Going back to their room, Rayen found the lights turned off. His muscles ached from overuse that he had a hard time even moving.
All of his hardwork was for naught.
He had watched Yeo Haru's new choreography after that camera hog's proud announcement of his plans on changing some parts of the choreography.
There's just one thing Rayen would like to say.
'Damn Yeo Haru.'
If the first choreography draft could be called difficult, the new choreography could only be called hell. The new steps required the dancer to use his whole body, with so many micro moves that Rayen couldn't fully replicate with his shitty dancing skills.
It would be hard for him to learn it tomorrow.
Rayen entered the dark bedroom and saw Adrian had already gone to bed, snoring away on the top bunk. It seemed like this writer was also tired practicing for an entire day.
After a short rest, Rayen took a shower before going to doze off too. However, despite his body being tired, his mind refused to rest and he couldn't fall asleep. Rayen's eyes remained wide open, his mind replaying their song and the steps he had just watched Yeo Haru practiced.
The urge to try it out kept echoing in his head, not letting him fall asleep.
Was this a symptom of practice addiction?
Laughing at himself inwardly, he just took his phone from under his pillow and opened the Idol:Revive app. He went directly to the Memorial Shop to browse for other boosters that could help him memorize the choreography.
Rows of brown parchments reflected on Rayen's eyes, but their names didn't give Rayen any idea what they're for. These names were too lame!
[One Papaya a Day, Keeps the Acne Away
Type: Consumable (Cosmetic)
Price: 300 MC]
[Boom Boom Body
Type: Consumable (Enhancer)
Price: 4,300 MC]
[Mr. Melancholic
Type: Consumable (Enhancer)
Price: 3,000 MC]
[Horse Shoe
Type: Equipment (Accessory)
Price: 10,000 MC]
[I'm Okay, I'm Fine! Teng-neng-neng
Type: Consumable (Regenerative Item)
Price: 1,000 MC]
'Why's a horse shoe so expensive?'
Curious, Rayen tapped on that particular page to read its details, but a sneaky little hand suddenly reached out from the corner of the screen, touching the 'x' button.
Mini Plotter popped out from somewhere.
"What are you doing?" Rayen asked in annoyance.
"Are you buying something?" Mini Plotter asked back.
"What's it to you?"
Unable to see anything, Rayen tried swiping out this annoying character just like how he would set aside some windows on his computer. But to no avail, it couldn't be done.
'Go away! I can't see it!'
"When it comes to these things, you should consult me! I was created to help you."
"The Dance Fertilizer that you gave me didn't even help me much!"
"Don't blame me. That's definitely skill issue," Mini Plotter said with a straight face.
'Ouch.'
"Let's see. How have you been using it?" Mini Plotter asked.
Bitterly accepting the fact that it might really be an issue with him and his low dance stats, Rayen replied, "I don't know. Sometimes it won't even activate."
Mini Plotter nodded in certainty. "Yeah, that's definitely skill issue."
The corner of Rayen's lips twitched.
'Do you have to rub it on me repeatedly?'
"Well, at least you weren't that so stupid. You realized that booster isn't a passive one." Mini Plotter gave him the credit.
But Rayen only felt even more annoyed with his words. This thing's real incarnation often came to mess with him, and now, the system itself was mocking his skills.
The "thing" Rayen was talking about continued speaking.
"Although it was an active booster, it didn't mean it would randomly activate! Didn't you notice its pattern?"
Rayen shook his head.
"Think hard. What were you doing then?"
Forgetting his resentment for a moment, Rayen paused to think. His eyes darted up, but he couldn't think of anything else that he was doing during those times aside from him dancing.
"Don't you use your imagination at all?"
Rayen stopped thinking about it. It's too exhausting!
"Just tell me, ah."
'I'm too tired of playing with your games.'
However, Mini Plotter was disappointed.
"Tsk, tsk. I was already telling you the answer!"
Rayen's forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. What the hell was this damn character telling him? Use his imagination?
"Ah..."
Right. Every time the Dance Fertilizer activated, his mind would be filled with a clear imagery—the backflip, the woman's intricate movements, the steps that Yeo Haru taught them.
But weren't those the results of the Dance Fertilizer?
He thought that it was its effect, but on the contrary, it was the other way around.
'So, I have to imagine the steps that I will dance to activate it?'
However, knowing this was now useless to him. The booster had already ended, so what's the point?
"You should have told me sooner!"
"It's not my fault that you're stupid."
"....."
This version of Plotter was too blunt. Where was the devoted fan persona he had shown Rayen before?
"That was my physical incarnation! I am just a system that inherited a part of his persona, so technically, I am not your fan."
Rayen tsked in his mind. 'Either way, both of you are annoying.'
Mini Plotter continued with a wide grin, "But I do wish for your growth. That's why I was created. So if you have some questions, you could come to me."
'It'd be great if you just don't come and bother me.'
"If you have no questions, then I will just suggest you buy this enhancer."
A window popped up on Rayen's screen, displaying a brown parchment.
[Boom Boom Body: "Somebody said that your body is your greatest weapon."
The Overseer of Scribes agree to that saying and modified the Life Book page of a great fighter to suit an idol. After all, an idol must be good at controlling their body!
Type: Consumable (Enhancer)
Effect Duration: 14 days
Price: 4,300 MC]
Rayen's eyes twinkled at the description. With this Book Page, he could probably do those hard as hell dance steps that Yeo Haru created.
But it's also a bit expensive. He only had 20,000 MC currently, and he didn't even check the list of his missions to see if he could earn some more. The ranking mission took most of his attention that he forgot other missions even existed.
"Well, it's just 4,300. I wouldn't buy other things except for this now."
Having come to a decision, Rayen pressed the Buy button.
[Successfully purchased. Please check your inventory.]
Rayen immediately checked his inventory, feeling satisfied as that book page registered in his vision. Currently, this was his only asset.
Maybe, after some more missions, he would buy something else. He was curious about that expensive horseshoe too, so he'll probably take a look at it later.
"This Boom Boom Body page isn't a booster, but it will greatly help you on the following weeks."
"So, what's the difference between the two?"
"Boosters are book pages that helps you level up your skills faster. Boosters are also called Fertilizers because it makes you, Seeds, grow faster. Enhancers are book pages that gives you temporary buffs such as that—gaining complete control of your body."
Rayen nodded in understanding.
"But Participant Rayen, you shouldn't wholly rely on book pages. Boosters are only there to help make your skills progress faster, and enhancers are only temporary buffs. If you lose them, what would happen to you? A seed can't solely grow with chemical fertilizers. You should also learn how to thrive by yourself!"
'Why does it sound like I'm a weed?'
"You should try it out now!"
"What? Right now? It's midnight! I want to sleep."
Thinking of sleep, Rayen couldn't resist yawning. His momentary feeling of inspiration about dancing some more had already passed after his conversation with Mini Plotter.
"Do you want to fail your mission and go to the penalty room?"
"....."
With the sudden threat, Rayen flinched on his bed. He felt his muscles throbbing with pain.
"I really am too tired right now. My body's already screaming for help!"
"I can issue you a temporary mission and reward you with a Revitalizing Drink."
[Temporary Mission: Get up to practice!
Reward: Revitalizing Drink]
"You can do this?" Rayen exclaimed, gasping.
"Of course, I'm the system."
"Can you also cancel the three-day mission then? Or at least extend it!"
Mini Plotter ignored his words and disappeared. Rayen grumbled inwardly before getting up from his bed. Immediately, the reward appeared before him, floating down toward his hands.
'Why make my life harder?'
Walking to the bedroom's door, Rayen planned to just practice outside the room. It would be a hassle to go back downstairs, and Yeo Haru might probably still be there.
That guy didn't even want to be disturbed by him! When Rayen asked if could teach him the new choreography, Yeo Haru just shooed him out of the studio.
As Rayen held the knob of the door, he heard the sound of fabric ruffling from the bunk bed.
"Who're you talking with? You're too loud."
Rayen jumped in shock when a voice suddenly spoke. Stiffly, he looked behind his shoulder and saw Adrian squinting with his still sleepy eyes.
Letting out a sigh, Rayen responded, "Sorry, I was talking with Plotter."
Adrian immediately woke up and looked around.
"That kid was here?"
"No, I was talking with him through the system."
"Then how?" Greatly confused, Adrian blinked repeatedly. Moments later, he showed an enlightened expression. "Ah, was it the messaging feature?"
"No, I wasn't speaking about the real Plotter. I talked with his system version."
"What?"
"I said, I was talking with the system, not Plotter himself."
"I... don't get it. You could talk with the system?"
"Huh? You can't?" Rayen tilted his head.
Adrian did too. "Huh? No."
And so, tonight, these two looked like idiots staring at each other.