With a scowl, Rayen glanced at Adrian.
'So, that's why he wanted me to watch the show back then.'
He must have seen Liam by then.
Rayen sent a glare in Adrian's direction, but the latter only smiled, raising the corners of his lips without responding.
"Before we move on to the round assignment, let me introduce you first, the top 5 participants," Plotter said, forcefully grabbing Rayen's attention back to him.
Five people stood up from the lowest row seats to get to the circular platform.
As soon as the five participants reached Plotter, they all turned around. Plotter introduced them from the lowest rank to the highest. At the same time, the ranking board appeared on the backdrop screen.
[1. Jiji - 23 Sponsorship
2. Haru - 22 Sponsorship
3. Ara - 18 Sponsorship
4. Iris - 17 Sponsorship
5. Yeon - 15 Sponsorship]
"What?!"
"....."
The entire studio descended into murmurs at the sight of the number of sponsorships the top 5 received.
Recalling the first day of auditions, even Rayen, who got the highest number of sponsorship only received 7, but these people actually had double and triple that number.
Just how good are they to even receive this much sponsorship?
'Oh, right.'
Rayen recalled a little girl getting 23 sponsorships on the third day of the audition. That Jiji at the top 1 must be her.
But when Rayen's vision dangled on the Top 1 participant, he did not see the little girl.
'Huh? Where is she?'
He tried to scan the other four participants besides the top 1, but there was no little girl among them. Finally, his eyes once again turned to the top 1 participant.
He was also a kid, but his short black hair and clothes clearly pointed out that he was a boy. From what Rayen recalled, the little girl should have long black hair. She's a bit scrawny too.
But, the more Rayen looked at him, the more the image of the little girl overlapped with this kid.
"....."
The corners of Rayen's mouth twitched.
At last, he realized what had happened.
Was it a trap all along? He must have pretended to be a little girl to gain sympathy and sponsors!
"Eh, are you interested in a loli?" Adrian questioned Rayen, who only glanced at him in disgust.
Forget about loli. That kid isn't even a girl!
Rayen decided to ignore this person from now on and stared at the other participants too.
His eyes were immediately captured by the 4th-ranked participant.
His long platinum blonde hair was glowing under the stage lights, and his blue eyes were deep as he softly smiled at the crowd. The moment Rayen's eyes fell on he, he was almost captivated.
He looked like a medieval princess, except that...
'Isn't this a guy too?'
Rayen stared at Iris, unable to believe his beauty.
"Eh? No longer interested in the trap loli?"
"....." Rayen didn't utter a response.
The next most eyecatching one was Ara. Her striking appearance contrasted greatly with Iris's. If Rayen were to compare Iris with something, he would be the pale blue sky on a snowy day, meanwhile, Ara was the midnight twilight.
Rayen wanted to observe these two completely different beauties on the stage, however, another figure kept lurking at the corner of Rayen's vision, unwillingly grabbing his attention.
The 2nd-ranked Haru kept striking weird poses in front of the camera. Wherever the camera was, he would go up to it and strike a pose.
"....."
"That guy's interesting," Adrian exclaimed.
'Yeah. Yeah.'
When the camera pointed to Plotter, waiting for him to announce the round mechanics, Haru jumped before it and struck a pose.
From Rayen's seat, he could see the corners of Plotter's lips rising upward, a creepy smile forming over them.
Suddenly, Haru stiffened. He gradually turned to look back and met eyes with Plotter.
"Uh..."
Without a word, Plotter raised his hand and pointed toward Haru. Then, right under everyone's gaze, he flung him to the side. It was as though an invisible arm swatted him like a fly. The entire venue went silent.
Plotter continued his explanation as if nothing had happened. "They will be the team leaders for the first round team."
Haru cheered from the floor, "Y-Yey..."
The smile on Plotter's lips lifted more, but he ultimately ignored Haru. "As the team leaders, you have the privilege to select your members."
At his cue, the backdrop screen also displayed the rest of the participants' ranks.
[6. Zbigniew - 13
7. Kate - 12
8. Liam - 11
9. Binh - 9
9. Huan - 9
10. Rayen - 7
11. Adrian - 6
12. Joy - 5
12. Courtney -5
12. Ren - 5
...]
"You will announce the rank and the name of the participant of your choice at the same time. If you choose the same participant, the participant will get the privilege to choose. Are you ready?"
As usual, without waiting for their answers, Plotter signalled the start of the round.
"First round starts now~"
The eyes of the top 5 participants all scanned the others in their seats. Rayen felt some gazes hovering over him.
But after one second, they all avoided looking his way.
'Huh?'
Finally, after one minute, the time came for the announcement.
The screen showed the leader's decision.
[Jiji's Team: 6. Zbigniew
Haru's Team: 8. Liam
Ara's Team: 12. Adrian
Iris's Team: 13. Joy
Yeon's Team: 17. Heejun]
"Participants who were chosen, please go to the stage~"
Adrian, who was comfortably sitting beside Rayen, stood up.
"Sigh. I guess my beauty is already needed," Adrian shook his head.
The corners of Rayen's mouth twitched.
'I definitely don't want to be in the same group as this guy.'
If Rayen had to deal with him even outside their dorm room, he might pass away before he could even survive this show.
Once the first pick participants had gone down to the stage, the second round of pickings started again.
Once more, Rayen felt eyes on him. He followed the sensation and glanced at Jiji, only to be met with a sharp glare.
'... What did I do to you, little kid?'
Beside Jiji was Haru, who was also looking in his direction.
'Oh, this guy chose Liam to be his first pick. Are they going to pick me?'
However, Haru's facial expression seemed hesitant. He faced Liam once more and spoke to him.
'... I don't think so.'
If he really did get picked to be on the same team as Liam, he could ask his former bandmate what happened. But on second thought, it would be better they don't choose him.
'The leader seems unreliable.'
Rayen felt another set of eyes looking his way and followed it. Then, he saw Adrian whispering in Ara's ear.
Suddenly, he felt an ominous sensation coming his way. This was even worse!
'Please, don't pick me.'
Finally, the deliberation time was over.
"Please announce your result."
One second later, the result was displayed on the screen.
[Jiji's Team: 9. Huan
Haru's Team: 11. Rayen
Ara's Team: 11. Rayen
Iris's Team: 13. Courtney
Yeon's Team: 13. Jamil]
Upon seeing the results, Plotter smiled widely.
"Oh, we have the same pick," Plotter said before glancing Rayen's way. "Participant Rayen?"
Rayen stiffly stood up. Despite being wanted by two teams, Rayen's expression wasn't good.
"Who are you going to choose?"