The members of Seedz counted the number of golden lights onstage.

Nine.

Only nine people had debuted.

Eyes wide, the nine people glanced behind them, trying to find Ayumi's figure amidst the darkness.

However, she was no longer there.

'Ayumi... did not...'

Rayen looked up at the screen. The golden glow on Ayumi's portrait was nearly complete, however, a tiny gap could be seen.

She had missed by a tiny bit.

The supposed-to-be first place had dropped down to sixth. Placed in the D rank, with only 30 seconds to perform and gather votes, she didn't make it. It really was too much.

In the end, she failed to debut, barely a few points away.

Reality was always cruel.

Everyone under the white lights had completely disappeared too.

The audience did not even notice their disappearance under the darkness on the stage. They probably thought that they were just quietly escorted backstage. But Rayen knew… they were no longer with them.

"Let us meet the members of Seedz!" Yeon Miwol announced.

Han Jeongwoon followed suit with his gentle smile. "Winning participants, please step forward and line up together."

The nine of them looked at each other, still feeling surreal about this situation. But with the two emcees' urging, they finally took their steps and lined up before the audience.

As soon as they stood in their places, a boom reverberated in the studio. Everyone looked up to see the falling confetti over their heads.

This time, it wasn't just Xi Huan's tricks. It was the real deal.

"Congratulations!"

The audience, equally exhilarated by the events, cheered in unison. Even the comment section of the livestream was filled with congratulatory messages.

"Do any of you have anything to say?" Yeon Miwol asked.

She then looked at the nine people. In the end, the microphone ended in Rayen's hands.

'... Why me?'

He glanced at his new teammates, especially at Adrian and Liam. They're the ones good with words.

'Nevermind...'

Because of the overwhelming feelings of both exhilaration and loss, they couldn't form any words. Mr. Big News was even close to bawling his eyes out.

"Don't cry..." Rayen teased.

Mr. Big News immediately wiped his tears, face red.

The audience laughed in response.

Seeing that the atmosphere began to relax. Rayen exhaled.

"Honestly, we just want to thank everyone for supporting us... Thank you. I might not be able to show you how much we appreciate everything. Still, I just want to tell you, at least."

– Aww... I never knew Rayen was so sweet...

– Don't worry about it! We just expect you to perform well and live well!

The same words were also shouted in the venue.

"We're already feeling pressured," Rayen replied, laughing. "Thank you everyone! We will definitely do our best!"

Finally, the mic was taken from Rayen's hands. He sighed in relief.

"Once again, let's all welcome and give our blessings to our new group, Seedz!" Yeon Miwol announced.

Han Jeongwoon only clapped beside her.

At Xi Huan's lead, the members held hands together and bowed one last time to the audience. When they all raised their heads and let go of each other, Rayen stretched out his right hand, catching a confetti and pocketing it.

It was a remembrance.

If he ever went to visit his own grave, he'd give it to himself — or rather, the original Im Ra-yen.

...

After the broadcast ended, Rayen and the others were transported into a familiar white, cramped room.

When Rayen saw a screen before him, his body immediately stiffened.

'Why the hell am I here?!'

Yes, this was the very same place where he was tortured to dance for hours during the first private broadcast.

However, unlike his expectations, the screen didn't show that hateful woman. Instead, it was Mini Plotter who appeared before him.

"Congratulations!~"

As though imitating Xi Huan, Mini Plotter let out a confetti bomb and exploded it.

"Nine people debuted. A good number, indeed," Mini Plotter said.

Rayen sighed inwardly.

However, his mood didn't affect Mini Plotter at all.

It continued speaking cheerfully, "As always, it's time for the episode's summary review! But with a twist."

Rayen's lips twitched. He still couldn't get used to Mini Plotter's cheerfulness and indifference towards his feelings.

The view on the screen changed, revealing a pop-up window.

"Tada~ Instead of an episode summary, I will show you the entire show summary!"

[12 episodes Summary Report

Because of your unique image, you've made over 40,667,300 impressions in total and gained a total of 671,692 individual votes.

Total Life Book points gathered: 1,078,365

Note: You've surpassed the original number of your Life Book points! Extra rewards will be sent to you within 7 days.]

Reward? What kind of reward would he get?

'I suppose, it's not the time to worry about that yet.'

Next, Rayen continued reading his summary report.

[The public's thoughts about you are...

>> Boundless Idea Bank

>> Mysterious Performer

>> Main Vocalist Candidate]

He was expecting only one thought from the public, but unexpectedly, there were three.

Curious, Rayen's finger touched the first one.

[Boundless Idea Bank: "How can he think this way? I never thought..."]

Unfortunately, it was just an empty title. There was no additional reward unlike the last time he received the Damsel in Distress title.

Not that he wanted to be a damsel again.

Still, it was quite disappointing.

Then, he tapped the next title. It was still an empty one.

'What a useless summary review.'

With lost hope, he tapped on the last.

[Main Vocalist Candidate: "I always can't get enough of his voice. Even in my dreams, I dream of hearing it..."]

Rayen skipped reading the description, instead, his eyes wandered below it, sparkling at the words he read.

'Finally, something else!'

[Congratulations! You just gained an entry ticket to compete for the main vocalist role!]

Yet, as soon as he finished reading it, he was stumped.

'Compete? Again? I thought the competition was already over?!'

"Hey, what's with this role competition?" Rayen asked Mini Plotter.

But he was dismissed with just a yawn.

"You'd know by then."

'Damn. How useless are you? I thought you were created to help me?'

Still, Mini Plotter ignored him.

'Useless system.'

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