Ryeon didn’t seem to be distressed about his own situation. Was it just because of the soothing sensation? Still, he only stood upright on the stage, awaiting his fate without any emotion showing on his face.
If Rayen rembered correctly, Ryeon received ten sponsorships, placing himself initially on the fifth rank. Now though, only half of it remained. That made him safe from elimination. But thinking about it, if he doesn’t pull off sothing, he might be out for the next elimination round.
Ryeon briefly glanced behind him to see the results, but after staring at it, he didn’t show any happiness at all.
Just what was going on in his mind?
Ryeon went down from the stage and returned to his seat calmly.
The next one to go up was another acquaintance of Rayen — Minho.
Minho stood up from beside Rayen. The already safe Nana looked up and wished him good luck. After this experience, she might no longer be as aloof around them.
"Good luck," Rayen also said.
They watched as Minho went to the stage. Although their team did well during the first round, but because he wasn’t as proactive then, he didn’t garner much attention. Yet, his points were still only a thousand away from 400,000. Compared to the other participants here, he was certainly above them.
It must have been from how he handled himself and his weird quirks.
’With his model-like fra, he sure does stand out.’
As Rayen thought that way, the results quickly showed on the screen. He and Nana quickly froze.
"Two..." Rayen blurted out.
The two weren’t far from where Minho was standing, so he also sensed the situation from Rayen’s grave expression. Glancing back, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he saw the number on screen. Rayen couldn’t see it, but his face might be pale in fear now.
"Any new sponsors?" Plotter asked, already tired.
Minho gazed at the audience below him. They only looked at him directly, as if their gazes would devour him.
Another minute passed.
Stiffly, Minho looked back to the screen, then let out a sigh of relief. The number on the screen changed as two sponsors were added to his count.
He glanced toward Rayen and Nana, his face still white as a sheet, but there was a wide smile on it.
After two sponsors let go of him, they were quickly replaced by another two.
He made his way back to his seat.
"I guess, I’m still lucky?" he said, sweeping away his damped hair from his face.
Two more unfamiliar participants followed Minho until another familiar na was called by Plotter.
"Binh."
Rayen glanced toward the direction where Binh was. Minho looked worriedly at Binh too. As if sensing their gaze on him, Binh glanced at their direction and t Rayen’s gaze.
Binh lowered avoided his eyes, the leaked audio recording flashing past his mind. With his head lowered, he strode toward the stage below.
Rayen finally noticed sothing. Among the trio, it seed that the only one who hadn’t been a part of this elimination was Renjiro.
It was pretty funny because among the three of them, Renjiro had the lowest rank.
Binh ascended the stage without so much reaction besides looking guilty. As he did so, he kept his eyes on the background screen. Then, when he made it to the center of the stage, just as Plotter was about to announce the start of the tir, Binh turned toward the cara.
"My sponsors," he said. "I beg you... Please don’t let go of ."
For the past few days, he made so many mistakes. His sponsors also knew about it.
Those days, Binh was overwheld by deep regret. He didn’t know how to face his sponsors and Rayen. And now that he was on this stage.
’I don’t want to disappear...’ Binh scread in his mind.
"Then, let’s start the decision making," Plotter announced without waiting for Binh to lift his head.
The tir on the screen started ticking. The ti quickly passed by, but for Binh, it was the slowest ti of his life.
Three.
Two.
One.
Finally, the results were quickly shown on the screen.
Binh froze.
[3]
He was given another chance. Holding back his tears, Binh bowed again before going down the stage.
The next thing Rayen knew, his na was the one being called onstage. He stood from his seat and chanically walked down the stairs, coming across Binh on the way.
The two stared at each other.
"Hey," Binh greeted, briefly pausing. "You can do it."
Rayen nodded and continued walking down. Just as he arrived at the stage, he t Plotter’s eyes. When Plotter looked at Rayen, his compassionate eyes seed to switch to sothing else.
It seed as if he was saying, "You’re here?"
The fear in Rayen’s chest instantly turned into annoyance. Rayen ignored him and went to the center.
"Then let’s start," Plotter said.
The results were over for a mont. It was a bit anti-climatic.
[5]
Rayen sighed. Fortunately, Harjun also decided to stay.
Just like Nana, Rayen wanted to bow at the cara to thank his sponsors when Plotter reminded him it wasn’t over yet.
He blinked.
’Oh, right.’
There was still the part for the announcent of new sponsors. Rayen glanced back, curious if any new Entity was willing to support him.
He wasn’t expecting much about it, but the results still made him dumbfounded.
’I-Is this real?’
Rayen could hear the murmurs of the remaining participants inside the venue. Even Nana, Minho and Binh shared the sa expression as them.
Wasn’t this supposed to be an elimination segnt? Why did it feel like it wasn’t at all? Why did they suddenly feel ashad of themselves?
No, wait... Why was this guy even here?
In truth, Rayen shouldn’t have been here, but because of the recent events, the number of votes he got decreased significantly. As a result, he fell short under the danger line.
In short, he was just unlucky.
Rayen should feel glad about the results. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about getting eliminated suddenly, unless he made a major slip-up. However, why did he feel a headache gradually rising?
’Seventeen...’
The numbers of his sponsors just tripled. It was even more than Xu Jiji’s current sponsors!
A complicated sensation whirled in Rayen’s chest. Of course, he was happy. Bug just with five sponsors, Rayen felt like it was already so chaotic. With seventeen sponsors though...
What would happen now?
He pictured the scene in his mind. In a room, Sophie and Harjun was arguing, Miles was rattling his mouth like a machine gun and the faceless sponsors filled the room like canned fishes.
Rayen shuddered.
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