Immediately after the practice room mirrors shattered.
"What the fuck!!"
"Kkeuak!!"
Namgung Jun cursed and stepped back, while Jaha let out a bizarre scream.
The Alliance Leader had a frightened face, but still, as the eldest brother, he stood protectively in front of his younger brothers.
Taegeuk, who was relatively far from the mirrors, looked slightly surprised.
Nahan was shielding the choreographer with his back.
...Was Nahan originally standing there?
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what was that just now!!"
Jaha jumped, his face pale white.
The Alliance Leader, after confirming Jaha wasn't hurt, said nonchalantly.
"It seems to have been an earthquake."
"An earthquake?!"
"It's common for mirrors to break due to vibrations."
"This kind of thing is common?"
Seeing him make a face that said 'Really?' even at such a shoddy explanation, the Alliance Leader certainly has a lot of trust.
It seems the Alliance Leader noticed that the accident just now was caused by the Heavenly Demon.
Since I had just shouted something about infusing internal energy, the Alliance Leader, who knows the Heavenly Demon's identity, must have understood right away.
Taegeuk frowned, but he kept his mouth shut, likely judging it was better to let Jaha believe it was an earthquake than to have him keep being scared.
Nahan, of course, is quiet by nature.
Namgung Jun was just watching the mood.
It was the choreographer who brought up something unexpected.
"…Is it true that the K-tsch building is haunted?"
"A ghost?!"
"Did you guys not hear that one wall of the manager's office collapsed yesterday?"
"This is the first time I'm hearing it!!"
"It's been chaos because of that. But now the practice room mirrors suddenly shatter all at once… it's too ominous."
"O-ominous…! Nahan said it was ominous too...!"
Jaha, recalling what Nahan had said, became even more anxious, wrapping his arms around himself and trembling.
"What if the ominous energy Nahan felt was really a ghost? I'm most scared of ghosts. I'm going home."
"They say if a ghost appears, the album does well."
"It already did well!"
It was Nahan who calmed Jaha down.
"It must be an earthquake."
"Really?!"
"I didn't feel any ominous energy from the phenomenon just now."
"If Nahan says so, I'm relieved..."
"Then why did the office wall collapse?"
The choreographer tactlessly interjected.
Nahan spoke without wavering.
"It must have been a precursor to the earthquake."
Since Nahan said it, it sounded plausible, so both the choreographer and Jaha nodded.
I'm glad they're idiots.
The culprit who actually broke the mirrors, the Heavenly Demon, was watching us with a displeased face.
"I told you I'd perform my forms, so why is no one concentrating?"
"Hyung, you're the weirder one for thinking about dancing in this situation."
"Such a fuss just because a mirror broke. This is what happens when you line the walls of a place for training forms with such rubbish."
"Your speech really reminds me of the old days. Hyung, are you hurt anywhere?"
"This master has a Diamond-Hard Invincible Body."
"That quip was kinda funny."
"?"
While that was happening, I checked if the members were really unharmed. Glass shards fell from Nahan's clothes, but fortunately, he didn't seem to be hurt.
"Should we move to another practice room? Or do you want to rest, since everyone seems startled?"
"What time do we have to rest? We have to redo the choreography right away and practice the new moves."
The mentality of 1st-tier idols, thinking they must continue practicing even after an earthquake broke the mirrors, is astonishing.
"Jaha is right about that. We have individual schedules later too. I don't think we need to see any more of Lord Heavenly Demon's dance skills, we just need to re-do the choreography."
"Then I'll look for an empty practice room."
Just as I was making calls to find an empty room and report that the main practice room mirror was shattered, the Heavenly Demon swept his hair over his shoulder and spoke.
"If it's the forms, I have already revised them."
At those words, everyone stared at the Heavenly Demon in surprise.
In the past, the members had devised their own choreography, but after the number of members decreased, it was left entirely to the choreographer.
So they seemed surprised that a new member had revised the choreography himself.
Jaha, his large eyes widening even further, asked.
"Hyung, you personally changed our choreography into a 6-person choreography?"
"Correct."
"Whoa! Turns out you were talented. You dance well, too. Hyung, you actually practiced our choreography, right? Did the CEO tell you to go with a 'natural talent' concept?"
"Such simple forms are easy to learn with one glance."
"Right, the natural talent concept. But why does he keep calling it forms?"
"Because what you are doing is forms."
"Whatever, just show us."
"Me too, I want to see too. I'm curious."
The choreographer also chimed in, curious about the choreography the Heavenly Demon had changed.
Just then, a reply arrived saying we'd have to wait about 30 minutes for another practice room to be free.
"Looks like there are no empty rooms right now."
"Let's just do it here. Brother Heavenly Demon, you said you weren't scared of the broken mirror, right?"
"What? Still, doing it here is a bit much..."
Namgung Jun expressed a weak objection, but the Alliance Leader, who seemed to be pondering something, backed Jaha up.
"We have to wait to go to another room anyway, so let's see the choreography Lord Heavenly Demon changed first. If it's good, we can practice it after we move."
"He says. Everyone agree?"
Taegeuk and Nahan nodded.
Namgung Jun also gave a reluctant nod.
I took the cleaning tools from one corner of the room and roughly pushed the glass shards to the side.
The Heavenly Demon wouldn't accidentally step on a glass shard, but....
No, wait, he said he has a Diamond-Hard Invincible Body, so does it even matter if he steps on it?
"Then I'll play the song again."
"Mind of Diamond-Hard Invincibility" began to flow from the speakers again. The intro, which still had no choreography.
Before starting the choreography, the Heavenly Demon closed his eyes gently and said.
"Be grateful that you can witness this with your own two eyes."
Jaha made an "Ew" face, but the Alliance Leader muttered nonchalantly.
"We could add that as narration at the start of the performance."
Are you serious?
Finally, the Heavenly Demon moved.
"Huh?"
The choreography the Heavenly Demon had changed was unexpectedly trendy.
Centered during the group dance, changing positions for solo parts.
It felt like he had perfectly complemented the parts that were lacking in the original choreography.
The beat was broken down more finely, making the choreography composition tighter, but it matched the song perfectly and was more splendid to watch.
No, it was beautiful.
It was to the point where, even though only one person was dancing, it gave the illusion that all six were dancing.
"That's insane..."
I heard Jaha mutter, dazed.
"It's like six people are dancing..."
Huh?
I, who was filming the Heavenly Demon's dance, suddenly came to my senses.
When I counted one by one, there were indeed six people.
No, fuck, he's not a ninja from the Village of Shame, why is he using shadow clones.
That Heavenly Demon bastard must have no intention of hiding his identity.
I could only pray that the other members wouldn't notice until the dance was over.
Fortunately, like Jaha, they all seemed too lost in watching the choreography to think deeply.
Only the Alliance Leader was looking at the Heavenly Demon with a troubled expression.
"…How is it."
Before I knew it, the Heavenly Demon's dance, or form, was over.
The Heavenly Demon looked smug, as if he could tell just by looking at their dazed expressions, and said.
"I revised this to match your level. It should not be a strain for you to perform."
From the Heavenly Demon's perspective, it was a condescending remark, but given the high quality of the choreography he had just shown, it sounded only like a compliment.
"H-hmpf. It's not bad. We don't have time, so I think it's okay to go with Hyung's version."
Jaha's lips were twitching, showing he liked the new choreography, but he acted tsundere, perhaps because the original choreographer was next to him and he couldn't show he liked it.
Come to think of it, the Heavenly Demon's choreography was a revision of the existing one.
I belatedly checked the choreographer's mood, and unexpectedly, the choreographer was clasping his hands, his eyes sparkling.
"To think this is the choreography he changed after seeing it once! He must be a genius! I get why the CEO wanted him to debut even a day sooner!"
"Like Jaha said, we don't have time, so we're thinking of practicing this choreography. Is that okay with you, Teacher?"
The Alliance Leader, proving he wasn't the leader for nothing, politely sought the choreographer's permission.
The choreographer nodded eagerly.
"It doesn't make sense not to use this after seeing it. Don't mind me, just practice. It's a shame this music show is the last broadcast. Really, the CEO... if he has talent like this, he should debut them before promotions start."
Namgung Jun, who had joined before this promotion, flinched noticeably.
The choreographer, perhaps seeing this, added hastily.
"While debuting talented kids like Jun right on time. Right?"
"That's right."
Since the Alliance Leader was the only one who agreed with the choreographer, the atmosphere became even colder.
The choreographer laughed awkwardly, then said since the choreography was decided, they should practice, and made his exit.
As soon as the choreographer left the practice room, Jaha jumped up and approached the Heavenly Demon.
"Hyung, you ripped it! Seriously!"
"I didn't break anything this time, what are you talking about?"
"To be honest, I resented the CEO and you a little bit. For inserting your debut on our last broadcast. But it seems it turned out for the best. If we do the last broadcast with the choreography you changed, the reaction will be insane. We'll have to practice hard, though. That part where you sit in mid-air seems impossible even with practice. Hyung, your jumping power is the best."
"You talk too much. Mount Hua Sect, if you have time for this, practice."
"That's true, but he's annoying. Right?"
"? Are you asking for my agreement?"
Seeing him even joking around, Jaha seems to have taken a liking to the Heavenly Demon.
He has no choice, as the one with the most parts in Gupailbang is Ju Jaha.
Among the choreography the Heavenly Demon arranged, most of the killing parts were bound to become Jaha's.
There's no reason to hate someone who made him stand out instead of taking away his parts.
"Then it's decided we'll practice with Lord Heavenly Demon's choreography. Brother So-ui, please send the video you filmed to the group chat."
"Come to think of it, we have to invite Hwajin to the group chat."
"Ah, right. Lord Heavenly Demon, by any chance, do you have a Ka..."
The Alliance Leader, who was about to ask the Heavenly Demon for his KakaoTalk ID after hearing Taegeuk, paused.
"…You don't have a phone yet, do you?"
"The CEO will bring it."
"Then please invite Lord Heavenly Demon later and send it."
I hesitated for a moment.
Is it okay to release the video that probably filmed the Heavenly-Demon-shadow-clone-jutsu?
"Uh… I thought I was recording, but I must not have pressed the button. I'll film and send each part individually later."
"Ah. Understood."
The Alliance Leader also seemed to guess that it was an unusual video and gave up right away.
"Did anyone copy the choreography, even roughly?"
The Alliance Leader asked, glancing at Taegeuk.
As the main dancer, Taegeuk wasn't at the level of memorizing the entire choreography after seeing it once like the Heavenly Demon, but he was capable of copying it by eye to some extent.
As expected, Taegeuk nodded.
"I copied my parts and the group dance parts."
"Jaha?"
"I just got my parts roughly."
"Nahan and Jun?"
Baek Nahan and Namgung Jun, much like Jaha, seemed to have only roughly copied their own parts.
"That's good enough. Lord Heavenly Demon, we would like you to guide us in the choreography. Would that be alright?"
"Since your skills are shallow, it cannot be helped. We are already in the same boat, so what can be done. I shall guide you."
"I know that speech is a concept, but it's king-bat."
"King-bat...?"
"King, royal! Like wang-bal (king foot), wang-ttukkeong (king lid)... it means 'king-annoyed'."
"What..."
Just as the Heavenly Demon was expressing his contempt for the new slang, the Alliance Leader asked me.
"Brother So-ui, is the practice room still not ready?"
"I think we can move in about 10 minutes."
"Got it. Guys, we'll move after waiting a bit. If you need to go to the bathroom, go now."
At those words, the members poured out of the practice room.
The Alliance Leader also entrusted the Heavenly Demon to me and followed the members.
Unexpectedly, Jaha didn't leave and remained, fidgeting a little as if he had something to say to the Heavenly Demon.
"It is extremely distracting. Just say it."
"Um, Hyung. The truth is, I'm the worst dancer among the members. So, could you maybe watch my choreography for just a moment now? I don't want to be the only one falling behind when we practice later."
Jaha has a lot of pride.
He hates losing, and he hates having things taken from him.
But he's also a member who works just as hard.
The Heavenly Demon stared at Jaha and then chuckled.
"To think the sole disciple of the Mount Hua Sect is a wooden puppet. If the Sword Saint saw this, he would grab the back of his neck."
"Who's the Sword Saint? …Don't tell me he's another new member?"
"No, you stiff wretch. Still, you seem to have the will to improve. I shall help you."
Saying so, he slowly showed Jaha a few moves of the choreography, but something felt off.
"Huh? This move is a little different from before."
Ah, is that the sense of wrongness I felt?
Jaha, who had at least memorized his own part, seemed to notice the change in movement right away.
"Correct. Unlike before, this time I have infused the myori."
"Myogi (stunt)?"
"Myori. You dull-witted wretch, try it yourself."
Bizarrely.
I felt that the Heavenly Demon's eyes had become strangely redder and darker.
They call eyes like that 'possessed by a demon,' I believe.
The demon-possessed Heavenly Demon twisted the corners of his mouth and spat out.
"You shall realize the true myori of Mount Hua."