"Shouldn't we help him?" Yuzuka asked.
Her expression was clearly worried for the participant she had decided to sponsor. Rayen looked so pitiful on the screen, his mouth open and gasping for more air as he forced himself to follow the routine.
"No. Let him be. He's using our lifespan here. He should work hard for it," Harjun replied.
No one was able to refute his words. True, he was only able to live right now because of their lifespans. But then, he didn't even ask for it. They sponsored him out of their own wills. And besides, all of them had different motives for spending their petals on him.
"Still, I don't think he deserves this torture."
Harjun shifted his gaze from Rayen to Yuzuka who had just spoken. This Entity was actually considered young. In his eyes, Yuzuka was only a baby chick who had lived for two lifetimes.
'That's why she's too soft.'
"Do you think it would be good for him if we help him with everything?" he asked, arms crossed. "This is called training. If he couldn't even finish a mere forty routines, that just means his dancing is shit."
Sophie, however, didn't agree with Harjun this time. "How can a singer speak like it's easy mastering forty dancing routines in four hours?"
Harjun's brows raised in provocation. "Other participants could, though."
"Who?"
"Bai Jiji. Ah, no, he's Xu Jiji now."
"That's different!"
"What's different?"
"That kid has S+ dancing stats!"
"That's why I said this Rayen's dancing stat is too shitty."
Sophie was left speechless by those words.
Harjun continued, "Look, we're not just producing an average bloke here. We're trying to create a new Existence."
Sophie's face scrunched at his words. "You should've sponsored that Xu Jiji, then."
"Well, as you said, I'm a singer too." Harjun smiled. "So, of course, I'll choose a singer as my candidate."
Intently listening to the two argue, Grandma Sponsor also spoke.
"Harjun lad is right. This training is just appropriate for him to grow."
Her face didn't betray any expression. It was too hard to determine what she really was thinking.
...
"Ha... Ha... Ha..."
'How many more to go?'
In the training room, Rayen was no longer arguing with the woman on the screen. Realizing that he couldn't convince her, he just shut his mouth so as not to waste any more energy.
"Now, let's focus on your footwork."
The camera panned down to her legs as she quickly executed the dance moves. It looked like a blur to Rayen. Even when she started to slow down to show him the step-by-step procedure, it was too hard to think in exhaustion.
'I really can't do it anymore.'
Just as Rayen was about to collapse, the woman stopped. The monitor in front of him displayed a glowing text.
[Sponsor Harjun sent you a Revitalizing Drink.]
'What?'
The so-called Revitalizing Drink immediately appeared in front of Rayen. It opened itself before floating into Rayen's hand.
'The sponsors are watching me?'
Before losing his strength completely, Rayen grabbed the drink and gulped it in one go. He felt the coldness of the drink flow down his esophagus toward his stomach. Gradually, it spread throughout his whole body, sending him a refreshing feeling.
He had recovered from his fatigue.
After that, the woman on the screen reappeared.
"Can we continue now?"
'Can we not?'
Rayen hardly even nodded his head when the woman started demonstrating the footwork again. He followed begrudgingly, although this time, his body felt so new.
"Jump, then lift one foot. Place it behind one leg. Jump again, lift the other one. Repeat it."
Repeating the step that he had just seen, Rayen suddenly experienced a familiar feeling he hadn't felt in a while. The image of the woman's feet was imprinted in Rayen's mind, and he felt like he could do it in one go.
When he did it, his body also cooperated with him, easily letting him perform the steps.
Nodding, the woman proceeded to the next step. The epiphany continued until Rayen was able to finish one whole routine.
'Finally! This damn Dance Fertilizer is now working!'
He had been waiting for a while, but this damn booster was not even activating. If it wasn't a freebie, Rayen would have cursed out its manufacturer for letting him spend on something so useless. This booster had gotten him into trouble twice now!
As Rayen continued to enjoy the epiphany while it lasted, the timer also continued with its tick-tocks.
...
Back in the sponsor room, Sophie pointed at Harjun.
"I thought you wouldn't help him!"
"I didn't say we shouldn't help him at all. I said we shouldn't help him with everything. The training would be a waste if he passed out now."
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Reason."
Yuzuka couldn't hold back her laughter while watching the two. Harjun seemed to be in denial, but he was actually really helping Rayen.
Just then, Miles suddenly let out a wail. "Ah!"
"What?"
Sophie, Harjun, and Yuzuka all turned their heads toward Miles. When they saw him pointing at the screen, they shifted their gazes to it and saw Rayen executing the routine flawlessly.
"What?!" the three of them exclaimed again.
Sophie asked Harjun while still watching Rayen, "Did you send him a booster instead of a Revitalizing Drink?"
"You all saw me order the drink."
The five of them watched Rayen, but they saw the time remaining and sighed.
[00:14:56]
"Too bad he's only got a little bit of time left," Yuzuka said.
Miles immediately nodded in agreement. "Hmm."
...
"How many more times do I have to do this?" Rayen asked the woman on screen.
"You have thirteen more routines left."
'Thirteen more?'
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Rayen saw that there was little time left. Every routine was supposed to take six minutes, but it had taken Rayen more than that to finish some. First, he had made some mistakes, so he was forced to repeat it. Second, because the woman had to demonstrate it slowly, it had eaten so much of his time.
"I'm not gonna finish it all..."
As if not hearing his words, the woman only continued teaching the routine to him.
Only five minutes remaining.
'What would happen if I don't finish it?'
Moving his feet to the beat, Rayen only had three minutes left. He just finished the 28th routine.
Two minutes. He just memorized three steps.
One minute. He could no longer focus.
Zero...
"Time's up."