Heavenly Demon Divine Art: First Opening

The first opening of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

What I pulled up on the tablet PC and showed the team was the music video for Where Is My First Love!

"Um…?"

"It's a music video…?"

"But why all of a sudden…."

"Just watch."

The music video for Where Is My First Love! that I'd rewatched hundreds of times the day before. And of all its scenes, the part I showed my teammates was….

"Here. This is the concept I want to center our stage around."

The opening of the music video. A girl who still had no interest in love, unadorned, not hanging out with friends, buried alone in a book.

"Huh? This?"

"Ah…, so when you said you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wanted to go the nerd route, you meant an actual nerd…. A real nerd…."

"Exactly. For the first stage concept, we go with a shy, gloomy pretty girl. That way we don't have to force smiles from the start just for the atmosphere."

"Hmm…."

The team's reaction was, of course, negative. And for good reason — the girl I was pointing to in the MV wore oversized glasses, had a thick, messy fringe, and a long skirt that reached her ankles. Nowhere in that look was there anything remotely idol-like.

Sensing the mood, Park Yujeong spoke up first.

"Um…, Unni. I get what you're saying, but won't the audience hate this? People are definitely going to want a lovable girl image more…."

"If we go with a lovable concept, we'll land somewhere above average, sure. But isn't that way too predictable?"

Tailors. Where Is My First Love! A lovable pretty girl. Those three things were so obvious and fixed that the moment the audience heard the song title, nine out of ten of them would already know exactly what kind of stage we were going to put on.

"We twist it into a nerd concept. There's definitely a market for the gloomy pretty girl. If we just pull it off well, we'll leave a real impression."

When I said it with that much conviction, Seo Yujin hesitantly raised her hand. She still looked thoroughly deflated, but her expression said she had something she absolutely needed to say.

"I understand what you mean…. But can we actually pull this off? Well, never mind the rest of us…."

She pointed straight at my face.

"Who's going to look at Unni's face and dare call you a nerd?"

At her words, I turned to check my reflection in the mirror. Catlike eyes, a slender jawline, and flawless features. Looking at me as I was now, no one would ever think "gloomy pretty girl."

"That's fine. We can fix it with styling and acting."

"…What?"

Styling they could accept — but the word "acting" made the whole team ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tilt their heads. I, however, was genuinely confident.

Because this isn't acting.

In this life, even when I wanted to live quietly, my looks meant the people around me never left me alone. But in my previous life, I'd been an orphan and so timid that no one ever came near me. Back in high school, I used to bury myself alone in the study room day after day — just like the girl in the Where Is My First Love! music video before she found love.

So this wasn't acting. It was simply memory.

When I put on that confident look again, everyone around me nodded for the time being. Still, something must have been nagging at them, because someone else raised a hand.

"Um…, Yerin."

She was a C-Rank teammate a year older than me.

"I've never seen you this sure of yourself, so I do feel like you might pull it off…, but if we lean too hard into just the nerd, gloomy pretty girl concept, won't the energy of the stage drop?"

That was a sharp point too. In a competition, brighter songs had a clear advantage — they drew audience votes and reactions more easily. Go too deep into the nerd concept and the mood could tank, and no matter how well we performed, the results might suffer.

Of course….

"I've thought about that too."

I already had a solution.

"Could everyone come a little closer?"

At my gesture, the team obediently gathered in the middle. Once they were near, I whispered everything I'd been thinking — this and that, bit by bit.

"So only at the beginning…, then from the dance break and the second verse…, like a twist, we do it this way…. What do you think?"

"……!"

The teammates who'd heard my explanation lit up like people who'd just had a revelation. They fell silent for a moment, lost in thought, and then the answers started tumbling out.

"I think that could work."

Park Yujeong was the first to speak. She nodded, throwing her weight behind my idea.

"The difficulty goes up compared to before, sure, but if we pull it off, it could be a really great stage."

Once Park Yujeong said that, the others agreed.

"Yeah, that actually sounds fun."

"Yerin Unni, I think that's a really good idea."

"I'm in."

And last of all….

"I think we can manage it."

Seo Yujin nodded with a serious expression.

"Okay. Then that's what we're going with."

And just like that, our Mackerel Sandwich team's performance entered a whole new phase.

Han Siwoo was scheduled to come for the second mid-evaluation in the afternoon, after lunch. So we skipped lunch entirely and kept practicing. We already knew the choreography and the song cold, but with the stage structure changed, we had to rework the formations and everything else from scratch.

And….

"Alright, who wants to take center for the second verse?"

…We also needed to pick a new center.

Since we'd set the first-verse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠concept as nerd, the first-verse center only needed to act shy — no bright smiles required. That meant I could take first-verse center without a problem. But the second verse was different. So when I tried to pick someone new for second-verse center….

"…What?"

"What do you mean…."

The other teammates looked flustered.

"Wouldn't it be better if Unni stayed center the whole way through?"

"I'd love that, but… you know. With our plan, we need one bright smile at the end, and I don't have the confidence to smile there."

At that, Park Yujeong put on a smile that looked like she'd drawn it herself and asked,

"Unni, is smiling really that hard for you? You only need to smile once, like this?"

The smile Park Yujeong threw together on the spot looked so genuinely happy it was almost unfair.

"…Yeah. I can't."

My Acting stat was 18. Park Yujeong's was 93. Of course I couldn't match her facial acting.

"Haa…, if Unni says so, there's nothing we can do. Then who should take second-verse center?"

"……."

When Park Yujeong put the question out there, everyone went quiet. I was thinking it over myself. There were two candidates: Park Yujeong and Seo Yujin.

First, Park Yujeong. Her facial acting was outstanding — she could lift the entire atmosphere in an instant with a bright smile.

And Seo Yujin. She had solid stats in both dance and vocals, and she was well-suited to facial acting, so she also….

…….

…Wait?

I was comparing Park Yujeong's and Seo Yujin's stats, trying to decide who was better for center, when I noticed something strange. Specifically, Seo Yujin's Acting stat.

A number far more catastrophic than even my 18. At that level, even the simplest acting should have been impossible. So how had Seo Yujin been doing facial acting that well during choreography practice…?

I didn't bother thinking it over. I just asked her.

"Yujin!"

"…Y-yes?"

"How do you have a stat of 1 and still… no, how are you that good at facial acting on stage? Do you have some kind of secret?"

At my sudden question, Seo Yujin looked dazed for a moment before answering.

"A secret…, I don't really have one…."

"…Hm? Then…."

And her answer was….

"I just…, enjoy being on stage…. So I smile."

"…What?"

…That was genuinely shocking.

It's not acting — she just smiles because she's having fun…?

Right…, if you were truly enjoying yourself, you wouldn't need to act out a smile at all. Did that mean I hadn't been enjoying the stage until now?

No, that's not it….

I had definitely enjoyed performing. Moving my body, singing, sweating — all of it had given me happiness.

As I fretted and groaned over it, Park Yujeong offered what sounded like advice.

"She's right, Unni! The foundation of acting starts from sincerity!"

The foundation of acting starts from sincerity…. Yeah, that was true. The reason I was so confident in the nerd acting was because that experience was still sitting in my memory.

"If smiling is hard, why not try thinking of something or someone that makes you want to smile?"

"Something or someone that makes me want to smile…?"

"Um…, like your parents?"

"My parents…."

At Park Yujeong's suggestion, I immediately pictured my parents.

Yeah….

"…Urgh."

Urgh…, qi deviation….

"U-Unni!"

"…Oh, right. Yujeong. Did I smile just now?"

"Ah, no."

Park Yujeong shook her head, and the other teammates spoke up with ashen faces.

"You, uh, made a really terrifying face."

"It was the kind of face you'd make if Yi Wanyong himself were standing right in front of you…."

"……."

…Yeah. My parents were a no-go.

So I closed my eyes and tried picturing other people instead. Lee Hyejeong, Park Yujeong, Lee Jiwoo, Kang Suhyeon, Sanggu oppa. And….

The CEO.

The people who cared about me and looked out for me. I thought of them, and of the things I'd been through with them.

That was when it happened.

"…Whoa?!"

"Unni—! You just smiled! Keep going!"

"…More? Okay."

This time, instead of people, I decided to recall happy moments. The day Kang Hyeongman first called me family. The first time Lee Jiwoo and Kang Suhyeon taught me how to train. Getting rave reviews from the judges at the My Idol Academia rank evaluation. And….

The countless voices of the public calling my name after My Idol Academia Episode 1 aired.

Thump.

Even thinking about it again made my heart race. And….

I'm happy.

It was a happy thing.

I let the afterglow settle over me and slowly opened my eyes. And….

"……."

"……."

When I opened them, my teammates were staring at me with slightly dazed expressions.

"…What? Did I make another scary face?"

"…No, it's not that…."

Park Yujeong's dazed face ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly pulled into a grin, and then she even gave me a thumbs-up.

"Unni! The way you just smiled was incredibly pretty! If you do it like that on stage, I think it'll be a total hit!"

"…Really?"

That was when it happened.

……What?

…I'd thought the title was just "Heavenly Demon," but now I could use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art too.

…So what, can I split the sky now or something?

Wanting a proper look at the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, I tapped the skill window again. A new window appeared.

Cheonma Hwanhok — Heavenly Demon Illusion. Maximize my emotions to dominate the emotions of others…. The description was a little vague, but I got the general idea.

"…Unni? Why are you suddenly making that blank face?"

"…Yujeong."

With just this….

"I think… I could take center for both the first and second verses…?"

…Taking second-verse center myself wasn't just a dream anymore.

No.

I had to do it.