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Join the ServerThe Demon God stared at the photo with a look of utter disbelief.
Because the version of himself in the photo was wearing quite a bright smile.
He would never make such an expression.
‘These gods… if they were going to forge it, they should have done it properly.’
Of course, there was no way humans would notice.
This was the manifestation of a divine Authority.
A subordinate of the God of Art, the God of Photography, must have used the Authority [Synthesis].
He didn’t know about the distant future, but with current human technology, it was impossible to detect.
‘I understand why they did it, though.’
They had probably been leaving his country of origin vague without setting a specific location.
Then they must have been startled by this recent incident.
If it were revealed that there were no traces of the human named Lee Sun-woo at all, the fusion between the Demon God and reality might shatter.
That would lead to absolute chaos.
‘Though for me, it might have been an opportunity to break these shackles.’
At any rate, it was a done deal.
Such an event did not occur.
‘Well—is it not encouraging that the humans’ curiosity about me has exceeded the gods’ default settings?’
He came from Brazil.
At the very least, his presence in Brazil was witnessed.
Now, he wondered if they would have to plant sightings of him with Koreans in Brazil, but that was something for the gods to handle.
“Since it is a punishment you gods decreed, handle the cleanup yourselves.”
As his recognition grew, interest would only increase, meaning the gods would have to work harder to clean up the traces.
He even felt a sense of schadenfreude.
“Now then, how will things unfold?”
Since Lee Sun-woo’s past actions had surfaced, the internet’s reaction was bound to shift again.
And just as the Demon God thought, the Pantheon fans, including Yeon-hee and Yoo Jin-ah, were launching a counterattack.
The photo contained another piece of incredible information.
– Look at the bottom left of the photo. Look at the placard of the group tourists.
└ ????
└ It’s a group of scholars who came for sightseeing after a seminar for an international academic organization. The Global Order of Esoteric Knowledge. Shall we take a look at their seminar schedule?
It was so.
Through the existence of the academic organization, the date could be inferred.
– August 24th to 26th.
└ What, Sun-woo appeared at the festival on the last day of August?
└ So he was literally in Brazil right before that?
Physical evidence.
The evidence Yeon-hee had been screaming for in her mind clearly existed.
“Jin-ah Unnie! How did you achieve such a great feat! You’ll be commended by the Demon God-nim!”
Yeon-hee muttered to herself as she diligently roamed the battlefield on the internet.
The enemies were still lingering and holding out.
└ I mean… couldn’t he have been practicing domestically and then just visited for a bit?
└ Excuse me? What company would send a trainee to a place like that right before debut?
└ He isn’t even wearing a hat under the intense South American sun? It looks like he was walking around without caring about his face getting tanned?
└ Isn’t that because he’s in the shade?
└ So he just moved shwoop shwoop only through rock shadows?
No matter how one looked at the photo, it wasn’t a situation suitable for someone about to debut as an idol.
If an accident occurred while he was sent overseas, the shocking debut would go down the drain.
– In the Mystery Horror Commando video, didn’t he say he was an acquaintance of some composer?
└ Oh, right. Lucio Moreira. Where did they say he was from?
└ Brazil. My sibling is an occult fan, and apparently, he’s famous in that field. TMI) Thanks to that, my sibling also joined the fandom lol.
└ I thought he was just talking nonsense as usual, but it turns out they really were acquaintances.
└ No, but since it’s Sun-woo, he might have just been saying anything lol. He might have never even seen him in Brazil lol.
└ Ah lol, that’s actually persuasive lol.
They had met for the first time in Korea.
The fans were reaching the truth in a strange way.
└ But it seems our Sun-woo doesn’t even tan. The sunlight outside the shade is incredibly strong. Everyone else brought sunglasses and hats.
└ Seems to be his constitution? He appeared in August and did outdoor variety shows, but he stays pale. Even Ji-ho, who is also pale, tans a little bit.
Thus, the ‘pre-arranged return to Korea’ theory, which followed the ‘Origin CEO’s incompetence’ theory, was defeated.
The conspiracy theory that Origin was doing groundwork to kick out Kang-yul was effectively blocked.
In the end, the Pantheon fans drove the enemies out of the second battlefield as well.
Physical evidence was one thing, but they also made sure to consistently post and comment about it so it wouldn’t be washed away.
No matter how much truth exists, if the page is pushed back, fewer people see it. That alone causes public opinion to go strange.
People who only read one or two posts casually only remember what they saw.
Pantheon fans never backed down in this fight.
– What’s going on? Were there always this many Pantheon fans?
└ No, if you look at the nicknames and IPs, it’s a small number. They’re just commenting like crazy.
└ Eh? Don’t they get tired?
└ There’s a rumor that Pantheon fans eat and sleep very well.
└ What are you talking about? What does that even mean…?
└ I don’t know either. But apparently, they’re healthy.
└ …Why?
That was because they had the Grand Commander, the Demon God, who strove to preserve their combat power.
The Pantheon fans maintained flexible finger joints and didn’t slow their tempo even during long comment wars.
They reorganized their ranks while communicating through each other’s SNS.
└ Worship! Worship! Worship!
└ Worship! Everyone knows Kang-yul was the one who left, but they dare touch Pantheon with media play!
└ We must not lose to these malicious commenters! Worship!
└ Wor!
└ ship!
└ Wor!
└ ship!
In this way, they successfully shielded against the attempts to shake Origin and Pantheon that had started from the reality show.
The Pantheon fans exchanged opinions for a moment.
– But are we going on the offensive too?
It was a core question.
And accurate answers followed.
└ No.
└ Only a few of them are actually picking fights anyway.
└ No need to do the same thing.
└ If we do that, it might turn into a war between the entire fandoms, and that’s not good.
└ It feels like I’m harboring a grudge if we just end it with shielding.
└ Whoa whoa, calm down and worship.
└ Let’s just look at photos of our biases. We don’t engage in fights they wouldn’t want.
└ Because that’s what worship is.
With that, the skirmish on the internet seemed to have come to an end—
—Or so they thought.
Once again, a single photo was uploaded.
However, it wasn’t the Demon God, nor was it Tae-young, Yoon-seo, Ha-gyeom, or Ji-ho.
It was a photo of Kang-yul.
It wasn’t a photo someone had openly posted in an article.
It was a ghost-like photo that began to appear slowly from an untraceable source.
└ Did everyone see that photo?
└ Yeah, it was deleted incredibly fast, but it seems everyone who was going to see it saw it.
└ Izm’s reaction speed is crazy lol. They must have been monitoring continuously.
└ Then they deleted it as soon as something disadvantageous to them came out lol.
└ Is the beard Managing Director J.Y.B?
└ Correct. Izm’s Managing Director.
The photo showed a man with a neatly groomed beard meeting Kang-yul and having a conversation.
And this photo also had a clue to infer the date.
└ Isn’t this too much? They failed during the first album, so they must have had plenty of time, but why then?
└ Was that really the only time? It’s scary, honestly.
└ The other members must have been thinking about doing a good stage at the event.
It was one of the few events they had during the first album period.
Kang-yul was still in his stage outfit.
The time displayed on the LED screen in the photo was 8:47 PM.
It was something that happened only 30 minutes after Pantheon’s stage had ended.
It was physical evidence capable of flipping public opinion in an instant.
Evidence that Izm had pre-contacted him, rather than Kang-yul leaving Origin and Izm taking him in.
The Pantheon fans exchanged opinions on SNS once again.
└ Absolutely do not step forward.
└ The reaction will flow on its own. Don’t jump in for no reason.
└ Absolutely! Got it? Just worship at home. Just monitor from time to time.
└ But I am curious. Who uploaded this?
└ I have a guess…
└ Who?
└ I think it might be the people from the early days.
└ Ah!
The disbanded cult—no, the fandom.
Pantheon hadn’t been able to form an official fan club, but they did have a small number of fans back then.
└ Then would it be someone we know?
└ Probably not. If it were someone active again, they wouldn’t have posted it given our current atmosphere.
└ Then…
└ It must be someone who left the fandom. Probably a Kang-yul fan?
Kang-yul, who had the most fans in Pantheon, had vanished.
The remaining members of Pantheon saw their already small number of fans decrease significantly.
However, was the aftermath only felt by Pantheon?
When a member leaves a group, do all the fans of that member welcome the decision and follow them?
No.
There are bound to be fans who are disappointed in the member who left the group.
Among them, there are fans who quit being fans altogether.
“Phew…, the world of idols is truly complicated.”
Yeon-hee looked up from her phone.
It had been a long time since she had left school and returned home.
Looking out the window, the sun was setting.
It had been a truly long day.
Yeon-hee looked outside for a while before turning her head.
“Grandma, I think you can stop commenting now.”
“Hmm? Is that so?”
Kim Myeong-ja, Yeon-hee’s grandmother, stopped her fingers from pressing the phone.
“Aing, I was having fun, and it’s over already?”
She was also a fan of Pantheon who had proudly joined the fandom.
In the past, she only knew how to use limited functions like YouTube on her phone and wasn’t very proficient.
But now?
Kim Myeong-ja was now someone who roamed through all sorts of communities.
“Yes. Now we only need to monitor. Take off your reading glasses and relax.”
“Hmm? This grandma wants to monitor too.”
“Oh, come on, I’ll read them to you, of course.”
“Oh, my good granddaughter.”
The grandmother stroked Yeon-hee’s back.
“A Managing Director going there.”
“Isn’t this undeniable? Isn’t it tampering?”
“I thought they said Origin kicked him out? But they meet at an event?”
“I didn’t see Kang-yul that way, but he’s quite sly.”
“Izm will delete this post too. They’re deleting posts like crazy right now.”
Listening to the comments Yeon-hee was reading, Kim Myeong-ja spent a happy evening.
Being a fan had brought the already close grandmother and granddaughter even closer.
***
“Shit, we’re screwed…. For a thing like that to pop out. They didn’t even have any damn fans.”
On the other hand, in Izm’s executive office.
Managing Director Jang Young-bae and the team leaders in charge of EXI were clutching their heads.
“Director, if this keeps up, the media play and the comment manipulation are all for naught.”
“Did a moment like this even exist? Did you meet Kang-yul personally?”
The team leaders asked Managing Director Jang.
They had released the interview in the reality show,
And immediately started working on each community and SNS.
They intended to ruin Pantheon while simultaneously turning Kang-yul into the image of a discarded genius—
But they failed.
“Dammit, do you think I wanted to go to such a bothersome place? I went because the CEO told me to.”
Jang Young-bae vented his anger.
“The CEO?”
“Did he dispatch you personally?”
The team leaders’ complaining voices subsided.
The new CEO’s control over the company was so great that all the previous lines had been purged.
“I’m telling you. It was an order, so surely he won’t say anything to me?”
In the midst of this, Jang Young-bae was worried about his own safety.
‘Well, he probably didn’t tell you to get your photo taken.’
‘You should have looked around a bit better before meeting. It’s a miracle you weren’t caught by Origin.’
The team leaders were afraid of Jang Young-bae, but they didn’t agree with him in their hearts.
That was how decisive this photo was.
“Forget it! Anyway, our fandom is already formed, isn’t it? The global fandom won’t be heavily affected by something like this anyway.”
Since Izm itself was global, EXI’s fandom was also being built globally.
“Yes, well, I suppose.”
“Even if it’s a bit embarrassing at the start, we can just crush it with power.”
The two team leaders also tried to downplay the size of the matter.
It wasn’t entirely wrong. To Jang Young-bae and the two team leaders, the idol business was all about selling to the fandom anyway.
As the three of them were slowly regaining their composure.
The internal phone rang.
Jang Young-bae looked at the two team leaders for a moment before picking up the phone.
– Managing Director Jang, the CEO would like you to come up for a moment.
“…….”
Jang Young-bae put down the phone.
The two team leaders clearly saw his beard trembling.
***
At that time, the Demon God was making a ridiculous suggestion as usual.
“What would you think of making a comeback on the same day as EXI’s debut?”
Since they had defended, it was only natural to attack.
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Great plan
Even grangran went on the defense amazing