It was the recording day for the Heavenly Demon's appearance on
Beyond the pure white set, Namgung Ryeo, dressed elegantly, and the Heavenly Demon, in his martial arts attire, sat side-by-side on a sofa.
The sofa the Heavenly Demon sat on was almost completely buried under his flowing martial arts robes.
I watched the Heavenly Demon anxiously from off-set.
The Heavenly Demon had claimed he studied N-tube, but looking at his recent playlist, it wasn't a very credible statement.
At this point, the only choice was to trust the MC, Namgung Ryeo.
Namgung Ryeo is on friendly terms with the CEO, and although there are rumors he loves gossip, he is a good person who has always taken good care of our K-tsch kids when they've come on his show.
We've also slotted a lot of ads into this program, so the PD won't do any malicious editing.
But still, what was this anxiety?
The Heavenly Demon's all-too-relaxed expression instead gave me an ominous feeling.
I tensed up and watched the broadcast begin.
Contrary to me, the Heavenly Demon, far from being tense, stood there with a slightly drowsy expression, looking in my direction.
Namgung Ryeo, who had been staring at the camera, smiled brightly as the red light came on and made a knocking gesture in the air.
"Knock knock! This is
"It is the Heavenly Demon."
Even at the Heavenly Demon's manner-less reply, Namgung Ryeo clapped like a seal and cheered.
"This chicness! This arrogance! This is the Heavenly Demon, Wi Hwajin!"
"Aye."
Namgung Ryeo looked at the Heavenly Demon as if fascinated.
"Looking closely, your eyes really are red."
"This is what happens when you learn Demonic Arts."
"Oh! How long did you learn?"
"I learned for about a hundred years."
"But Cheonma-nim, your profile says you're twenty-four?"
"Ah. Twenty-four is correct."
"?"
Demonic Arts for a hundred years…?
Don't tell me "twenty-four" was an identity the CEO created.
I've been subtly rude to him, thinking he was younger than me.
Sorry, Grandpa Heavenly Demon.
"I heard that, Cheonma-nim, you fell into Korea while fighting the Righteous-Demonic War in a parallel world."
Namgung Ryeo had a serious expression, as if he had decided to match the ridiculous concept and worldview of a rookie martial arts-dol.
"Is that true?"
"It is."
No, he said he studied the script, but his answers have been too short.
Is this the response of someone who studied?
I sent a sign to the Heavenly Demon to answer at greater length.
The Heavenly Demon just looked at me spinning my arm as if watching a monkey.
Namgung Ryeo, befitting a veteran MC, continued the talk without being fazed by the Heavenly Demon's short answers.
"To fall into the unfamiliar land of Korea with no connections! You must have been truly flustered."
"Hmph. I was not particularly flustered."
I thought the Heavenly Demon's answer would end there, but unexpected words followed.
"Korea is a better country to live in than the Central Plains. In the Central Plains, after the sun sets, no one but martial artists would wander outside. A country with security good enough to wander outside late at night is rare in this world."
"Our country's security is good, indeed."
"The internet speed, of course, the delivery speed, and even the web novel development speed. This master likes the Korean 'ppalli-ppalli' (hurry-hurry) culture. I even wondered if all Korean people had learned lightness techniques."
Wait, this....
"Uh, uh… you must really like Korean life, then?"
"Correct. This beautiful country also has a painful history of war, yes? This master has also experienced war, so I know that wound, even if just a little. Despite experiencing such pain, to be able to truly love a culture of singing and dancing, how is that not noble?"
This bastard… was the N-tube he referenced a Gukppong (nationalistic) broadcast?
Those are the words of someone who forgot he's the Heavenly Demon.
Wasn't the Righteous-Demonic War a war your guys started?
The Heavenly Demon didn't stop there and added one more thing to drive the nail in.
"This master will declare it. Dokdo is Korean land. Gangnam Style. I love you, Idol Relay."
It wasn't one word, it was 1st verse, 3rd verse, and overkill.
How can you say you love another broadcast station's program, you crazy bastard....
Namgung Ryeo was so flustered he looked at the camera.
It seems even Namgung Ryeo, who has been through thick and thin, can't handle the Heavenly Demon.
"Ah, th-thank you. No, that is, what should I say? Cheonma-nim, you are very interested in history, I see?"
"Indeed."
"In that case, shall we look at the history of Gupailbang together~?"
He saved it just like that.
His experience isn't for nothing.
Matching Namgung Ryeo's comment, Gupailbang's debut album jacket appeared on the screen behind the set.
"Gupailbang's debut album, 'Murim Unification'!"
"How tacky."
"It looks that way now! But with this album, Gupailbang achieved three triple crowns at once and rose as monster rookies~"
The full-length albums and mini-albums released so far unfolded on the screen.
"The debut album, of course, and every album released so far has sold over 700,000 copies in the first week. The 8th mini-album, which includes the new song 'Mind of Diamond-Hard Invincibility,' has shown the spirit of selling 1.2 million copies in the first week! I heard you changed the choreography for the last broadcast stage of 'Mind of Diamond-Hard Invincibility,' is that true?"
"It was nothing."
"Wow! A talented rookie! Gupailbang, which possesses an idol with both this beauty and skill, is, unusually, a martial arts-dol."
As Namgung Ryeo clapped, the screen changed, showing a 6-split full-body pictorial of the current members.
…Wait, the Heavenly Demon has a full-body pictorial?
They took him, saying it was for a profile picture, but it seems they shot a pictorial in that time.
Is the CEO really determined to push the Heavenly Demon?
"Gupailbang refers to the Nine Factions—Shaolin, Mount Hua, Wudang, Zhongnan, Diancang, Kunlun, Qingcheng, Kongtong, and Emei—plus the Beggars' Sect! They started as a 10-member co-ed group, but now they have become a 6-member male group, right?"
"They were 10 members?"
The Heavenly Demon blinked slowly, as if hearing this for the first time.
"Where did the other four go? Did they die?"
"What? Ah~ Cheonma-nim, you must not have known, having suddenly fallen into Korea!"
Namgung Ryeo's effort to match the martial arts-dol worldview was tear-jerking.
Thank you, Teacher Namgung Ryeo.
To think you're taking care of him like this, even though that Heavenly Demon bastard spouted nonsense like, "Namgung? Are you Namgung Jun's sister?" when you first met.
…Although, Teacher Namgung Ryeo didn't seem to hate the "Namgung Jun's sister" remark.
Namgung Ryeo continued kindly.
"It's not four who are missing, but seven. And they didn't die, they were excommunicated for breaking their respective sect's rules."
As Teacher Namgung Ryeo explained, matching the martial arts-dol setting, the withdrawn members became excommunicated disciples.
Talk of withdrawn members reminds me of the incident at the restaurant.
Shin Tae-eul's words kept bothering me.
That I have to know the news of the members who left, to live.
Does that mean someone is going to kill me?
That's absurd.
What gain is there in killing a salaryman manager like me?
But the fact that the 1st Generation Zhongnan Sect and Emei Sect members appeared afterward bothers me.
'Seeing as the CEO had the Alliance Leader check my pad, there's definitely something going on.'
When the Alliance Leader returned the pad he'd borrowed, it had the faint smell of a strong perfume that the Alliance Leader doesn't use.
That's how I knew. The CEO had touched my pad.
'I knew the CEO was crazy, but....'
Wasn't he supposed to end at the "suspiciously rich martial arts fanatic" level?
While I was thinking such thoughts, Namgung Ryeo's history of Gupailbang finally reached the present day, when Namgung Jun and the Heavenly Demon were recruited.
"After that, Namgung Jun of the Namgung Family, and the person right in front of me, Heavenly Demon Wi Hwajin, were recruited!"
"Yes, that is me."
"You are famous for levitating on your debut stage. Can you show us now?"
"The administrator forbade it. Gupailbang, like the Righteous Faction wretches they are, has many forbidden things."
"Come to think of it, SNS is also forbidden, right? However, our
A member who broke the taboo.
No need to look further, it's the Heavenly Demon.
And what unfolded on the screen was from that day we went to eat molecular gastronomy.
It was the post the Heavenly Demon left on Insuta.
No, I deleted the account that very day, so how do they have a screenshot?
At that time, I hadn't looked at the comments one by one.
So it was only now that I learned the CEO had discovered the Heavenly Demon's SNS and even left comments.
I scanned the CEO's comments, which were so numerous they looked desperate, with cold, sunken eyes.
The Heavenly Demon, despite the evidence right behind him, insisted confidently.
"This master did not break a taboo. I simply did not know what an 'es-en-es' was at that time."
"The anonymous informant really wanted me to ask this one thing."
"What is it?"
"Why didn't you reply to CEO-nim's comments?"
…In my opinion, that anonymous informant is 100% the CEO bastard.
The Heavenly Demon snorted, as if being asked something utterly ridiculous.
"They said this at the Beggars' Inn."
"Beggars' Inn? Ah, the fan cafe? What did the fans say?"
"That K-tsch is the root of all evil and the target to be overthrown. I could not reply to the arch-enemy of the beggars."
"..."
An idol who calls his own agency the arch-enemy on broadcast?
Namgung Ryeo, who is close to the CEO, hesitated, wondering if he should laugh or not, and missed the timing to pass it off as a joke.
While Namgung Ryeo was failing to continue his commentary, the Heavenly Demon suddenly opened his mouth.
"By the way."
"Y-yes?"
"I met him at that restaurant."
"Met who?"
"The excommunicated disciple of the Zhongnan Sect."
I was so dumbfounded that I let my crossed arms fall.
I told him not to say that.
The Heavenly Demon, perhaps noticing my expression, added leisurely.
"Ah, the administrator said this is a secret from the CEO, so you keep it a secret too. And all of you watching there."
Does the Heavenly Demon know that the nonsense he's spouting here will be broadcast nationwide?
He probably doesn't.
He wouldn't be doing this if he knew.
I canceled the reservation I'd made at Anyang Malatang.
Namgung Ryeo's eyes sparkled, not wanting to miss the stimulating material of a former member and a new member running into each other at a restaurant.
"The Zhongnan Sect's excommunicated disciple? Mr. Yuk Jongnam? Or Mr. Shin Tae-eul?"
"I know not which."
"Did something happen?"
If the Heavenly Demon says there was a physical fight here, it's over.
It's not good for the Heavenly Demon, who just debuted, to get caught up in rumors.
Just as I was debating whether I should run out and cover the Heavenly Demon's mouth.
A bombshell remark that even I couldn't have expected popped out of the Heavenly Demon's mouth.
"Insolently, he came with a man on one side and a woman on the other."
"Pardon me?!"
"Tsk. Youngsters these days have no basics. One must distance oneself from such things and train and train to barely reach the peak."
"Oh my, are idols not allowed to date?"
"This master trained only in Demonic Arts for a hundred years."
…They'll edit this out, right?
After
Muhyeop10deok doubted her own eyes and ears.
What did I just see?
…A Nationalist-dol?
…A Hundred-Year-Mossol-dol?
But what was this feeling?
A character she'd never seen before.
She was so curious about this idol named Heavenly Demon that she couldn't stand it.
Muhyeop10deok, as if possessed, picked up her phone and pressed the subscribe button on the Heavenly Demon's named fan account,
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