"It's trending again," Hyerin said.
She was on the phone, checking the reaction to the second episode.
"It hasn't even been ten minutes since the episode ended."
- Man, Leviathan is a psycho.
- He gives me the creeps, man.
- Mammon is scarier, in my opinion.
- Beelzebub and Belphegor just chilling over there.
- There just like me, fr for real.
- They're*
- How do you know they are like me?
- What? Are you high? Fix it, man.
- One of them is getting killed, I'm telling you now.
- This ^
- Kill yourself.
- No.
- Fair enough.
- Who is this Averie Auclair?
- Man comes out of nowhere and drops a 10/10 performance in both episodes.
- Averie Quinn Auclair.
- Asmodeus's actor.
- I know that. I am asking where he came from.
- How should I know?
- Don't talk then, you donkey. No one's asking you.
Hyerin's eyes widened. "What, what's happening?"
"Someone died?" Averie asked, feeling groggy.
"What, no? Why would you ask that?" Hyerin shook her head. "NeRen's official account has started following you!"
"Those stylish girls in makeup you like?"
Averie sighed. He really needed to sleep, but he knew Hyerin wouldn't let him.
"Every celebrity does makeup," Hyerin complained.
"I don't."
"You are new to this. We should style you better, and you can do with a little touch-up." Hyerin gave him a concerned glance, realizing a little too late how she could be misunderstood. "Don't take it the wrong way. You are handsome the way you are."
'Of course, I know that. As if I need to be told such things.'
"Anyway, do you not like NeRen?"
Averie groaned. "Not exactly. People who are adored often have bad personalities. Those girls are talented and good-looking, so I can understand why you like them. But don't worship celebrities. It harms both parties."
Averie thought he might be one of those celebrities with bad personalities. But then again, he had a bad personality even before he became famous in his previous world.
Hyerin felt touched.
"Are you worried about me?" She playfully slapped him on his arm. "Don't worry. I know all about celebrities and their bad behavior. Sartre Entertainment had too many of those nutjobs. But I have heard mostly good things about NeRen. Anyway—"
Suddenly, as her eyes wandered back toward her phone, Hyerin gasped.
"Even the members' individual accounts are following you…"
"Yay," Averie unenthusiastically chimed in.
He wanted to snatch Hyerin's phone and throw it out the window. Alas, that required energy that he currently did not have.
'[Ent Interior] Binsfeld's Seven Princes of Hell continues its steep journey. The second episode registers an average TV rating of 22.7%, the highest ever for an adult drama.'
"Rated 9.4 by the critics and 9.5 by the audience on CottonPop," Hyerin continued frantically.
But Averie couldn't hear a word. He was already asleep.
The next morning, Averie received good news—the network was more than happy to allot Sunday timeslots for the show's reruns.
On top of that, Hyerin showed him something mildly fascinating.
"The first episode was released yesterday night on Trinix. They will upload the second one tonight, I guess."
She showed him some articles, social media trends, and discussion boards.
"The show and the seven of you are all over the internet," she uttered. "It will soon spread to the real world."
"So?"
Hyerin raised a brow. "You don't understand; this trend isn't going to stop anytime soon."
Her voice turned deadly serious.
"A couple more successful episodes and this craze will only intensify. The show will be a topic of discussion throughout the country. This is the kind of thing that can have a cultural impact on society. Your rising popularity will soon hit a mark unheard of for a newcomer."
Averie scoffed.
He didn't think something even remotely similar would happen. Even though he was a great icon in his previous world, it had taken him years to be recognized.
Alas, Averie didn't truly understand how much impact films and TV shows had in a world dominated by the internet.
That day, he received calls from the director, the writer, and the rest of the cast. They were congratulating him. At first, Averie thought he was being treated specially, but Hyerin denied his delusions.
"It's normal to congratulate the main actors."
Why she couldn't let him enjoy a lie, Averie didn't understand.
As if that wasn't enough, every time he mentioned going out for something, she would block his path and fuss about it.
She insisted on him staying in. He didn't mind being treated like a lord, but it was very constricting.
'What's the worst that could happen?' he thought. 'A few people would stop and ask for an autograph.'
Still, he respected Hyerin's opinion. He thought she would get tired soon enough.
***
It was Monday morning.
In one of the private schools in Seoul, students were leisurely gathering. On their way, they discussed their weekends. Boys talked about video games, and girls talked about TV shows.
"I'm tired." A short girl rocking a bob cut emitted a long sigh. "I can't wait for the summer break."
"Yeah," nodded her friend.
"Uh-huh," another said, chewing on a gum.
"You go, girl," the dumb one of the group muttered while playing on her phone.
No one knew why, but she always said the same thing absentmindedly.
They were gathered in their classroom, but Monday was always the most difficult day of the week. It was the Judas of days, always ruining the fun.
"What are you watching, Yun-Ha," asked the shorty.
Yun-Ha Byun, the most stylish and the quietest of the group, lifted her head from her phone.
"It's a video BSPH uploaded just now," she replied.
"BSPH, who?"
Yun-Ha looked at the group with wide eyes. "You guys don't know?"
They shook their heads in unison.
At that moment, Yun-Ha knew she was the trendiest member of the group. But she also knew that there was potential for her to be more. She could be held as their savior if she played her cards right.
She played the video and showed it to them. It was a two-minute-long, uncut footage that showed Asmodeus's entire dance with the dead maid at the end of the first episode.
One of the previous uploads showed a brief interview shot by the behind-the-scenes team. It clearly stated that the dead body Asmodeus danced with was not an actor but a doll almost as heavy as a real woman of that size.
It wasn't a dancer who was handling her own weight; it was a doll that Averie had to handle himself.
"They said the actor wanted it to be realistic," Yun-Ha added, mesmerized by the intense dance. "So he asked for a realistic doll instead of an actor."
"What is this show? What is it called?" the short girl asked. "It looks good. Is it good?"
"It is good," Yun-Ha almost yelled.
She was already a part of the BSPH fandom, and she did not try to hide it.
She glanced around and lowered her voice.
"It's only for those aged nineteen and older. Mom sent me to my room early because of this show. It's not fair; she watches it, but I can't. I had to watch it on Trinix secretly."
Yun-Ha grumbled for a while.
"Is it better than An Everlasting Romance?" one of the girls asked.
She received the most disgusting stare from Yun-Ha. There was nothing the newly-formed cult of BSPH did better than look down on the likes of An Everlasting Romance.
"Don't even compare them. One is a gift to humanity," — she scrunched her nose — "and the other is total garbage."
Her friend wanted to protest as she liked romance dramas, but her instincts told her not to. There was something very cultish about the way her friend talked today.
"It's too good," Yun-Ha continued, trying to spread the creed of BSPH. "Watch it when you go home."
"I am scared of blood though," one of the girls complained like a coward.
'After today you will like it,' Yun-Ha thought.
She used to be such a gentle child, but the show had ruined her.
"It must not be that violent if they are showing it on TV, right?" the shorty chimed in.
Yun-Ha sneered. "Oh, it's violent—but also very hot."
'I even wondered how they are allowed to show stuff like this on TV. The censors must be blind.'
"What do you mean by hot?" the dumb one asked.
Yun-Ha pulled them closer and whispered something unholy. It evoked a response full of shock from the girls. As adolescents, this was a subject that interested them very much.
And during the lunch break, Yun-Ha streamed the first episode on her phone. It gathered half the classroom out of curiosity.
Usually, she was the quiet kid. But today, she was the precocious girl.
"You go… girl," the dumb one muttered, watching Asmodeus bite his bleeding lip.
That day, the cult of BSPH was introduced to the highschoolers all over the country.