After the sudden burst of idea, the team reworked the entire performance. To make matters easier, Rayen's concept took into consideration the time they have left.
In the end, they both used Liam's rearranged song, only toning down the brightness and retaining the powerful and dramatic chorus. They inserted back the scrapped things and merged them with the new ideas.
As Yeo Haru's dance break returned, his radiant smile had returned too.
However, the team struggled with using the whole stage while keeping the choreography and concept in mind. Thankfully, Grandma Sponsor came to rescue.
Turned out that Grandma Sponsor was actually a stage expert!
Well, she was a former theater actress back in her heyday, and was now a theater director.
She blessed the team with her knowledge of stage production, emphasizing the key things when delivering a shocking performance.
Aside from a story and a concept, they needed to think of what kind of props and stunts they should use.
Yeah, why hadn't they thought of that sooner? Even though they're idols, no one was stopping them to use these elements! A performance wasn't just about singing and dancing, it included the use of everything to make the audience enjoy and appreciate them.
The entire team grew enthusiastic as they discussed how they would incorporate these ideas with Rayen's concept.
Binh even said, "Would it be possible to..."
Binh gestured for everyone to come close and listen as he whispered his idea.
'This... It's too dangerous!'
Rayen sighed. Now that they have a direction to work in, absurd ideas also came about. They talked about using various stunt equipment, but that would take time to prepare.
Fortunately, Grandma Sponsor was still watching them and intercepted their conversation by saying something.
Yet her words didn't align with Rayen's thoughts.
"You might be able to find something useful in the Memorial Shop," she suggested.
"Right, the memorial shop!"
'Grandma, you're supposed to stop them!'
Everyone except Rayen immediately grabbed their phones to search for something. Yet, the idea still seemed impossible to Rayen. What kind of Life Book page could help them with that?
"I found something!" Binh excitedly muttered.
'Really? There's really something?'
Rayen glanced at Binh's screen and read the book page's information.
[I Dunno, Just Call It Ninja Technique: "Make a seal and poof—What? He became a block of wood?
Where is he? Ah! There he was! In another place in this stupid Earth!"
The Overseer of Scribes read a pretty interesting fictional scene in a Life Book of a great fantasy author. And so, the Overseer copied it to make it real.
Effects: The people within the activated scenario will have a ninja's flexibility.
Bonus skill: Quickly substitute yourself with another prop to switch places.
Usage: Say "I'm a ninja!" while making a ninja seal to start the scenario. Say "Whoops, not today!" to activate the bonus skill. Lastly, say "No, I'm not a ninja!" to end the scenario.
Limit: Effects only confined within a 30-meters radius. (10/10 activation times remaining)
Type: Scenario (Common)
Price: 30,000 MC]
'Isn't Plotter just plagiarizing content left and right?'
"It's too expensive! Who has that much money?"
Everyone turned to Rayen. This brother probably had so much money that he didn't even wince when he bought a thousand coins' worth of bottled water.
'No! I'm not rich! I only bought it through a discount!'
Of course, they didn't explicitly meant for Rayen to shoulder the team's expenses.
"Scenarios are really expensive, Binh. Let's just scrap it," Minho said.
Binh sighed in disappointment.
But Yeo Haru, who had been silent throughout the entire meeting suddenly spoke. "How about we pool our money? I think it would be a shame to scrap it. Brother Binh's suggestion was good."
Binh and Yeo Haru exchanged looks with unreadable expressions, their earlier arguement still unresolved.
Rayen agreed that Binh's suggestion wasn't bad, but how would they pool their money? Was that even possible?
"No need to pool your money," Grandma Sponsor said. "You can ask for my help."
But... Everyone exchanged glances and saw from their faces that it didn't sit well with them.
She was Rayen's sponsor. As for their own sponsors, they also weren't keen on asking them for money. What if, after they requested some funds, the sponsors would suddenly let go of them?
Especially Renjiro and Liam. Renjiro was the last ranked participant, and starting from Liam's rank, which was the 22nd, they only had three sponsors. If even one sponsor decided to let go of them, they would be out.
Rayen also didn't want that kind of situation happening to him despite having five sponsors, so he declined Grandma Sponsor.
In his mind, sponsors should be treasured. They were giving a part of their life span for them to continue on living, after all.
However, she was adamant about it.
"Rayen lad is in your team, so I'm considered this team's sponsor too. For your payment..." She smiled. "Just give me a beautiful performance."
Shortly after, the book page was already on Rayen's hands.
Thankful for Grandma Sponsor's generosity, the team continued with their meeting. They finalized their idea after a few more discussion, and Grandma Sponsor also left the dance studio with a straight back.
'Salute to Grandma! We will definitely give you a beautiful performance!' everyone thought.
...
The rehearsal proceeded for three more days, with everyone staying up late at night just to practice. It seemed as though everything was back to the time when Rayen was so crazy about practicing — only now, everyone had turned crazy with him.
Rayen thought that everything was going well. There were no longer arguements. Yeo Haru was also no longer trying to take charge as a leader, but he was back to his cheerful self.
Well, there were no problems anymore, except that Yeo Haru was always too excited with dancing, often leaving the others behind.
Up until during the practice run on the actual performance day, just as when everything had been finalized, Rayen didn't expect the unresolved issue to blow up.
Actually, it was just because Rayen was too dense that he hadn't noticed it at all.
Many times, Liam and the others tried to stop Binh and Yeo Haru from clashing. But today, they just couldn't since everyone was at the edge of their nerves because of the coming performance.
"Stop trying to stand out too much! You're leaving the team behind."
Rayen jumped in surprise from the sudden commotion from behind him.
"I'm trying, okay?" Yeo Haru responded.
"You don't seem like it!" Binh yelled back.
'What's happening?'
Rayen glanced back at the two, who were almost at each other's throats. Renjiro and Minho were holding back Binh, while Liam was by Yeo Haru's side.
"Why does everything I do seems an eyesore to you?" Yeo Haru asked, clearly annoyed.
"What?" Binh, struggling to hold back his irritation, snapped. "I was just saying you were dancing too much! We're almost performing, yet you're not fixing that issue at all!"
"I told you, I'm trying. Maybe you're just imagining I'm not!"
"Imagining? You think I'm crazy?"
"You're the one who said that yourself."
Binh's nerves bulged in anger. "You shit—"
Just as he about to charge forward, Rayen stepped between them.
"Do you want to die again?!" Rayen yelled.
Binh froze, his fist clenched tightly.
"If you want to die again, continue with what you're just about to do," Rayen added. He shook his head and then sighed.
'What a disaster...'
Binh finally calmed down after hearing Rayen's words. But then, everyone suddenly heard sniffing sounds. They looked around, puzzled, until they realized its source.
Yeo Haru was crying.
"....."
Everyone was stunned speechless, turning into block of stones.
"I was really trying to tone down my dancing," he said, sobbing. "If you think I wasn't, you should've said so more nicely."
Seeing Yeo Haru this way, Rayen couldn't help but feel like this guy was just a little kid.
Yeah, right. No one even asked how old he was. Because of his high rank and his obvious skills, everyone just assumed at first he should lead the team.
But judging by his previous actions, Yeo Haru was always impulsive when excited. Though he seemed sensible sometimes, but when annoyed, his emotions would spill over into his actions, just like a child.
Just then, a staff member informed them, "Team Resurrect Me, please prepare. You're the first one to go."