translation by mourningmoor
What? If you kill someone, you go to prison?
The so-called demon king seems to have perfectly adapted to the laws of this world. The way he makes such a human-like comment is a bit too much.
Or maybe, he just exists, without any strength to challenge me.
If it’s neither... then... could he not be the demon king?
He still hasn't confessed that he's the demon king himself, after all.
Yeah, let's assume he's not the demon king.
"Seems so. Sunbae."
Anyway, there's no good in clashing with this guy. I can't get entangled with him.
Well, this guy must have his own reasons for not revealing his identity directly.
So, there's no need for me to reveal mine either.
From now on, as far as this guy is concerned, I’m Kang Ichan even if I kill him.
"I made a mistake."
I smiled brightly, even managing to crease the corners of my eyes.
"You must be busy, so just keep going on your way. I need to go to the restroom."
It was a polite way of saying, "Don't bump into me, even by accident."
With a calm face, I gave a small nod as a greeting and turned away without a second thought.
Then, the demon king, no, Noah, let a surprisingly gentle voice drift toward the back of my head.
"See you often, hoobae."
Didn't hear it.
"If you have time, let's grab a meal sometime."
Yeah, I didn't hear it.
I blatantly ignored Noah's words and stepped into the restroom.
Then, I turned on the cold water and splashed my face with it.
Now is the time to think rationally.
The chance that he's the demon king is 99%, and the reason he came looking for me today is probably because he needed "confirmation."
"But, how did he even know I was here?"
When I saw the photo of Noah, I didn’t even suspect he was the demon king. My doubts only started after the nightmare I had this morning.
Assuming the demon king exists in this world, if someone I've never seen before feels strangely familiar for no reason, it's a perfectly reasonable suspicion that they might be the demon king.
So, I thought that I would have to look into Noah.
But that bastard already knew from the start that I was Jesquière.
How the hell?
There's no way he could've figured it out just from photos or broadcasts, right?
Does something about me in the photos look different to him?
"Well, whatever. I'm going to pretend I don't know anyway."
Right now, I'm on an emotional vacation, aren't I?
Of course, it's a bit of a twisted vacation that I accidentally stepped too far into.
What do I get from getting tangled up with the demon king? It just makes everything more chaotic.
Plus, I still haven't fully recovered my strength.
If I end up clashing with the demon king now, it might end up being a loss for me.
"Yeah, the demon king is only a demon king in Armania. Do you think he’d be a demon king here too? He’s just an ordinary human... right?"
Of course, he didn't really seem ordinary. While I was running around like crazy trying to escape from a trashy dungeon-like place, that guy was just lounging around. His life looked pretty easy, I guess.
"Anyway, that guy isn’t a demon king."
The current demon king and I are Noah and Kang Ichan, not Daimon and Jesquière.
In this world where good and evil are ambiguous, the line between a demon king and a grand mage is probably blurry too, so it’s best to just see everything through hazy eyes and let it go.
"Yeah, whatever that guy does, I don’t know. No, let’s just not cross paths."
I wiped away the droplets of water dripping down my chin with my hand and reaffirmed it again. I am Kang Ichan, and he’s just Noah.
At least until my strength is fully restored.
* * *
A group photo with ARCHE was posted on SNS.
But it wasn't the first report.
The PR department rushed to post it, but ARCHE beat us to it by posting the photo first.
<Meeting my lovely juniors, L.I.T. L.I.T, let’s meet often.>
#HOON #ARCHE #L.I.T_juniors #Dance_Geniuses #They_Sing_Well_Too #Why_Are_Kids_So_Pretty_These_Days
When the group photo was taken, the demon king stood right next to me, acting all friendly, and in the picture, he was showing his white teeth while smiling. My expression, in contrast, looked like I had just eaten something nasty.
I was about to look at the comments but ended up turning off the SNS instead.
I figured I already knew the reactions without seeing them.
A rookie group that has only just started getting attention has now formed a friendship with ARCHE—there’s probably a lot of buzz saying we’ve completely hit the jackpot.
Ha, my pride is hurt.
Is being acquainted with that demon king such a big deal?
With a bitter smile, I entered my studio and closed the door.
I was planning to work on the track and head in after.
Returning to the dorm would mean getting tortured by that rabbit who’s all high on drugs, asking me about anything related to Noah.
Noah, Noah. What’s so special about Noah?
Just some 2,000-year-old trash born in the shadow swamp.
A creature that brings chaos to the world, deceives people, and stirs up evil. Nothing compared to this great sorcerer.
“As soon as my mana is fully recovered… I’ll surpass that bastard. I will, for sure.”
So, I decided to focus on rebuilding my shattered pride.
It was then.
The messenger notification sound rang from my phone.
“It’s probably Kim Jeongsoo again.”
Determined to ignore it, I brewed a cup of coffee and powered on my computer and synthesizer.
I took my phone out of my pocket and placed it on the desk, where I could see the constant stream of new messages.
They had invited me to some strange group chat, and now they endlessly chat away on messenger. They should be practicing instead of wasting time like this.
I turned the phone's sound off completely and quietly focused on my work.
I had handed over the verse and drop parts to the A&R team, but Producer Pyo had encouraged me to try creating the bridge part as well.
He also reassured me not to worry since he would refine the overall structure himself.
“I'm not worried. Just don't faint because I made it too well.”
I stared down at the synthesizer keys, reconnecting with the power of Kang Ichan flowing through me. Then, I activated my sense of aesthetics and my third ear.
My fingers moved freely over the synthesizer keys, playing the melody. On the computer screen in front of me, a graph appeared.
“Before we transition to the sabbi here... it should feel a bit like this.”
The bridge part leading to the climax can’t be flat. Of course, it shouldn’t be too over-the-top either.
“If it speeds up here and the rhythm changes like this, it’ll make the transition to the drop part... smoother.”
I was deep into the work when I sensed a strange presence.
Turning my head to the side, I saw a human figure faintly through the frosted glass of the studio door.
Through the translucent glass, the figure was pressing their face close, trying to peek inside.
It wasn't one of my group members.
“Seriously. There’s no normal human around here.”
I was about to ignore it, but something about it didn’t sit right, so I finally got up and walked toward the door. When I flung it open, the person leaning against it nearly stumbled forward, trying to regain their balance.
“What is it?”
I recognized the face. It was Ga Yuna, the leader of the group Dinaple, someone I’d exchanged greetings with in passing at the company. I knew she was busy preparing for a comeback, so what was she doing in front of someone else’s studio, acting strange? She was one odd woman.
Ga Yuna, who briefly looked embarrassed, then put on an unapologetically bold expression as if nothing had happened.
“Kim Jeongsoo said to check why you haven’t seen the messages.”
“Messages?”
“Yeah. The group chat is in chaos right now because you haven’t replied.”
What kind of weird turn is this?
So, Kim Jeongsoo invited Ga Yuna to the group chat too?
“Anyway, I passed the message?”
True to her usual aloof image, Ga Yuna just delivered her message and turned to leave. She continued on her way, but then suddenly stopped and looked back at me.
“Hmm... but.”
In an uncharacteristically hesitant manner, Ga Yuna finally spoke up.
“How do you actually know Noah sunbae?”
Ah, so Noah's name comes up here too?
Moreover, the presence of Ga Yuna’s emotions was anything but ordinary.
I had to shut off any trace of empathy I felt for her quickly.
“We’re not acquainted.”
“You’re not acquainted, but Noah sunbae showed that kind of reaction?”
What’s this nonsense? What kind of reaction?
So what if a senior visited the junior’s waiting room?
It was just because L.I.T did such a great job on stage that he came to thank us. She should just think of it simply.
But it seemed Ga Yuna didn’t want to view it that way.
She furrowed her brows deeply and even tilted her head to the side.
“Could it be... are you also from Bishop?”
"No."
"Are you his school junior?"
Eventually, Ga Yuna started rattling off the names of schools Noah could have attended.
"No."
"Then, is your family from Incheon?"
"That’s not likely."
"Or... do you know anyone who lives in Troifel?"
Troifel? What’s that?
"I've never heard of it."
"Hmm, so you haven’t crossed paths with him even by chance. What exactly is your connection?"
At this point, I was curious about what's going on in Ga Yuna's mind.
If I were to map out her brain, I bet over 70% of it would be taken up by Noah.
But that’s where it ends. She can go obsess over that crazy demon lord somewhere else, quietly.
"Sunbae."
Letting out a short sigh, I quietly called out to Ga Yuna.
"I was working. I have to send the demo to PD Pyo by morning."
"Ah... are you writing a song?"
"Yes."
Since Ga Yuna is a singer-songwriter too, she couldn’t ignore my statement about working. Sure enough, she nodded with a somewhat embarrassed expression and turned around to leave.
"Sorry. Then, good luck."
But after just a few steps, Ga Yuna stopped and looked back again.
"You... then you don't have Noah's phone number?"
"Why would I have something like that...?"
I almost lost my temper.
Just facing that bastard Noah as a senior-junior was frustrating enough, and now I had to listen to Noah talk all day. It felt like blood and pus were pouring out of my ears by now.
"I don't know it."
"You mean to tell me that Noah looked at you like that and you don’t even know his phone number?"
Muttering to herself like that, Ga Yuna didn’t bother me any further and headed back to the practice room.
But the way she said it was suspicious. "He looked at you like that"?
I returned to my seat and grabbed my phone from the corner where I had thrown it.
"Wow, Kim Jeongsoo, this guy really..."
His determination is something else. The messages in that group chat had already piled up to over 400. And they were still coming in.
Then, Kim Jeongsoo sent a message to me privately.
Kim Jeongsoo
Hey, Ichan, why aren't you checking the chat? Everyone's freaking out because of you.
So, all this message explosion is because of me? What kind of nonsense is this?
I almost ignored it but ended up replying.
Why? Is there something going on?
Kim Jeongsoo
Is it true that you're close with ARCHE's Noah?
Is that such a big deal?
Kim Jeongsoo
That sunbae is like a unicorn. He never makes friends with celebrities. I noticed some changes in his behavior recently, and then I hear Kang Ichan’s name?
The change in behavior is probably because that guy became the Demon King, and my name came up because of what happened today.
Anyway, I don’t know him well. I don’t want to get involved with him.
Kim Jeongsoo
Wait, you don't even know him well, but Noah posted that photo?
Photo? You mean that group photo?
I couldn’t finish typing my reply because of the photo Kim Jeongsoo sent.