No one said anything. They didn't know what had just happened. Everything felt like an illusion that came from a dream.
The glowing petals were beautiful, but they filled everyone with terror. Goosebumps were even rising on Rayen's skin.
He thought he had already witnessed the most bizarre thing in this place when Plotter demonstrated his powers earlier. Turned out it wasn't even barely the threshold.
As no one had reacted to his words, the playful distorted voice began speaking again.
"Can someone else finish their assessment already? I've been waiting for the next interviewee! If you keep dilly-dallying, all of you here would disappear!"
Instead of easing the tension, his words only made the atmosphere plunge further. It became a catalyst, jolting everyone back to their senses. Some even pinched their cheeks to confirm they weren't dreaming.
It wasn't a dream. Rayen was sure of it.
Plotter continued, "The time you've been given to stand here isn't unlimited. Do you think you've been granted an extra chance after death for free?"
At last, the people began to act. They hurriedly lined up in front of the jukebox, some even shoving others aside just so they could be the first one to complete the so-called assessment.
The once-silent room became noisy right away with singing and dancing.
Seeing the situation from some other place, Plotter let out a mischievous laugh.
"Calm down, people. All of you here were given twelve hours. Rest assured, you have enough time to finish the assessment."
Everyone stopped what they were doing except for the person who had managed to snatch the mic from a little girl and had already began singing.
"Were you worried?" Plotter chuckled. "I was just joking! Hahahahaha!"
'This guy... No, girl? Ah, never mind. Just call him this guy... He's clearly playing around!'
Just as everyone felt like wanting to beat up the person behind the jukebox in frustration, another person emerged from the corridor leading to the interview room. Seeing the people's red eyes from the anger and panic, the newcomer frowned in confusion.
He sensed that something must have happened, but couldn't grasp what. So, under the fiery gazes of numerous red-eyed people, the man walked toward Rayen.
'Why is this guy approaching me?'
"You still haven't gone upstairs?" The man observed the angry people around them. "Were you watching something interesting?"
When the group of dead people heard what the man said, their anger for the distorted voice shifted to Rayen. Their burning stares pierced him as he stood at the distance. He couldn't help but glare at the newcomer.
"That's right. Where did the two of you come from?" One person demanded.
"You didn't tell us that this jukebox could make us disappear!" another one added.
The newly-arrived man was taken aback by their words. Apparently, the group of red-eyed people had also angered the jukebox. But it wouldn't do anything if they just comply. Why were they so furious?
"Is it wrong to hold onto your advantages? Does this guy here have any obligation to tell you anything?" the man retorted with one brow raised.
Rayen felt an overwhelming urge to pull this person's long hair.
'Although I somewhat agree with you, but hey, you're making this even worse, dude!'
Before the situation could escalate further, Rayen grabbed the man and dragged him to the second floor. It was a mistake to stay! He hadn't expected that things would turn out this way.
Regret churned in his chest.
'If I didn't withheld the disappearance information, would it turn out differently?'
On the stairway, away from the furious gazes of the people from the lounge, the brown-haired man beside Rayen observed his gradually sinking expression.
"What happened?" he asked.
Rayen struggled to describe it.
"I... I caused someone to disappear..."
The man didn't respond right away, so Rayen thought it wasn't appropriate to come up of a reason.
Out of nowhere, the man chuckle. He seemed to recall the amusing moment when he was threatened by that jukebox. That time, he was just clearly kidding, yet it didn't take the joke nicely. The person behind it must really be someone impatient.
"Didn't the jukebox remind them? How did they react?" the man said.
"It did."
'It even reused the line it said to you...'
Suppressing the urge to speak what was on his mind, Rayen continued.
"Someone kicked it out of frustration, and then the jukebox made them disappear."
Imagining the foolishness of that person, the man burst into laughter. He thought that this bad dancer beside him was already silly, but there was always someone more stupid in these kind of situations.
"Whose fault was that? If they had just listened to that strange jukebox, they wouldn't disappear."
"I guess so..." Rayen muttered.
'If only that person controlled his anger...'
After their brief exchange, the man began acting casually around Rayen.
"My sister's a fan of yours. Can I get your signature? I'll give it to her later," the brown-haired man said calmly with a lazy smile.
Rayen abruptly turned his gaze towards the person, startled. Did this mean he knew a way out of this place?
Right, he just came out from the interview room. Maybe he was able to get a useful information from Plotter.
"I can. But how would you give it to her?"
"Oh..." The man's face lit up with realization. He smacked his forehead and laughed lazily. The words that came out next from his mouth shattered Rayen's expectation. "Right, I'm already dead. Forgot for a moment."
Rayen's shoulder slumped. Completely drained after dealing with Plotter and the incident at the lounge, he no longer had the energy to talk with this guy. He didn't even have to spirit to mock himself inwardly anymore.
This situation was just too tiring.
The person beside him, on the other hand, thought contrarily as he initiated another conversation with Rayen. He was curious about this band vocalist his sister had once been crazy with.
"My name's Adrian. Can I ask how did you die?"
'That's my question too!'
Rayen just wanted to give up. How could he know the reason when he didn't even know he died?
"I don't know. Someone should tell me as well..."
With that, the two of them finally reached the second floor.