After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 13 - Idol Echidna (1)

"What's... this?" Oh Kang-Woo muttered as he watched the cheerful girl on the TV screen.

Echidna, who was wearing an outfit full of frills and drooping decorations, a design as outrageous as Balrog's aloha shirt, was walking to the front of the stage. She was cutely jumping up and down with a mic in her hand.

"Hohoho. Were you surprised?" asked Han Seol-Ah as she giggled.

Kang-Woo nodded dumbfoundedly. "I never thought her job would be something like this."

He remembered Echidna being obsessed with a certain anime about idols, but he never expected her to become one herself. He stared at Seol-Ah as if asking what happened.

Seol-Ah placed her index finger on her chin and rummaged through her memories. "Mm... After you disappeared, everyone was... not doing so well. Haha, I guess I'm not one to talk."

She laughed awkwardly and swept her hair back. Kang-Woo had already heard about this from Si-Hun.

"Echidna was... especially bad."

Kang-Woo nodded in silence with a heavy expression.

Echidna was highly sensitive to loneliness because she experienced her parent abandoning her. She was highly dependent on Kang-Woo; although she wasn't as bad as Seol-Ah, who was instinctively obsessed with Kang-Woo, his vacancy would have left a huge impact on Echidna.

"That's why Yeon-Joo suggested she start working as an idol, hoping the audience's enthusiasm and cheers would lessen her loneliness."

"Mm. I see."

Others had also been suffering from his vacancy while Kang-Woo was battling against the Abyss. He somewhat expected it, but he couldn't help but feel his heart breaking after hearing about it.

'Yeon-Joo seems to have helped a lot.'

She not only helped Echidna but also Seol-Ah, who had practically become a lifeless bum after Kang-Woo disappeared. She had visited Seol-Ah from time to time to care for her.

'I should visit her.'

Kang-Woo heard Yeon-Jo was busy with matters regarding Seoul lately, but she would likely have enough time to at least meet with him. He stopped thinking about Yeon-Joo and turned back to the TV screen. Echidna was waving at the audience with a wide smile.

"So, she won all the Rookie Awards as soon as she began working as an idol?"

"Hoho. You know how cute our Echidna is. She's also an amazing singer."

Seol-Ah puffed her chest out, proud of Echidna on TV. Kang-Woo snickered, seeing Seol-Ah acting like a parent boasting about their child.

"Yeah, she sure is cute."

No one could deny that Echidna looked insanely cute in her stage outfit.

'Is this what you call a successful otaku?'

Kang-Woo recalled Echidna going crazy over a certain idol anime; the posters and figures of that anime were still filling her room.

'In these perilous times.'

Kang-Woo lightly clicked his tongue but couldn't help but smile as he stared at the smiling Echidna on TV. Echidna went back to the middle of the stage once she finished greeting her fans and the voice of the show host echoed throughout the stage.

- Now, then! We will be broadcasting Echidna's performance live! Make sure you put in your vote! To vote, use the number...

A number popped up at the bottom of the screen. Kang-Woo pulled out his smartphone without hesitation and sent dozens of votes that cost 200 won.

"The hell? Why does this only work once?"

He made dozens of votes but only one went through. He frowned as he fidgeted with his smartphone.

"It's only one vote per person, Kang-Woo," Seol-Ah explained.

"What a dumb rule. I'm literally trying to give them more money."

"Hohoho. Just a second."

Seol-Ah got up and went to her room. She came back out soon after with a large box.

"What's that?"

"Smartphone I've bought for voting purposes! They're all under different names, so it won't be a problem!"

"That's a huge waste of money."

'How much money is that per vote?'

"This is nothing but pocket change if it can allow Echidna to win!"

"I don't think doing this will skew the result much."

Even if the box was full, it was only a few hundred votes. It was a lot for one person, but it was a mere drop compared to hundreds of thousands of votes.

"E-Even so!"

"Haha. Okay, Darling."

Kang-Woo snickered as he helped Seol-Ah vote for Echidna using the smartphones in the box. It would have been far easier to set up a vote-rigging scheme using the money used to buy smartphones, but Kang-Woo didn't see the need to do so.

'After all, Echidna is bound to win!'

Kang-Woo stared at the TV screen with sparkling eyes. Echidna began to sing once the music played.

- Shall I name this heart-rendering pain~ Snow Halation~![1]

"Whoa."

'What the hell? She's cute as fuck.'

The audience cheered and chanted together as they swung their glowsticks once Echidna's song began.

- Hai! Hai! Hai! Hai!

- Echidna~!

"I love you, Echidna!"

Kang-Woo was cheering along with the audience before he realized it. He never had any interest in idols or celebrities, but seeing Echidna singing and dancing was firing him up.

"Go, go, Echidna!!"

Kang-Woo clenched his fists as he looked at the number of votes skyrocketing on one side of the screen.

'Let's see some live reactions.'

He turned on his smartphone and entered a live chat.

[Idol Wars! Live Chat]

JerryM: WOOOOOOOOOO!! ECHIDNA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!

Breathe: She's a literal angel. She's so cute.

Wooden Spoon: Over here, officer!! Arrest this scum! No, I'm not telling you to arrest me...

Ro Yu-Jin: Women with tits smaller than F-cup aren't women in my eyes. I don't understand why you guys love Echidna so much.

Woojin: Look out, guys, we have a massive tits lover here. I bet you'd write an ending where all sixteen heroines are pregnant if you ever wrote a novel.

Butterfly Valley: Kurgh... Cough! I-I'm sorry... Lord Kakao... I won't ever cross the li— Gaaahhh!! Please... anything but an age restriction...!

Tresha: Echidna won for sure.

Sagyesu: Didn't Echidna post on Instagram that she would make an important announcement if she wins?

Sosori: Yeah, she did.

'I knew it'd be heated.'

There were a few weird comments in between but most of them were infatuated with how cute Echidna was and talking about how they voted for her almost instantly. The corners of Kang-Woo's lips gradually rose. He felt an inexplicable sense of pride as Echidna got more and more positive attention.

'This must be how a father feels when seeing his daughter succeed in life.'

Kang-Woo and Echidna technically were not blood-related, but that was the feeling he got regardless.

"Kyaaaaaaahhh! Oh my gosh, Kang-Woo! She's so cute!"

"You should've told me earlier that Echidna is an idol," Kang-Woo remarked as he stared at the screen and sighed.

If he had known earlier, he would have gone to the venue to watch Echidna's performance in person.

"Hehe. Echidna wanted to make a surprise announcement if she won, so she asked me to keep it a secret from you."

"Ngh. What a shame."

Kang-Woo stared at the dancing Echidna on the screen, disappointed he couldn't cheer for her in person. The lights became more extravagant as the song reached its climax. White confetti poured on the stage like snow as the song ended.

- Yeaaaaaaahhh!!

- What an adorable and lovely performance from Echidna!! Was there any doubt?! Alright! The votes are about to close, everyone! Put in your votes now!

Echidna climbed down from the stage once her performance ended and the host wasted time talking about various pointless things to stall for five minutes. The show host then stopped talking and placed a finger on his earpiece, having received the result.

- Alright! The winner has been decided!!

A drumroll to induce tension echoed throughout the stage.

- After putting together the votes from the judges, the online votes, and the audience votes...

The stage lights moved erratically.

- The winner of Idol Wars! is... Echidna! Let's give her a round of applause!

"Hell yeah!!"

"K-Kang-Woo! Echidna won!"

Seol-Ah screamed in elation and embraced Kang-Woo.

"Of course she did."

Kang-Woo smiled as he looked at Echidna, smiling happily, on the screen.

'This kind of life isn't so bad.'

He could have never imagined this sort of joy back in Hell or even right before his final battle against Bael. He would have thought appearing on TV to sing and dance was stupid.

'Because nothing else but survival mattered to me.'

Kang-Woo looked down at his small hands. He saved the world with them; he created a world where things other than survival mattered. That simple fact filled Kang-Woo's heart with inexplicable emotions.

'Yeah... I struggled to survive all this time in search of this peace.'

Kang-Woo smiled faintly as he looked at Echidna, who was climbing back up on stage and walking to the middle of it after being announced as the winner.

- Echidna! Congratulations on your victory!

- Hm! Thank you so much, everyone! I never thought I'd actually win!

Echidna waved, her face flushed with excitement. The audience cheered harder.

- Haha! As expected of the nation's little sister! The response is insane!

- Huh? I'm not a little sister. I'm super old.

- Hahaha! You sure love to joke around. How old could you be when you're this cute?

The show host smiled gently and slightly touched Echidna's shoulder.

- BOOOOO!!

- Take your hand off her, motherfucker!!

- How dare you touch Echidna-sama's shoulder?!

- Death! Sentence him to death!!

The audience cheering for Echidna suddenly began to curse and criticize the host. Kang-Woo could feel their bloodlust through the screen. The host stepped backward in surprise.

"What the hell? Are they fanatical cultists or something?"

Kang-Woo's expression hardened as he witnessed the audience's abnormal reactions.

"Oh~ I heard Echidna's fans are a bit hardcore."

"That's an understatement."

"I heard a male celebrity was ambushed with weapons after saying he wanted to meet Echidna."

"What...?"

'Ambushed?'

"I heard they call themselves the Watchmen. They're a very systematic organization," Seol-Ah continued.

"Damn, idol fans are no joke these days."

"No, Kang-Woo. They're not to be trifled with just because they're an idol fan club."

"Eh? Why??"

"High Ranker Players and even gods are part of the club."

"Even... gods?"

"Yes. The Dragon God is an especially avid fan of Echidna."

'The fuck? Why the Dragon God?'

Kang-Woo chuckled. The Dragon God was the one who cursed Kargath and turned him into a demonic dragon. It was ironic that the Dragon God was an avid fan of Echidna.

"That's pretty much an army at that point," Kang-Woo remarked as he shook his head in exasperation.

However, it was not bad news; it meant that Echidna had the best protection she could get.

'Looks like anyone who hits on Echidna will pay a hefty price.'

Kang-Woo smiled in satisfaction.

- Ah, I-I'm sorry, everyone. It was an accident...

The host broke into cold sweats and appeased the furious audience, whose bloodlust did not seem to wane.

- A-Ahem! Echidna! I saw on your Instagram that you had an important announcement to make if you won the Idol Wars! Is that true?

The host quickly changed the subject and brought the mic to Echidna.

- Hm! Yeah! I have an important announcement!

Echidna snorted and walked forward.

"An announcement?" Kang-Woo mentioned curiously as he focused his attention on the screen.

Echidna took the mic from the host, gripped it tightly with both hands, and shouted cheerfully.

- KANG-WOO!!!

'Shit, that surprised me. Why did she call my name out of the blue?'

- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING BACK! I MISSED YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH!

"Oh. It's that thing celebrities do about how they would never have come this far without a certain person. Oh, you cutie.'

- HM! SO NOW... MARRY ME TOO, ALONG WITH SEOL-AH!!!

"Wait... what the fuck?"

Deathly silence fell on the venue. Echidna's shocking announcement was broadcast worldwide live.

"Does this mean I'm fucked?"

'Peace, my ass. There's no such thing in my life.'

1. This is a real Love Live song called (as you could guess) Snow Halation. Check it out! ☜