"Let the show begin."
When the screen brightened again, the scene had already changed.
"Who will you choose to invest for? Who will earn the most prestige?"
For the first time, the participants heard the theme song of the show when it was played in the background. It was quite catchy and easy to remember with its easy notes.
After the song and sound effects meshed together, it had built the appropriate amount of tension in the atmosphere. The mechanics were shown next for the sponsors.
"Sponsors, among the 107 aspiring participants we have scouted around the world, you will decide whom you wanted to invest to."
"....."
'What are we? Products? And a hundred and seven... Too many participants had really failed.'
Once again, Rayen held back his expression from crumbling because of the numerous cameras. He recalled Grandma Sponsor's words from this morning and finally understood why he had to sell himself.
"Your role is to provide them assistance, teach them and give them resources. Cultivate your chosen aspirants to reach the top."
'We really are treated like products...'
"Enough of that. Let's introduce one of the aspiring participant."
"Heh."
Rayen heard Adrian's amused tone beside him and glared.
At last, the participants were finally being introduced, but Rayen felt his face turning hot as a result. It seemed like he wouldn't be able to walk away in this dance studio with his shame intact.
'Spare me, ah...'
As he prayed inside his mind, he saw a line of text appeared at the projector screen.
[So, who is the first aspiring participant?]
The scene immediately transitioned into the sign pasted on the door of the waiting room.
"Temp. Waiting Room"
Soon, he saw himself watching a dance video. He was too immersed in watching, and even the sound effects made it feel like he was about to go into a battle.
'Why was it edited like that?!'
Screaming inside, he wanted to crawl out of the studio. The scene looked so serious, that he became nervous what would happen the moment they show him dancing.
Fast forwarded, and the timer on the clock had turned to zero. The Rayen on the screen immediately stood up and exhaled before exiting and entering the audition room.
[This aspiring participant seems too nervous!]
'Who wouldn't be? I was about to face a death sentence!'
Rayen could feel the numerous gazes toward him and even all the cameras seemed to turn to him to gauge his reaction.
Ignoring the jesting beside him and determined not to show much of his expression, Rayen watched the video intently. At that moment on the video, he had used the Dance Fertilizer, but with editing and magic tricks, it wasn't shown.
What was shown was the time he panicked when the Dance Fertilizer didn't work.
'That damn fertilizer...'
The Rayen on screen was pacing back and forth, and was even pulling at his hair.
"What's wrong with you?" Adrian asked.
"I panicked when the booster was useless."
Rayen had spoken quietly so his voice would not be recorded. Adrian laughed at him, and the cameras turned even more towards their direction.
It felt like he was being watched by their teacher during exams...
Focusing back to watching the episode, the video showed the indifferent faces of the sponsors from another room. They didn't care about the first participant who was panicking with just an audition.
That was how it was edited, but actually, they weren't showing the sponsors Rayen's panicking scene. They weren't even showing them anything, that's why they looked indifferent.
But then another caption under the screen appeared as the song began to play.
[A sudden change of persona?]
They showed Rayen, his face covered with his hands. Watching his mistakes back then, it actually looked like he was just performing. The camera works and cinematography were able to show a different narrative from the actual one.
He finally started to sing, and the participants in the studio were blown away. The person that seemed timid just now changed into another person. Everyone couldn't help but peek at Rayen, especially the people higher than his rank.
'How did he rank low when his voice was like this?'
"Hey, brother! You're really good."
Someone from the front chairs complimented Rayen. He was flashing a friendly smile with a thumbs up toward him. Rayen read the number behind his chair and nodded back.
'5th.'
"Thanks..."
Catching the attention of the 5th rank made the other higher ranked participants to also turn to him. Mr. Big News even locked gazes with him, seemingly recognizing him as the person who withheld the information on the lounge.
Rayen's chest was filled with guilt as he averted his gaze.
He really wanted to hide now, wishing they could skip his dancing scene. After being complimented like that, he didn't really want to show that embarrassing situation.
However, as usual, his wish wasn't fulfilled.
"I'm still curious how you passed with your dance stat," Adrian said beside him.
"Shut up."
Suppressing the urge to cover his face with his hands, he stared directly at the projector screen. When the dance song began, Adrian finally couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud as he recognized the song.
"You really danced that?"
The participants who didn't know the song turned their gazes to them again.
What's wrong with it?
Then they continued watching and understood from the lyrics and the choreography.
"What is your health goal?
It's fitness!"
The him on the screen started dancing like a malfunctioning robot. Rayen even heard Liam also laughing behind him, but when he glanced back, his old friend only feigned a cough.
"So that's how. Hahahaha!"
"Stop."
"No, hahaha..." Adrian wiped his tears at the corner of his eyes. "Were PE classes a nightmare to you?"
"It was." Liam had also joined in on the conversation.
He had failed to supress himself on commenting because of how ridiculous Rayen was.
Intrigued, Adrian turned to him while nudging the glasses on his nose bridge. "Tell me more."
Everyone in the room was actually not laughing unlike Adrian and Liam. After all, in this audition, many participants had disappeared. But with Adrian's carefree attitude and Liam's vigor in revealing Rayen's pasts, the other participants were now able to release the tension inside them.
They breathed a sigh of relief. Rayen was also able to sigh in relief when the dancing segment finished.
'Well, I guess it's not too bad to be the first participant... Their happiness only caused me to look ridiculous.'
The editing team also spared him a little justice by making his brilliant backflip more surprising. His next moves after that were also decent, so he was saved from negative criticisms.
'Phew...'
As for the sponsor selection, the screen showed the black devices on their hands. With a little bit of sound effect for tension build up, the results were announced after.
"Five sponsors. Passed."
But what Rayen hadn't expected was the scene that was shown after. Five different faces in five different frames were fitted on the screen. The shining texts of his sponsors' names caught his eyes, one particular name even sent Rayen's mind adrift.
His missing sponsor—Harjun.