Hell's Actor-Chapter 40: Anticipation & Success

It was Thursday evening.

"And she just started yelling."

Averie was on the phone with Peter Kang.

"What was the role?" the older actor asked from the other side.

"Nothing spectacular; you know, just the usual."

"Still, like what?"

"Just a racist, nothing big."

Peter Kang said nothing after that. He was stunned, and he preferred not to rationalize with Averie.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

***

Meanwhile, in a domed concert hall, a crowd of fifty thousand attendees had gathered.

On the backstage, the overworked staff was running around hastily.

Peeking at the gathered audience from backstage, Ha-Yun turned to her group members.

"Everyone ready?"

"Yes," Hee-Young replied confidently.

Sunny looked fired.

The rest also looked excited.

Lenny was the only one who seemed nervous.

"Will it be fine? We didn’t even ask for their permission. I don’t want them to get mad at us."

"It will be fine," Hee-Su uttered, playfully hitting Lenny in the shoulder. "We will do such a good job that no one will object."

But Lenny didn’t seem convinced. "But if they do, I don’t want our fans clashing with them. It would be embarrassing."

"If those online fanatics start something new," — Sunny cracked her neck — "I swear I will personally call them out, our fans or not."

"Don’t say that!" Hee-Young yelled.

"Okay, settle down, everyone." Ha-Yun clapped her hands. "It’s showtime."

The members of NeRen—all seven of them—were dressed in black suits and dour makeup.

As they stepped out onto the stage, alongside the audience’s loud cheers, the opening theme of Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell played through the speakers.

***

Covered in blankets and whistling a simple tune, Averie was busy anonymously trolling a fan of An Everlasting Romance, when Hyerin frantically shouted at him.

"Averie! Averie, come quick!"

He was confused.

His friend was using the toilet.

So, did she want him to barge in? And if yes, then why?

"You need to see this!" she shouted.

’Most definitely not,’ Averie thought.

Unless she had excreted something as beautiful as one of the seven wonders of the world, he was not interested.

After all, coprophilia was not his cup of tea.

The door to the toilet opened, and a sweaty Hyerin walked out.

’Was she fighting a battle for the entirety of mankind?’

That was a true sacrifice. He would get up and salute her for her hard work, but then who would troll children online?

"Look at this."

Hyerin shoved her phone in Averie’s face.

He didn’t know how he felt about that.

Certainly, he was curious; but not enough to handle a phone his friend was using in the toilet. It wasn’t very romantic.

He pursed his lips and glanced at the screen.

"NeRen put on a show dressed as the Binsfeld brothers from Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell..."

"Yes, yes." Hyerin jumped around. "Isn’t it exciting?"

"Nope." Averie went back to passionately trolling zealots online. "Some people have important things to do, Rin. I don’t have time to fawn over some pretty girls."

’Immature children talking nonsense on the internet require my attention.’

But Hyerin ignored him completely.

"They made changes to their songs just for this performance. They even sang your theme song!"

"Uh-huh..."

"It was a big show, you know? They were dressed in the same attire as you—coats, suits, white shirts, ties, leather shoes, and even hats!"

"I see, I see."

"There are so many people posting about it. It has made entertainment news; articles are out, Averie!"

"Such wonder. Much wow."

"Whoa, the official account posted some pictures; do you want to see them?"

Although he was curious, he did not want to touch that phone.

"It’s all you, baby."

"I’m going to put one of these as my phone’s wallpaper."

And so, the day passed uneventfully.

***

It was Friday.

Because of NeRen’s performance, a lot more people were drawn to Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell.

A series of posts from their social media—trying to take advantage of the trend—were circulating on the internet.

One of them was Sunny, the lead dancer of the group, mentioning that Asmodeus Binsfeld was just her type.

Clearly, she was not very intelligent, or so Averie thought.

A post from Hee-Young was also rather popular.

It was a video of Ha-Yun, the leader of NeRen, getting caught on camera while she was scrolling through Averie’s Delfa account after their big show.

Because of this, a minority of their fans left derogatory remarks under Averie’s posts.

Hyerin found it worrisome, but Averie had fun trolling them. He would have loved to use his account for such a holy purpose, but his friend insisted against it.

- You think you are hot shit, you f*cking nobody?

- I will find where you live, and I will f*ck you up!

- F*ck, f*ck, f*ckity f*ck! frёewebηovel.cѳm

- How dare you ruin them, you piece of shit!

- They were just fine before you came along!

- Bastard, I will kill you myself!

- I will choke you! Not sexually! I swear on my mother’s grave I’m not gay!

Averie whistled in delight.

"They are really coming out with pitchforks, aren’t they?"

"This is no laughing matter," Hyerin exclaimed.

"Hey, it’s not my fault these people are dumb."

He laughed it off.

"Anyway, you should enjoy yourself. The hype surrounding the fifth episode is something else."

"Yeah, I saw that. There are so many posts about it online. It’s crazy."

Hyerin was right.

The craze surrounding the drama could not be contained as the fifth episode drew near. The audience had waited an entire week, and now they were anticipating the thrill.

It was a double-edged sword.

One could not walk a few meters without seeing a poster or an advertisement for the show.

In the trains and buses, the commuters talked about it. Housewives would meet in their free time to discuss it. Who was the worst of the seven was a common topic among street vendors.

Parents put their children to bed early, so they could relax and watch the show into the night.

Teenagers had to stream it in secrecy as their parents would not allow them near the TV. Trinix was their only option, but the downside was that they had to wait an entire day for it.

High schoolers whose parents worked late or too far away from home invited friends over to watch the drama together.

College students, who enjoyed more freedom, would gather to have watch parties with food and drinks.

It was rare to find someone unaware of the show. Even in rural areas, people watched it with enthusiasm.

To Hyerin, her friend’s sudden rise in popularity was something hard to comprehend.

And to Averie, it was a little shocking how quickly he had risen to prominence. Overnight, he had become a celebrity everyone knew and talked about. Something like this would have been impossible in his previous life.

Before the fifth episode began, Hyerin received a message.

She looked at Averie with a big smile.

"The show began airing in Japan, China, and most of Asia."

On the TV screen, the fifth episode of Binsfeld’s Seven Princes of Hell was starting.

"Even there, it’s shaping up to be a success."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel