Descent of the Heavenly Demon
The Heavenly Demon Descends.
Step. Step.
As the broadcast began, footsteps echoed across a darkened screen.
The figure was Han Siwoo.
Of course — the production team behind My Idol Academia had almost certainly gone to great lengths to book one of the country's top celebrities. From their perspective, they needed to squeeze every drop of value out of him, so they were going to put him everywhere they could.
Alongside Han Siwoo's words, a chart of recent elementary school career aspirations appeared on screen. For the past ten years, "idol" had never fallen outside the top five.
A deep, resonant boom rolled through the speakers. As Han Siwoo's face finally came into view, the background music shifted into something dark and heavy.
A low hum filled the air. At Han Siwoo's gesture, a massive set revealed itself — a colossal pyramid-shaped stage with seats prepared from first place all the way down to one hundredth.
We are dreaming!
The moment you saw us…
As Han Siwoo delivered his final line and the theme song swelled, the opening of Episode 1 of My Idol Academia came to an end. A commercial break followed immediately.
"……"
"……"
Even through the commercials, none of us could tear our eyes from the screen, wound tight with tension.
Then—
"Jiwoo-ssaem? What are you doing?"
"Oh, just checking the viewers' real-time reactions."
Lee Jiwoo was fiddling with her laptop, pulling up a window.
"It's the live streaming chat for My Idol Academia. This should give us a sense of the overall audience response."
"Really?"
At her words, Kang Suhyeon, Kang Hyeongman, and I all leaned in closer to look.
The chat was already scrolling upward at a blistering speed.
"Wow…"
Kang Suhyeon let out a small gasp at the chat's intensity.
"I heard My Idol Academia was insanely popular this season, and I guess it's true. People are pouring in."
Coming from Kang Suhyeon — who rarely reacted to anything — that said a lot about how much attention this season was drawing.
And among the comments rocketing skyward like fireworks, more than a few were calling out for me.
"Wow—! Yerin's already popular!"
"…Yeah. Haa…"
"…What? You look worried, though."
"Nothing's even aired yet, so it just feels like the hype is getting inflated for no reason…"
"Ah…"
What if I can't live up to the viewers' expectations and they all turn on me?
That worry still sat heavy in my chest.
Sensing my unease, Kang Suhyeon offered a genuine, steady reassurance.
"Yerin. Those reactions might feel like pressure, but the most important thing in an audition program is early buzz."
"Suhyeon-ssaem…"
"Comments like those will absolutely become your strength, so don't worry too much."
"Yes. Thank you."
Kang Suhyeon's comfort always carried real weight. Thanks to her words, my heart settled a little, and I decided to watch the rest of the show with a calmer mind.
The commercials ended, and My Idol Academia resumed.
Seat Selection
Where will the trainees choose to sit?
Seat selection. I could barely remember when we'd even filmed it… but for the viewers, this was the first real segment. Our first impressions would be decided right here.
"Hello—! We're from Taihai Entertainment!"
"Unnies, where should we sit?"
"I know… ugh, why did we have to go first?"
The brutal survival begins in earnest!
Which seats will the Taihai trainees claim?
As expected, the first group of contestants got a decent amount of screen time.
Where did those girls even sit again?
I couldn't remember a thing about Taihai's seating, but they still received solo interviews and a generous chunk of footage. Their looks outpaced their skills, so the viewers' reactions were favorable enough.
Under that generally warm reception, the seat selection continued.
"Hello! We're from Lahiti Entertainment…"
After Taihai came Lahiti, Hazel, and a string of other agencies whose names were known but whose scale was small. Up to this point, no one particularly eye-catching had appeared. The viewers seemed to feel it too — the chat slowed down.
And then—
The moment SAV Entertainment lit up on the display board, the entire atmosphere shifted. It was the entrance of Seo Yujin — the sole SAV trainee on My Idol Academia.
"Wow, a lot of people are already here. Hello~."
"Ah, h-hello…!"
Contestants tense up at the appearance of Seo Yujin, trainee from one of the Big 3 agencies — SAV Entertainment…!
Wearing her usual self-assured smile, Seo Yujin walked straight to the second-place seat and sat down. The camera zoomed in on her as reactions erupted from the surrounding contestants.
"The second I saw her, I thought… wow. SAV really is different…"
Seo Yujin (SAV): "I felt my skills were just a little short of first place, so I sat in second!"
Between Seo Yujin's confident presence, the SAV name behind her, and the generous amount of screen time, the viewers responded well.
From there, the show started unleashing its major contestants as if it had been holding them back on purpose. Right after Seo Yujin came Na Hanna — another future A-rank — who stamped her presence into the viewers' minds with her unique character.
"Hello…. I'm Na Hanna from Soln Entertainment…."
Na Hanna (Soln): "I'm sleepy…."
Park Yujeong, who voluntarily sat in the hundredth-place seat, also managed to snag a likable image.
Park Yujeong (Latum): "I felt I still had a long way to go. I'll show you how much I can grow!"
And then, the long-awaited Lee Hyejeong.
"Ah, hello! Nice to meet you!"
The moment she appeared — a contestant who had already made a strong showing on a previous audition program — the chat stirred. The broadcast itself seemed to lean into the interest, asking about her reasons for appearing.
Lee Hyejeong (Kidship): "…Being an idol was always my dream. I came to make that dream real…"
But then—
Next contestant, continuing…!
…And that was the end of Lee Hyejeong's screen time.
A former seventh-place finisher on K-Star. A vocalist whose singing could genuinely be called top-tier. And yet, as if some witch's curse had been cast, she never appeared on the television again.
Out of sight, out of mind. The viewers' interest ended right there.
I'd roughly expected it ever since the production team demoted her to B-rank… but seeing her screen time go from meager to virtually nonexistent left a bitter taste.
Did Lee Hyejeong even debut in my past life?
The only debut lineup member from My Idol Academia I actually knew of was Yu Seol. Whether Lee Hyejeong had debuted or not was a complete unknown.
But…
If a former K-Star seventh-place finisher had made the debut group, I would have heard about it at least once…
Unfortunately, I never had. Which meant the greater likelihood was that she simply… never debuted.
That sucks…
I watched the broadcast with cold, sunken eyes, the bitterness lingering on my tongue. Seats kept filling. I still hadn't appeared.
"Y-Yerin. When are you coming out?"
Lee Jiwoo swallowed dryly, anxiety creeping into her voice as my absence dragged on.
"I'm second from the last. I'll be out soon."
"Huh? Second from the last means…"
Right then—
"I'll take the eighty-third seat."
The third-from-last contestant finished.
"Oh? Then Yerin's next, right?"
Only two seats remained: first place and ninety-ninth.
Two contestants remain. Who will claim the first-place seat?
The broadcast itself panned across the dazzling first-place seat with glittering subtitles, and the viewers started piecing together who the last two must be, anticipation rising.
And then—
A flash of light.
The name of Hyeongje Entertainment lit up on the display board…
"Hyeongje Entertainment? Ahahaha—!"
The cameras caught the contestants bursting into laughter at the company name.
"When we first saw the company name, we laughed so hard."
"Kyoudai Kikaku? Hahaha, it's still funny just thinking about it."
The production team had even filmed separate reaction interviews just for this.
But then—
Click.
Suddenly the footage dropped into slow motion, and the laughter vanished.
Click.
A low, heavy hum.
Clear, deliberate footsteps filled the silence, underlaid by a weighty, ominous score. Through a hazy, fogged frame, my full silhouette appeared on screen.
"Y-Yerin. Is that you?"
"…It seems so."
An entirely different quality of editing from every other contestant's entrance. The atmosphere and the music — it was like watching the final boss of a movie make their appearance.
"We laughed at first. Yes… until she appeared."
And as the finishing touch — that interview, the final stroke of the dragon's eye.
Click.
Every element of synergy stacked on top of itself. The chat was about to explode with anticipation.
And then the owner of those footsteps stepped into the light.
…It was me.
The camera held on my face — frozen colder and more rigid than usual from the nerves — for a full three seconds, then cut to the other contestants, mouths hanging open in shock.
For about two seconds, the chat froze as if time itself had stopped.
Then—
The chat detonated, flooding with overwhelming firepower.
And then — straight to commercial.
Even after the commercial started, the comments kept pouring out like a ruptured dam — a flood of Salsu River proportions.
"……"
"……"
Everyone else in the monitoring room was staring blankly, eyes flicking back and forth between my entrance scene and the chat.
In that moment, I realized something.
Before I had even shown a single stage performance… I had already begun cultivating countless disciples of the Heavenly Demon.