Little Pink Starfish

Hallasan.

A massive volcano that takes up most of Jeju Island.

Though it had long ceased activity, the energy veins that flowed inside Hallasan were rich nutrients for demons.

Energy veins—remnants of the land’s memory.
A mass of magical power formed from the footsteps of countless humans and animals left upon the earth.

The reason the Prince from the Otherworld, Abrilah, manifested atop Hallasan was to draw strength from those very veins.

Abrilah’s authority was immense.
It took five S-rank Hunters to finally subdue him.

And now, Baengnokdam—
The crater lake at the peak of Hallasan.

Once known for its beautiful snow that lingered into summer, the lake had become a danger zone tangled in black and red miasma.

For a normal person to inhale that miasma without protective equipment or a purification priest nearby was tantamount to suicide.

And yet, a boy looked out over the contaminated Baengnokdam with a calm expression.

“So pitch black….”

Baengnokdam had been Abrilah’s stronghold.

The boy stirred the murky water with his hand.
A foul sensation crawled up his arm.
He shook it off like dust and stood.

Goooooh—

Abrilah’s crown hovered in the center of Baengnokdam.

Set with six jewels not of this world—extradimensional minerals—
the crown was said to contain powers that should not exist.

Though Abrilah was no longer in this world,
his crown, left without a master, continued to radiate tremendous demonic energy.

“That thing… it’s what’s preventing the purification, huh….”

The boy murmured as he looked up at Abrilah’s crown.

<That’s right.>

A voice echoed in his mind.

<That’s why we have to retrieve it. I’ll temporarily unlock your magical power.>

Ssshh—

The boy’s body slowly floated into the air.
He stepped through the sky calmly,
eventually coming to a stop beside Abrilah’s crown.

“I’m curious,”
the boy whispered, gazing at it.

“What world did you come from?”

Silence.

“Why did you follow the Demon God?”

Silence.

“Why did you kill so many humans?”

Silence.

“…And why did you reincarnate as a human?”

No answer.
Not that he expected one.
Even so, he had to ask.

“Tell me.”

He reached out and placed his hand on the crown.

Flash!

A dark light spread in all directions.
And amidst it, the boy whispered:

“Please tell me, former me….”

---

Gravity.

That was the name of our team—Team G.

We’d brainstormed names using English words starting with “G” like Grip (Kim Jungho), Gateway (Hamin), Gemstone (me), Genesis (Madojin)…

…Only to realize how utterly tasteless we were.

We were just about to give up when Jeong Noeul said,
“How about Gravity?”

A decent, safe choice.
We all agreed—anything else would’ve just been a waste of time.

Now, Gravity was sitting on set in the lobby of our dorm.

“All right, it’s time to pick our songs! Ready, everyone?”

The MC’s voice was bright and lively.
We did our best to keep our expressions neutral and postures firm.

“Jungho-hyung, did you hear there’s a ghost in the 7th-floor recording studio?”

Wait, what?
Jeong Noeul was grinning as he talked to Kim Jungho.

“H-Huh? Seriously?”

“Yep! I’m gonna go check it out later!”

Geez. Grow up already.

The songs for the entrance exam were decided by roulette.

<Humans really are slaves to random chance…>

Said The Star Hated by All from inside my Bluetooth earbud case.

On behalf of humanity—I’m sorry.

Thankfully, the entrance exam was held in Jeju Island and served as both a third-round qualifier and a morale-boosting performance.

Meaning… no landmines.
They wouldn’t choose an absurd song for a goodwill concert.

But if we got a song that was too hard, we’d be in trouble.
Too easy, and we wouldn’t be able to show our skills.

Ideally, it should be moderately challenging—easy to rearrange.

<Shall I manipulate the odds? My power, bolstered after consuming Muddorok, makes it possible.>

‘You’re seriously a devil, huh?’

<To be exact, a fallen angel.>

Let’s wait and see.

I could use my Wisdom of the Lowest Places trait… but I didn’t want to rob others of their chances.

I turned to look at Team C—Han Iro’s team.
Their name was H.I.R.

Han. I. Ro. Seriously?
There’s no way he named the team that himself….
Probably his lazy teammates.
Idiots.

This was a team competition, but you advanced individually.
What were they thinking?

“Team leaders, please come to the front!”

The MC called, and Han Iro stood up.
Of course he’s the leader of Team H.I.R. too.

In our team, Kim Jungho was the leader—because he was the oldest.

It wasn’t a thoughtless decision.
I was the one who suggested him.
He was older, sure—but not stubborn.
A timid eldest is easier to manage.

Good for leadership and as a mediator.
He was like a pawn I placed on the board.

Each team’s leader stood around the massive roulette in the center.

The roulette…
Ugh, it was covered in tacky Western-style paintings of major deities.
My eyes hurt just looking at it.

“We’ll now spin the roulette! Any powers related to gambling or prophecy have been sealed.”

<Except mine.> 

The Star Hated by All chuckled unpleasantly.

“Now, just throw your assigned steel marble at the roulette! Easy, right?”

<Well? My creature.>

‘Well what?’

<Sell me your soul. I’ll grant you the perfect song.>

‘No thanks. Sit quietly.’

“Spin that wheel!”

The MC shouted.

Whirrrrr—

The roulette began to turn.

I closed my eyes and prayed in my heart.

O almighty Savior Who Is One and All,
just help me this once, and I’ll go to church every Sunday and pray until I get a nosebleed.

Please!
I’ll even drink the blood if you want!

Ding—ding—

The roulette stopped, and each team’s assigned song appeared on the screen.

<H.I.R. — “Butterfly Effect” (XYZ)>

I scowled at Han Iro, who was smiling with satisfaction.

[Ryu Eunyul of Gravity, jealous of H.I.R.’s result.]

Even if that caption popped up, I had no way to hide it.
My expression totally gave me away.
I was practically radiating rage.

XYZ’s Butterfly Effect was a song from five years ago,
but still talked about online to this day.

XYZ as a group had modest success,
but Butterfly Effect alone kept them going for two more years.

The lyrics were about chasing the butterfly effect to find a lost love—
Perfect for a morale concert.

And us?

<Gravity — “Love Sent from Heaven” (Holy)>

…Goddamn it.

We were screwed.
Maybe I should have struck a deal with The Star Hated by All.

“Hey, hey.”

Hamin, looking pale, poked my side.

“Why are we doing a CCM song?”

That’s what I want to ask!

Love Sent from Heaven… seriously?

The cringeworthy debut song of the CCM boy group Holy,
which flopped immediately.

I crossed my legs and kept my face blank, thinking.

Three problems.

One — It’s CCM.
A Christian Contemporary Music track…
What kind of competition puts that in the mix?

Two — It’s stupidly hard.
Holy’s main vocalist had a background in opera.
The main dancer specialized in country dance.
Yeah, you get the picture.

They were a group made by cherry-picking church band all-stars.

Three — There’s a rap part.

Rap.
In CCM.

If that makes you go “Wtf?”,
Congrats—you’re normal.

Kim Jungho looked at us.
His face said, Sorry, guys! I’ll cry a river and drown myself in it!

Even Han Iro looked concerned, glancing my way.
My head throbbed.

<Ahahahahaha!! CCM!? Ahahahaha!!>

The Star Hated by All laughed inside my mind, stabbing my brain.

‘Shut up already….’

I scratched my neck furiously.
Who the hell invented this stupid roulette system?!

---

Gravity’s team meeting.
More like, in Kim Jungho’s room.

We were huddled around a computer.

Watching fancams of Holy’s Love Sent from Heaven on YouTube.

“Is that… even a pitch a human male can hit?”

Hamin asked.

“Guys, I’m really sorry… I, I just… ugh.”
Kim Jungho choked on his words.

“That choreography looks more fitting for a national theater than a music festival….”

Jeong Noeul looked shell-shocked.

Madojin, with a blank expression, said,
“Beautiful.”

…I wanted to shove stinky tofu in that smug mouth.

The more we monitored, the more hopeless it seemed.

“Jungho-hyung,” I said.
“Let’s assign positions first.”

“R-right…”

“I’ll try this part,”
Noeul said, pointing at the high-difficulty dance section.
“I’ll practice it.”

Main dancer: Jeong Noeul.

“Jungho-hyung,”
Hamin added,
“Can we rearrange the opening acapella into something more acoustic?”

“…We’ll have to.”

The acapella intro had to be dealt with.
Starting off too sanctimonious would kill the mood.

I placed a hand on Hamin’s shoulder.

“Hamin, you’ll be sub vocal.”

His balanced stats made him a good fit.

“You aiming for main vocal?”
Hamin looked between me and Madojin.
“Or are you rapping?”

Both choices sucked.
Could I match a trained vocalist?
And rap…?

“If Eunyul raps, it’ll sound like he’s possessed by dialect demons.”
I could practically hear Rowen’s snark.

“Do Jin-ssi.”
I turned to Madojin.
“What part would you like?”

He skimmed the fancam, then replied blankly,
“Anything’s fine.”

“Can you really handle it?”

All of his stat windows were at 10.
I had no idea what this guy was good at.

“I’m not particularly good at anything.”
He answered evenly.
“But I’m not bad at anything either.”

…What are you, a cyborg idol?

“…Want to try rapping?”
I asked nervously.

“Sure.”
He accepted without hesitation.

---

Later that night, back in my room,
I opened the window.

<Are you really okay with this?>

“Not sure.”

<Without me, you’re just a pathetic human using cheats.>

The Star Hated by All sat on the windowsill.

“Without me, you’re just a dirty little fly.”

I sighed.

“We have no choice, do we?”

The sudden disappearance of the Prince from the Otherworld…
was another problem entirely.

Thinking back to the Muddorok incident, the Prince was likely reduced to just a core.
Resurrection was unlikely.
And if he had resurrected, we wouldn’t still be enjoying peace.

Most likely, someone had stolen the core.
Someone seeking profit, like me.
That would complicate things.

<It’ll take time to trace. His energy’s completely gone.>

“Do you have any clue why it vanished so suddenly?”

<No idea.> 

The Star Hated by All rubbed his front legs together.

<The last place his presence was felt… was Hallasan. We’ll have to start there.>

“Got it. Don’t get yourself killed out there.”

<What do you take me for? Don’t worry.>

WEE-OOH—

The Star Hated by All flew off into the night.

I rested my hand on the windowsill and watched him go.

I’d have to handle this round without him.

Would I be okay?

Sitting on the bed, I spaced out for a while.

No. Now’s not the time for that.

Resolute, I muttered:

“『Use: Violin of Tainted Blood』.”