The Heavenly Demon's Joyride

Pobitz's schedule was brutal.

Variety show appearances, commercial shoots, event work — and that was only the group side of things. Factor in each member's solo activities and a single day easily ran past ten bookings.

Hard as it is, the popularity keeps climbing steadily.

Thanks to all that grind, Pobitz had climbed to fifteenth. Next week the variety shows would air, and that alone would spike the numbers hard — tenth place at the absolute worst.

But this still isn't enough.

Which was why I'd prepared a new song.

The debut track, Date, was catchy enough, but it was also painfully ordinary. This time I needed something that would make District 6700 choke on its own tongue.

We're going full sexy concept.

Long-term, it wasn't a great call. Pure-image idols usually only pivot to sexy when they're already circling the drain — and Pobitz was still rising. On paper, there was no reason to change course.

Normally, sure. But Pobitz doesn't have time. With these girls' raw ability, a sexy dance is nothing.

I'd tried to pull a sexy track from Lilith Entertainment, but Yuria had simply handed me one of her own. Her original composition was so thick and filthy it could melt a brain — and the addictive hook was just a free bonus.

I choreographed it myself.

Sexy meant sex appeal, and when it came to sex, I was more confident than anyone alive. I'd taken a little professional help, of course — but only a little.

The members followed my choreography without missing a beat.

"This dance is way more comfortable than Date! What do you think, Seo-hyeon unnie?"

"…Yeah. This one's better."

"The Date choreography always felt too childish."

"The choreography Master arranged is… lewd without being vulgar. Remarkable work, Master."

I hadn't gone for anything crudely explicit. Who the hell would I be making that for? What I'd built was subtle — soft-edged, suggestive, and still filthy as hell.

The quiet heat pulls more eyes. And since I've been putting them through sexy drills for a while now, they're picking it up clean.

I was already looking forward to next week.

"Seong PD!"

Samara came barreling into the practice room, face tight with panic. One look and I knew something had blown up.

"Calm down and explain. Which bastard do I need to kill?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ah — slip of the tongue. What's going on?"

"The internet is on fire! What happened at Sophia's restaurant is everywhere!"

I checked online. The real-time search rankings were a disaster.

Footage of Elena and Yeon Yuri arguing during yesterday's shoot at Sophia's restaurant had hit the net.

The vicious part wasn't the video itself — it was the edit. Yeon Yuri and Sophia had been cast as victims, while Elena looked like she was throwing her weight around. Classic devil's cut.

Devil's editing. I'll give them this — the cut work is damn good.

I dug for the origin point. A few searches later, I had it. It had started on a video site, uploaded by a user who specialized in nothing but spicy clips — variety show leaks, drama fragments, fan-cam scraps. In short: a cyber wrecker.

Not a station leak. The quality's garbage, and it has that sneaky, phone-in-the-pocket feel.

Someone on set had filmed it under the table.

"Whoa. Elena unnie really went off."

"…Couldn't she have held back a little?"

"Lady Elena, you should have just used an illusion."

Mi-ryeong, Ju Seo-hyeon, and Yuria had already pulled out their phones and were teasing Elena over the mess. Elena's face twisted.

"No. I let my temper show, yes — but it was nowhere near this bad. So this is the 'devil's editing' people talk about… Spreading malicious rumors is a method I enjoy using myself, but being on the receiving end is irritating. Yujin. Why don't we end this idol game and simply overturn the board? I'll help — enthusiastically."

Elena smiled, cold and thin. There was murder in that smile.

I shook my head without hesitation.

"Hold it. I'll handle the bastard who spread this myself."

Elena's help wouldn't have been a bad thing. But I wanted to see Pobitz dance on the next stage — and cleaning this up was my job as their manager and producer.

"Turning down the easy road? You?"

"I started this. Let me finish it. Trust me."

"…Fine. Since you're pushing that hard, I'll trust you. But can you even fix this? Aren't idols an image business?"

"They are — but it's not as bad as it looks."

Pobitz's popularity had actually gone up.

The group had become a topic again after debut, stamped back into the public's mind. People who thrived on drama had started looking them up.

They didn't slap each other or throw fists. This isn't catastrophic.

District 6700 was the kind of place where celebrity sex scandals and sponsorship-for-sex stories dropped every other day. By those standards, this was practically cute.

And Elena's image was always 'arrogant noble bitch' to begin with. Some of the fans like her attitude even more now.

Not quite a blessing in disguise — but nowhere near as bad as it first looked.

"Samara. This is a check, right?"

My calm seemed to steady her. She nodded.

"…I think so. It's too weak if they were trying to bury Pobitz completely — it feels like a warning shot. Devil's editing can always be dismantled by releasing the raw footage and getting statements from the people involved. Maybe they're just trying to blunt our momentum a little?"

"Who do you think did it? The network?"

"Not the network. Sophia's Restaurant would take damage too… This has Venus Entertainment written all over it."

Venus Entertainment.

The top agency in District 6700.

Being the best didn't mean they kept their hands clean. If anything, being the best meant they were better at dirty work.

"I tried to play nice… Fine. Samara, watch the kids. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Take them back to the dorm when you're done. I've got work tonight."

I said goodbye to the members and stepped out of the practice room. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The second I hit the hall, I called David, the manager at Naar Entertainment.

"It's me."

"…Yes, Seong PD. Calling about the Sophia's Restaurant video circulating online?"

"Find the bastard who uploaded and edited it. Grab him. His family too, if you can."

"……His family as well?"

"Yeah. Friends, relatives — all of them. He touched Pobitz. Of course we wipe out the whole bloodline. Burn them? Boil them? Which do you prefer?"

"……As you wish. Are you outside right now? I can hear wind."

"Heading to Venus Entertainment. Looking at the footage, it was probably Pink Love's manager who filmed it. Figured I'd kill about half of them as an example."

"……Straight to blood revenge. Attacking Venus Entertainment without a second thought… Impressive."

"You being sarcastic?"

"If it sounded that way, I apologize. Pure admiration. Venus Entertainment is, after all, the strongest force in District 6700."

"Whatever. Just do what I told you. Fail a job this simple and you know what happens — you're the one going in the boiling water."

"I will prove my worth with everything I have."

I hung up and slipped into a side alley.

I activated my unique trait, Deception (SS), rewriting my face and voice until nothing of me remained. Then I stepped out onto a road thick with traffic.

Screeeeech!

A car slammed to a stop. Lucky me — a red supercar.

"You crazy son of a bitch, you got a death wish?! Get the fuck out of the way!"

A tanned blond thug climbed out of the driver's seat, screaming. In the passenger seat sat a girl who looked every bit the party type, face set in a prim little scowl.

…Wait. That's a Venus Entertainment model. The one who lost the skin lotion ad to Yuria!

I grinned and walked toward the supercar.

The blond thug's face twisted as he closed the distance. The muscle, the glove on his left hand — more than enough to scare ordinary people.

"You little shit. You really wanna die?! Huh?!"

I grabbed him by the throat.

"Ghk—?!"

He panicked and started swinging fists and feet. It didn't even tickle. The gap between our physical abilities was goblin-to-ogre.

Pitch-black demonic qi bled from my body like smoke.

It had been a while since I'd used the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and it felt damn good — like I could do anything.

"I'll be borrowing the car and the girl."

I hurled the thug. He flew off on a diagonal and slammed into a building. A chunk of the structure gave way with a grinding roar.

Smiling, I dropped into the driver's seat. The girl tried to bolt. I caught ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her long brown hair in one hand.

"Where do you think you're going, you fucking bitch? You're going for a drive with me."

"P-please, spare me—"

"Strip. Whether you live or die depends on that pussy of yours."

She swallowed hard and peeled off her clothes. Decent situational awareness. My mood improved. I floored it onto the sidewalk and killed five pedestrians on the way past. At a flick of my fingers, the naked girl climbed onto my cock.

She's a fairly well-known model… not a virgin, though. Still, the pussy's decent enough. I'll let her live.

One hand on the wheel, the other on my phone, I checked the rankings.

Heh. Elena's issue just got buried in seconds. When something like this happens in the middle of a city, who gives a shit about celebrities sniping at each other?

I punched the roof with a closed fist. The top tore free and the car became a convertible. The wind felt good.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

"Hey. You wanna die? Move those hips properly."

"Hhk—! D-don't kill me! I'll move, I'll move!"

Slap. Slap.

Crying, she gripped my shoulders and worked herself up and down. The wind was cold, but the pussy wrapped around my cock was scorching hot.

Like running the AC under a blanket in midsummer. No — better than that.

We blew past the Venus Entertainment building. I wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠done with the sex drive yet.

Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Wee-woo!

Police cars locked onto us from behind.

"Red supercar! Stop immediately! Fail to comply and we will open fire!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

They started shooting before the sentence was even finished. Apparently they couldn't see the hostage bouncing hard on my lap. And these weren't ordinary rounds — if I hadn't wrapped both my body and the car in protective hardened qi, the whole thing would have gone up.

"Tch. Noisy little pigs."

Heavenly Demon Black Bullet.

I gathered Heavenly Demon Qi at my fingertips and fired at the cops. Back in the day it had been little more than a bullet. Now it hit like artillery.

BOOM! KRA-KOOM! BOOM!

The pursuing cruisers detonated one after another.

"Hahahahaha! This seat is the Heavenly Demon himself!"

I kept enjoying the sex drive. A long-overdue GTA session burned the stress right out of me. After roughly three laps of the city, I checked the real-time rankings again.

District 6700 was in an uproar — all because of me.