The first episode of the open broadcast received mixed reactions from the public.
[@IDon'tKnowHowToReact posted
So, there's this new idol survival show that aired last night.
After watching, I don't know how to react, so I changed my ID.
Flower Garden Ent. is too OP. Where did they come from? How did they get so many OP sponsors?]
– Bruh, Flower Garden is too extravagant.
– I also want to audition. Are there still slots?
– What's this about?
The next day, the keywords "Flower Garden" and "Idol:Revive" had already dominated the trending spots on some countries, particularly on South Korea, where idol shows were more recognized. The buzz didn't spread rapidly, but the video stream gradually found itself across SNS and through word of mouth.
This domino effect stemmed from the influence of the sponsors, yet it wasn't the true cause of the spark. The true cause was a comical commercial at the middle of the show.
"Crunchy crunchy cactus!"
This advertisement featured a red-haired man singing and dancing with a green bag of chips on his hand, surrounded by cactuses dancing along with him.
With the man winking, the commercial ended. A logo animation of the name of the green chip played.
"Cracktuss, Crunchy wow."
Some of the viewers noticed the brand name of the green cactus chip, sparking fresh reactions online.
– When did Vallenci branch out into the food industry?
Vallenci was a globally-recognized brand known for their clothing and luxury products, but recently, they had been expanding their influences to different industries, solidifying itself as a conglomerate.
– Isn't that man one of the participants?
– Who?
– The first one.
– So, that's why the dance seem familiar lmao
– Did he change his hair color to match the cactus? Hahahaha
– Did it prick his butt? He danced so bad, he felt like he was in pain.
– But you can't deny, he really sings well.
This quirky, comical advertisement didn't just air during the commercial break of Idol:Revive. The very next day, on South Korea and the places where Vallenci had its reach, it aired almost every time—on TVs, radios and various building's LED displays. Just walking for about ten meters, people would encounter that advertisement.
The red-haired man and the green animation of cute spiky cacti would always emerge wherever. It's like a plague!
Garnering too much attention, curious viewers even discovered that this red-haired participant's sponsor, Sophie, was Vallenci's current CEO.
Truly extravagant! Truly rich! Truly the embodiment of someone having too much money, they decided to chase idols to spend it!
– So the CEO was the first audition participant's sponsor.
– The power of a conglomerate!
– Adopt me too, Mommy!
Meanwhile, the star of the commercial was oblivious and was just enjoying his meal at the cafeteria.
Without even properly chewing, Rayen slurped his food to gather energy for the upcoming afternoon practice. Savoring the crunchiness of fried chicken, seafoods, drinks and desserts, everything vanished into his mouth down to his belly.
It was peaceful, not until his phone at the table vibrated.
Ding!
Rayen's eyes landed on the black rectangular phone before reaching out for it. But when Adrian feigned a cough, Rayen hesitantly stopped himself.
Ding! Ding!
However, its relentless buzzing drew several eyes from the other participants. Sighing, Rayen grabbed it, ignoring Adrian's disapproving gaze.
'Don't look at me like that, ah! It's not my fault it keeps ringing!'
As he unlocked the screen and tapped the Idol:Revive app, a pop-up window appeared.
[Congratulations! You've made an impression with over 10,000 people!
Life Book points: +100]
Rayen blinked in surprise. He gained points just while eating? But why was it so low? Over 10,000 people had noticed him, but he only got 100 points?
So a point is equal to a hundred people? Isn't that too much?
Considering that he needed 1 million points to debut, that would mean he needed 100 million people, it seemed impossible to accumulate!
'Do I really need to prepare another coffin?'
Recalling that after the auditions, before receiving this 100 points, he already had 5 points. That's 1 point each from his sponsors. Are they calculated differently?
That's possible. After all, they're special.
Also, how long will this show last?
Next to him, Adrian had also received the same notification, but he finished his little food left on his plate before taking a look.
Propping his hand on his chin, Adrian mused, "Hmm... Was this the effect of the first episode?"
"Probably... But did you notice it? It's too low."
"Well, at least we received something just by making an impression."
Rayen nodded, finally a little bit relieved. "Yeah, I thought we would only receive points from the votes, so making an impression also counts?"
If this was the case, then it'll be a bit easier to gather a million points before the end of the show. Well, just a little bit. Gathering 1 million points was still a daunting task even with that because of its 100x multiplier. Adrian also thought the same.
'Really, reviving isn't that easy...'
"How many points did you receive?" Adrian asked.
"I got over a hundred," Rayen said. But his eyes widened as he received another notification. "It's rising..."
From over a hundred, the numbers on his Life Book points quickly rose up, reaching 200. It was so quick that Rayen felt his palm sweating in nervousness.
[You've made an impression to over 10,000 people!
Life Book points: +100]
[Life Book points: +100]
[+100]
In the span of 5 minutes, he had already gained 400 points. That's 40,000 people!
'What's happening?'
The cafeteria were also filled with dinging sounds from different phones of the other participants, but compared to them, the frequency of the ringing sound coming from Rayen's phone was higher than theirs.
Quickly glancing up at Adrian's screen, this writer had just hit the hundred mark, but Rayen's was still steadily rising.
Participants around them were all stealing glances at their table. Noticing this, Rayen warily hid his phone to prevent it from making any more noise.
"I should probably get going..." he said.
Adrian nodded, and the two hurriedly stood up from their seats. They scrambled their way toward the door of the cafeteria. However, they ran into someone unexpected.
Hunched over and attempting to sneak away, the two people glanced at the other two. In their hands, their phones kept buzzing, albeit less intently than Rayen's.
One of them was the big man, Mr. Big News. Wary of Rayen and Adrian, he subtly shielded Jiji from them. Rayen awkwardly scratched his head because of this big man's reaction.
'Do we look like we're gonna hurt the kid?'