* * *
Right after all the mirrors in the rehearsal room shattered.
“What the hell, fuck!”
“Argh!!”
Namgung Jun cursed as he backed away, and Juja screamed in the highest note.
The Alliance Chief looked scared but still stood in front of his younger members as the oldest.
Taeguk, who was relatively far from the mirrors, looked slightly shocked.
Nahhan was shielding the choreographer with his back.
…Was Nahhan originally standing there?
“What, what was that?!”
Juja’s face turned pale as he jumped up.
Once the Chief confirmed that Juja wasn’t hurt, he nonchalantly said.
“It must have been an earthquake.”
“An earthquake?!”
“It’s common for mirrors to break from the vibrations.”
“Is this sort of thing common?”
From the expression he made, it seemed that the Chief was quite credible, even with such a poor excuse.
It looked like the Chief had realized that the incident was caused by the Heavenly Demon, especially since he had just shouted about channeling his internal energy, so he understood immediately knowing the Heavenly Demon’s identity.
Taeguk frowned but decided it was better to make Juja believe it was an earthquake rather than continue frightening him, so he kept his mouth shut.
Nahhan was naturally quiet. Namgung Jun just looked around.
It was the choreographer who unexpectedly spoke up.
“…There’s a rumor that K-tsch’s office building is haunted.”
“Haunted?!”
“Didn’t you hear about the wall in the manager’s office collapsing yesterday?”
“It’s the first I’ve heard!”
“That caused quite a commotion. And now all the mirrors in the rehearsal room suddenly breaking… it’s too ominous.”
“Ominous… Nahhan said it felt ominous too…!”
Juja, recalling what Nahhan had said, wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, growing more anxious.
“What if the ominous energy Nahhan felt is really a ghost? I’m terrified of ghosts. I want to go home.”
“If a ghost appears, the album will do well.”
“It’s already doing well!”
It was Nahhan who calmed Juja down.
“It was an earthquake.”
“Really?!”
“I didn’t feel any ominous energy from what just happened.”
“If Nahhan says so, that’s reassuring…”
“But why did the office wall collapse?”
The choreographer blurted out naively.
“It must have been the sign of the earthquake,” Nahhan stated firmly.
With Nahhan’s words, it somehow seemed plausible, so both the choreographer and Juja nodded.
It’s a good thing they’re fools.
The real culprit behind the broken mirrors, the Heavenly Demon, watched us with a disgruntled face.
“Why aren’t you focusing after being told to execute the formation?”
“Thinking about showing dance moves in this situation is weirder.”
“Fussing over some broken mirrors. If you hadn’t surrounded the place with such trivial walls, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Your way of talking really brings back the old days. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“I am indestructible.”
“That joke was kind of funny.”
“?”
Meanwhile, I checked to see if any of the members were really hurt. Some glass fell from Nahhan’s clothing, but fortunately, it seemed like no one was injured.
“Shall we move to another practice room? Or since everyone seems shaken, shall we take a break?”
“There’s no time to rest. We need to redo the choreography immediately, and practice the new moves.”
The idol mentality to continue practicing even after an earthquake shatters the mirrors is staggering.
“You’re right about Juja. We have individual schedules coming up. It seems like we’ve seen enough of Heavenly Demon’s dance skills, we just need to rearrange the choreography.”
“Then I’ll look for an empty practice room.”
As I went to find another room and to inform about the main rehearsal room’s damage, the Heavenly Demon, brushing his hair back over his shoulder, said,
“If it’s about the formation, I’ve already adjusted them.”
Everyone was surprised and turned to look at the Heavenly Demon.
Previously, the members sometimes designed their own choreography, but after the number of members decreased, they left it entirely to the choreographer.
It was surprising to hear that the new member had modified the choreography himself.
Juja’s eyes widened as he asked,
“You changed our choreography to a six-person dance?”
“Yes.”
“Wow! So you were actually skilled. You dance well too. Did you practice our choreography beforehand? Did The CEO say we’re going with a ‘martial-arts’ concept?”
“It was enough to glimpse such simple moves with the corner of my eye.”
“Right, a ‘martial-arts’ concept. But why do you keep calling it ‘moves’?”
“Because that’s what you are performing.”
“Alright, then show us.”
“I want to see too. I’m curious.”
The choreographer also chimed in, intrigued by the Heavenly Demon’s revised choreography.
Just then, we received a message that it would be about 30 minutes before another practice room was available.
“It looks like there aren’t any empty practice rooms right now.”
“Just do it here. Heavenly Demon bro, you said you’re not afraid of broken mirrors, right?”
“What? Still, it’s not really appropriate to continue here…”
Namgung Jun weakly voiced his opposition, but the Chief, who seemed to be pondering something, supported Juja.
“Since we’d have to wait to move to another room anyway, let’s see the choreography the Heavenly Demon has brought. If it’s good, we can move and practice with that.”
“Does everyone agree?”
Taeguk and Nahhan nodded.
Namgung Jun reluctantly nodded as well.
I pushed the glass shards to the corner of the room with cleaning equipment on hand.
It’s not like the Heavenly Demon would step on the glass shards by mistake…
But then again, he claims to be indestructible, so would it even matter if he did?
“Let me start the music again.”
The speaker began playing “Heart of Indestructibility,” the instrumental intro still without choreography.
Before starting the dance, the Heavenly Demon closed his eyes and said, “Be grateful that you can witness this with your own eyes.”
Juja made a squeamish face, but the Chief muttered indifferently.
“That could be added as a narration when the performance starts.”
Really?
Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon moved.
“Uh?”
The choreography he brought had an unexpectedly trendy feel.
It centralized the group choreography and switched positions for solo parts.
It felt like he had perfectly refined what was lacking in the original choreography.
The beats were split more finely, making the dance formation tighter, but it matched the music perfectly and looked even more spectacular.
No, it was beautiful.
Even though he was one person dancing, it seemed almost like six were performing due to the illusion created.
“This is crazy…”
Juja murmured, mesmerized.
“It’s like six people are dancing…”
Huh?
I snapped back to reality while filming the Heavenly Demon’s dance.
Counting again, there were actually six people.
Damn it, this isn’t some village ninja using shadow clones (Naruto reference).
Perhaps the Heavenly Demon isn’t trying to hide his identity at all.
I could only hope the other members didn’t notice until the choreography was finished.
Luckily, like Juja, everyone else was too captivated by the dance to think deeply.
Only the Chief looked at the Heavenly Demon with a troubled expression.
“How was it?”
Before I knew it, the Heavenly Demon’s dance, or ‘move,’ had ended.
He looked smug, seeing everyone’s dazed faces.
“I’ve adjusted it to your level. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to handle.”
From the Heavenly Demon’s perspective, it was a condescending remark, but given the quality of the choreography he had shown, it sounded more like a compliment.
“Uh, not bad. We’re short on time, so I think we can go with yours.”
Juja seemed to like the new choreography, his lips twitching, but he restrained himself because the choreographer who had originally designed their moves was there, grumbling.
Now that I think about it, the Heavenly Demon had indeed refined the existing choreography.
Checking the choreographer’s mood, I was surprised to see him clapping his hands with sparkly eyes.
“To think you modified the choreography so well after just one viewing! You must be a genius! I see why the CEO was urging you for an early debut!”
“Juja was right about us being short on time, so shall we practice with this new choreography, if you think it’s okay?”
The Chief courteously sought permission from the choreographer.
The choreographer nodded vigorously.
“Not using this would be a mistake. Don’t worry about me and practice. It’s a pity this broadcast is the finale. The CEO should have debuted such a talent sooner.”
Namgung Jun visibly flinched.
The choreographer, noticing this, quickly added.
“Just like how perfectly Namgung Jun was debuted. Right?”
“Exactly.”
The agreement was only from the Chief, so the atmosphere grew tenser.
The choreographer awkwardly smiled, then backed out saying they should keep practicing since the choreography was decided.
Once the choreographer left the practice room, Juja leaped towards the Heavenly Demon.
“Bro, you killed it, seriously!”
“You haven’t broken anything this time, what are you talking about?”
“Actually, I was kind of resenting the CEO and you a bit for squeezing your debut into our final activity. But now it seems like a good thing. The reaction will be awesome if we perform your choreography for our finale. It’ll be tough practice, though. I don’t think I can manage the part where I’m supposed to sit in mid-air. Your jumping power is the best.”
“You talk too much, Hwashan. Instead of this, you should be practicing.”
“That makes sense, but it’s annoying, right?”
“Are you seeking my agreement?”
It seemed like Juja was warming up to the Heavenly Demon.
It’s not surprising, as Juja, who holds the most parts in the Nine Sects, would benefit the most since most of the standout moments in the choreography designed by the Heavenly Demon were assigned to him.
He had no reason to dislike it as it even made him stand out more.
“Then let’s practice with the Heavenly Demon’s choreography. Brother So, please send the video you took to the group chat.”
“Speaking of which, we need to add Wih Wajin to the chat.”
“Oh, right. Heavenly Demon, do you have Ka…”
Hearing Taeguk’s words, the Chief hesitated as he was about to ask the Heavenly Demon for his KakaoTalk ID.
“…You don’t have a phone yet, do you?”
“The CEO will bring it.”
“Then invite the Heavenly Demon later and send it.”
I hesitated for a moment.
Would it be alright to share the video that likely captured the Heavenly Demon’s use of shadow cloning?
“Uh… I thought I was recording, but it seems I didn’t press the record button. I’ll film everyone’s parts separately later and send them.”
“Okay.”
The Chief seemed to give up quickly, probably suspecting the video might reveal something unusual.
“Does anyone else have the choreography down, even roughly?”
The Chief asked, glancing slyly at Taeguk.
As the main dancer, Taeguk, though not able to memorize the entire choreography at a glance like the Heavenly Demon, could follow most of it just by watching.
As expected, Taeguk nodded.
“I’ve got my part and the group movements down.”
“And Juja?”
“I’ve roughly got my part.”
“What about Nahhan and Jun?”
Both Baek Nahhan and Namgung Jun seemed to have only roughly learned their own parts, much like Juja.
“That should be enough. Heavenly Demon, we would appreciate it if you could guide us through the choreography. Would that be alright?”
“Given your limited skills, I suppose I have no choice. We’re all in the same boat now. I’ll guide you.”
“I know that’s your concept, but it’s still infuriating to hear.”
“Infuriating…?”
“Infuriating, as in extreme! It means extremely infuriating.”
“Strange…”
As the Heavenly Demon scoffed at the slang, the Chief asked me,
“Manager, is the practice room still not ready?”
“We can move in about ten minutes.”
“Alright. Everyone, we’ll move in a bit. If you need to use the restroom, go now.”
With that, the members rushed out of the practice room.
The Chief asked me to keep an eye on the Heavenly Demon and followed the others out.
Unexpectedly, Juja stayed behind, hesitating as if he had something to say to the Heavenly Demon.
“Speak plainly if you’re irritated.”
“Um, brother. I’m actually the worst dancer among the members. So, could you please check my choreography now? I don’t want to fall behind during practice later.”
Juja had a lot of pride.
He hated losing and disliked being overshadowed.
But he was also a member who worked hard.
The Heavenly Demon looked at Juja and chuckled lightly.
“If the sole disciple of the Hwashan dances like a wooden puppet, the Sword Saint would clutch the back of his neck in frustration.”
“Who’s the Sword Saint? …You’re not telling me we have another new member coming, are you?”
“No, you fool. But since you seem eager to improve, I’ll help you out.”
With that, the Heavenly Demon slowly demonstrated a few moves of the choreography, but something felt off.
“Uh? This seems a bit different from earlier.”
Ah, so the sense of discrepancy was because it had changed from what I had seen before.
Juja, having memorized his part, immediately noticed the change.
“That’s right. Unlike earlier, I’ve added some finesse to this version.”
“Finesse?”
“Mastery, you simpleton. Try it yourself.”
Oddly enough.
I felt the Heavenly Demon’s eyes turn a deeper shade of red, a sign, perhaps, of demonic possession.
As if possessed, the Heavenly Demon twisted his lips and said,
“You’ll realize what true mastery of the Hwashan style is.”
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
He’s so cool and funny lmao. He became an Idol because he was looking for beggars 😂
Well I get It, after all the beggars sect have all the info
Nice
Thanks
Lmao
All this because he wanted to get information from the beggars sect🤣