Why is he looking this way?
Rayen couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the person beside him. The person was too casual around him, and he would even smile lazily towards him whenever their eyes met.
"My sister is your fan. Can I have your autograph? I'll give it to her later."
Rayen abruptly turned his gaze towards the person, his eyes bore a surprised glint. He just heard how this man casually said that he'll give his autograph to his sister later, so does that mean he knew a way out?
He just came out from the interview room. Perhaps he was able to get this useful information from Plotter.
Rayen inquired. "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 form his mouth shattered Rayen's expectation. "Right, I'm already dead."
Rayen didn't further ask the person. He didn't want to associate any longer with this person. He had already depleted his energy from his meeting with Plotter. 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. He spoke once again, initiating another conversation with Rayen.
"My name's Adrian. Can I ask how did you die?"
That's my question too!
Rayen just laughed dejectedly at his thoughts. The interview session was just taking too long. He already wanted to find the room where Plotter was located and drag him out to demand an answer.
Sigh.
Rayen wanted to give up.
"Did Plotter tell you anything?" Rayen asked.
The man named Adrian didn't answer right away. He adopted another posture to settle in the couch more comfortably, then faced the people who were still eyeing him from before. They tried to listen to their conversation, privy to any more information that might be useful for them.
"Like I said, I'm also clueless. That weird person said the specifics will be explained later. Well, I couldn't be bothered. I'm already dead, anyway."
Aren't you useless?
The two did not speak again, proceeding to watch the people cluster around the jukebox.
The person who took the initiative was uttering cusses towards it. For a split second, Rayen thought the jukebox pitiable, but remembering his own experience, he really do wanted to say a word too.
But then the distorted voice in the jukebox declared as if dropping a bomb.
"If you don't select a song to dance, you will disappear."
The whole room was met with silence, unable to comprehend the full meaning of those words.
Disappear?
Rayen also frowned upon hearing it. That was not what it said to him before. He could clearly remember that he was just prompted to select a song to dance.
Adrian beside him also froze, his lethargic demeanor crumbled for a bit. He fixed his gaze towards Rayen and remembered this person's words: 'Killing Machine'. So it wasn't because they will die from shame, but that?
The privy man from before pushed away the people gathering in front of the glowing jukebox. He seriously inquired towards the distorted voice. "What disappear?"
"Please cooperate. This is a required assessment," the distorted voice replied.
Rayen thought that the one speaking inside the jukebox was Plotter, but on a second note, he noticed that the voice's tone this time was a bit different from the one he encountered. Neither jubilance nor excitement could be heard from it, just seemingly a distorted mechanical voice. Yet, Rayen still believed it really was Plotter's voice. It's just not the person himself.
"So is this what it entails for being a survival show? One should do their biddings in order to not disappear?" Adrian murmured.
The people with good hearing heard his remarks and turned towards him.
"What do you mean? A survival show? Didn't you say you have no clue?" Someone from the crowd asked furiously.
Adrian grumbled from his seat and whispered to Rayen again. "Can't I hold on to my advantages? I heard it was survival, so why would I help others and divulge information that I learned on my own?"
This time, Rayen shared his sentiments but remained skeptical towards him. How could he say he wanted to hold on to his advantages if he couldn't even keep his mouth shut?
"Ehem. Ehem." The distorted voice disrupted the ongoing conflict, the tone no longer mechanical. "Can someone else finish their assessment already? I've been waiting for a while for the next interviewee."
The man who was supposed to dance shouted towards the jukebox. "What the hell is even happening? Will we disappear if we don't dance?"
"No." Plotter answered.
The people sighed in relief, but Rayen thought they were rejoicing too early. He had experienced first hand Plotter's playful remarks. This person was too cunning and terrifying. Not only until Rayen acted in frustration and Plotter sympathised towards him because he was a fan of his did he stop being mischievous.
Rayen had already discerned that he was given a little bit of preferential treatment by Plotter because he was his idol from the way he was the first one who woke up from this place and interacted with the jukebox.
Plotter continued his words. His tone carried a bit of its usual playfulness. "Not yet, of course."
As expected, the people inside the lounge was stumped.
"What do you mean?" The people screamed.
"If you don't hurry and continue to dillydally, you will. The time you were given to stand there right now isn't unlimited. Do you think you've been given an extra chance after death without anything in exchange?"
Another bout of silence filled the room. Those who couldn't believe that they were already dead and isolated themselves couldn't accept the confirmation they heard. Those who were certain that they've been given a new life didn't know what to feel.
"You. The one who kept on delaying the assessment. If you don't select a song to dance within ten seconds, I will do so on your behalf." Plotter's voice carried a hint of smile. "Please show us a good performance~"