Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Even the Heavenly Demon Has to Do Fan Service (6)
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The Heavenly Demon and I entered the Yongsan sauna, the location Shin Tae-eul had written on the Post-it.
Of course, this time too, we'd paid extra to restrict access and gone inside fully clothed.
Shin Tae-eul greeted us wearing nothing but a single towel—just like last time.
It wasn't all that surprising anymore.
"Why do you keep wanting to meet in places like this?"
"It's still too soon for us to meet while clothed. Not enough trust has built up yet."
Why does trust depend on whether you're wearing clothes or not?
And why do we have to meet naked if there's no trust?!
"I was startled when you sent the transmission. It was a brilliant idea."
"I was more shocked that you showed up in fan cosplay."
Shin Tae-eul gave an awkward smile.
"That was the only way to get to the fan meeting without catching the agency head's or the Masked Expert's eye."
"Can't you guys use transmissions?"
"Well, we probably could, but we don't know how."
Ah, right. These guys aren't from the Central Plains.
The Heavenly Demon stared at Shin Tae-eul for a moment before speaking.
"Learn from me."
"Is that really okay?"
"Of course. You're my fan, after all. Consider it fan service."
So Shin Tae-eul was just disguised to infiltrate... No, better to let the misunderstanding stand.
Shin Tae-eul gave the Heavenly Demon a faint smile, then shifted his gaze to me and asked,
"Did you figure out who the Masked Expert is?"
"Nope. That approach didn't work."
"I figured as much. The moment you two vanished, he smashed through the wall and fled."
"Oh?"
That meant we had plenty of time to get back.
"In my book, the Alliance Leader's suspicious."
"To me, the monk seems suspicious."
His unexpected opinion startled me, and I looked at the Heavenly Demon.
"Me? Why?"
"The Alliance Leader talks too much. And he acts overly friendly, spilling information left and right. That's not assassin material."
"So you're saying I have assassin potential?"
"More than the Alliance Leader."
It was a perspective I hadn't considered, but it wasn't entirely without merit.
I should look into Na Hani a bit when we get back.
"By the way, the agency head said something weird."
"Weird how?"
"He said the Masked Expert is his son."
"His son?"
"And that he didn't summon the Heavenly Demon himself."
Shin Tae-eul tilted his head.
After pondering for a moment, he nodded and spoke.
"Both could be true."
"They could?"
"The son thing feels too out-of-left-field to be a lie. He's confident he can prove he has a son. If he does, there's a high chance he trained him in internal energy, so assuming one of the members was the son might've been a misunderstanding."
"What about the summoning?"
"It's true the agency head set things in motion to summon the Heavenly Demon. But he might not be the one who succeeded."
"So someone else might've summoned the Heavenly Demon?"
"Isn't it weird? If the agency head did it, it'd make sense for him to stick by the agency head's side."
Is that what makes sense?
I don't know much about summoning, so I can't judge.
"Even if the agency head didn't summon the Heavenly Demon, that's not what's important to us."
Shin Tae-eul continued in a dry tone.
"What matters is that the agency head ruined our lives, without a doubt."
"Yeah, now I really want to know."
Even the agency head hadn't hidden that the former members had "defects."
What on earth had happened to make these guys choose to leave?
"You guys being real murim idols was shocking enough... but it doesn't interfere with your idol activities anyway."
"...It doesn't matter?"
"You're healthier for it. No downside."
"I get why the agency head keeps you around now."
What are you talking about?
We're in this mess because of that agency head bastard right now.
"So what exactly happened to you guys?"
"We gained power, but lost something in exchange."
"What?"
Shin Tae-eul stared straight at me.
"You don't know? I thought you'd figured it out from the wanted posters' lyrics."
"Which wanted poster lyrics?"
"No eyes, no ears, no nose..."
Shin Tae-eul slowly recited the lyrics from the wanted poster, that passage from the Heart Sutra.
"No tongue, no body, no mind. I was surprised the agency head allowed those lyrics."
"He found out later."
"That figures."
Shin Tae-eul smirked.
"When we lost ours, we even had nondisclosure agreements. It seemed fishy."
...The kids lost their "things"?
Reflexively, I scanned Shin Tae-eul's face.
His eyes, ears, nose—all perfectly fine.
And everywhere else that stood out.
Shin Tae-eul met my gaze steadily before speaking.
"This is what happened to us the morning we decided to leave. That morning, we woke up and realized something was missing from our bodies."
As if recalling that moment, Shin Tae-eul frowned and gave a bitter smile.
"One lost a nose... one an ear... one a tongue... The timings differed for each, but we'd all lost a body part."
Lost a body part...
It felt unreal.
My breath caught in my throat.
I barely managed to ask,
"Before you left, you all shared a dorm, right? How could I not know about something like that? And none of you knew about each other?"
"Looking back, it was probably planned that way. It happened on days when each of us was alone in the dorm. Whenever we were terrified by our missing parts, the agency head would show up without fail. He'd say we couldn't continue as idols in that state and urge us to leave..."
"So that's why everyone quit? All the ones who left, they all... like that?"
Shin Tae-eul nodded.
My stomach churned.
"Actually, a few requested to leave even before he suggested it. They were idols with faces that couldn't appear on broadcasts anymore. The agency head graciously let them go and even gave them financial support to live on after retiring. Some were grateful to him right up until recently."
"Then the reason we haven't heard from the former members after they left..."
"If your arm or nose vanishes overnight, of course you'd want to hide."
The average age of the departing members was about 22.
Prime time for being sensitive about looks.
And considering they all had handsome enough faces to debut as idols.
It wasn't hard to understand why they'd gone completely off the grid.
"As you can see, my missing part wasn't visible, so I wanted to keep going as an idol. But even then, the agency head forced me out. With an insane amount of money."
"So that exposé live stream was..."
"You're believing me now, huh."
Believe or not aside.
Everything from Shin Tae-eul's mouth was beyond common sense.
And shocking.
If this was really true.
I'd spent 8 years as manager and known absolutely nothing.
Standing there felt unbearable.
The Heavenly Demon, standing beside me, casually steadied me.
"I've got the gist of the story... but I don't accept human sacrifices. Why do you think it's because of my summoning ritual?"
Shin Tae-eul added in a quieter voice.
"We thought we were 'failed materials' discarded after the Heavenly Demon summoning."
At that, the Heavenly Demon nodded slightly, as if it made sense.
"I don't accept human sacrifices... but if the ritual backfired due to failure, that could explain it."
"Yes. That's our working theory."
So.
The agency head created Gupailbang pretending it was a real murim idol concept.
Trained actual murim people with real internal energy.
Used them for some Heavenly Demon summoning ritual?
Discarded the failures.
Recruited new materials.
It was hard to believe, but impossible to dismiss.
'Then Ami can't speak because her tongue...'
Chills ran down my spine.
The agency head had casually talked about inviting former members to the fan meeting.
I wondered what he planned if they actually showed.
He knew they couldn't appear on broadcasts.
He was provoking, knowing they'd never show.
"So honestly... I was a little glad when you suggested the video call."
"Glad?"
"Demon Sword wanted to see the fans. He can't make the fan meeting, but a video call—he could just wear a mask and talk."
If he needs a mask to show his face to fans, then Demon Sword must be the one who lost his nose.
Lost his nose...
Maybe because I hadn't seen it myself, the idea that they'd lost body parts still didn't feel real.
I gazed at Shin Tae-eul for a moment, then cautiously broached the subject.
"But... I hope it's okay to ask this..."
"Go ahead."
It wasn't something you could just casually ask.
I hesitated a bit before speaking.
"You said you lost a body part. But you look totally fine no matter how I look at you."
"Ah. I see. Yeah, it looks that way."
Shin Tae-eul spoke in a calm tone.
"I lost something big and beautiful."
"........................................................Huh?"
Shin Tae-eul, who had been sitting on the sauna bench, slowly stood up.
"Why... are you standing?"
"Truth be told, I chose this place for a reason. If you didn't believe me, I planned to prove it."
"No, no need for proof. I'm sorry. Sit down, please?"
"I'm fine. Seeing it will make you believe."
"No, wait! The big and beautiful thing isn't that, right?"
"You'll know when you see."
Shin Tae-eul reached for his towel at his waist.
Aaaah!! You fucking agency head bastard!!!
* * *
"Ugh..."
Back at the dorm, as I shuddered, the Heavenly Demon, watching Nutube, chuckled.
"Why are you suddenly shaking?"
"Too horrifying."
"Hmm. Agreed."
I didn't confirm what the big and beautiful thing was.
Shin Tae-eul tried to show it, but fortunately, the Heavenly Demon used Void Grasp to keep the towel from falling.
I didn't see it, but I could instinctively tell something horrific had happened.
It would've been better if the kids had just left for some immature reason.
What must it feel like to lose a body part overnight?
Way too cruel for kids barely 22.
Ami's emotionless face as she stood silently without a word—it filled me with unbearable guilt.
Thinking of Demon Sword's feelings, stuttering out thanks to the fans—my breath caught.
How could that agency head bastard walk around smiling?
"Heavenly Demon."
When I called, the Heavenly Demon, with an 8-hour healing Nutube playing, responded half-heartedly.
"What."
"What do you do when someone is unforgivable?"
The Heavenly Demon looked away from Nutube at me.
He looked intrigued.
"Looks like the agency head is unforgivable to you. And it's not even your business."
"I know it's not my business. But I can't stand seeing that bastard live well."
The Heavenly Demon looked at me amusedly, then asked casually,
"Do you remember what I said?"
"What?"
"That your flimsy sense of morality would make you perish like a dog."
"Not helpful at all."
"But if you know you'll perish like a dog and still have to see that bastard fall..."
The Heavenly Demon smirked with one corner of his mouth.
"I'll help you once. I rather like stubborn fools like you."
"Heavenly Demon..."
"The world's best entertainment is watching trash fight."
I was almost touched, then instantly deflated.
"But what do you plan to do? You don't have internal energy like the others. Want me to take you as a disciple like the Mount Hua guy?"
Typical Heavenly Demon—straight to solving it with power.
"Heavenly Demon, Gupailbang hits 7 years next year."
I continued quietly.
"Do you know what '7-year idols' means?"
"No idea. What?"
"It means Gupailbang's contract expires. They have to re-sign with the company."
"Re-sign?"
"Heavenly Demon, how do you think that'll go?"
Seeing him tilt his head slightly in confusion, I gave a cold smile.
"Wouldn't it feel great to have your carefully nurtured idols poached?"