Participants only needed three sponsors in order to pass. According to the annoying system, that was barely the threshold required for a participant to hold on until the next grading and sponsorship round.
Those who couldn't secure three would be deemed failures and disappear when their time is up.
Rayen didn't know if he had done well or not. The only thing that mattered though, was that he had passed.
'I passed!'
He heaved out a sigh of relief, a smile gradually forming on his lips.
He stood up, his chest still burning, but he felt something else—something pleasant. This was the first time in his entire life that he had felt so satisfied after a performance.
'Only after I died...'
Rayen wanted to laugh out loud. Who would have thought he would be feeling more alive after he had died?
The normal lights flickered back to life. A voice sounded from the speaker on the practice studio. Rayen finally realized this time that it was different from Plotter's distorted voice.
At last. He had been getting annoyed by that voice since he arrived here.
"Participant Rayen, please head outside. A staff member will be waiting for you."
'A staff member?'
He was finally encountering someone other than Plotter in this godforsaken place! Rayen had even suspected earlier if Plotter might be the only person responsible for this survival show. If he hadn't talked with the Director, he would have truly believed it.
Rayen shuffled toward the door and found a female staff member indeed waiting outside after opening it.
The staff member nodded and smiled warmly upon seeing him. "Congratulations."
He nodded back, and then they started walking. Rayen followed, scrutinizing her as he walked from behind.
This person seemed normal... Unlike Plotter and that Director. Could this person have a supernatural ability too? Doesn't seem like it.
Seeming to notice Rayen's gaze from behind, the female staff member glanced back in inquiry. "What is it?"
Rayen was slightly nervous when he was caught observing her. He hastily raised his hands and waved them in front of him.
"No, uh, nothing... Just wondering where we're headed."
Smiling, the staff member said, "I'll lead you to your dorms."
The staff resumed her walking, so Rayen did not speak again and only lowered his head as he followed along.
Minutes passed until they stopped in front of an elevator door. They entered, and the woman pressed the 3rd floor. The staff turned her head slightly towards Rayen.
She said with a hint of smile, "Before we go to the dorms, why don't I guide you on exploring the whole building?"
Rayen wholeheartedly agreed.
When the elevator stopped on the third floor, what greeted them was a large and open area. A sign hung on the ceiling, indicating what places were in this floor and their corresponding location.
They stepped out of the elevator. Rayen's head turned all over the place, quickly surveying the entire surrounding.
"This floor is the activity area," the staff member enthusiastically explained. "You can spend your leisure time here whenever you don't have any activities. There's a café, a public pool and a gym here."
Thinking that the entire place was really huge, Rayen followed the staff member as she led him through the area. She always wore a warm smile, explaining the things he had to take note of.
They moved to the next floor where the cafeteria was in. He smelled the scent of food, making his stomach rumble. Right, he hadn't eaten at all during the seven hours he was practicing in the waiting room. Unfortunately, the food wasn't yet ready.
It seemed like dead people could still get hungry.
The staff member, sensing his condition, hurriedly walked to the vending machine at the corner. She returned with a dark can in her hand and handed it to Rayen.
"Here, have some hot soup first. You can go back here later once you felt like it and the food is ready."
Rayen nodded, clutching the warm can of soup in his hand.
For the first time, he finally felt like this place wasn't that bad or strange. Things seemed normal—no magic, just like trivial things that people encounter in their daily lives. The staff member was even somewhat kind.
The two of them moved on to the next floor where they found an empty room. It was stark white with nothing else in it—not even a camera or what. She explained that it was a studio, and that Rayen could find out its purpose later in the show.
At the sixth floor, which was also the top-most floor of the building, were the dorms.
They finally arrived at a narrow corridor. Several doors were lined up, numbered like the rooms in a normal hotel. When they reached one of the doors, the staff member asked Rayen for his phone.
Rayen hurriedly unlocked his phone and handed it to her. After opening the Idol:Revive application, she placed the phone briefly near the door's knob. It produced a dinging sound as the door unlocked with a click.
Rayen then heard the mechanical voice of Plotter. "Welcome, Participant Rayen~"
The staff member handed the phone back to Rayen with a faint smile. "I've bound your system to this room. You can use your phone to enter and exit freely."
The door automatically opened, revealing a simple but quite spacious room. There was a bathroom near the entrance, a small living area and a bedroom with a bunk bed. All in all, it seemed more like a decent apartment than a dorm.
"You'll have to share with another participant," the staff member continued. "Later, you can head together with them to the cafeteria, or you can go by yourself."
She then explained where Rayen could find the room's essentials. If something was missing or they've used it all up, he could find them through the system's Memorial Shop and purchase it for a meager amount.
"I hope you'll feel at ease for the months that you will be spending here." The staff member let out another smile while standing in front of the doorway. "I wish you good luck."
After bidding farewell, Rayen held the still-warm can in his hand. He sighed, opened the can and took a sip, finally feeling at peace.
'I survived... for now.'
After a few minutes of silence of sipping his warm soup, Rayen took out his phone. A red dot on the Idol:Revive icon caught his attention. Curious, he tapped on the icon and was greeted by a notification pop-up. Conffetti rained down inside the screen, and Plotter appeared from the corner.
"Congratulations~"
The system version of Plotter inside his phone screen started humming merrily. He danced and twirled like a ballerina, a party blower elongating in his mouth as he blew on it. As Plotter continued to dance in the screen, he completely blocked out the pop-up interface.
'What's the use of it if you won't show me?'
Plotter continued his dance until he disappeared to the opposite corner of the screen from where he had entered while turning like a ballerina—no, a ballerino? Never mind. It didn't matter what his gender is.
Rayen finally saw what was written in the notification pop-up.
[Congratulations! You successfully passed the audition.
»Claim Rewards]
Rayen immediately pressed the claim button. The sound of clanging coins echoed in the room, and the numbers beside the Memorial Shop icon increased. He expected a brown parchment to suddenly appear in the air for the book page reward, but instead, a roulette appeared on the screen.
Various colors of green, blue and yellow, each more vibrant than the last, adorned the different pockets of the roulette. The green pockets filled most of the roulette, followed by the blue, and the yellow which only numbered in three. But the most eye-catching was the only multi-colored pocket, glittering in specks of violet, pink and blue hues.
It must be the jackpot.
Rayen tapped the roulette and watched it spin around rapidly before gradually slowing down. Of course, he was deeply hoping it would land on the multi-colored pocket.
He watched with wide eyes, his hand clenching into fists as the roulette spun, his heart pounding loudly. Until the roulette stopped.
Green.
'Why?'
Rayen slumped on the couch, disappointed. So unlucky! Out of all the numerous pockets, it landed on the most common one.
He sighed, silently accepting it. Well, he'd never been so lucky before. Even when playing gatcha games, he always ended up with common items. Maybe his luck had been preserved all along so he could join this revival show, and he used it up already.
The brown parchment slowly materialized out of thin air and landed in Rayen's hand. He read the information written on it.
[Red Hair Dye: The Overseer of Scribes saw a K-Pop idol on TV and thought, "Oh, I would also like to see my idol with red hair."]
Stumped by the words, he suddenly felt like someone set him up. He couldn't help but imagine a certain someone doing what he had just read.
It left him speechless.
"....."
This Overseer of Scribes... was it him? It felt so deliberate...
'I definitely won't use this book page.'
Rayen made a resolution inwardly. Proceeding to dismiss the book page in his hand, he just thought he should tuck the book page somewhere when it suddenly seemed to be sucked into his phone. Simultaneously, a backpack icon appeared in one corner of the screen.
He instantly understood that it was his inventory. This system was indeed handy. If only not for the mini Plotter always ruining the vibe...
Just as Rayen was pondering the system's pros and cons, he heard the door open. Two sets of footsteps echoed from the doorway, approaching the living room. When he looked towards the source of those footsteps, he had no expression.
Somewhat, he had already expected this. He was the second person who was revived after him, after all.
Just like their first meeting, the man with slightly long wavy hair raised his hand and waved at him.
"Uh, hello?" Adrian said. "You passed."
Rayen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
'You didn't think I would?!'