On the projection screen in Rayen’s room, a red notification appeared for everyone inside. Its large fra and glaring red background seed to mock the six people present.
[Since Participant Rayen failed to secure a spot within the remaining ti, he has been automatically assigned to the Visual Unit based on the last bid amount entered.]
"What do we do now..." Yuzuka muttered.
Her words broke the trance-like silence, and the sponsors snapped back to reality one by one. Rayen stood awkwardly, a wry chuckle running through his mind.
’Well, what did I expect with my luck?’
"What can we do? It’s up to our protégé now," Harjun said, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair.
The sponsors turned to Rayen, each with a different expression. Yuzuka and Sophie looked apologetic, Miles had lost his earlier enthusiasm, Grandma Sponsor wore a sad smile. Only Harjun maintained his cool deanor.
Harjun continued, "We’ve done our part here. Now it’s up to him to figure it out. After all, we’re not the ones competing."
Sophie shot him a glare. "What have you even done? You didn’t even secure him a good slot. At least show that you regret it!"
"Why?" Harjun asked, his eyebrow raised. "We just gave him so much. Yeah, it’s too bad we didn’t secure anything, but that’s what a competition is."
Sophie clicked her tongue in response.
"And don’t pin it all on ," Harjun retorted. "You’re the one bidding for the spot and not . It’s not only my fault that I didn’t secure anything."
Rolling her eyes, Sophie ignored his words.
Yet, Harjun added a few more jabs. "Anyway, if you hadn’t ssed up and switched the Life Book pages in your previous life, you wouldn’t have to pay the penalty fee and you could have had more coins. That Ren wouldn’t have been able to outbid us. But you were dumb."
"Hey!" Sophie’s eyes widened, secretly glancing at Rayen. "That’s supposed to be a secret!"
Harjun snorted.
To ease the tension, Grandma Sponsor spoke up. "I’m sorry, lad. We couldn’t make it happen for you."
Rayen quickly shook his head. "No, no! You gave a huge sum. It’s more than enough. Thank you."
As he spoke, Rayen stole a glance at Harjun. He knew Harjun was right — it was up to him now. And honestly, it’s what he really intended to do. It was his life at stake, after all.
But there’s sothing bugging Rayen. His three female sponsors had only ever shown full support, leading Rayen to believe they were helping out of kindness.
But Harjun’s attitude seed to convey a different aning. What’s the true reason why they were sponsoring the participants?
’Is it truly out of goodwill? Or was there sothing else?’
Harjun’s earlier words felt like a thinly veiled expectation: "I gave you money. Now, deliver results."
Not that it changed much. Out of goodwill or not, Rayen was still grateful they chose him out of everyone.
But Harjun’s stance made Rayen cautious. If Rayen did sothing they disliked, he might lose their support.
Well, it might just be Rayen’s over-assumption. Perhaps, that was just like how Harjun usually was. And besides, Rayen recalled Harjun gifting him a Revitalizing Drink once.
’Let’s not be judgental...’ Rayen thought.
"What a fierce competition," Yeon Miwol exclaid from the broadcast studio. "Now that the bidding has ended, let’s reveal the mbers of each unit!"
Just as she said that, the screen projected the lineup of each unit. Rayen and his sponsors imdiately focused on the Visual Unit, where his na appeared second to last.
[Visual Unit
...
Im Rayen: 545,000 MC
Xu Jiji: 460,000 MC]
Seeing the na after him, Rayen couldn’t help but chuckle.
’Yeo Haru won? That guy was probably jumping in joy right now.’
Besides Xu Jiji, Rayen also saw Adrian’s stage na and Minho further up on the list.
[Navin: 390,000 MC
Minho: 397,000 MC]
Adrian was quite good-looking, his visual stat was actually in A rank. So, this unit would likely suit him. Despite the vagueness of the concept for this unit, this writer and his sponsors also probably thought the sa since he was on the first slot.
Minho, though less striking than Adrian, had style and presence that could work to his advantage, considering his average singing and dancing stats.
But there were other two interesting participants too.
[Zbigniew: 399,000 MC
Ayumi: 267,000 MC]
Rayen hadn’t expected Mr. Big News to aim for the Visual Unit, but perhaps his unique physique would fit the concept? That’s what probably his sponsors were betting for. Even though Mr. Big News was good at singing, the Vocal Unit’s competition was really just too fierce.
As for Ayumi... Among the female participants, her beauty probably was only second to Iris. However, because Iris had technically beco a male, Ayumi was now considered the most beautiful female participant in the show.
’These people...’
Looking at the line-up, Rayen couldn’t help his lips from twitching. He had realized sothing...
All of them looked charismatic.
If the unit focused on visuals alone, they would surely shine.
As for him...
"It’s fine, it’s fine," Sophie reassured, giving him a thumbs-up. "Rayen’s good-looking too. Don’t worry."
Looking at him, Sophie flashed a thumbs-up.
’Why does that sound like it was quite the opposite?’
"It’s true. He’s quite cute," Yuzuka added with a blush.
Yuzuka’s words cald Rayen down. If it ca from her, it was probably true. She looked quite honest.
However, Miles’s words shattered Rayen’s calm.
"What good? He looks dumb," Miles remarked.
"Ignore him," Sophie said, glaring at Miles. "He’s just jealous."
’Jealous?’
Rayen blinked.
Why was Miles jealous? Simple reason: Yuzuka just complinted Rayen.
’Complint as well!’ Miles scread inside.
Harjun chuckled, catching Rayen’s attention. "What Miles said was true, though."
Sophie switched her glare to Harjun. "You’re just blind."
"What blind? Look at him. His expressions are so transparent. It’s making him look dumb." Harjun smirked, then turned to Rayen. "You should work on controlling your expressions."
Rayen couldn’t disagree. Even Adrian was telling him the sa thing. Maybe in this round, he’d start working on it.
"But that’s what makes him cute," Sophie and Yuzuka retorted.
Harjun looked at them dumbly. "What? Is that so?"
Rayen echoed Harjun’s disbelief. But before anyone could say more, Yeon Miwol’s voice cut through the speakers, interrupting the conversation.
"Have you seen your new teammates and opponents?" she asked, her tone teasing. "Are you ready for the next part of the war?"
’There’s more?’
"Ladies and gentlen, it’s ti for your favorite segnt..."
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