In a certain room, five people were in deep conversation. They surrounded a man with a dazed expression—and that very man was the topic of their conversation.
One was a creepy kid with androgynous face, another was a woman wearing a full black business attire. There was also a meek teenage girl in a school uniform, an unenthusiastic youth, and lastly, a white-haired grandma.
Somehow, it just became like that...
Rayen felt strangely thankful that he had received only five sponsorships. He couldn't imagine what chaos would unfold if he had as many sponsors as the top-ranked participant. The last bit of jealousy in him had dissipated entirely now.
The atmosphere brimmed with passion as the five sponsors eagerly discussed their ideas for Rayen's self-introduction video and even his image for the entire duration of the show. Various thoughts and opinions clashed and mixed, filling the air with liveliness.
But none of these reached the dazed Rayen. He just wanted for this to end...
"Red hair suits you," the little kid with androgynous face said.
'No, you clearly just want me to use that book page in my inventory.'
"Aside from that, you need to smile more!" the woman in black attire added.
'How do I smile in this situation?'
"The essence of being an idol is doing aegyo!" the meek teenage girl chimed in.
'What the hell is that?'
"Just do what you want. It would be hard if fans become fixated with a fake image," the unenthusiastic youth commented.
Everyone keenly agreed—everyone except for Rayen. Yet someone still voiced out another concern.
"But it would be hard to stand out if you just do as normal..." replied the meek girl to the unenthusiastic boy's words.
Only the grandma remained silent, making the other four sponsors to turn to her with expecting eyes.
"You want my opinion?"
They nodded their heads. The grandma smiled gently and looked at Rayen.
"Just sell yourself," she said.
"Huh?" The group wore matching expression of confusion. Only Rayen and the grandma sponsor seemed to understand the meaning of those words.
Rayen had been in the showbiz industry for years, so he understood the concept, although he hadn't done it himself. As a vocalist of a famous band, he was spared from such tactics for promotions. But some artists—particularly actors—often resorted to "selling themselves".
Some fans viewed their celebrity idols as products that they own. The celebrities themselves were willing to sacrifice something for fame.
"You're thinking too deep into this, lad," grandma sponsor said, snapping Rayen out of his thoughts.
Seeing Rayen's stumped expression and pursed lips, as if he was unsure of what he was thinking that was wrong, she let out a chuckle.
"What I mean is, only sacrifice a bit of your dignity," she continued. "Just like what Yuzuka mentioned about the essence of being an idol is doing aegyo."
The meek teenage girl, Yuzuka, blushed and lowered her head when everyone turned their attention to her.
Rayen was finally able to grasp useful information out of the five sponsors. Just as expected—the older, the wiser.
'Grandma is the best.'
But although Rayen could now somewhat understand what the grandma sponsor was saying, there was still one thing that was bugging his mind.
"What is aegyo?" he asked with a completely baffled face.
Under Rayen's scrutiny, Yuzuka grew even more embarrassed, her tongue frozen that she couldn't even speak now. So instead of explaining with words, she raised one hand, stuck her index finger out and pointed it at her cheek.
'What?'
As Yuzuka saw Rayen was still puzzled, her ears gradually turned red. Yet, she still continued to get her point accross.
Puffing her cheeks, she acted cutely with all her might.
At last, realization finally dawned at Rayen.
"I... I have to act like that?"
His mind imagined himself doing what the teenage girl just did. With his scalp tingling, he rapidly shook his head to erase that shameful image in his head.
He had already sacrificed enough dignity when he danced to that exercise song during the auditions. No one told him that it could even go lower than that!
'Screw revival! Let me rest in my coffin, ah!'
The grandma sponsor laughed heartily. "You also don't have to do exactly that. I thought you have experience in this industry?"
Rayen let out a dry chuckle.
"Well, uh... As a band, we didn't have as many expectations weighing us. We do have to maintain a standard image, but we're not that restricted. Fans just expected us to produce music, release it, and do concerts. Only actors do fan services and stuffs like that."
Grandma sponsor nodded thoughtfully. "Well then. Just think of yourself as a product you want to sell. What points do you think you could highlight that would make people choose to buy you?"
Briefly considering Grandma's words, Rayen thought deeply.
"I think I have a good voice."
That's what Liam always said to him back then. Aside from that though, he couldn't think of another.
As Rayen had been taking too long to think of another good thing about himself, the unenthusiastic youth grumbled in impatience. "It's just a self-introduction video. Just do what you want!"
"Right. It's supposed to introduce you. You don't need to do something complicated," added the woman with black clothes. "Just do what you're good at and what defines you while trying to stand out."
"Just don't look shabby. Change your hair color!"
Rayen eyed Plotter on his side who was clearly enjoying by messing with him.
'You're still pushing that idea?'
To Rayen's dismay, the grandma also nodded in agreement this time.
"I don't know much about hairs, but the Overseer is right. You do look plain."
'What happened, Grandma? Why are you siding with him?'
Sensing Rayen's silent resistance to the matter, she clarified her point with a question.
"How many participants passed the audition?"
"Thirty-four," Rayen replied.
"In those thirty-four participants, how many have black hair and black eyes?"
Rayen paused to think, quickly running through the other participants in his mind. Including Adrian and Iris Wyndham, he was only able to think of five other people. Reluctantly, Rayen decided to admit it with a sigh.
"I get it..."
Even so, he still didn't want to use that Red Hair Dye book page he received as a reward for passing the audition. Doing that would make him feel like being manipulated by a certain someone.
Intently gazing at Plotter, Rayen said firmly, "I get it, but I don't want red hair."
'I admit you have a point, but I refuse to admit defeat!'
Determined to find an alternative, Rayen took his phone out of his pockets. He planned to see what other book page he could purchase from the Memorial Shop that could help him.
Rayen shifted his focus away from Plotter, who appeared indifferent to Rayen's resistance, as though it had nothing to do with him.
He tapped into the Idol:Revive app icon and focused on it. But as soon as the screen loaded, Rayen froze in disbelief.
[I'm sorry. The system is under maintenance.]