They Say the Heavenly Demon Isn't of Our People
The production staff whipped up a makeshift archery range in no time. Once everything was ready, Han Siwoo grabbed the mic again.
“Alright then! One person from each team, step forward to shoot!!”
At his words, every team huddled up to decide.
“Who’s going for us?”
“…….”
The moment I asked, every single one of my teammates turned and stared straight at me.
“…Fine. I’ll go.”
“Woooaaah—!”
By now I was used to shouldering every burden myself. I walked out toward the archery range and checked who the other teams were sending.
Team 7 sent some contestant I didn’t know. As for Team 2…
“Woooaaah—!”
“Seo Yujin, fighting!”
…Seo Yujin again.
…Again?
Something felt off.
If Seo Yujin were the only major contestant on Team 2, I’d understand. But Yu Seol was on that team too.
Yu Seol is just letting them dump all the screen time on her like this?
Curious, I glanced over at Yu Seol.
“Fighting!”
She was beaming, cheering with what looked like genuine sincerity.
Just in case, I checked her status window. The Blackening trait was still sitting right there.
Something’s weird…
Come to think of it, during the sports festival earlier, Seo Yujin had competed in almost every event while Yu Seol stayed strangely passive.
The Yu Seol I knew was never someone who didn’t care about screen time. Why would she willingly give up airtime she could easily claim if she wanted it?
Normally I might have just let it slide, but…
Trait: Blackening(Temporarily Unlocked Locked Trait)
The world is cruel. You tried to keep hope alive and push your story forward somehow, but the world refused to leave you alone. As if denying your success itself, hardship after hardship piled up until your heart grew steadily blacker. Light and darkness coexist. For the sake of your own life, you have chosen to accept the darkness.
— All Humanity stats greatly decrease!
— All Intelligence sub-stats greatly increase!
— All other stats slightly increase!
Yu Seol’s trait and its effect snagged my attention again. As Seo Yujin stepped forward for the archery, I quietly asked her,
“Yujin.”
“…What.”
I’d teased her a little earlier, so her tone was still pretty snippy.
“It’s just… you competed in a ton of the sports festival events too, and now you’re out here again.”
“…So what.”
“Did Seol unni or any of the other members say something to you?”
“Oh my god! What does unni have to do with anything?! And Yu Seol unni told me first that I could go! Why?! Are you nervous because I’m shooting?!”
…Yu Seol told her to go first?
Yu Seol wasn’t that nice of a person…
A clue felt like it was right there, just out of reach, and my head started spinning.
Seo Yujin, completely oblivious to my thoughts, fired off a warning instead.
“Unni, just because you won a few sports festival games you think you can look down on me?! Better get nervous this time! I actually went to the national team archery class when I was in elementary school, you know? This time I’m gonna flatten that high nose of yours, hmph!”
“…….”
Watching her march off to take her turn, I shook my head to clear out the useless thoughts.
…Yeah. This really isn’t the time to be worrying about other people.
Our team was already three feet under water and here I was fretting over someone from the opposing team. Ridiculous.
First things first—I needed to deal with this damn song selection. I followed after Seo Yujin.
“You place the arrow here, hold the bow like this, aim, and shoot…”
“Ah… yes.”
A staff member walked me through the basics once I stepped onto the range.
It didn’t seem particularly hard…
“…Is there any chance I could get a practice shot? I’ve never done archery before…”
“…I’m sorry, Yerin. The production team wants to proceed without practice.”
…Those damn producers wouldn’t even give us a single practice shot.
I had no choice but to hope for a miracle with a bow I’d never touched in my life.
The one silver lining was that Ha Yerin’s dynamic vision was excellent. Even though the target was pretty far away, I could clearly read every song title packed onto it.
If I want anything halfway decent… damn it, I at least need to hit the 8-point zone.
I scanned the target quickly, locking in which spots I needed to hit.
While I did, Han Siwoo started interviewing from third place upward.
“Does Team 7 have a song they’re aiming for?”
“Ah, well, we…”
The short interview wrapped up and the game began right away.
The contestant representing Team 7 drew the bowstring with a surprisingly elegant form.
“Oh…”
“Looks like she might actually know what she’s doing?”
That polished stance made the other contestants wonder if she might pull it off, and Team 7’s remaining members poured on the cheers.
“Fighting—!!”
“You can do it! Aja aja!!”
And the result was…!
Fwoosh—!
Thud.
“…Ah.”
…The arrow buried itself in the dirt right in front of the target and that was that.
“…….”
“…….”
The atmosphere turned icy as the same thought crossed every contestant’s mind.
Yeah, figures.
The production team never intended to give us a real shot at choosing our songs in the first place.
“Aww~ Team 7 has unfortunately failed to select a song~ So just like the other teams, you’ll be choosing via the cyber roulette.”
“…….”
Team 7’s representative trudged back to her seat with her head hanging low.
“Next up… Team 2’s representative, contestant Seo Yujin, please come forward.”
“Yes—!”
Seo Yujin strode in wearing a confident smile. Even after watching Team 7 crash and burn, her face was overflowing with self-assurance.
“Haha, Contestant Seo Yujin. You look extremely confident. Where does that confidence come from?”
“Yes! It’s because I’m an experienced archer who even attended the national team archery class back in the day!”
“……!!”
The moment she mentioned the national team class, the whole area buzzed.
I was just as surprised.
…She was serious?
When she’d said it to me I’d assumed it was pure bluster, but hearing her declare it again right in front of the cameras made it sound real.
“I see! Then can you tell us what song Team 2 is aiming for?”
“Hmm… well, our team’s mindset is that any song is fine, but… the one we want most would be something from our seniors at SAV Entertainment, Strawberry Filter.”
SAV’s legendary girl group, Strawberry Filter.
They mostly put out bright, bubbly concept tracks.
With Yu Seol and Seo Yujin on the roster, Team 2 would have no trouble—no, they would absolutely nail—Strawberry Filter’s fresh concept.
At her words I checked the target for Strawberry Filter songs.
And…
…Damn it.
There were about four Strawberry Filter tracks clustered in the 8- and 9-point zones.
If she hits well, that team’s walking away with exactly what they want…
Team 1 was already trailing Team 2. If they snagged a good song on top of that, we were finished.
I prayed her skills would turn out to be nothing special.
But then…
“Alright, Team 2’s representative trainee Seo Yujin, please begin your song selection!”
Creeeak—.
“Ooooh—!”
The second Seo Yujin drew the bowstring, that hope evaporated completely.
Her form was… picture-perfect.
“…….”
She even rested the string against her lips, her expression dead serious as she locked onto the target.
I’d never seen her look that focused before. I swallowed hard and watched.
Fwoosh—.
The arrow left her bow…
Thwack—!
“Woooaaaaah—!!”
“What the—what the—!!!”
Unlike Team 7, Seo Yujin’s arrow slammed dead into the target.
And pretty close to the center, too.
“……!”
My sharp vision let me read the score zone without even walking closer.
Nine points……!
The 9-point zone had plenty of solid songs. The Strawberry Filter track she’d wanted was sitting right there in the nines.
No…!
I prayed it wasn’t a Strawberry Filter song and waited for Han Siwoo to check the result.
And then…
“Hoh…!”
Han Siwoo stepped up, examined the target, and his eyes went wide.
Such an uncharacteristically dramatic reaction from him was strange—until I found out why.
“The song selected by Team 2 is… YW Entertainment girl group The Twenty-Second Night’s Black Swan!!”
“……!!”
Every contestant flinched at the unexpected result.
Especially Team 2 themselves—and Seo Yujin, who’d actually shot the arrow—looked…
“…….”
Utterly devastated.
YW Entertainment was famous for barely ever debuting girl groups. But there was a saying about the ones they did put out:
If YW debuts a girl group, it’s guaranteed to be a masterpiece.
The Twenty-Second Night was the first-generation idol group that started that legendary lineage.
The problem was that their active years were the late 2000s to early 2010s.
Way too old-school…
On top of that, The Twenty-Second Night’s songs were vocal-focused rather than dance-heavy, making them both difficult and basically impossible for a team stage.
Compared to the other tracks in the 9-point zone, it was hands-down the worst possible pick.
“Contestant Seo Yujin! How do you feel about the song you selected!”
“Ah… um… ha…”
She’d hit a nine and still failed to get the song she wanted. The shock left her struggling to form words.
“Yes… well… I don’t really like it, but I’ll do my best.”
“…….”
Even so, The Twenty-Second Night were first-generation seniors to all of us.
And…
They were Han Siwoo’s colleagues back when he was still active.
She should have at least pretended to be happy out of courtesy, but Seo Yujin, true to form, gave an honest answer.
Han Siwoo’s expression hardened for a split second, but then—
Grin—.
“I see! I look forward to a great stage from you!”
Like the professional he was, he immediately put the smile back on and continued the show.
Seo Yujin trudged back to her seat.
“Alright, next up—Team 1’s representative, please come forward!”
…My turn.
Han Siwoo, wearing a calm expression, asked me as I took hold of the bow,
“Yerin! What kind of song is Team 1 hoping for?”
I answered without a second of hesitation.
“Yes. Our team would like a cool track with a strong girl-crush vibe, just like the Black Swan that Team 2 just selected from our seniors The Twenty-Second Night.”
My answer seemed to put him in a good mood; he laughed heartily.
“Haha! I see! I hope you land a fantastic song, Yerin! By the way—have you ever learned archery before?”
“No… not even once.”
“Hmm… I see. Still, Yerin proved her natural athletic talent today by winning a full eight gold medals at the sports festival, didn’t she? I’ll be rooting for the Golden Girl Yerin! Whenever you’re ready, shoot!”
“…Yes.”
Swoosh—.
The moment he finished speaking, I nocked an arrow.
Creeeak—.
Drawing the string, I felt how heavy it was. The target that had looked close a moment ago suddenly seemed far away.
Damn it…
Knowing our team’s entire song fate rested in my hands made me shake.
Anything’s fine, just please be girl crush… girl crush…!
The one bit of luck was that the target was packed with girl-crush concept songs.
I chanted “girl crush” under my breath and focused.
In that instant…
Flash—.
…Ah.
Time seemed to freeze… everything around me slowed to a crawl.
…Right. Come to think of it.
What people are we?
We are the people of the bow.
That blood runs in me too.
Jumong… Dae Jo-yeong… help me…!
I poured the spirit of the Korean people into the tip of the arrow and loosed it.
Fwoosh.
The feeling at my fingertips as the arrow left was perfect.
The second it flew, I instinctively knew I’d done it.
Thud.
“Whaaaaaat?!!”
“Woooaaaaah—!!!”
When the result appeared, the other contestants erupted in shocked cheers.
My excellent eyesight confirmed it instantly.
A nine, nearly a ten.
An unbelievable result for a first-time shot.
Yes…!
The 9-point zone was loaded with classic girl-crush tracks.
There was a high chance I’d get exactly what we wanted!
My heart pounded as I waited for Han Siwoo to announce the result.
“Ooooh! This song is…!”
Then I heard the title he shouted in surprise, and I…
“SAV Strawberry Filter’s Magical Love☆!”
“…Huh?”
…could only freeze in confusion.
It wasn’t just that I’d landed the Strawberry Filter song Team 2 had wanted.
The real problem was…
Strawberry Filter never did a girl-crush concept, did they…?
…I couldn’t recall a single girl-crush track in their discography.
What even was Magical Love☆…
I dug through my memory for the song.
The second I remembered the concept, despair hit me like a truck.
Magical Love☆…
It was a magical-girl concept song.
The first image that surfaced was the music video: Strawberry Filter members in twintails and costumes, waving magic wands.
The concept and vibe were so over-the-top that even the fans had been split on it—it demanded serious demon-warding power just to sit through.
And the high cringe factor wasn’t even the worst part.
Just like the first team battle… the second team battle song was the complete opposite of my image.
If Ha Yerin’s body and face put on twintails, a costume, and sang a bright, bubbly magical-girl number… nothing could possibly look more mismatched.
We’re screwed…. Even the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts can’t save this…
Just like Team 2, I’d hit a nine and still gotten the absolute worst possible result.
I screamed internally, thinking it would have been better to just spin the random roulette.