[Name: Im Ra-yen
Age: 19 years old
Nationality: Korean
Description: He was a kind man who lived a peaceful life, but he died while collecting firewood in the mountains. His biological older sister ran away, abandoning him. He had no family until he was adopted. He lived happily until his foster mother and father died, leaving him with his foster younger brother. But he was just too unlucky that even his sickly younger brother outlived him.]
'That's it?'
Why was this person with the same name as Rayen also as equally unlucky as him? He was just collecting firewood, but he died at the tender age of nineteen, younger than Rayen himself by five years.
So, did Plotter choose this identity for him because this person had the same name as him?
'But why choose someone so unlucky, ah?'
The participants were given half an hour to choose the identities they wanted. Only Rayen had free time because he only had one Life Book to choose from.
Aside from being unlucky, Rayen was satisfied with it. Im Ra-yen didn't have many friends, and the Life Book also mentioned that he was a kind man. He wouldn't have bad blood with anyone, right?
But it was chosen for him by Plotter... That person could be unreliable too.
'It's not like I have another choice.'
Rayen just decided to trust him again.
However, there was a problem. Im Ra-yen was Korean, but Rayen was not. How would he pretend as Im Ra-yen if he couldn't speak their language?
Speaking of it. Everyone in this room didn't seem like from the same country as him...
How did they manage to communicate? Rayen was even able to understand the pale blonde woman earlier when she spoke. Or was she just speaking in English?
Rayen was bilingual, so aside from his mother tongue, he could also fluently speak English. But he wasn't sure from what country that woman was. She looked like a westerner, but there were also other languages spoken in the west.
As for Liam and Adrian, he was sure that they were from the same country. Liam was his friend, and Adrian knew him as a famous band vocalist. Knowing that their band wasn't that well-known outside their country, it served as indirect confirmation that Adrian must at least be his fellow countryman.
After the half an hour passed, the first-ranked participant was finally called out by the staff members. Rayen was curious who this person was and how many sponsorship they had received. He wanted to know how much of a gap there was between them.
"Rank 1 with 13 sponsorships, Bai Jiji. Please come up."
'Almost thrice than mine...'
Rayen was taken aback with the numbers. A slight bitterness welled up inside him.
What was even more surprising though, was that a little girl slowly stood up from among the sitting crowd after the name was called.
Looks of astonishment passed by the faces of the participants, but they quickly retracted it when they realized it.
How old was she? She looked like fourteen years old.
'So young...'
The girl had already stood up completely, but she remained in place. The staff member whose brow was already furrowing was also confused by the girl's actions.
"Bai Jiji?"
"Y-Yes! Coming!"
The girl started walking, but she moved slowly. Her hands clutched onto her lower stomach, struggling with every steps.
'Is she in pain?'
Finally, she was able to reach the table where the Life Books were placed. She stared at them for a while, then slammed her hands on the table. Her face leaned in close to one of the staff members sitting at the other side of the table.
"C-Can't I really change my gender? I don't want to be a girl anymore!"
The staff member's face went blank because of her words. Actually, everyone was stunned, including Rayen.
'What kind of reason is that?'
"W-What?" The staff stammered, unable to reply properly.
"I said, I don't want to be a girl anymore!" The little girl started to cry. "Please change my gender. I beg you! It hurts!"
Everyone was at a loss for words. So she was really in pain... But what did that have to do with being a girl?
Plotter's interest had been piqued by the girl's words. He hopped from where he was sitting and approached the girl with a friendly smile. When he stood beside the girl, their heights seemed identical.
Both of them were good-looking, but they looked like kids together.
"Do you really want to change your gender?" Plotter asked, seemingly concerned, but there was an odd gleam in his eyes.
The girl looked at the strange kid who had approached her and slowly nodded. There were still tears in the corner of her eyes, but she had stopped crying.
"Okay, follow me. But first, choose your Life Book."
Nodding again, the girl told the staff member the name of the Life Book she had chosen. Once she filled up the paper that the staff member handed her, Plotter pulled her away.
'No, ah. Where is he taking the girl? Hey! Don't follow that strange person!'
A moment later, the two of them had disappeared through the door of the dance studio. Even the staff members just watched in a daze.
"Proceed."
Only after the Director spoke did the staff members continued.
"R-Rank 2 with 10 sponsors, Iris Wyndham," the staff member called.
The pale blonde woman who spoke earlier stood up this time.
'So she was the second-ranked person.'
She walked straight ahead with her weary expression and stared at the Life Books on the table. Her hand repeatedly reached in and out on a particular Life Book with hesitant eyes, until finally, she picked it up.
The staff member called for the names on the rankings one by one. Rayen also recognized one of the people in the upper ranks. Including the man who repeatedly asked him questions the first time they arrived in this place—the giant intimidating man.
He was ranked 8th with seven sponsors. His name was quite hard to pronounce too. Something like "Izbigniv," or was it "Is Big News"?
Rayen couldn't understand, so he just called him Mr. Big News.
While thinking it was somewhat funny, the distribution of Life Books continued. It wasn't until it was the 16th rank when Rayen's name was called.
When he arrived at the table full of Life Books, he just wanted to flip through them and find another suitable Life Book for himself. But in the end, he still settled for the one with the same name as him—the unlucky fellow.
In the 17th place was Adrian who had received four sponsorships, and Liam was a bit lower in 22nd place. The rest after Liam only had three sponsorships.
Rayen didn't pay any attention to the other participants lower ranked than them. He just focused on the dark brown book in his hand, somewhat eager to read the contents.
When all of the Life Books had been handed out, the Director stood up.
"How many minutes had passed since Plotter and that kid left?"
The Director turned toward one of the staff members. But before the staff member could even reply, the Director spoke again.
"Never mind. Just bring him back here."
The staff member nodded and walked away.
Yet the Director added more instruction. "Drag him back if necessary."