Chapter 84: Crash To You!

Yoon A-hyun.

Better known as the Skeleton Soldier.

She, who formed the undead line of the Pantheon fandom along with Zombie Yoo Jin-ah, let out a cheer.

“It’s been released!”

She hurriedly brought the phone she had been constantly refreshing right up to her eyes, then immediately pulled it back.

The Demon God-nim values ‘health.’

After all, he was an idol who gifted his fans with deep-sleep massages and appetite-regulating qi treatments.

As his fan, she couldn’t possibly engage in behavior that would damage her eyesight.

A-hyun, who had been lying down, took this opportunity to push herself up.

“Heave-ho!”

Until not too long ago, sitting up required a long, arduous process:

1. Roll onto her side.

2. Place one hand on the floor and apply strength.

3. Let out a groan while pushing her body up.

4. Sit for a moment until the dizziness subsided.

5. Give up and lie back down.

6. Repeat steps one through five until eventually quitting.

But now?

Spring up instantly with a shout and the strength of her abdominal muscles.

A single step was enough!

Since being the first to experience the appetite-regulating treatment, she had been steadily gaining weight.

With the addition of appropriate exercise, she was shedding her Skeleton Soldier persona and becoming an angel, just like Yoo Jin-ah.

The transformation was so dramatic that her friends even asked her what kind of good supplements she was taking and requested recommendations.

Whenever that happened, Yoon A-hyun would hold out a single photo.

“Would you like to worship? They’re called Pantheon. If you worship them, you’ll sleep deeply and your appetite will become just right—”

Her friends would scream ‘You’re a total otaku!’ and run away, but it was still a rewarding daily life.

Today was the day that worship would be rewarded once again.

The day of the comeback!

What she had shouted was released was none other than Pantheon’s official music video.

“Phew, okay… my Pantheon gods, I am pressing play!”

Having faithfully followed the comeback schedule since the concept photos, Yoon A-hyun had already guessed the mood of the music video and prepared herself for full immersion.

The planet from the previous album and this desert were quite different, yet similar backgrounds in a way.

She expected they would solidify the identity of their first full-length album with a progression of approaching the fans while looking at them longingly, just like before.

Surely, like [Deep Sleep], it would start calmly and then increase the BPM—

– Crash!!!!

“Gah!”

In the video, sand erupted into the sky along with a powerful striking sound.

“W-what is this? Weren’t they going for the yearning vibe?”

Even after taking those concept photos?

The Pantheon members revealed themselves through the sandstorm.

“It’s not yearning at all? Not even a little!”

It gave off the feeling of a crash landing in the desert.

However, in that desert, Pantheon did not lie fallen with exhausted bodies.

It wasn’t the fatigued appearance from the planet; though their bodies looked even more haggard, they were heading toward a clear purpose.

– Crash To You

She pricked up her ears.

In the middle of the intense movements, Sun-woo’s whisper flew in.

“Crashed for you? Crashed into you?”

Before she could even finish chewing over the ambiguous interpretation.

In the video, Demon God Sun-woo opened his eyes and stared directly into the camera.

His gaze, radiating a demonic aura, sucked in the watching Yoon A-hyun even without any special effects.

Tae-young rose from atop a twisted tower and looked down at the desert, stepping on a crumbling wall.

Ji-ho pushed himself up from within the sand.

Yoon-seo and Ha-gyeom were separated, each searching for a direction.

And then, they all began to run simultaneously.

“Ah—! They’re even fast—!”

How did they film this?

Pantheon raced across the sand at an insane speed.

They were not a Pantheon isolated or left behind in the desert.

On the contrary, they were a Pantheon that would not lose their way even in a desert.

“Then why did Ji-ho look so frustrated in the concept photo? Was it because he brought a sextant but didn’t need it?”

Looking at the determined faces racing in the video, it seemed that way.

The sound continued the intense feeling with a loop of folk percussion and electric guitars.

–
Over the sand

Poured memories

I flew over them

On the path toward you
–

Tae-young and Yoon-seo maintained the flow along lines that were split short and fast.

“As expected, a combination you can trust to listen to….”

This combination had also developed the first verse in [Deep Sleep], and they still displayed their power in this intense track.

In the meantime, Pantheon arrived at a stone labyrinth that they had to pass through to exit the desert.

“Right, now they can catch their breath here—”

However, Pantheon’s BPM did not subside.

In an international standard, a labyrinth means traps and monsters.

It would be okay to look around a bit—

–
Crash! To You!

Here where my heart struck down!

Crash! To You!

You, you are here!

I will reach you!
–

Along with Demon God Sun-woo’s part following the full chorus,

Pantheon charged forward, smashing through the labyrinth walls from their respective arrival points!

“U-uwaah, so fast!”

Yoon A-hyun couldn’t stop her immersion in the sense of speed, which was much faster compared to [Deep Sleep].

The camera work, racing in a first-person perspective, was also a masterpiece. It wasn’t messy or dizzying even though it shook as it followed the members.

As they raced like that— BAM!

Hazy shadows blocked the members’ path.

Ah, at the moment she thought they would have no choice but to stop.

–
Keep running, hold your breath / To you who are there
–

The first line of Ji-ho’s rap part was ‘Keep running’!

The shadows blocked them, but the members ran forward without hesitating for a single moment.

“Run! They’re running! Pantheon is running toward me!”

Yoon A-hyun clenched her fists without realizing it.

She half-rose from her chair and tilted her body along with the screen.

–
Rush until the end! Crash to you!

Falsehoods crumble / Walls fly away

I can see the place where you are now
–

With a striking sound, Pantheon burst through the labyrinth walls all at once.

They didn’t even have the intention of looking for a door.

They had run exactly as they entered and pierced straight through to the other side.

Only after reaching this point did Pantheon face each other.

In this single moment of pause amidst the incredible sense of speed,

The members grinned.

“Squeal.”

After showing only exhausted and solemn faces, they suddenly let it burst.

Yoon A-hyun’s heart exploded along with it.

It felt like her heart was going to burst.

–
The burning heart and time

It’s not the end yet

Crash To You!
–

It’s not time yet! It’s not the end!

Feeling a bizarre sensation as if the music video was shouting at her, Yoon A-hyun clutched her chest and focused again.

–
The name that called me / It’s okay even if it burns up

Crash! To You!

I who crashed into you

Crash! To You!

This end is right before you!
–

At the end of the final chorus, the Pantheon members who had continued their sprint finally stopped.

Expressions as if they had discovered something.

No, that wasn’t it.

That look in their eyes—welcoming, overwhelming, yet yearning—was the look of having discovered ‘someone,’ not something.

Standing in a line and looking with gentle eyes, the five gods slowly approached this way.

And they tried to say something.

“Nice to see you? Thank you? How have you been? Hello? I, I, I love you?”

Yoon A-hyun widened her eyes while imagining possible lines—

Blackout.

The music video ended just like that.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

One way to make a person angry is to stop talking mid-sentence, and the other is—

But she had to admit it.

Not speaking was the Demon God’s masterstroke.

Because of it, the room for imagination became far too vast.

Yoon A-hyun opened her laptop and immediately logged into her fan account.

Fans who had checked the music video at a similar timing were already rioting.

[This is crazy! They were already crazy, but they got even crazier!!!!]

[Who knew the concept photos were a bluff? Taking them so yearningly like that!]

“Right? It wasn’t just me who was fooled, right?”

Yoon A-hyun nodded her head vigorously.

Her neck, which used to hurt with a ‘crack’ sound whenever she did such a movement, now held up perfectly as she expressed her agreement.

[Did you see the composer’s name? If not, I suggest you go look quickly.]

[Yeah, I checked.]

[Yeah, me too.]

Yoon A-hyun hadn’t seen it.

However, she chose to scroll down instead of re-checking the song info.

[Posting this for fans who couldn’t check. Composer: Lucio Moreira, a rising composer from Brazil. His field of activity isn’t limited to Brazil but the whole world. Note: Sun-woo mentioned he was an acquaintance when he heard the name on Mystery Horror Commando.]

As expected, there was an explanation fairy.

“Thank you, nameless fairy!”

Since Yoon A-hyun had also seen Mystery Horror Commando, she was able to recall it. It hadn’t really been shown what happened after Sun-woo entered upon hearing his acquaintance’s name.

So he appeared here.

[The composer is kinda amazing? Even though the mood of the song changed a lot, he kept the Pantheon feeling exactly.]

[Right. I thought that was amazing too.]

“Me too.”

Yoon A-hyun felt the same.

It was [Crash To You], which raced intensely compared to the low-toned [Deep Sleep], yet it was packed with Pantheon’s atmosphere.

It was because both songs were created based on inspiration received from the Demon God, but to the fans who couldn’t know that, it was simply fascinating.

Furthermore, the quality itself was top-tier.

[Crash To You] maintained a fast tempo throughout but never felt exhausting or boring. Rather, one could feel the sensation of racing together.

[Pantheon, you really came out with your teeth bared.]

[Right? You could guess it from the moment they chose the comeback date.]

[Yeah, it’s a bit much to call it a coincidence.]

[It feels like they’re saying they won’t be pushed by Izm—no, that they’ll crush them, right?]

[Yeah, but let’s be careful not to pick fights for no reason.]

The Pantheon fans already knew.

That the choice of comeback date was Origin’s declaration of war.

“Right, we can’t just be on the receiving end.”

Yoon A-hyun clenched her fists, then reflexively looked at her own hands.

The hands where joints used to protrude had now become the hands of an ordinary person.

This was all thanks to her worship of the Pantheon gods, and simultaneously, thanks to the Pantheon gods’ worship.

In other words, it was thanks to mutual worship.

[Then today’s event will be important, right?]

[Sob ㅠㅠ They failed with the 1st album and then rose up, so this is the first time they’re doing what everyone else does.]

[It’s actually better. Pantheon exists as they are now because they failed back then.]

[Yeah, I’m going.]

[Ugh, I’m so jealous!!!!]

[I’m going too.]

[Jealousy x2222]

Pantheon had set the date.

They had even scheduled a fan event to match the comeback day.

Namely, their first fan signing event.

And as for which side Yoon A-hyun was on—between the participants and the jealous—

“Fufufufu.”

She was on the side wearing a dark smile resembling the Demon God—a participant.

Thud.

Yoon A-hyun closed her laptop.

After reading comments, the clock had already moved forward significantly.

Following the music show stage, she had to get up now to go to the fan signing being held nearby.

Pantheon was so sincere about worshipping their fans that they had reportedly paid a high rental fee to open the fan signing venue in advance.

They allowed fans who didn’t have tickets to the music show recording to enter the fan signing venue early and watch the music show stage on a large screen there.

And the schedule was for Pantheon, having moved from the music show, to meet them there.

“Ugh…. Worship.”

Yoon A-hyun looked at the dress she had bought new for today.

A dress that had gone up in size through an appropriate appetite and appropriate weight gain.

It welcomed her, hanging quietly on the wall.

“Let’s go.”

To the fan signing event, where Demon God Sun-woo’s Authorities would be running rampant.

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