After Ten Millennia in Hell-Chapter 13Epilogue - A Dance with a Dragon (3)

Oh Kang-Woo went straight into rehearsal after learning the choreography for his performance in Australia with Echidna.

“That emotion melts all hearts, all eyes on you~ Cause you are perfect, the most ultimate idol!”

Kang-Woo followed after the singing Echidna, making a heart with his hands and winking adorably. Ahri seemed as popular of an idol as Echidna since she also had a large portion of the performance. Her dance was fairly complicated so moving perfectly to the beat of the music was difficult.

“Th-That was perfect, Kang-Woo!”

“Yeah... thanks.”

“Why don’t you try becoming an idol for real?”

“No...”

Although Kang-Woo was not as skilled as Kim Si-Hun who was known as the Martial God among Players, learning dances and choreography was a piece of cake.

“Haaa... Fuck.”

It was easy to learn and follow but a sense of shame drove him mad. Kang-Woo sighed deeply as he rested in a waiting room prepared backstage, wearing something a magical girl who shot laser cannons from her magical wand would wear.

‘What the hell... am I doing?’

Kang-Woo turned to look in the mirror. He saw a girl with black silky hair, as cute as Echidna. In terms of appearance, one could never tell the difference between him and the idol who had suffered an unfortunate accident last night. However, in his eyes, he could see a mirage of an exhausted man using the Authority of Transformation.

”Fuck... my life.”

He had never once wanted to smoke but he craved it for some reason.

“Kang-Woo! An idol shouldn’t sit like that!” Echidna scolded Kang-Woo pulling on his hair with his legs spread out. “Here, look at me! Close your legs and straighten your back!”

“Alright, alright.”

“You only need to answer once! And add more energy to your voice!”

“I wanna smoke...”

“Idols can’t smoke!”

“I wanna drink...”

“No alcohol either!”

‘Why the fuck can’t I do anything? Aren’t idols people too?’

“Idols, as their name suggests, are idols to be looked up to!”

“So, they make girls who aren’t even twenty yet wear these short skirts and have them dance and sing while forcing the idols to hold up unreasonably high moral standards that they themselves can’t follow...”

“G-Gasp!”

“They prohibit the idols from alcohol, tobacco, and, of course, dating. They’re criticized for being lazy if they can’t swallow their restless schedule, and they get showered with hate from those who feel an inferiority complex if they start popping off... Is idol the best word to describe them?”

“K-Kang-Woo! You’re so dark! You’re way too dark!”

‘Like the DC Universe!’

“Haaa. Alright... There must be a reason why people still want to be an idol even under these terrible conditions.”

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“Kang-Woo... are you against me being an idol?”

“No, that’s not it.”

The job was full of sacrifices and dedication but it was because of that they could receive all of this love and attention, which was what Echidna needed the most.

“I know how much you love this job and the hard work you’re putting into it.”

If he didn’t know, he would never have agreed to cross-dress as an idol as a ten-millennia-year-old demon.

“I’m relieved you’ve found a job that makes you happy.”

Kang-Woo patted Echidna’s head and smiled. Echidna rubbed her cheek on Kang-Woo’s hand like a puppy and smiled.

“Hehe... this is nice.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve been alone together, right?”

“Oh... yeah, I guess it has.”

Kang-Woo had been so busy raising his children that his time with Echidna had significantly reduced. Echidna also spent less and less time at home because she appeared on various variety shows and filmed for her YouTube channel as she grew more popular. Even if they managed to free up time to meet, they mostly never met with just the two of them— Seol-Ah or his children usually tagged along.

“Kang-Woo... did you not miss me?” Echidna asked as she looked up at Kang-Woo anxiously.

“Of course, I did. Why would you assume otherwise?”

“Tch. You barely call lately.”

“Th-That’s...”

“Hehe. I’m kidding.”

Echidna also knew how busy Kang-Woo was.

“But it reminds me of old times, being alone with you, Kang-Woo.”

“Yeah, if only I weren’t in this form.”

“Why?! It’s cute, isn’t it?!”

“That’s the problem.” Kang-Woo sighed for the nth time of the day. He smiled bitterly as he gently hugged Echidna and patted her on the back. “Regardless, I’m sorry I didn’t call often.”

“Kang-Woo...” Echidna burrowed deeper into Kang-Woo’s embrace and remarked, “The truth is, I—”

“We’ll be doing our second rehearsal soon!” a staff member shouted from outside, interrupting Echidna.

“Oh, let’s go, Kang-Woo!”

“Urgh... why do we need to rehearse a second time...?”

“Hm! Practice makes perfect!”

Kang-Woo was dragged to the stage by Echidna’s hand.

***

Kang-Woo climbed up the stage, faced by fifty thousand cheering audience members.

“Everyone~ thank you all for coming!”

Echidna smiled brightly as she waved at the audience. The crowd cheered even more passionately. She then turned to Kang-Woo and gestured to him to greet the audience as well. Kang-Woo received the mic and winked as he made a heart with his fingers.

“Don’t just love Echidna, love Ahri too ❤”

‘Ahh, I wanna die.’

“Come on~ is that the loudest you can cheer? Louder~❤”

‘I just... wanna die.’

“Alright, it’s time for our first song! Make sure to sing along!”

The music blasted throughout the venue. Echidna began to sing through her in-ear mic along to the instrumental music. Kang-Woo followed suit by dancing cutely— no, cringingly to the music.

‘This is mind-numbing.’

The sense of shame was massive enough during the rehearsal but the real thing was far worse.

“YOU’RE THE BEEEEEEEEEEST! ECHIDNA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!”

People cheered for Echidna everywhere.

‘Wasn’t this Australia?’

It felt like they were performing in their neighboring island country.

“AHRI! AHRI! AHRI!”

“WOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!”

Kang-Woo could also hear the name of the idol he was transformed into. She seemed as popular as Echidna. He wondered if the audience could ever imagine that the idol they were cheering for was a married old man with hairy legs.

‘Just let it end soon.’

Kang-Woo danced as he had practiced, wishing for this hell to end as soon as possible.

“FOREVER LOVE! FOREVER TOGETHER!”

“ECHI · AHRI! ECHI · AHRI! ECHI · AHRI!”

Cheers filled the venue. Kang-Woo could feel the shining spotlight, smell the faint scent of sweat, and palpate the passionate gazes from everywhere.

‘Huh...?’

A feeling he had never felt welled up from inside him.

‘What is this?’

It felt as if time had stopped. The noisy cheers slowly sent sparks down his spine.

‘What’s going on?’

An inexplicable emotion slowly fired him up, turning his mechanical movements more fluid.

‘No, no, no, wait.’

This was not the first time Kang-Woo had been the subject of passionate cheers and heated gazes— no, he was sickeningly used to it. He had seen and felt it constantly since his days as the Demon King of the Nine Hells and the God of Splendor.

‘But something... is different.’

Although their cheers and gazes were the same, the emotion inside them was different.

‘How should I describe it? Using Echidna’s words, it’s probably... love.’

Kang-Woo could feel love from the audience filling the venue, unlike the fear from the demons of Hell or worship from the devotees of Splendor. He was unaccustomed to an influx of such an emotion. Although only two of them were dancing on stage, it felt like tens of thousands of people were on stage performing with them.

“Ah...”

Kang-Woo understood at last why Echidna had become serious about her idol gig after starting it half-jokingly and why she could smile so widely when she was drowning in sorrow in the past.

‘So this is how Echidna felt.’

The sense of shame melted away. Although he was fake, if the love from the audience was real, then he was also an idol at this moment.

“EVERYOOOOOOOOOONE! I LOVE YOOOOOOOOOU ❤”

***

“Hm! That was great, Kang-Woo! You said you hated it so much but you sure went all out! As I’d thought, you have what it takes to be... Huh?”

The live stage finished without a hitch but Kang-Woo was crouching in a corner, mumbling with lifeless eyes.

“Why... why was I like that? Why did I do something that mental?”

“Kang-Woo?”

“N-No! I didn’t do it because I wanted to! I-I... I was just...”

“What’s wrong?”

“The atmosphere! Yeah, I was just swept along by the atmosphere! There’s no way I was enjoying myself!”

“Kang-Woo!” Echidna slapped Kang-Woo. “What’s going on with you?”

“...”

“Hm hm! Stop scrunching up like that and get up!”

Kang-Woo staggered back up, pulled by Echidna.

She asked with sparkling eyes, “How did you feel, performing for the first time?”

“How... did I feel?”

“Yeah! It was super fun, right?”

‘Ahh, yeah. It was. It wasn’t supposed to be, though.’

“How should I explain this feeling...? Yeah.” Kang-Woo clenched his frilly skirt and said hesitantly, “Something big entered a hole that shouldn’t be filled, but... it felt better than I thought it would... Yeah, that’s the best way.”

“I don’t get what you’re saying at all, Kang-Woo.”