The Way to Save the Crazy Returnees Chapter 57 - Return of the Heavenly Demon: Ten Thousand Demons Bow (4)

 

 

“Cough…!”

 

I kept coughing, choking on the water I’d accidentally swallowed. I’d completely forgotten the golden rule—it’s not over until it’s really over. Taking a sip of water mid-performance had clearly been a mistake.

 

“The Heavenly Demon has returned, and all demons shall bow!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Now that I, the Heavenly Demon, have descended once more—kneel before me!”

 

“…Sorry, what?”

 

To ruin a flawless performance with that at the very end?

 

‘Damn you, Han Yeong-won!’

 

If there was one silver lining, it was that I’d come to watch the stage out of worry.

 

—Yes, CEO.

 

That’s why I could react immediately. Pressing my fingers against my temples, I spoke into the phone to Team Leader Hong Ha-jin, who managed SNS and various other affairs.

 

“You heard what Kang Ye-seong said during his closing remarks, right?”

 

—Yes, I did.

 

“Keep an eye on the online reaction. If the comments start getting too extreme, take action.”

 

—What kind of action, specifically?

 

“If anyone starts attacking Kang Ye-seong or Victory too harshly, go ahead and pursue legal measures. No need for a public statement—I’ll talk to Kang Ye-seong myself about that ridiculous speech.”

 

—Understood.

 

After hanging up, I sighed deeply and turned to see Nike’s reactions.

 

“…What did he say about returning?”

 

“Bow? What bow?”

 

“I think he said something like Manmaangbok?”

 

“What came before that?”

 

“Cheonma Jaerim, I think?”

 

“What does that even mean?”

 

“How would I know?”

 

The members of Nike, who had come to watch Victory’s final comeback stage, were whispering among themselves, puzzled.

 

“‘Cheonma-jaerim Manma-angbok’? What on earth does that mean?”

 

“Oh! I know that one!”

 

“You do?”

 

“Yeah. You know that hit martial arts novel everyone’s been reading lately? There’s this evil guy in it called the Heavenly Demon…”

 

Leaving the chattering Nikes behind, the MC—looking flustered—handed the mic back to Kang Ye-seong and asked,

 

“Excuse me, Muse, what did you just say?”

 

“Ah…”

 

Kang Ye-seong let out a dazed sound, clutching his head in confusion.

 

“Muse?”

 

“Th-That is…”

 

The moment I heard his trembling voice, I knew. Han Yeong-won had just been driven out of his body.

 

The same Han Yeong-won who had shamelessly made him flash his abs on stage—and now blurted out something far too embarrassing to repeat. No wonder the shock hit him so hard.

 

He blinked rapidly, glancing around, dazed. Then—

 

“M–Muse? Muse!”

 

Thud!

 

He collapsed sideways.

 

“Kyaa! Muse!”

 

Well, of course. It was too much for him to handle. Anyone caught within the Soul Dominion Art retained all the memories from when the Heavenly Demon had taken control of them.

 

Even so…

 

“Haha…”

 

To think Victory’s leader, who was riding high with only the encore performance left, would suddenly collapse—and after declaring, ‘The Heavenly Demon has returned; all demons shall bow.’

 

Seriously…

 

“Muse! Hey!”

 

“M-Muse hyung-nim!”

 

“Muse hyung!”

 

A complete disaster had just unfolded. Faced with the absurdity of the situation, I could only let out a hollow laugh. It really wasn’t something to laugh about.

 

“Phew.”

 

Letting out a small sigh, I picked up my phone again.

 

—Yes, CEO?

 

“Prepare a public statement.”

 

—Understood.

 

Leaving Team Leader Hong’s voice behind, I rubbed my forehead.

 

‘Han Yeong-won…’

 

When I see her again, she’ll pay for this.

 

With that thought, I followed after Kang Ye-seong as he was carried away by the broadcast staff—silently praying that, when he woke up, he wouldn’t lose his mind from the sheer absurdity of it all.

 

***

 

“Han Yeong-won!!”

 

Bang!

 

The door burst open.

 

A woman seated in meditation slowly opened her eyes at the intrusion.

 

“How rude, you bastard. You dare enter my chambers without permission?”

 

Her voice was smooth and alluring enough to make most men’s hearts flutter—but not this time.

 

“Rude or not!”

 

The man who had come to find her, Ji Geon-hyuk, felt no flutter at all. His face went pale as he shouted,

 

“Why did you mess with Kang Ye-seong?!”

 

“The Heavenly Demon has returned; all demons shall bow.”

 

When those words came out of Kang Ye-seong’s mouth, he couldn’t believe his ears. He’d thought the guy had lost his mind.

 

But thinking it over again—no. Even if he had gone crazy, there was no way Kang Ye-seong would say something like that on his own. How would he even know those words, let alone shout them at his fans?

 

As far as Ji Geon-hyuk knew, the only novel Kang Ye-seong had ever read was the one that had possessed him into the body of “Nike’s” Kang Ye-seong. Since returning, he hadn’t touched another book.

 

Which meant there was only one possible culprit—

the woman who had disappeared that rainy day and locked herself away in meditation.

 

Han Yeong-won curled one corner of her mouth and said, “Didn’t I say I’d help you?”

 

She had, indeed.

 

“Anyway, since you’re acting all confused and hesitant, you pathetic bastard, I guess I’ll give you a little help.”

 

Something like that?

 

But—

 

“You crazy—!”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk grabbed his hair in frustration and shouted, “Help me? You call this helping me? You’ve completely messed everything up!”

 

“Messed up?”

 

“Exactly!”

 

He strode across the room in long, angry steps and stopped right in front of her.

 

“What exactly are you planning to do about this mess?”

 

He was a big man—his presence alone could be intimidating to most. But not to Han Yeong-won.

 

“‘Do about it?’” she repeated, tilting her head with an amused smile. “And why, exactly, should I?”

 

“You…!”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk’s face twisted with anger. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and spoke through clenched teeth.

 

“I was planning to approach Kang Ye-seong—to work with him.”

 

“Why would you join hands with that trash?” Han Yeong-won asked, genuinely puzzled. “You already have me, don’t you?”

 

“Of course I have you!”

 

And she was powerful—strong enough that she could probably crush someone like Seo Do-hwan on her own.

 

“But still—!”

 

“Still?”

 

You’re an idiot!

 

He couldn’t exactly say that out loud.

 

“Forget it!”

 

He shouted instead, storming out of her room and kicking the door on his way out.

 

“What a temper,” Han Yeong-won muttered, clicking her tongue. Then she picked up her phone.

 

♪ Gae— Cheol-i, Cheol-i, Cheol-i ♪

♪ Ge— Seorit, Seorit, Seorit ♪

 

Before she realized it, the familiar lyrics had her humming along—mimicking the choreography of <Cheol-i>.

 

Meanwhile, at that very moment—

 

“Damn it!”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk stood out on the terrace, letting the night air cool his temper. He’d left Han Yeong-won alone because shutting herself in meditation to “cultivate inner energy” was nothing new. That had been his mistake.

 

‘To think she used Soul Dominion Art on Kang Ye-seong!’

 

Ji Geon-hyuk’s expression twisted.

 

Kang Ye-seong—he was the returnee Ji Geon-hyuk absolutely needed to achieve his goal. It would’ve been ideal if Lee Yoo-seong joined as well, but—

 

‘No. Lee Yoo-seong’s out.’

 

His ties to Kwak Yoon-hoo ran too deep. Targeting Kang Ye-seong, who had far fewer connections to him, had been far more advantageous. But Han Yeong-won had ruined everything.

 

If it were Kwak Yoon-hoo, he’d have realized right away that Kang Ye-seong was caught in Han Yeong-won’s Soul Dominion Art.

 

Ji Geon-hyuk let out a long sigh. Maybe he should’ve killed Lee Man-deuk instead of letting him go. It might’ve been better to muddle Kwak Yoon-hoo’s thoughts so he’d never even realize he existed.

 

As tangled thoughts swirled through his head—

 

“Young Master.”

 

One of the mansion’s employees approached Ji Geon-hyuk.

 

“The Chairman will be arriving tomorrow morning. You should get some rest.”

 

Ji Geon-hyuk frowned slightly.

 

Of all times. His mind was already in turmoil from Han Yeong-won’s mess, and now the last person he wanted to see was coming by morning.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

He swallowed back a curse and grimaced.

 

***

 

“Phew…”

 

On the way back—after confirming that Kang Ye-seong was stable—I checked Victory’s fan community, just in case. Surprisingly, things weren’t as bad as I’d feared.

 

[LOL, hilarious]

When Muse said, “The Heavenly Demon has returned, and all demons shall bow!” during the 1st-place speech—LMAO. Apparently, there’s this super evil guy called the Heavenly Demon, and all his followers have to obey him, lol.

So what, are we supposed to obey our “evil Heavenly Demon Muse” nowㅠㅠ? What does Muse even think of us? Damn, he gets a little popular and suddenly he’s treating fans like pigsㅠㅠ

 

?[BigdolLet’sHitItBig]: Lol, ridiculous. When did Muse ever treat fans like pigs? You’re overreacting.

 

?[MyMuse]: Muse literally collapsed, though? If you’re really a fan, shouldn’t you be worried first? ^^?

 

?[HonoraryNike]: You don’t sound like a real fan, lol. Everyone knows our BigDol didn’t “get a little famous”—they’re huge now. Judging by your nonsense, you’re obviously some other fandom pretending to be one of us and stirring things upㅇㅇ

 

Sure, there were a few suspicious accounts stirring up trouble—but they were promptly “handled” by [Honorary Nike]. I just hoped Lee Man-deuk, hiding behind the nickname [Honorary Nike], wasn’t taking physical action against those anonymous posters.

 

As soon as I got back to the office, Team Leader Hong Ha-jin came rushing in with news.

 

“Muse just regained consciousness.”

 

“Really?”

 

If I’d known he’d wake up that soon, I would’ve stayed with him and the Victory members.

 

“Does he remember what happened before he collapsed?”

 

“Uh, um… yes.”

 

Unfortunately.

 

Hong Ha-jin looked like they’d just swallowed their words.

 

“What about the official statement?”

 

“It’s been posted.”

 

WF Entertainment had acted quickly in response to Kang Ye-seong’s collapse.

 

“Good. Answer any inquiries related to Kang Ye-seong—but don’t respond to any questions about what he said on Show! Champion Music!”

 

“Is that really okay?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the words Kang Ye-seong had shouted before collapsing hadn’t spread widely. That was thanks to my grandfather’s conveniently timed discharge from the hospital.

 

Because of that, the only place still discussing Kang Ye-seong’s strange remarks was Victory’s fan community. Everywhere else, people were far more focused on his sudden collapse—and my grandfather’s recovery. 

 

The public’s attention had shifted completely, and in a way, that was a blessing.

 

‘Still doesn’t mean Han Yeong-won is off the hook.’

 

I ground my teeth in frustration, and at that moment, Team Leader Hong handed me a stack of documents.

 

“Please sign these.”

 

I hadn’t even had the chance to call my grandfather yet…

 

“CEO?”

 

“Yes, just a second.”

 

I figured I’d call my grandfather after finishing the mountain of work piling up on my desk.

After signing the documents Team Leader Hong had handed me and handling a few more tasks, the sun was setting by the time I finally left the office, exhausted.

 

Should I call Grandfather first before heading home? Maybe stop by to check on Kang Ye-seong’s condition, ask that damn mage for help with the Han Yeong-won situation, and… oh right, I still need to look into T.U…

 

Even after finishing work at WF Entertainment, my to-do list was still endless. No wonder I’d literally worked myself to death in the previous round.

 

“I really need to hand T.U over to Seo Do-hwan soon.”

 

“What are you handing over to me?”

 

A familiar voice suddenly spoke up from behind me, making me jump.

 

“Seo Do-hwan?”

 

“Hey, boss.”

 

Seo Do-hwan gave me a sly grin and waved.