The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 179

I could feel it through my skin.

Ah, I had done far better than any rehearsal before.

The cheers from thousands of fans must have contributed to that.

My mood rose accordingly, following that hot resonance.

All my nerves were focused solely on the stage, so I felt dazed until I rode the lift back down.

I was only able to synchronize with the current situation after the coordinators waiting for me reached out from all directions.

“Si-hwan is drenched in sweat! Quick, bring the face pack!”

“Haha, you seem too excited.”

“You need to change costumes too, so hurry this way first!”

“That’s right, Brother! This takes some time to put on, so you need to come quickly!”

I heard Yu Ha-woon’s voice from over there.

Only then did I realize that the turn I had so desperately wanted to avoid had finally arrived.

My face was surely making a miserable expression, but my two legs moved briskly.

“……Why does it feel like there’s more glitter than last time?”

“That’s how we get a more princess-like atmosphere!”

“Thank you so much.”

“Ehehe! This is our specialty, so no need to thank us!”

I responded with a bitter smile to the coordinator who was grinning cheerfully and throwing up a V sign.

That’s right.

The punishment costume MILLENNIUM had chosen for me through voting was number 1, the world’s most cheerful princess outfit.

It was a deluxe costume set complete with tiara, fluffy dress, white lace gloves, and shoes.

Even the color was bright pink, so it seemed like people could spot me from almost a meter away.

Meanwhile, next to me, the sumo wrestler and the bald guy were radiating contrasting looks.

“……Are we really going to stand in front of fans like this?”

“Brother Si-hyeok, it’s okay! It suits you surprisingly well!”

“You might see it that way, but……”

“I’m super excited!”

“To be excited even while bald, Ha-woon is really amazing.”

Ma Si-hyeok had completed wearing the voluminous chubby costume.

Yu Ha-woon was showing off a bald visual that could immediately appear on any comedy program.

With me in princess costume added between these two, it was really no different from comedy.

“I’m seriously going crazy.”

“You look like characters from some cartoon.”

“Hey hey, Si-hwan! Why did you forget to bring this around.”

Behind us, the remaining three who had changed into normal costumes were giggling and laughing.

Kang Seon-woo, the mastermind who had devised my punishment costume, personally brought me the magic wand I had thrown on the floor.

His actions are always quick only at times like this.

“Don’t forget to hold this and chant the spell, okay?”

“I said I’d die before doing that—.”

“That’s too much! That was part of the punishment costume you submitted! Are you going to tell the fans you didn’t keep your promise?”

“……You bad guy.”

Constantly taking fans hostage.

He was nothing but a villain.

I had no choice but to hold the cute and cheerful magic wand in my right hand and finish all preparations.

Probably the homepage masters who had hidden cameras would press the shutter more enthusiastically than ever.

‘Well, if I’m going to be photographed anyway, let me at least be photographed as prettily as possible.’

Still, if I was going to act cute, I needed mental preparation.

“VCR ends in 10 seconds!”

“Please move to the lift! Walk carefully!”

Without even having that chance, we got on the lift again.

Seong-hwi, standing next to me, said regretfully.

“I should be filming this with my own camera. Such a shame, Brother.”

“Be quiet.”

“You’ll wear this one more time next time, right? I really want to capture it in my vlog—.”

“Even if dirt gets in my eyes, I won’t wear it.”

* * *

‘This is so fun!’

The college student fell into happy emotions while waving the picket she had purchased from CENTIX’s MD booth today.

Who knew she would become this serious about fangirling.

Once you lose your way in the maze, you’re not even given a chance to escape.

She had been slightly scared because she heard the competition for picketing was so intense, but it was okay since she gave up to some extent and targeted the second floor area.

Although the members on stage weren’t clearly visible, there were three large screens anyway, so there wasn’t much inconvenience.

The unit stage had ended and the middle VCR was playing.

[You’re really going to wear this?]

[Hey, who wrote mine down. Come out right now.]

[Ahhhhh, why is that going up!]

[Stop! We have to stop it from going up here! At this rate I’ll get caught!]

The members’ anguished cries were shown through the video.

This revealed the identity of the voting posts that had been uploaded to the official account.

When clueless MILLENNIUM just picked numbers randomly by instinct, the members watching the real-time tally experienced mixed feelings of joy and sorrow.

The college student realized she had personally sent Ryu Si-hwan to punishment and felt sorry.

‘Still, the punishment costumes were cute!’

But even in the subsequent punishment costume selection, Ryu Si-hwan got caught in the princess set he had picked as the costume he wanted to avoid.

While Ryu Si-hwan in the screen was falling into despair while rubbing his face, MILLENNIUM gathered at the venue cheered in unison.

“I voted for number 1! Jackpot!”

“I absolutely have to film this.”

The fans sitting next to the college student also seemed very excited about Ryu Si-hwan coming out in the pink princess outfit.

Honestly, she wanted to keep such a rare scene as a permanent collection, but unfortunately she didn’t have a telephoto camera.

The college student decided to just save shots taken by homepage masters later and just hoped for the VCR to end and the members to reappear.

[See us in a different way! Bye!]

When Kang Seon-woo covered the camera with his palm, the VCR screen flickered and went out.

And cheerful melody began flowing from the speakers.

CENTIX, who came up on the lift, really showed off completely different visuals literally.

They came out running forward waving their hands one by one, but the speed was different for each member, making it incredibly ridiculous.

On top of that, the song was Heart Attack! by the group Double Bean Cake, which had hit big with B-grade sensibility, so the funny atmosphere ripened instantly.

There was exactly one stand microphone placed in the center of the stage.

Chae Ha-ru, wearing what seemed like the lightest costume of a desert fox, grabbed the microphone first and sang.

「Ooh! Ah!

This moment going to meet you

My heart is beating so hard I could die」

The makeup that implemented even the inner ear fur like real fox ears was amazing.

As if the costume was very much to his liking, when Chae Ha-ru winked, MILLENNIUM launched cheers forward.

After showing off his charm for a while, Chae Ha-ru coolly passed the microphone backward.

What appeared next was……

“Ahahaha!”

“Why did Ha-woon end up like that!”

“No, the makeup is too realistic—!”

Sighs and laughter erupted simultaneously from around the college student.

That made sense, because the face filling the big screen was Yu Ha-woon who had become bald.

While his visuals had gradually matured as he continued CENTIX activities, reaching peak attractiveness, the bald makeup that you’d only see on comedy programs was so realistic it naturally made one feel solemn.

If the second floor was this chaotic, the floor must have been worse.

But even in this chaos, Yu Ha-woon performed his part while making cute expressions.

「The confession I repeated hundreds of times inside me

I love you! Just three words

Why is it so hard to say

But today! I’m different!

I resolved to definitely tell you!」

Following Yu Ha-woon, the next to appear was Kang Seon-woo with monocle glasses and a stylish mustache attached.

Looking at his formal wear matching with a top hat and even holding a cane, it was a phantom thief Lupin costume.

「Unlike my heart

The moment I see you, Oops!

My heart goes thump thump

My chest goes thump thump

It beats too fast」

After Kang Seon-woo showed off powerful chest pumping and passed the microphone, the protagonist moved forward very carefully.

While his slightly raised eyes contrasted with his very gentle and cute expression.

Seeing him hold the microphone while shaking the magic wand up and down with his other hand doubled that cuteness.

And the college student instinctively shouted.

“Ryu Si-hwan is so cute—!”

Of course, thousands of people were having the same reaction as her, so it probably wasn’t heard.

Ryu Si-hwan with cheerful princess makeup sang the highlight with his beautiful voice.

「Heart Attack again!

No matter how many times I try

I freeze up like this!

What should I do since I like you so much

Can’t you tell without me saying it

Ooh, I love you!」

Ryu Si-hwan was about to step back after singing the last lyrics, but Kang Seon-woo was caught grabbing him from behind and saying something quickly.

Then Ryu Si-hwan, who had pursed his lips, brought the magic wand and microphone together at one point.

He drew a big heart while shouting something.

‘This absolutely has to be saved as a gif! Please someone make it!’

The college student prayed that MILLENNIUM watching the fan meeting online would definitely capture this scene.

It was a short but truly storm-like pink princess Ryu Si-hwan.

It was even more contrasted because the next turn happened to be chubby Ma Si-hyeok, who boasted a physique about twice that of an adult man.

Ma Si-hyeok, who seemed to have difficulty even walking out due to his costume, still entertained fans’ eyes by doing cute choreography.

Next, when Seong-hwi, wearing a cowboy hat and spinning his pistol, jumped out to center, MILLENNIUM’s vocal cords burned to almost their limit.

The final chorus ended with all members matching the Heart Attack! group dance.

“Thank you!”

“Ah, I’m dying!”

“Brother Hwi seems like he’ll die first before Brother Si-hyeok?”

“I need a chair, a chair!”

The members sweating like rain wiped their sweat while playfully teasing each other about their costumes.

Among them, the one who naturally received concentrated fire was Ryu Si-hwan.

“How do you feel, Leader? How was it living as a princess for a day?”

“I only thought about wanting to get revenge on the person who submitted this as punishment.”

“Aw, I was trying to do an interview, why are you saying such scary things!”

“Don’t you think this is your own karma?”

The one who saved Kang Seon-woo, who was being beaten up in reverse, was none other than Go Hyeon-ju.

Thanks to Go Hyeon-ju reappearing with chairs for talk time part 2, the hunting between CENTIX members ended.

When the members sat down, the fans who had been standing also took their seats.

The college student also caught her breath for a moment and calmed her highly elevated heart.

It felt like she had used up almost two days’ worth of energy.

‘The stages are cool, but this kind of talk time is good too!’

Unlike talk time part 1 which had many games, this time was mainly composed of answering questions fans had written in advance.

Go Hyeon-ju, who selected questions at an appropriate level, conducted skilled hosting that made viewers comfortable too.

The members were also having time to sufficiently replenish their stamina that had dropped from continuous stage performances.

“Oh, come to think of it, there was one special message that came in!”

“Huh?”

“A special message?”

At that moment, the fans gathered at the handball stadium all tensed their bodies.

The college student, who had been listening to the talk with interest, also felt that moment had come and hurriedly raised her clock stick.

The secret event that had been posted on Bluebird a week ago.

Go Hyeon-ju softly spoke the words that signaled its beginning.

“It’s a message from anonymous informants. It says ‘Me+You’ and there’s even a video attached. CENTIX members, shall we check it together?”