X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the Server“And so, another horror program bites the dust.”
Kim Yeon-ho hung his head.
The video that had just finished playing on his laptop was the trailer for the latest episode of Mystery Horror Commando.
As a long-time occult enthusiast, he had watched the program with high expectations.
In the early days, the dedication to exploring actual psychic spots wasn’t bad.
But the show had stagnated due to a lack of results.
And this time, they had made a decisively poor move.
Click.
He replayed the trailer.
An eerie, dilapidated performance hall appeared on the screen.
Caw—
A flock of crows flew toward the roof of the hall.
Grrr—
A pack of wild dogs with glowing eyes lurked in the bushes beyond.
Then, the narration flowed over a close-up of an idol’s face.
[Sun-woo has not returned yet.]
Yes, that was the problem.
“An idol? What are they trying to pull?”
Had they finally reached the point where they were trying to leech off an idol’s fandom for ratings? If so, the ploy was far too transparent.
Kim Yeon-ho logged onto his usual occult community. This was a place for hardcore occultists, and they didn’t deal with idols.
Sure enough, the site was filled with harsh reviews.
– An idol? Suddenly an idol?
└ The program is finally hitting rock bottom. Everyone, this is the true horror.
└ Even if it’s reorganization season, this feels like too much.
– It’s only for this episode, right?
└ I don’t know. An acquaintance at the station told me they’re planning to change the entire concept before the reorganization.
└ Shiver… So it’ll be like this from now on? Bringing in celebrities for ratings? Next thing you know, they’ll be selling sob stories.
└ ㅠㅠ
“Exactly. It makes no sense. If that’s the case, cancellation is the only answer.”
Of course, at this rate, it would disappear on its own without the need for a petition.
Kim Yeon-ho scrolled through the posts a bit more.
– But since it’s Pantheon, there’s a connection. Isn’t it okay?
He spotted that comment.
“Connection?”
He clicked the post and saw mentions of Pantheon’s album atmosphere and their previous videos.
Kim Yeon-ho had seen the abandoned school video before.
At the time, he had dismissed it as a social news piece rather than occult content, so he hadn’t been interested.
Regardless, the original poster was defending the casting choice based on Pantheon’s concept and vibe.
– Their fandom has a bit of a cult-like feeling. Like a pseudo-religion?
Of course, if the Demon God had seen this, he wouldn’t have been thankful for the defense—he would have been furious.
The defense didn’t work.
– It’s their first time, so they probably just forced the concept to fit.
└ Agreed. Does matching a concept mean an idol isn’t an idol anymore?
└ And psychic phenomena don’t just appear because your concept matches.
“Right, exactly.”
Even after that, users with nicknames like ‘Walker Beyond the Universe’ or ‘Worship Addict’ stepped up to defend the show, but they couldn’t overturn the consensus.
This community was, after all, controlled by hardcore occult maniacs.
Kim Yeon-ho, being one of them, left a comment.
– Shall we see? I’ll bet my life that there’s absolutely nothing there.
However, a reply came back immediately. It was from ‘Walker Beyond the Universe.’
– What if there is something? What if Sun-woo encounters a psychic phenomenon?
“Sun-woo? Calling him so familiarly. Must be a Pantheon fan.”
Kim Yeon-ho thought for a moment and then posted a reply with a mocking snort.
– Ah, if that happens, I’ll join the fandom.
.
The following week, the episode featuring Demon God Sun-woo aired.
“Join the fandom, my foot.”
Kim Yeon-ho happened to have free time, so he unintentionally ended up watching the live broadcast.
To soothe his regret over the show’s downfall and to prepare for a round of criticism, he opened the community and turned on the TV.
The scene opened on an empty lot a short distance from the abandoned hall.
A pack of wild dogs growled, threatening the production crew.
Screams of confusion filled the screen.
– The atmosphere is good. It’s quite eerie, isn’t it? Feels dangerous too.
└ Agreed. That PD is good at capturing visuals.
└ Doesn’t Sun-woo fit the vibe perfectly?
└ Who is the person above? Do you need to get banned to come to your senses?
The PD had used editing to place the footage of the empty lot—taken after the Demon God left for the hall—at the beginning.
The opening sequence flowed on.
“Isn’t the intro a bit long? Get to the hall already.”
Kim Yeon-ho was satisfied with the opening but wanted to see the performance hall.
Surprisingly, a name familiar to occult fans appeared.
– Lucio? Lucio something?
– Hmph. Was it not Lucio Moreira?
“Wait, who just now?”
Kim Yeon-ho doubted his ears.
Lucio Moreira was a composer who had recently become a sensation among domestic occult fans.
There were even rumors that songs like Beyond a Dawn could summon spirits.
Kim Yeon-ho quickly checked the community.
– A mention of Lucio Moreira? Is this scripted?
└ I don’t think so. He doesn’t appear on domestic variety shows and doesn’t do occult interviews. Why would he be here?
└ But it is the ‘Mystery Horror’ Commando?
└ Nah, the caliber is too low for him.
– But wait, the production crew didn’t recognize the name, but the idol understood immediately, right?
└ Who is that idol?
└ From the group Pantheon! Sun-woo! His nickname is Demon God! Fans even call him Demon God-nim!
└ This person is getting excited…
Honestly, he couldn’t help but feel a slight spark of interest.
It was a name no one around him would know.
But he had understood it in a heartbeat—
– He is a composer I know well.
“?!”
The community erupted.
– What?! He actually knows him? They’re acquaintances?
└ Isn’t ‘Lu-Mo’ South American, from Brazil?
└ Sun-woo is from overseas!
But that wasn’t all.
The Demon God headed toward the abandoned hall alone, saying he would request cooperation directly.
He expected the idol to act scared or coolly pretend not to be, but it was all an “act.”
However, no matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t acting. He looked genuinely excited as he ran toward the building.
– He’s got guts.
└ Does he… like psychic spots?
└ Yes! Fans know he loves that stuff!
“Wait, what is happening?”
His interest was growing. He was getting curious.
However, the program hit a lull.
The part where PD Ko Myeong-seok and Writer Yang I-ju went into the hall was completely edited out.
Only a radio transmission stating that Sun-woo had met Lucio Moreira and sent him home was broadcast.
– I thought we’d see him on screen. What a waste.
└ Surely they didn’t stage a lie? I don’t think so.
└ Right. They’d get sued for that.
– But looking at the atmosphere, I guess there wasn’t much in the hall itself.
└ Haha, have they ever actually filmed anything at the spots?
└ We watch this show for the vibe of the locations anyway.
Kim Yeon-ho’s interest seemed to peak there.
“Wait… what? What is that?”
That was until the very next scene unfolded.
As soon as the next segment started, Kim Yeon-ho leaned forward toward his screen.
The camera entered the performance hall.
On a special camera designed to film psychic phenomena, whitish blurs appeared and disappeared.
“Huh? Just now? What was that?”
– Everyone, are we seeing this correctly?
└ I think so. That place is ‘real’!
└ Finally, footage like this…!
The nearly one hundred petty spirits mobilized by the Demon God were leaving traces on the camera.
As an aside, he had even collected the three who had been launched by the flying chairs.
Of course, petty spirits wouldn’t normally be visible even on a special camera.
The Demon God had simply supplied a temporary dose of his aura to force them to manifest.
At the time, the spirits on-site were whispering:
– This terrifying aura…!
– Please forgive us… I’d rather be annihilated.
– I feel like I’m going to explode…
The petty spirits had suffered immensely.
Even so, they weren’t clearly defined on screen, just whitish shapes.
To an ordinary viewer, it would look like nothing.
But to the eyes of an occultist—
“Spirits must be gathering there! Just how many are there?!”
His eyes were closer to the truth than anyone else’s.
– Let’s go! Let’s go right now!
– Anyone want to go this weekend? Recruiting!
A psychic gold mine had been discovered!
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Kim Yeon-ho’s breathing quickened.
He had already replied to the post about going over the weekend.
He was heating up as an occult nerd—
And then, the decisive blow was dealt.
– Kyuuuuuu…
A strange sound echoed.
A shadow, much darker and far larger than any spirit, flickered across the screen.
“Gyak!”
Kim Yeon-ho was now nearly on the verge of fainting.
Today’s broadcast was absolute perfection for an occult fan.
The appearance of an idol named Sun-woo was secondary—
“Wait, where is Sun-woo? Where is he during all this?”
He hadn’t been visible on screen for a while.
Where was he while such powerful psychic phenomena were occurring? Was he safe?
– Hmph.
Naturally, he was fine.
The camera caught the Demon God on stage.
The angle shook momentarily, and the image quality blurred.
Light bled into the frame, causing the Demon God’s silhouette to shift mysteriously.
He looked like a ruler.
– I can feel you, the one and only
He began to sing.
A complete rendition, just as he had performed for the evil spirit.
“Ah…”
Kim Yeon-ho let out a gasp of admiration.
An idol was singing a full song on a mystery horror variety show, yet no one in the occult community said a word of protest.
That bizarre, ominous, and fearful aura was exactly what occult fans craved.
– Idolatrize you
As the Demon God finished the song.
Swooooosh—
The sound of wind gusting through the hall was captured on the audio.
Simultaneously, the whitish forms streamed out of the performance hall.
To the eyes of an occult fan, it looked as though the spirits were being purified by the idol’s song and departing.
“Ah, ah, ah…”
Kim Yeon-ho’s admiration knew no bounds.
What had he just witnessed?
He felt as though he had seen the greatest video of his life.
With trembling hands, he checked the community.
– Did we just… see that?
└ Did he just purify souls with a song?
└ I believe.
└ I’ve been purified too… it struck my heart… Cough.
– Who did you say he was again?
└ Pantheon’s Demon God Sun-woo!
└ Ah, so it was the Demon God. Of course it was him.
└ You need to be a Demon God to produce footage like that. It all makes sense now.
– I’ve seen countless occult videos, but never anything like this.
└ Ordinary people will say it’s manipulated or something was on the lens, but we know better.
└ Exactly. We know.
Amidst all this, Kim Yeon-ho saw a comment searching for him.
– Looking for the person who said they’d join the fandom if Sun-woo met a psychic phenomenon. (Ignorant. Arrogant. Didn’t recognize the Demon God.)
“Ah, right. That’s me.”
He clicked the post and left a reply.
– I was ignorant. I was arrogant. I failed to recognize the Demon God.
└ Right? So, what should you do now?
└ Join the fandom. I must join the fandom…! My burning heart is telling me so right now…!
Kim Yeon-ho joined the fandom.
Passing through interest and favorability, he had reached true devotion.
The life he had lived as an occult fan naturally led him to the Demon God. It was such a seamless transition that Kim Yeon-ho wondered if it was destiny.
“Oh, they replied again.”
The comment fairy who had led him to the fandom posted another reply.
– Do you sleep in a bed? Or on a futon?
“What?”
Kim Yeon-ho was puzzled but replied anyway.
– A bed.
The answer he received was a guide to the basics of Pantheon worship.
– Attach a photo of Pantheon to the head of your bed.
He was thankful for the kind explanation.
Occult fan Kim Yeon-ho’s life as an idol stanner had begun.
.
“Were there too many petty spirits?”
Having finished monitoring the broadcast, the Demon God tilted his head slightly.
But he soon forgot about it.
The reaction was so positive, what did it matter?
The buzz was, once again, exploding.
Loving this chapter? You'll be hooked on The Moon Reflected In The Water! Click to explore more!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂