Rayen watched the animation of the mini Plotter character at the center of his phone screen.
During the first panel, it held a hand saw, cutting through a wooden board. When the panel switched, it became a mechanic holding a wrench while tinkering with machinery. In the last panel, it was a system programmer in front of a computer screen, typing on a keyboard.
These three animations continuously looped, with a maintenance notice displayed beneath.
[I'm sorry. The system is under maintenance.]
Rayen wasn't informed!
He glanced at the creator of this useless system. It was gone when he needed it the most.
"It seems like I can't change my looks for now."
With the system out of commission, Rayen just decided to let things be. At least, Plotter couldn't force him to use the Red Hair Dye book page now that he couldn't access the system.
Yet, just as he was about to lock his phone again, Plotter snatched it from his hand.
"What are you doing?"
The Overseer only laughed at him. "Hehe. You didn't see it, but you can still access your inventory."
He tapped on the screen as though he was its owner and not Rayen. Moments later, a brown parchment materialized in the air. Rayen recognized it. It was the Red Hair Dye book page in his inventory.
Plotter grabbed the book page and handed it to Rayen. "Here."
'No, I don't want it...'
Although reluctant, Rayen had to take the book page from Plotter's hands.
'This was definitely a setup!'
Suddenly, a knock at the door caught everyone's attention. Everyone turned their heads to the door as it creaked open, and a black fluffy head popped in.
One of the staff members with curly hair had arrived, followed by a camera man.
"Hello?" she greeted. "Oh, you're here too, Overseer."
"Yahoo~" Plotter stood up and greeted back as he saluted. "Please don't show me on camera."
The sponsors also bowed their head in greetings as the staff member scanned the six people in the room with her eyes. She tilted her head in confusion.
"Anyway, why is the Overseer here?" she asked. "Where's the other sponsor?"
"Isn't Plotter one of my sponsor?" Equally confused, Rayen blurted out.
"No... The Overseer is one of the show's writers. He can't be your sponsor."
"....."
'So what is this guy doing here? Just to cause trouble? Don't tell me he kidnapped one of my sponsors to replace them!'
As he was already caught doing mischief, Plotter laughed and waved. This androgynous kid started walking towards the door to escape.
"I'm off to mess with the other participants!" he said.
Seemingly used to Plotter's antics and whimsical nature, the staff member ignored him. She turned back to the group and proceeded to talk about the reason she was here.
"So, um... Since the Overseer was here, may I assume that you already know the challenge?"
'What challenge?'
Sensing a sharp gaze behind him, Plotter froze mid-step at the doorway. Rayen could swear, this person deliberately held back this information!
"I wasn't informed..."
Not only he wasn't informed of the system maintenance, he also wasn't informed of the challenge! This overseer even managed to sway his sponsors to change his looks just to mess with him!
"I forgot..." Plotter admitted sheepishly, sticking out his tongue while Rayen glared at him. "It's not my duty anyway!"
Even the staff member had an expression of giving up.
'As expected.'
"Well..." The staff member cleared her throat and began explaining. "To make your self-introduction videos interesting, the show's writers came up with this challenge."
She raised her hand and grabbed at the air as if to pull something. And as expected, something really came out—a thick stack of cards with intricate green patterns on its back. After tossing the stack of cards into the air, it shuffled on its own. The staff member looked like a magician out of a fantasy movie.
Well, perhaps they're already in a fantasy movie.
Rayen was already numb with everything magical happening around him, so he didn't react at all.
After the cards finished shuffling by itself, it floated in front of Rayen and presented themselves to him.
"Please choose one of the cards," the staff member said.
Rayen's hands were hesitant to touch the cards, still somewhat feeling suspicious of it, but he still did what she said as he had no choice. He pointed to one of the cards that was the nearest to him, making all the other cards disappear. Only the card he had chosen remained as it floated down and landed in his hand.
"Please, look at it."
Rayen immediately flipped it. He saw a green thing drawn on its surface, standing in the middle of a sandy desert. A beautiful red flower adorned its head, and there were several spikes protruding on its body.
'Is this a cactus?'
"What is this for?" Rayen asked the staff member with a baffled expression.
"Each of the show's participants were given distinct plants as their trademark. Please come up of something to incorporate it into your introduction video."
'Eh?'
Before Rayen even had a chance to clarify the matter, the staff member and the camera man hurried out of the room. Even Plotter had already disappeared to somewhere.
"How do I even include this?"
The sponsors examined the card as Rayen stared at it in dazed frustration.
"There's a red flower crown on its head..." Yuzuka remarked. "Your book page is also a red hair dye."
"What a coincidence," Grandma Sponsor added.
Hearing this, Rayen definitely believed that it couldn't be a mere coincidence. This was definitely rigged by that overseer!
"So, how do we incorporate the cactus?" Sophie was the one who asked this time.
Rayen had no clue. He also couldn't access the system. The room eventually went silent as everyone thought of any idea.
After more than five minutes of thinking, the unenthusiastic boy, who had remained silent for a while now, raised his hand out of the blue. Rayen could see the boy's eyes beaming with excitement, finally shedding his previous indifference.
"I have an idea!"
Those words immediately lifted up Rayen's mood, yet as he further heard this boy's "brilliant" idea, he fell into another silence.