Episode One

It was the 22nd of April, Friday.

Averie and Hyerin were sitting in front of her TV, enjoying a meal together.

"Only fifteen minutes now," Hyerin muttered, looking at her phone.

Both of them were dressed comfortably. They had nothing to do the whole day, so they had spent it lounging around. Hyerin had been a little nervous the whole time, but Averie was simply bored.

Suddenly, Hyerin asked, "What do you think the reception will be like?"

Averie looked at her for a second. He honestly didn't care about the audience or the critics. He had done a great job, and if someone didn't like the show, it would be because someone else messed up.

"There are two possibilities. Either they will find Asmodeus extremely disgusting and hate him for it, or they will see more than one side of him and love him despite his flaws. There is no in-between."

'Because I did a good job.'

"The rest depends entirely on the show."

***

It was 9:50 in the evening.

In a lavish house—with a swimming pool in the back and seven or so bedrooms on the second floor—Ha-Yun sat facing the living room TV. She was half-heartedly watching a romance drama alongside her six group members.

"Look, there I am!" Hee-Young—the youngest—yelled.

She was pointing excitedly at the TV, but the rest of the group looked absolutely drained of energy. They were bored and tired.

For such a successful group—having earned money and fame—boredom was the worst enemy. And Hee-Young was making it even worse.

None of them wanted to watch the drama she was starring in. It was so absolutely mediocre that even her diehard fans were finding it hard to defend. Ratings had fallen, and no one was talking about the show. Even their agency's employees avoided Hee-Young, not wanting to talk about the show with the girl.

For more than a month, every Friday and Saturday, the group members watched it to avoid ruining Hee-Young's lively attitude. But alas, they were running out of patience.

This was their time to relax, and it was being spent on a show that kept getting worse by the day.

"Was that your last appearance in this episode?" Ha-Yun asked.

And Hee-Young nodded. "Yeah, but I won't tell you what happens next. No special privileges for my group members."

One of the members—Sunny Bae—felt like throwing a brick at her tiny face. Temperamental by nature, she was about to rush at Hee-Young. But she was held back by Ha-Yun, who gave her a glance of assurance. She was going to be brave today. Yes, she was going to end this torture.

Ha-Yun snatched the remote from Hee-Young. "Good, then we don't need to watch the rest."

"What? How else will you understand what's happening in tomorrow's episode? No, we need to watch!" Hee-Young protested.

"No! We did that for half an hour, you brainless worm!" Sunny yelled.

"There is a show we want to watch," Ha-Yun quickly added.

The rest of the members nodded vehemently.

Their relaxing evening was precious to them. Ruining it any further was sacrilege.

"Which show?"

"It's—um—"

"It's not Ha-Joon Chae's show, is it?" Hee-Young nervously interjected.

"No!" everyone shouted in unison.

The whole group hated Actor Ha-Joon Chae.

At that moment, as if it were the will of the heavens, Ha-Yun received a message from Su-Bin Kang.

It read: Enjoy your boring evening, lol. A photo of her wine glass was attached to the message.

It pissed Ha-Yun off.

"That new crime drama," she said. "Su-Bin recommended it."

Sunny looked ecstatic. "Oh, yes! Seven Princes of Hell or something."

"Su-Bin recommended it?" asked Hee-Young.

And others nodded.

"She said that you could learn a lot about acting from it," Ha-Yun lied.

Eventually, Hee-Young was reluctantly convinced. And Ha-Yun quickly changed the channel. She wasn't a big fan of crime dramas, but Sunny liked that kind of thing. And the rest were willing to watch anything that did not have Hee-Young or Ha-Joon Chae in it.

Commercials were on at TVN. And even though most of them knew nothing about Binsfeld's Seven Princes of Hell, they were very excited to watch something other than a mediocre romance. Sunny had even turned off the lights to create a cozy atmosphere.

"It's starting," she whispered.

Just then, the commercials ended, and the opening sequence began.

It started with a gloomy atmosphere while a lonely violin played. It showed the seven Binsfeld brothers standing in front of their father's grave in mild rain.

The picture flickered, and sinister music began playing alongside the lonely violin.

The seven were sat at a dinner table with Lucifer at the head. He watched the rest as they were served red meat by the maids.

The picture flickered again, and Satan now sat alone at the head of the table.

One after another, while the classical music continued frantically, scenes flickered in and faded out—Asmodeus walking in the rain, Beelzebub staring at the paintings in his restaurants, Lucifer watching the city from his second-floor office window, etc.

As the short sequence was about to come to an end, one by one, the seven entered a luxurious lounge. Draped in black and white, the only thing with color in the room was the red padding of the couch.

Satan and Lucifer sat opposite each other. Mammon loitered around the antique furniture. Beelzebub and Belphegor sat together. Asmodeus stood leaning against the bookcase, while Leviathan stared at him from across the room.

A static second passed.

The seven brothers turned towards the viewer. The music ended with a screech from the cello, and the screen turned dark. The thirty-second intro was over.

'It looks good,' Ha-Yun thought.

A good intro did not mean a good show, but those thirty seconds were more fun than the last thirty minutes of torture.

The show began with Lucifer, the second eldest Binsfeld brother and the head of the family.

It was a rainy day.

Toni Altobelli, one of the captains of the Altobelli mafia family, had come to discuss business—smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes to avoid tariffs.

But suddenly, the conversation took a turn for the worse.

"Is something wrong?" Lucifer asked, studying the laughing captain.

"No offense, but a mafia family has to have a mafia surname."

"Our father was half German and half Italian, but he was raised in Napoli," Lucifer explained. "My brothers and I share the Italian heritage."

Toni Altobelli laughed. "A quarter Italian isn't Italian enough to be mafia, my friend."

Unfortunately, the prideful Lucifer did not find it funny. He sent his men to get rid of the good captain.

The next few scenes introduced Leviathan, the second youngest; and Mammon, the third youngest. The envy of the former and the greed of the latter were shown through their twisted natures.

Twenty minutes had already passed, and the members of NeRen were already engrossed in the drama. Pace hadn't picked up yet, but it was already interesting.

The next scene played out quickly.

It was the first scene Averie shot in this new world—Scene 11A.

Apprehensive music played as one of the doors opened, and a nervous man stepped out. Asmodeus, the middle brother—his face hidden behind the umbrella and masterful camerawork—began chasing the man. Every sound and every movement he made seemed sinister.

'Oh god, it's thrilling,' Ha-Yun thought.

Once the nervous man was cornered, a closeup showed a pair of self-indulgent amber eyes. Everything about the young man they belonged to—his sophisticated yet slightly long hair, his red lips, the way he walked—was immoral and ominous.

"Oh my god," Hee-Young murmured, stunned.

But the scene did not stop for her.

"No, please…" the man mumbled.

But his pursuer didn't say anything.

Quietly, he took out a pair of black gloves from the inner pocket of his coat. Slowly, he put them on. Even such a simple action of his held grace.

"Please, I beg you!" the middle-aged man screamed, desperate beyond words. "Asmodeus… Mr. Binsfeld, please!"

One of the men following Asmodeus Binsfeld stepped forward and handed him an object wrapped in black cloth.

Asmodeus unwrapped the cloth to reveal a revolver. He checked the chamber to find it loaded.

Satisfied, he handed the umbrella to his subordinate before taking a step forward.

Nothing was shielding him from the rain anymore. Within seconds, his hair was wet. Even his lovely tie wasn't spared.

Nevertheless, he preferred to do it himself.

"No, please no," the cornered man muttered.

HIs face carried a mixture of dread, agony, and agitation.

"Why are you doing this?" he whimpered.

But Asmodeus didn't answer.

Now only a couple of steps away, he pulled back the gun's hammer and observed the man with an apathetic gaze. It carried neither hostility nor interest.

Ha-Yun's breath caught in her throat.

'What the hell?' she kept thinking.

"Look where I have to live now," the unkempt man cried in a pathetic, pleading manner. "Your gambling houses have ruined me! You have broken me—taken my everything! What more do you want?"

There was a sense of injustice in his voice. Tears trickled down his cheeks as death approached near.

"I promise I'll pay back—"

But his plea was interrupted as Asmodeus kicked him hard in the knee. It made him trip and fall, his face inches away from the wet stone.

Reluctantly, he looked up—only to find the barrel of the gun pointed sharply at his forehead. A single gunshot rang out, and the man was no more.

As the puddles of rain and splatters of blood mixed together, the execution came to a perfect end.

Staring down at the body, Asmodeus's face remained unflinching. He handed over the revolver to his subordinate before gesturing for the rest to clean the mess.

About to turn around and leave, he was interrupted by one of his men who was emptying the dead man's pockets. None of the belongings were of significant value. But a ring of keys did stand out.

Asmodeus picked it up. Umbrella in hand and a pair of subordinates following closely behind, he walked away from the site of execution.

The keys in his hand jingled in the rain, and his eyes were apathetic till the end.

"This—this is amazing, isn't it?" one of the members of NeRen whispered.

And Ha-Yun had to agree that this show was something very special.