'Been so bored lately...'
Sophie let out a yawn before being led into a room with the other Entities. She looked around and surveyed the whole surroundings, finding some familiar faces in the crowd.
'Eh... So many people?'
She clicked her tongue inwardly before hearing someone call her out.
"Sophie!"
She turned her head towards the voice and found one of her friends sitting among the high-ranking Binders from the main office. Sophie's feet walked along the floor, taking their time leisurely.
It was still somewhat early before the show started.
"You came too?" Sophie asked, settling herself beside her Binder friend.
Her friend nodded a bit exaggeratedly, seemingly excited. "Hmm. After all, the Director said she will treat me to buffalo wings if I attend and vouch for someone."
Sophie laughed. "You only came for buffalo wings? Isn't the Director a bit stingy? Do you even know what this event is for?"
"I do. The director actually offered more, but it doesn't matter. A buffalo wing is more important than years of my soul's lifespan! At most, I can just live one less lifetime. What do I do with a long lifespan if I can't have buffalo wings?"
Sophie was stumped by her friend's words. She had been living multiple lives repeatedly, and she was becoming bored lately. Even her job was the same from all of those lifetimes!
Perhaps one of the reasons she was becoming less enthusiastic lately was that she had no hobbies and only focused on her job.
She should probably follow her friend's way of living.
'Ah, life... How simple it is to be happy with just buffalo wings.'
Sophie finally stopped making fun of her friend in her mind. All the Entities that were invited had already arrived and filled the room. Quite a few people had accepted the invitation despite its high-risk and slow compensation.
The Overseers also did not specify their plans clearly, leaving them blind to the real goal of this show. What does creating Pseudo-Existences meant?
Well, it wouldn't hurt if they did not sponsor anyone. And as long as they could have their fair share of merits after this just like they were promised, it's good. It's even a bonus that they could pass the time with something interesting to watch.
Sophie's eyes wandered towards the black screen that had yet to turn on when a few black clothed people with staff member tags entered the room.
They handed over a black device to each of the Entities who had come to watch. It was pitch black and handy with only two white buttons drawn with 'x' and 'o' symbols.
One of the staff members walked towards a round podium and started to explain.
"Use this device to inform us of your decision. Press 'o' if you want to sponsor the participant and 'x' if you don't. Please remember that if you choose to sponsor someone, a petal will likely be taken from you. Choose wisely."
A petal... It's a collection of their merits gathered from doing their duty as Entities. Eventually, these petals would become book pages, thus extending their lives.
As long as they have petals, Entities could also choose to reincarnate early, so long as it doesn't interfere with the favorable trajectory of fate.
Sophie rested the device on her lap while listening to the staff member.
'Boring... When will it start?'
Sophie's mind was lost in thought the whole time that she didn't even notice the staff member walking away. The lights went off, the screen brightening all of a sudden. Sophie finally reeled her mind back in.
A man's voice was overheard from the speakers, filling the whole room. The buzzing of people gradually became quiet.
"I was a member of a famous band called Adrift... back when I was alive."
The face of the man finally appeared on the screen, sitting on a stool while reminiscing about the past with a wry smile. His black eyes were gleaming with confusion, seemingly at a loss that everything had ended.
A melancholic piano ensemble started playing as the man's voice continued.
"I had two friends who were so dedicated to music... They were so enthusiastic about making a band and just brought me along because of my voice. At first, I thought of it as annoying. Now... I kind'a miss it."
Upon hearing the man's recollection, Sophie recalled the band that was mentioned. She knew about it, but didn't know its members well.
'A member died?'
The band was actually a rising star in the area she was assigned to, so it was a bit odd that she didn't hear news about a member dying.
Along with the cries of cheers and collective applause sound effects, the man's figure sitting on the stool faded into the darkness, his melancholic smile faded along with him.
His last words echoed around the room.
"I want to stand onstage again..."
A brief silence ensued until a spotlight turned on, signifying the opening of the stage. Under the light was a white-clothed man, a stark contrast to the darkness of the room he was in. He was covering his face and slouching over as if crying.
The camera zoomed in, focusing on the covered face. Beneath his hands, the man's plump red lips opened.
"Ahhh... Where did I go wrong?
I couldn't help but plead,
Please let me go back.
Let me go back to you."
Her hair began to stand on end when an angelic voice entered her ears. Her back abruptly straightened as a shiver travelled throughout her spine.
The voice sang heart-wrenchingly, as though he had lost something. Sophie fixed her gaze on the man who had slowly lowered his hands, covering his face, wrinkled in pain. His eyes were in a daze, staring into nothingness.
'Who is this guy? Why didn't I know him before?'
Sophie's eyes wandered to the bottom–left corner of the screen where the name of the participant was written.
'Rayen.'
Without realizing it, her lips had already turned into a wide smile. Her heart was beating wildly as if she had finally found something worthwhile in life.
With every word that Rayen sang, his high-pitched voice would tug at the strings inside her chest. She didn't know if she felt happy, or nervous, or sad. She wasn't sure what she was really feeling, but one thing was for sure... She felt alive.
'I definitely have to make sure this guy passes.'
...
As Rayen continued to sing, his chest felt too heavy. The last note he tried to reach left a burning sensation on him.
There was only one thought in his mind: 'I have to pass this audition.'
Actually, he was covering his face not because he was too immersed in the painful feeling of the song, but because he was grumbling inwardly. Yet, before he could even finish grumbling, the song had already started, and he hadn't changed his posture yet.
He really wanted to cry!
The Dance fertilizer that mini Plotter had gifted him turned out to be of little use for him right now.
After the tutorial ended, the timer in his waiting room finally started ticking. He only had 7 hours to practice.
He hadn't absorbed much from the Dance Fertilizer yet. He thought its effects would be miraculous and instantaneous, turned out it wasn't. It required practice to grasp the choreographer's epiphany, and from there, emulate it until he could glean ideas and increase his stats.
'That damn Plotter didn't tell me it worked like that!'
The item was far more useful in the long run to gradually increase his dance stat. But right now, what he needed was to pass the audition! How could he think about the future if he didn't even know if he had one?
Rayen racked his brain, but he could only think of one solution. He opted for the most practical method he could think of. Just blow the sponsors—whoever they were—with his singing. He could just dance minimally.
'I've made a living by singing. I will live by singing!'
Rayen continued to sing his song. He had written it before he died and never had a chance to release it.
He had been wondering what he should sing for the audition after the tutorial ended, when some of the functions on his phone had returned, including the browser.
So he opened it to try surfing the internet, and it surprisingly connected. He was able to confirm that he wasn't in some unknown world.
He searched and searched, but he couldn't find what he wanted. Most of the songs he knew were ballads and rock. Well, also a bit of country songs...
He even went to his old cloud account and only found an unreleased song.
'I can't dance a ballad song, right?'
He skipped it and looked for another one. But before the performance, he realized that the Dance Fertilizer didn't work as he imagined. So he remembered that unreleased song and decided to just sing it.
Perhaps it was destiny that it hadn't been released, so it could make its debut in this place.
While Rayen sang, he suddenly had an epiphany.
'It might be good if I move my body like this.'
However, he didn't follow his instincts and just stood there rigidly as a statue. The image in his mind didn't sit well with him.
'The choreographer must like cheesy moves!'
But at the last part of the song, his body instinctively moved, turning and reaching into the air, grasping it. Gradually moving the hands that grabbed into the air until it was near his face, Rayen stared at it longingly.
His body wriggled as if he had lost all strength and crumbled to the ground, sprawling out on the floor while uttering the last lines of his song.
"I wanted to hold onto you...
Touch you..."
Rayen breathed heavily, his face already turning red. Silently feeling embarrassed, he tightly clenched his fist to resist hiding his face.
He couldn't restrain himself and just did that cheesy choreo!
As the music ended and the spotlight faded, his nervousness reached its peak. Already forgetting the embarrassment from before, he remained on the ground.
He didn't have the energy to stand up as his heart beat loudly from exhaustion and nervousness. His eyes were closed, mind racing inwardly, praying.
'Please let me hold onto my life...'
When a ding sound entered his ears, he slowly lifted his head and stared at a monitor, which was the only thing in the room aside from the mirror wall. But there was nothing on it.
"Uh, Participant Rayen?" A voice suddenly spoke.
Breathing still not at ease, Rayen struggled to reply. "Y-Yes?"
"Won't you dance too?"
"....."
'Can I not?'
Why did he still have to dance? Aren't those dance moves enough for them?