Chapter 81: The Mobilization of the Worshiper Army

Inside the Pantheon dorm.

A furious voice rang out.

“How dare they give such an interview! How contemptible!”

The members reflexively turned to look at the Demon God first.

“It was not this body. Is the difference not clearly obvious?”

At those words, the members nodded.

“I suppose? If it were Sun-woo, he would have said, ‘How insolent,’ right?”

Now that they thought about it, the voice had come from afar. It wasn’t from the third floor where the members lived.

“Guys! Do not be shaken!”

The person shouting about contempt was none other than the CEO, who lived on the second floor.

“Right! The CEO is right! There is no need to be shaken!”

Following closely behind the sprinting CEO was the Team Leader, who was actually the first resident of the building.

“Was it merely the dwellers of the lower floor?”

“Sun-woo Hyung…, they live on the floor below, so they are lower, but that choice of words is a bit….”

In the meantime, the CEO and the Team Leader rushed in front of the members.

Immediately, they began scanning the Pantheon members—

““Wait, are you guys okay?””

Both of them froze upon seeing how unexpectedly calm the members were.

“CEO, Team Leader, we are fine. Everyone sorted out their feelings yesterday.”

Tae-young spoke on behalf of the group.

The appearance of EXI, the reality show interview, and the imagination of how much Kang-yul had agreed to all of it were all unpleasant.

But it was just that—unpleasantness.

“It won’t be as if it never happened, but we’ve passed the stage of brooding over it. We must do what we have to do.”

“I-is that so?”

The CEO discreetly checked on Ji-ho, whom he was most worried about, but his expression was equally composed.

“Ji-ho, have you also pulled yourself together?”

“Yes…, somehow or another.”

“?”

Ji-ho was momentarily setting aside the memory of the Demon God’s forced healing.

Regardless, it didn’t matter to the CEO or the Team Leader.

If they had stabilized somehow, that was a good thing.

“Phew, I worried for nothing.”

Managing the mental health of idols was a crucial task for an agency.

The CEO and the Team Leader had been on pins and needles, fearing the members—excluding Sun-woo—would suffer a psychological blow from EXI’s debut. They had held repeated meetings between themselves on how to comfort the members.

Yet, to see the members enduring so well.

“You all have grown sturdy before I knew it.”

The CEO and Team Leader were even moved to tears, but—

“It is because they are with this body that they become strong. Representative, you should be grateful to me. I am sure you are always grateful, but you should do so even more.”

“…….”

It was the Demon God, once again instantly hardening a heart that was about to turn soft.

As the members’ mental health concerns subsided, the conversation naturally shifted to the content of the interview.

“Honestly, I was impressed. Did Izm not launch a magnificent opening move?”

“Magnificent…. Well, I still can’t understand your sensibilities, Sun-woo. But it’s true they gave us a massive plot twist.”

The CEO nodded his head.

It was a short interview at the end of the reality show.

The frame was clear.

[The talent discarded by Origin blooms here.]

It gave the nuance that Kang-yul hadn’t escaped, but rather that Origin had sent him away.

They hadn’t used those exact words,

And if one dissected the interview, it didn’t specifically name Kang-yul, so it was hard to argue against,

Yet anyone who saw the interview would immediately think of Kang-yul.

It was technical, intentional, and above all, malicious.

As it stood, it would affect Origin’s reputation.

“It’s strange. To go this far.”

“Representative, are you not used to Izm being desperate to devour you?”

“That’s true. But this case is a bit different.”

He was used to them hindering Origin.

However, dragging their own rookie group into it wasn’t exactly common sense. What if the group suffered damage? Were they that confident?

“Reflect well, Representative. Did you not earn someone’s resentment while you were there?”

“Me? I was just faithful to my work?”

“You might have earned resentment by living without a shred of social awareness.”

The CEO sighed in dejection.

“Social awareness…. To hear that from you of all people, Sun-woo. It truly makes me reflect on myself.”

Regardless, now was not the time to sit around reminiscing about the past.

“Representative, then what shall you do?”

As the Demon God said, they had to stop the reality show interview from having a negative impact.

“CEO, Kang-yul paid a penalty fee when he left anyway. Do we not have the documents?”

Tae-young asked about official evidence they could present.

“It’s difficult. It’s recorded as being paid by Kang-yul’s parents, not Izm.”

“Ah, then that won’t work.”

Even if it were recorded as being paid by Izm, there was plenty of room for media play.

They could claim Origin sold him, or that Izm was helping out the poor Origin, and so on.

“As expected, it would be best if the fans stepped up here.”

“Hmm?”

The Demon God asked curiously.

“What can the fans do?”

“In the first place, the interview didn’t explicitly point to Kang-yul. It would be awkward for us to react officially.”

“Oh… a magnificent stratagem. It seems there is a capable talent at Izm.”

“Ugh. Well, I suppose. Anyway, that’s why it’s actually best for the fans to reveal the facts. But—”

“?”

The CEO had a face lacking confidence.

“Will it be possible? Izm’s fandom is so large. Furthermore, EXI is constantly expanding their power. Their teasers were so well-made that they already have a formed fandom.”

However.

“Representative. You are worrying about something trivial.”

Unlike the unconfident CEO, the Demon God had a very relaxed expression.

“Why is it a trivial worry?”

“Because Pantheon’s fans must have already equipped themselves with powerful combat strength.”

“?”

“It is the same principle as the members becoming stronger by being with me.”

“I don’t understand that principle itself.”

However, the Demon God even threw himself onto the sofa.

“If they have been diligent in their worship, the fans will already be strong.”

Rise, O fans.

The time for war has come.

***

“How dare they give such an interview! How contemptible!”

All the members turned around at the extremely enraged shout.

Since such things happened often, one of the members who made eye contact spoke as if to soothe her.

“Yeon-hee, do you really need to go as far as imitating the Demon God’s way of speaking?”

Lee Yeon-hee, who was now a third-year at Guesan Girls’ Middle School, shook her head firmly at her friend in the band club.

They were a diligent band club that came to school even on weekends for practice. However, it was a day when the friends who had joined the fandom with Yeon-hee hadn’t shown up.

The other band club members couldn’t understand Yeon-hee’s behavior.

“I have to imitate him occasionally. That way, I can synchronize with the Demon God’s mood.”

“Do you even have to synchronize?”

It was actually a failure of synchronization.

Because the Demon God himself was actually finding enjoyment in Izm’s interview.

However, the Pantheon fans, including Yeon-hee, were furious.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“What else? I have to reveal the truth.”

One by one.

As Yeon-hee checked the YouTube comments on the reality show, sure enough, there were mentions of the interview.

– That’s about Kang-yul, right?

└ Since there are other kids who were trainees elsewhere, it applies to everyone.

└ Then it applies to Kang-yul too.

The public opinion that had been unfavorable to Kang-yul shifted after that interview.

It wasn’t everyone, but a portion of the Izm fans and the public had created an atmosphere targeting Pantheon.

First of all, sparks flew toward Origin.

– Seems like Origin had no eye for talent?

└ Honestly, Kang-yul was a great center during the first album too. It feels like Origin just lacked the ability to make him big.

└ Seeing how they’re blowing up now, everyone seems to have a good feeling about them.

└ Just because someone was a producer doesn’t mean they run a company well. There are plenty of producers who failed after making an idol group.

Yeon-hee cracked her knuckles.

“Yeon-hee? Your fingers are bending a lot right now?”

Her band club friend stared with wide eyes.

Yeon-hee’s fingers were so flexible they almost looked like the tentacles of a squid or an octopus.

“That’s because I’ve been growing all this time.”

“What? Growing what?”

“My drumming skills.”

“?”

“And I’ve been writing comments with the same fingers that hold the drumsticks.”

“!”

Yeon-hee’s flexible fingers began to race across the phone screen.

And, not just Yeon-hee, but many fans jumped into this battle.

– Isn’t the Origin CEO a has-been? Even his fame was from when he was at Izm.

└ Are you ignoring the fact that the CEO is the producer who made the second album a success?

└ Seems like you’re turning a blind eye just to hate on him?

└ He’s even the composer of the second album’s title track. Don’t call someone a has-been when they just succeeded with their most recent album.

– The Origin CEO must be quite old now. It’s about time his sense for music faded.

└ (Attached recent photo) He looks exactly the same as in his prime?

└ There are plenty of producers who are still active even as they get older. Are you really picking a fight over age?

└ I told you he composed the second album.

The attacks on Origin, especially the CEO, were very easy to defend against thanks to his clear track record.

Second album success.

Composing the title track.

By wielding these two facts, they could repel the attacks.

However, the battlefield was not just in one place.

– Actually, could it be that they contacted Sun-woo in advance? Weren’t they looking for another center to kick Kang-yul out of Origin?

└ Right? Honestly, that same-day casting story. I thought it was a funny story, but doesn’t it make no sense?

└ Right, right. Idols aren’t a joke. He must have been in there practicing.

– In the first place, where exactly did he come from overseas?

These were posts suspecting that Sun-woo had been prepared in advance during the process of discarding Kang-yul.

Since the gods who sent the Demon God to the world had kept everything secret except for basic information, suspicions grew.

Fans had just brushed it off, saying he was a mysterious Demon God, but to others, it was an opening for attack.

“These people! Blasphemous! I told you he came from the universe!”

Ignoring her band club friend shaking her head, Yeon-hee joined the fray once again.

It felt as if she could hear the sound of a trumpet summoning her to the battlefield from afar.

Beside her, the Pantheon fans were marching in unison.

└ Excuse me? This is a piece of bait that was not only resolved at the start of debut but has practically dissolved in water by now.

└ There are absolutely no traces of him domestically. But there are also absolutely no traces of him overseas. We’re also super, super curious about where Sun-woo came from!!!!

└ If he were practicing, how could there be no sightings?

However, since no physical evidence existed this time, they met with resistance.

└ Even if he lived overseas, couldn’t he have come back after being contacted?

└ Yeah, Origin could have contacted him and had him practice in secret. There are plenty of places that strictly hide private trainees.

└ Maybe his training period was short? A same-day casting the week after Kang-yul left is a bit too coincidental.

“Tsk, pagans.”

Yeon-hee bit her lip.

The movement regarding this issue was more organized.

She couldn’t be sure, but she wondered if Izm had provided the source.

If this rumor solidified, the situation would be serious.

Kang-yul would truly become the discarded genius, and Pantheon would become the thick-skinned group that didn’t care about kicking out their own center member.

“Evidence, I need evidence!!!!”

However, no fan had been able to find evidence of Sun-woo’s life.

– Vibrate

“Huh?”

Her phone rang at this critical moment.

If it weren’t her grandmother, she would have just turned it off, but the name on the screen was none other than ♥Zombie Jin-ah, Angel Jin-ah♥.

“Unnie?”

– Yeon-hee, you’re fighting, right?

“Of course!”

– My beloved comrade-in-arms, Yeon-hee.

Yoo Jin-ah also occasionally imitated the Demon God.

To others, it looked like a sickness, but to the fans, it was a lovely joke♥

“My beloved comrade-in-arms, Jin-ah Unnie. What is it you wish to inform me of?”

The band club friend shook her head for what felt like the countless time….

– Yeon-hee, I’m going to post something.

“Pardon?”

Yeon-hee noticed that Yoo Jin-ah’s voice was trembling slightly. Her breathing seemed a bit labored as well.

– I think I’ve made a massive discovery. I, I…, have stepped into a hidden mystery…

Yoo Jin-ah hung up the phone abruptly with proper dramatic flair.

Staring down at her phone, Yeon-hee quickly used her brain.

They were on the battlefield together right now.

But a massive discovery? A hidden mystery?

“Could it be?”

As Yeon-hee refreshed the communities and SNS several times, Yoo Jin-ah’s discovery finally appeared.

– Seems like it’s true that Sun-woo came from South America (Photo attached).

“Kyaaaaaaa—!!!!”

While her band club friends were startled, Yeon-hee clicked on it.

“Where is this?”

A photo of Sun-woo smiling somewhere appeared.

It was a place where a large rock protruded to create a shade.

And inside, there was a truly unique element.

“Rock art?”

Drawings made on stone by ancient people.

On the red wall of the rock shelter, figures were drawn forming a circle. It looked as if they were depicting a dance or a ritual.

And as soon as Yoo Jin-ah posted the photo, an investigation team set out and found the location where the rock art was drawn.

It was Serra da Capivara National Park, a heritage site in Brazil.

A place where prehistoric rock art from about 20,000 to 40,000 years ago remains.

It was said to be one of the oldest human settlement sites in South America.

Honestly, Yeon-hee didn’t know where that was and only remembered Brazil.

It was just a bit fascinating.

“The Demon God-nim had a hobby of visiting such places.”

***

“I went to a place like this?”

The Demon God tilted his head and then looked up at the sky.

He asked the gods far above.

“Was this not synthesized too hastily?”

It seemed the God of Forgery had been summoned from sleep to work.