Rayen and his teammates watched, gripping their seats. Eyeing the pointer of the roulette, it finally stopped on one of the numbers.
Seeing the number on the screen, they let out a sigh of relief. Only one person didn’t seem to share the same sentiments.
"It would have been better if we were the first one to perform," Ren said.
’Tsk. Such a kill-joy.’
Ren seemed to noticed his gaze. He explained, "If they perform better than expected, the pressure would be on us."
With their team’s condition right now, being subjected to heavy pressure might not be a good thing. For now, Rayen would accept that Ren was right this time.
However, knowing it didn’t help at all. It even made the atmosphere within their waiting room tenser. It would have been better if he just shut his mouth earlier.
Rayen was no Oh Heejun, though. Instead of rebuking Ren for breaking their team’s morale even before they went onstage, he chose to not say anything to not aggravate their situation more.
Adrian remained silent throughout the silent war. He had long become tired of this.
The rest of the team fell into another deep pit.
Watching from the sidelines, Rayen had a thought.
’If this keeps going, how will we perform well?’
However, he wasn’t someone who’s good with words. He couldn’t provide a good pep-talk. When he did so before, someone secretly filmed him and even evil-edited him.
That’s why, it would always be Adrian or anyone else from the group that would do the wake up call. Now that Adrian was in no condition, just how can he save this situation?
When the two emcees descended the stage, the lights also dimmed. The first team to perform was given five minutes to prepare their stage and props.
While waiting, the audience from the livestream continued to flood the comment section.
– Today’s theme is "Ending", right? I wonder how they will use this.
– I’m so excited already!!! Please hurry up!
– Kyaaaa!!! I wonder who’s from the second team???
– #VoteForRayen #LetRayenDebut #JusticeForRayen
– #YeoHaru #YeoHaruMakeYourDaddy(name)Proud
– Ayumi! Ayumi! Ayumi!
Finally, the view from their screens changed.
– It’s here! It’s here!
Yeon Miwol said with a bright smile, "Let’s all welcome, (Team 2 Name)!"
Team 2’s members’ name appeared as well.
The venue was filled with screams from the audience
When the spotlight shined on the stage, the viewers were welcomed by a classroom set.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
The sound of the ticking of the clock silenced everyone. Everyone stared at the back of the people onstage that were sitting on scattered school desks, facing seven lockers at the back of the classroom. All of them wore uniforms, their berets hanging on their heads.
Not just a simple school concept. These uniforms looked like old-school uniforms from early ages during the second world war.
The same thought circulated among the minds of the audience, both from the venue and the livestream.
The tick-tocks suddenly stopped.
When the ringing of the bell faded, the small figure at the center stood up, banging his hands on the desk.
Xu Jiji’s low, muttering voice rang throughout the venue, sounding cool to the ears. It was clear that his vocal skill went up a notch.
When Xu Jiji flipped the table before him, the audience felt their hair standing on end.
It was just the intro, yet they could already feel it. This performance would certainly be godly!
Bai Huanji also recognized Xu Jiji’s voice. His smile turned wider.
Meanwhile, back on Team 1’s waiting room, Rayen felt even more pressured. Ren’s words earlier seemed to have come to life. What a jinx of a mouth.
Xu Jiji’s onslaught woke up the rest of the people sleeping on the desk. Along with the sound of the bassline, they gradually stood up. They gathered around Xu Jiji, as though about to pounce on him.
Just then, the doors of the seven lockers banged open. The voices of all the members of Team 2 resounded on the whole venue.
The remaining seven members all emerged from the locker, holding a black umbrella.
Mr. Big News sang the next line.
The feelings had crawled into my heart.
Into the depths, I know
It’s hard to let it go."
As the performance of Team 2 continued, the tension that gripped the hearts of the members of Team 1 tightened even more. It was getting harder to breath.
The members of Team 2 skillfully executed their moves, incorporating martial arts elements to the dance. It was quite easy for these people. Afterall, more than half of their members have high-caliber skills: From Xu Jiji and Yeo Haru who mainly rely on their high dance stats; to Xi Huan’s odd acrobatic moves; Mr. Big News’s intimidating presence; and finally, the Ballerina’s graceful move.
Perhaps, only Ayumi’s lackluster dance techniques held them back, but her high visual stat somewhat mitigated the situation. As for the rest, they were eaten by the others already and had completely merged with the background dancers.
Rayen could only describe their performance as impactful. They used their umbrellas to fight back against the people preventing them to go home.
Not wanting to be confined in this classroom, they would fight back to reach their end destination.
The lights on the stage turned red as the music escalated to a new height. Mr. Big News led the team with his voice.
Meanwhile, the two main dancers moved forward to lead the dance break. This time, although their fighting style was vastly different, they weren’t clashing with each other.
Yeo Haru aimed his umbrella as though a machine gun, while Xu Jiji attacked gracefully like a martial artist.
The stage was a mess, at the same time organized. Their choreography was really top-notched.
Every second that passed while Rayen was watching, his heart would fall even more deeper into despair.
’How can we beat this?’