Chapter 266 - 266

Chapter 266

I thought I had misheard Owen for a moment.

I had clearly killed the Demon King with these hands, but the body disappeared.

It was impossible.

"So I felt something was suspicious and searched the entire Demon King's castle, but there was no trace of hyung-nim or the Demon King anywhere. The soldiers hyung-nim led testified that 'I clearly saw the Crown Prince defeat the Demon King,' so it was clear that the Demon King had been defeated, but they were very confused because they didn't know what had happened."

That was understandable.

Since I, the Crown Prince who commanded the empire, suddenly disappeared.

I wondered how my whereabouts had been packaged, but unexpectedly, a plausible explanation came out of Owen's mouth.

"During the investigation of the Demon King's Castle, a huge magical tool presumed to be a 'seed' was discovered. The results of the investigation by the sacred magicians showed that it contained enough magical power to instantly destroy our empire. So we thought this. The Demon King must have anticipated his defeat and drawn a picture of him and hyung-nim being annihilated. He must have used the power contained in the 'seed' to destroy both him and hyung-nim........."

If I recall what the memory I received as a quest reward showed, Demon King Seir used the 'seed' to destroy the system created by God.

That's why there was a crack in the system I brought.

In a way, it became a kind of annihilation operation, just as Owen had expected.

Of course, to the Imperial Army and Owen, who did not know the main purpose of the 'seed', the hypothesis that 'the Crown Prince and the Demon King were annihilated at the same time' would have been the most reasonable.

Yes. On the surface, any inference other than the theory of annihilation would be nonsense. It is.

But like this, I am alive in front of Owen's eyes. Without disappearing, in another world.

"When I first saw your face on the internet of this world.......... I felt something I couldn't explain in words. It was really strange how the pieces of my forgotten memories slowly came back to me. It was as if I was recalling memories from my previous life. I thought I was just a trainee from overseas, but I was actually a being from another world."

It was a very mysterious sight to hear a modern word like 'internet' coming out of my second brother's mouth.

I could feel the fact that he was really an idol trainee from England who had lived in this real world with me.

Owen looked down at his hands, shook his head slightly, and continued.

"You asked me what my last memory was. After receiving the results of the investigation by the sacred magicians, I went down to the basement of the Demon King's Castle to check the magic tools with my own two eyes. And that 'seed' was my last memory. An unknown light enveloped me.......... After that, I can't remember anything."

"So you came over here with your memory lost after touching the magic tool?"

"That would be it."

I added up everything I had heard from Owen.

In short.....

'After I cut off Seir's neck, he disappeared. The Imperial Army thought the Demon King was gone, but the truth may be different. Even if I borrowed the power of God to return to reality, I have now confirmed that even a mere piece of data like Owen can be transferred to reality.'

The imagination that I had been most anxious about could become reality.

In other words, the Demon King could also be hiding somewhere on Earth.

He could be breathing the same air in the same space as me.

Owen looked at me with a worried look after seeing me slightly shaken.

"Hyung-nim, your complexion doesn't look good. Are you okay?"

"...Don't worry. I was just shaken for a moment because I felt different when I saw my brother here, whom I thought I would never see again."

"The same goes for me. It's a series of truly absurd events, but... I think it's all God's will and accept it as luck."

Owen looked up at me with a gentle smile.

My second brother, who was understanding and always caring for others.

"I'm so glad I can be with you again, Owen."

"Likewise, hyung-nim."

The two brothers who ruled the empire as members of the royal family in now met again as idols of South Korea.

"Then I guess I have to hide my relationship with you from the outside world. It might cause unnecessary confusion."

"Um. Since our last names are different and we come from different places, we have to be careful."

"Yes. I will try to make it seem like we are good seniors and juniors."

Owen nodded after hearing my words.

Then he added one more thing.

"But I can assure you of this. I will always stay by your side and do my best. This will not change even if the world we live in changes."

"Just hearing your heart makes me feel strong."

"Is that true, hyung-nim?"

"Yes."

Owen's eyes shone with intense brightness.

He held my hand tightly and said it with a warm smile.

"For the Empire. And for you, this oath to burn my life will continue in any world. If you need my help, call me anytime, hyung-nim. I will run to you whenever."

Owen's hand gradually became more powerful.

As if it represented his burning will.

"It is an honor to stand with you again, led by fate. Now, I, Owen von Walden, will never disappear from your side again. We will be together forever. I swear it on the honor of the royal family."

"I will keep that oath."

"Yes."

After our youngest brother, Ray von Walden, passed away early, Owen was deeply devastated by the fact that he could not protect his younger brother.

However, he sublimated his heartbreaking despair into a blood-soaked oath, saying that he, the second-in-command of the royal family, must not fall.

He will become the sword that protects the crown prince until his life ends.

Owen nodded and patted his pocket with a regretful expression.

"Originally, this kind of oath requires blood.......... It is a pity that I do not have my dagger. I should make a blood oath in front of you right now."

"You, your heart was sufficiently conveyed even without damaging your body! An idol's body is an asset, so please be careful!"

After barely stopping Owen, we exchanged numbers.

And then we walked back toward Jerene's waiting room.

Still not used to the fact that Owen had become an idol like me.

"Then, I'll contact you later, senior. Be careful on your way in!"

"Okay, be safe on your way in."

Owen greeted me and went into the waiting room, and I saw that he was definitely a rookie idol.

I smiled faintly and headed to our waiting room, where our manager hyung was waiting.

'I've learned some shocking facts, but my priority remains the same.'

It was hard to believe that Owen, who was hidden data in the game, had come over to the real world, and that Demon King Seir's actions were also strange in the process. This is something I should always keep in mind.

However, unless a special crisis or variable occurs, my situation will not change.

To completely restore the system and make it mine.

And to always do my best as an idol.

This goal will not change no matter what happens.

***

After Seleste's 3rd mini album was released on March 30, fans were very busy.

There were many things that required investment of time and money, such as securing albums for the sound source campaign and fan signing events, but the firepower of Seleves was still the same.

The idols they like and support have been achieving the best results continuously, causing no problems externally, and showing growth day by day.

No fan would just sit back and watch this.

The incredible number of 1.88 million copies sold in the first week, a record set by Seleste themselves, is a wall that is unparalleled.

I wondered if the Seleves who made this record with their own hands would be able to surpass 1.88 million copies in the future, but nothing is impossible in this world.

And Seleste had the belief that even things that seemed impossible could become reality at any moment.

This belief was burning brightly among Seleves all over the world.

On the first day of the initial sales tally, easily surpassed , which seemed like an insurmountable wall.

The fact that Seleste had an overwhelming power in the album was well known even to other team fandoms.

They had been setting various new records since their debut album, and they continued to break the records they had set themselves.

So surprisingly, many people were not surprised to hear that they had set their own new record again.

Instead, there were some who maliciously mentioned Seleste's few weaknesses.

-(Photo) Seleste's mini album Hunter Chart initial sales tally of 1.41 million copies....(⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)♡

└(Quote) It seems like these guys don't even have that many core fans, so how on earth did they sell 1.41 million copies? How much did Sigma buy?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└These days, it seems like elementary school kids' number one picks are bought by their parents...

└That's legendary. No wonder they always filmed a Jacon that youngsters would like

-(Quote) I hope Seleste, who sells albums well but is at the bottom of the music charts, will never win the Triple Crown.

└Seriously, during the Illusion era, they spent a ton of money on the app, voted regularly, and streamed with three air machines to win the Triple Crown but it didn't happen

└Wow, thinking back, Real is back again. ㅋㅋㅋ ㅋㅋ TC is Connex. Get out. ㅜㅜㅜ

Compared to the splendid album performance, the music chart performance was lacking.

Despite selling over 1.5 million albums, anti-fans were criticizing how they could not even enter the top 5 on the music charts, let alone reach number 1.

And Seleste's agency, Sigma Entertainment, had been well aware of this problem from the beginning.

Why did Seleste, who was evaluated as having good songs, good performances, and good visuals from the members, always have disappointing music chart performances?

The reason was analyzed into two main reasons.

First, they made a comeback at a time when many music chart powerhouses were present.

During their first album, they inevitably had a hard time against Seo Joong-sik, also known as the 'Wailing Wall'.

During the second album, they avoided competition with big idols, but they had a hard time jumping to the top ranks while working with solo artists Hwanjo and Plea, who were lining up their own songs on music charts.

Seleste, whose overseas fandom is very strong, was not enough to compete with those with a solid domestic core on the Korean music charts.

Second, there were no proper means to widely promote well-made songs.

In line with the era of the development of SNS platforms these days, there was feedback within Sigma Enter that it should have been naturally promoted to the general public as various promotions were introduced.

Both and are well-made songs, but there was also talk that they do not fit well with the recent trends that are changing rapidly.

Especially in today's modern society, where people spend their days busy, all media outlets are becoming shorter and shorter.

In line with that trend, the conclusion was reached that it would be okay to make changes to the title song of the third mini album.

, which came out with the tag of 'easy listening', boasted a short length of 2 minutes and 47 seconds and excellently incorporated such feedback.

The evaluation that the members' skills and popularity were secured raised Sigma Entertainment's expectations.

In addition, various promotions that were somewhat lacking in the past are scheduled in the right places, so Sigma Entertainment is confident that they can show off Seleste's class on the music charts.

"Hyung, we sold 1.41 million copies on the first day!"

"Really?"

"I thought we might have set the reservation too high, but I'm glad."

And the news that they had good results from the first day of their activities was also delivered to the members who were heading to the fan signing event the next day.

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