting story. I shall measure your worship through it]

[Ugh, ack…]

A moment later, Zion brought up a ghost story about a ‘ghost-haunted abandoned practice room.’

[A certain practice room in Hongdae]

[In its past prime, it was a place where now-famous solo singers and bands came to practice]

[But after several fires and floods, it went under…]

[Dun dun]

It seemed Zion was doing his best.

Honestly, the Demon God found it a bit amusing….

[One day, unidentified sounds began to be heard]

[Music sounds]

[It’s not strange to hear music in a practice room, but this is an abandoned practice room, right?]

[It’s heard where it shouldn’t be heard]

“Sun-woo, what are you looking at with such intense focus?”

“Shh, go away.”

The Demon God pushed Ha-gyeom away and continued to focus.

[Zion, so?]

[So what happened?]

[What, speak quickly!]

[Eventually, someone went in]

[Ah!]

Zion was indeed an occult fan.

As he unfolded the story in the style of internet ghost stories he had encountered often, the Demon God ended up releasing dopamine.

[Right there, the person who entered hears a certain music]

[A masterpiece that wraps around the ears]

[A masterpiece, you say?]

[They say so]

[Surprisingly, a masterpiece was echoing in the empty abandoned practice room]

[Coincidentally, the person who went in was also a music insider living in Hongdae]

[That is quite a coincidence]

[Right? That person listened to the song until the end and came out]

[Why did they do that?]

[Hmm… If they were a music insider, wouldn’t they covet the song?]

[You guessed it right!]

[That person thought]

[Even if this song belongs to a ghost, I must steal it!]

[Since it’s not human, there’s no need to pay, so it’s even better!]

[How impudent!]

[Right]

[That person listened to the song with a heart full of greed and went outside]

[Oh dear!]

[But you can rest assured]

[Hm?]

If it were a petty spirit, it wouldn’t even be able to harm a human? Was there a good way to avoid having the song stolen?

[When they came outside, they didn’t remember anything at all]

[Excellent!]

The Demon God could deduce from the story.

It wasn’t the level of a typical petty spirit. If it were, music wouldn’t be heard, nor could it cause the phenomenon of memory loss.

And it wasn’t an evil spirit either.

If it were an evil spirit, it would have harmed the human outright.

It wouldn’t have ended with just protecting its song through memory loss.

[Thus, the ghost-haunted abandoned practice room and the masterpiece flowing there remain only as rumors]

[If dismissed as a rumor, it’s just a rumor, but]

[A rumor heard by too many people to ignore]

[That is, an urban legend]

Thus, Zion’s story ended.

[Zion, where is that place? Do you know the location?]

A link with an address flew in.

Then Zion asked.

[How was it?]

[Phew, it was excellent]

[You said you’d measure worship by the fun of the story. Did I pass?]

The Demon God let out a small ‘Hmph,’ chuckling.

Zion was quite a clingy fellow, but his worship was genuine.

This needed to be commended a little.

To commend his fan devotion, the Demon God decided to use an ‘emoticon.’

[ㅗ^^ㅗ]

“Is this correct…?”

The Demon God was still inexperienced in using emoticons….

[Uhm..]

[I’ll try harder..]

It seemed he used it appropriately.

Zion’s messages stopped, seemingly moved by the commendation.

The Demon God finished the chat and looked up from his phone.

After hearing Zion’s story, curiosity arose.

An urban legend in front of me?

He wanted to check it out himself.

Moreover, since it was a ghost story about a ‘masterpiece,’ who knows, it might help with the next album.

“Are you done looking? What were you looking at?”

Just then, Ha-gyeom, whom he had pushed away earlier, approached curiously.

“There is a place I wish to visit!”

“What? Suddenly?”

At the unexpected remark, all the members looked this way.

“Where?”

“Here.”

The Demon God showed the link.

“It’s near here. Though it’s further towards Sangsu. What is this place?”

Tae-young checked the address.

Perhaps because it had already closed down, the business name didn’t appear in the address.

“A music practice room. They say there is a masterpiece there.”

““What?””

Pantheon’s faces brightened.

“There’s a masterpiece? Who did you hear that from?”

“Novior’s Zion.”

Testimony from a top-tier idol.

It was a credible source.

“Is there a composer there?”

“I do not know the occupation. Anyway, possessing a song…, there is something.”

The latter sentence wasn’t quite smooth, but Pantheon was swept up in excitement.

“Sun-woo did it again. Let’s go.”

“Yes, let’s do as Sun-woo hyung says!”

“Long live Sun-woo!”

“Shouldn’t we contact the company?”

“Wait a moment, I intended to go alone?”

The Demon God hesitated at the atmosphere of everyone going together.

He had no intention of stealing the song from the spirit.

He intended to pay a sufficient price and bring it back.

To do that, he would have to converse with the spirit, but it wasn’t a form to reveal in front of humans yet.

““We have to go together!””

The Demon God looked at the manager who came with them.

Today it wasn’t the CEO or Oh Dae-ho, but another manager.

“What about me going alone?”

“Th-that would be a bit difficult—, sir. I’ll call the company about the contract—, sir.”

For some reason, that manager couldn’t speak casually to the much younger Sun-woo.

“The contract matters not, however.”

Since the company couldn’t handle a contract with a spirit.

However, this remark of the Demon God invited another misunderstanding.

“As expected, Sun-woo still doesn’t know well.”

A misunderstanding that was also a fact: he didn’t know the ways of the world well.

And there was another reason.

“And we can’t let hyung loose in the world alone.”

“Even thinking positively, that’s a no!”

“No matter how you think about it, no.”

Releasing Sun-woo alone in the crowded Hongdae and Sangsu area?

If they did that, they might have to fold Pantheon’s activities.

This was the members’ consensus.

“Ugh, how dare you treat me as such—.”

The Demon God and members first removed their makeup and changed into plain clothes.

Fortunately, they had no separate schedule after the event.

Leaving the event venue, Pantheon got into the van and moved to the vicinity of Sangsu Station.

They arrived at the entrance of an alley.

The closed-down practice room was just 50 meters inside.

“There are a lot of people, so we should be careful, right?”

It was difficult to enter up to there with the van.

To go unnoticed by people, they would have to time it right.

“Indeed.”

Rattle!

The Demon God forcefully opened the van door.

“Sun-woo?”

A good method to go to the practice room alone came to the Demon God’s mind.

As per his thought, he immediately threw a question to a student he saw as soon as he exited the van.

“You, will you worship?”