The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 34

The unique systems that only 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 possesses: match prediction and sponsorship.

These were introduced as devices that allowed viewers to become even more emotionally invested in the participants they supported, moving beyond simply voting every day.

When I researched information from Season 1, the most frequently gifted sponsorship item was the ‘Benefit 5,000 Votes’ item. Stories circulated that you could get maximum efficiency for 500,000 money, so everyone had the mindset of giving their favorite at least 5,000 votes.

Since 5,000 votes were applied immediately, it was classified as a very important item, but the attractive price of 500,000 money also contributed to its popularity.

Since money was a currency that could only be obtained through match predictions.

If you failed at predictions, it meant you wouldn’t have any money available for investment at all.

Truly a high-risk, high-return structure.

So people who didn’t want to take minimum losses reduced the units of money they bet on match predictions, and accordingly, items costing over 1 million money were very rarely sponsored.

But the price of this ‘Bus & Subway Station Billboard’ that was just sponsored to me is… a whopping 1.2 million money.

That means there’s someone who hit a jackpot in the early match predictions.

And it naturally follows that this person is my individual fan.

‘Luck is following me too well.’

I sat alone on the dorm bed, continuously staring at the text message on my phone.

When somewhat famous idols or celebrities emerge, fans often pool money together to buy subway station billboards.

What was the most expensive billboard story I heard before?

I remember hearing that an idol birthday billboard hung in New York’s Times Square cost a whopping 40 million won for just one week.

Billboards are that effective because they’re located at intersections where many people pass and have good accessibility, working every time as an efficient means.

And on top of that, they’re even mobilizing buses.

It was a moment when I really felt the fact that this was a program backed by a large corporation with tremendous capital.

‘Anyway, since I need to go see this, I’ll have to use the one remaining outside stay permit.’

It was a precious vacation I could use, but it felt slightly disappointing to just go to Samseong Station to take verification photos of the billboard.

While I was pondering what to do, group chat notifications buzzed.

[Kang Seon-woo: Come to think of it, Si-hwan’s getting a billboard, right? Where is it going up?]

[Ma Si-hyeok: I heard from Brother Si-hwan yesterday that it’s Samseong Station.]

[Kang Seon-woo: Ooh! Then we have no choice but to all go see it together (cat giving thumbs up emoticon)]

[Chae Ha-ru: I don’t mind]

[Yu Ha-woon: (puppy blowing hearts emoticon) I totally agree with Brother Seon-woo! I think it would be great to take group photos in front of the billboard too! (rabbit giving triple thumbs up emoticon)]

[Kang Seon-woo: Looking at the billboard sponsorship item, they rent out an entire bus and even print Si-hwan’s face on it. Wow, you’ve really become a celebrity~ I’m jealous~]

[Chae Ha-ru: We’ll need to use our outside stay permits to get to Samseong Station]

[Kang Seon-woo: Since we’re using our last outside stay permits anyway, doesn’t anyone have an empty house? We should sleep outside for at least one night]

“……”

The person in question hasn’t said anything, but the plans are being made by themselves.

I looked at the group chat overflowing with emoticons and intuited my fate.

[Ryu Si-hwan: I do live alone]

[Kang Seon-woo: Okay, then we got the homeowner’s permission, so we can watch episode 4 at Si-hwan’s place on Friday and sleep over. Very good]

[Chae Ha-ru: Brother, I want to eat chicken]

[Kang Seon-woo: I’ll naturally buy chicken for you~]

[Ma Si-hyeok: It sounds fun. I’ll contact my parents in advance.]

[Yu Ha-woon: Brother Si-hwan, where do you live??]

[Ryu Si-hwan: Seolleung]

[Yu Ha-woon: The route matches perfectly too! (KakaoMap attachment) From Seolleung area, you can get to Samseong Station directly with just one bus! Hehe (brightly smiling rabbit emoticon)]

And just like that, Friday’s schedule was completed in one fell swoop.

I flopped down on the bed and looked up at the dorm ceiling.

Then suddenly a fluffy butt vertically crashed into my mouth.

“Ugh—!”

{What’s this! I was looking forward to being alone with Master when we finally return home! Those annoying humans!}

“This isn’t something I can control at will.”

{Still, when we go home, I can at least drop my invisibility! Those humans coming to the house won’t come empty-handed, right Master? They’ll bring at least some dog treats for me, right?}

“I haven’t told anyone yet that I have a pet dog.”

{Tell them now! My free dog treats!}

I laughed loudly while listening to Cerberus’s desperate cry.

I had originally planned to quickly go see it alone.

But unintentionally, a group raid had formed.

‘Still, it probably won’t be boring.’

* * *

The dormitory where 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 was filmed had quite good facilities.

It wasn’t for nothing that this was a program directly planned and invested in by a large corporation.

Until Friday came, I practically lived in the gym and practice rooms.

I continued self-management by combining strength training, cardio, and vocal and dance practice.

Maybe because the habit of practicing every day for 50 years in hell was ingrained in my body, if I skipped practice even for a day, my body would feel restless.

After exercise and practice ended, fatigue would naturally wash over me, so I could get plenty of sleep that had been backed up. When I woke up, there was no stress about having to film, so I succeeded in maintaining optimal condition.

And so Friday came again.

I packed just simple luggage and headed home after a long time.

“I’m so nervous today!”

“Please, please let the editing be good……”

“Haha, I already got magnificently beaten by you guys, so I’m not thinking about anything.”

“Still, Brother Seon-woo took on a leader role, so won’t many friendly scenes come out?”

I hadn’t expected other people to come to my Seolleung studio apartment.

And I especially hadn’t thought that not just one or two, but four people would stay the night.

“Just throw your luggage here for now.”

“What, why is this room used as storage? Why isn’t there any furniture?”

“……It’s a concept.”

I couldn’t very well say it was a house supernaturally provided to me after reincarnating from hell.

So I vaguely deflected while throwing everyone’s bags into the empty room.

And naturally, Cerberus was receiving everyone’s attention.

“Wow, you really were raising a dog? Hey, it’s so cute! What’s its name?”

“Cer.”

“It’s so small! What breed is this?”

“Yorkshire Terrier.”

“So that’s why Brother Si-hwan told us to brought dog treats if we had them.”

Ma Si-hyeok carefully held out a dog treat he had prepared in advance to Cerberus.

Then Cerberus proudly showed off his short legs and ran over wagging to snatch the dog treat.

“……It’s really cute.”

{Master, I think this human is really okay! He recognizes my cuteness well, brings dog treats, and smells good! I told you, this human was okay from the start.}

“Si-hyeok, he says thank you.”

“Brother, you can talk with Cer too?”

“I just guessed from seeing him wag his tail.”

I looked at Cerberus licking the dog treat with an innocent expression and shook my head slightly.

“Brothers, we need to take the 720A1 bus from here! It arrives in 10 minutes so let’s go out quickly! We’ll play with the dog later!”

Yu Ha-woon, who had become a human navigation system while checking the phone map in real-time, vigorously pushed our backs and shouted.

Since it was June weather in the middle of summer, it was very muggy.

On top of that, we were all wearing masks and hats.

I could feel sweat pooling inside my mask.

“If we go like this, we’ll look like we went to a water park when we take verification shots at the billboard.”

“Brother, if it’s too hot, can’t we take off our masks for a bit?”

“Would that be okay?”

I pondered Chae Ha-ru’s words for a moment.

Last time, someone had cleverly recognized us even when we were wearing masks.

If we openly took them off and walked around, wouldn’t we really be stirring up a storm?

But thinking about it differently, we’d have to take off our masks anyway when taking verification photos in front of the billboard.

Then wouldn’t it be fine to take them off now?

“……I’ll try to endure until we get on the bus.”

I made a compromise with myself, barely suppressing the urge to throw away this stuffy mask.

While riding the bus Yu Ha-woon told us about, I double-checked the guidance text from the 〈ISL 2〉 production team.

The billboard was said to be inside Samseong Station. The advertising bus was said to have a routine starting from Samseong Station bus stop and going around Seoul in a circle.

So after seeing the billboard, finding the waiting bus and ultimately taking two verification shots was today’s goal.

There weren’t five seats for us on the bus we took, so we all held onto handrails and stood.

“Hey, doesn’t this remind you of middle and high school days? I always went to school standing like this.”

“Is that so.”

“What’s with that bland response?”

Even though I wanted to agree with Kang Seon-woo’s words, I have no remaining memories of school days.

Before dying, I was busy surviving as a trainee from an early age.

After dying, forget about friends my age – I lived bumping into souls that came from various places.

Looking at the students on the bus somehow made me slightly want to have a normal school life.

Just then, cool air conditioning wind came right in front of me.

When I slightly lowered my mask to wipe my face, a young girl sitting in the seat in front of me glanced up and suddenly started tapping her phone earnestly.

I got a chilly feeling.

‘What, she recognized me just from lowering my mask once?’

The bus ran for about 15 minutes and arrived at Samseong Station.

When I got off the bus while putting my mask and hat back on.

“Wow…… is this right?”

“Eek.”

“Wh-why are there so many people?!”

“It’s so hot.”

A scene beyond imagination unfolded before my eyes.

I too couldn’t say anything and just stared at the countless crowds going down to the subway station entrance.

Even though this area had been a hot place for young people since before, this was a weekday afternoon. School wasn’t over and work wasn’t over yet.

‘Don’t tell me, did word spread because of the advertisement displayed in the subway station?’

It was an absurd assumption, but I had a feeling it might be right.

The viewership ratings of 〈ISL 2〉 were getting higher and higher.

Even though only 3 episodes had ended, it supposedly hit over 3%.

Considering that KNet was a cable channel, not a public broadcaster, it was an amazing record.

With interest in us growing in various ways in the current situation, billboards had appeared on top of that.

Seeing this scene unfold before my eyes was natural in a way.

I pressed my hat down firmly and said quietly.

“Since it’s come to this, there’s only one method.”

“What method?”

“Break through the crowds as quickly as possible, take just one photo as quickly as possible, and escape to the surface as quickly as possible.”

“E-even if it sounds easy in words, is it really possible, Brother?”

When Ma Si-hyeok showed anxious eyes, I grinned and patted his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Si-hyeok. We have you, don’t we?”

“Me?”

“With those reliable shoulders of yours, you can clear the path.”

“W-will that work?”

“We’ll know once we try.”

Standing in a line and following behind Ma Si-hyeok, we could enter the station quite easily.

Samseong Station had many exits and various billboards, so I didn’t know exactly where the 〈ISL 2〉 production team had displayed my face.

“Brother Si-hwan is hanging everywhere!”

“This is kind of creepy? Ryu Si-hwan is looking at me from north, south, east, and west.”

“Wow, so this is how it works. Amazing.”

“I need to take a picture of this too……”

The entire entrance corridor, which was long and hallway-style, had been conquered by Ryu Si-hwan billboards.

Since it was a corridor that people coming up from the transfer center had to pass through, there was a lot of foot traffic, and it was even in front of the exit connected to the department store, so the promotion would definitely work properly.

I felt extreme embarrassment looking at my faces sending the world’s freshest smiles from both sides.

‘I expected about one big billboard, but what the hell is this……’