The comment section went buzzing.
– What? How did that happen?
– When the performance ended, I felt so muddleheaded for a moment. Luckily, I recovered and was able to vote!
– Wow, just wow. I never thought the lyrics to Gunpoint could be interpreted that way!
– (crying emoji) *pat pat* You all did well.
– I knew it! Bang! Bang!
– I suddenly miss my friends. Let’s not argue from now on, okay?
– I’m still crying over it.
– Am I the only one whose head couldn’t stop banging?
– I can’t get the Bang! Bang! out of my head! I never knew these lyrics would go so well with the other songs!
– Rayen’s performances always leave us with mixed feelings. However, I can’t deny that the good side always stuck on me the most!
These reactions about Team 1’s performance had come a bit late, as though the viewers only regained their senses in these moments.
Meanwhile, Rayen was still dazedly looking at the scores on the screen.
After witnessing the sparse applause earlier, he couldn’t believe it himself. The audience actually liked it?
Just to make sure that he wasn’t just hallucinating, Rayen repeatedly blinked his eyes. Still, the numbers didn’t change.
To further confirm Rayen’s thoughts, Yeon Miwol took up her microphone, her voice echoed throughout the whole venue.
"Congratulations to Team Bullet Rain!"
Hearing that phrase, Rayen finally accepted it.
Han Jeongwoon also congratulated them after Yeon Miwol.
"50,000 points have been added to each participant of Bullet Rain," Yeon Miwol continued. "Now that we have a winner, let’s see the current rankings!"
The names of the 14 remaining participants appeared on screen according to their rank last round. However, when the 50,000 points were added, the names reshuffled.
8. Yeo Haru — 909,075
10. Zbigniew — 883,666
14. Cha Taeho — 753,256]
Seeing his results, Rayen wanted to laugh wholeheartedly in joy. However, as his eyes kept going down, he forced himself to shut his mouth and suppress his laughter.
He glanced at Nana who was standing among his team.
Her face had already become ashen after seeing her results. She still needed a lot more points to debut, yet she was placed in D rank for the later performance.
Was it even possible to earn that many points in a short amount of time?
She bowed her head, not letting the cameras capture her disoriented face.
Iris tapped her on the shoulder. "It’s not yet the end. Don’t lose hope."
Nana only stared at her before meekly nodding. She knew it might basically be impossible, but she didn’t want Iris’s good gesture be wasted.
Apart from her, Ayumi from the first place suddenly jumped down to 6th place. Most of the latter half of the new rankings were members of the 2nd team.
When they all saw this, their faces scrunched up in pain.
As though to help them hide their faces, the lights onstage were suddenly switched off, except for two bright spots of light where two figures stood. Rayen eyed Yeon Miwol and Han Jeongwoon who remained under the spotlight.
The two emcees had serious expressions on their faces.
Han Jeongwoon raised his mic to his mouth. "From the auditions until now, over a hundred seedlings participated to reach their dreams!"
Yeon Miwol followed suit. "Now, only 14 of you remain."
The hearts of the participants, including Rayen, ached at these words. The audience may not know, but the participants all knew just what these words truly meant.
From over a hundred participants, just how many will survive ’till the end?
"Participants, please follow the paths on stage to prepare for one final performance before the end!"
With those words, a golden path of light appeared on each place where every participant was standing. The audience’s eyes twinkled at the sight of these colorful motes of lights. However, Rayen and the others recognized these lights.
Aren’t they the same lights that would appear whenever someone gets eliminated and disappears from the show?
After a momentary hesitation, Rayen finally lifted his foot and stepped forward.
Following the light, it led Rayen to a circle of light somewhere in the stage. Rayen stepped inside of the circle as the others did the same.
Standing in the middle of the circle, Rayen was reminded of the flower pot icon in their Status Window.
Were they being treated like some kind of plants even at the last moments?
Rayen briefly glanced at his teammates and the friends he somehow made in this show. After this performance, he might not be able to see some of them again.
Liam’s gaze remained straight to the audience. On the other hand, Rayen could clearly see Yeo Haru fidgeting in place, but he tried his best to look good for the cameras.
Unlike before, he could clearly guess how nervous Yeo Haru was.
When Rayen shifted his gaze away from Yeo Haru, he met Xu Jiji’s eyes. The little kid, who had grown a few centimeters, smiled slightly before nodding. Then, he glanced at Mr. Big News and Iris who weren’t far away from him.
These two were the people who treated Xu Jiji kindly throughout the show.
Rayen silently watched all of this before he glanced at Adrian. However, Adrian ignored him.
’What’s with this guy? We might not be able to see each other again, but you’re ignoring me?’
Oh, well, since Adrian placed high during the individual assessment, he was probably pretty confident on debuting with his current points.
Perhaps they’d still see each other.
Han Jeongwoon’s voice once again resounded in the entire venue, grabbing Rayen’s attention back to their current situation.
"Before the participants begin with their final performance for tonight, let us first reveal the name of Idol:Revive’s debut team!"
Yeon Miwol continued his words, "Are you ready? Count down with me!"
Upon hearing these words, the audience burst into cheers. The stage screen also started the countdown.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1—!"
After the countdown faded, a phrase replaced it on the screen.
Simultaneously, Yeon Miwol and Han Jeongwoon read the phrase.
"Shining every era. Let destiny lead you to the zenith!"
As they finished reading, five letters were taken from this phrase, aligning itself on the screen.
"This name wishes you good luck on reaching the top! SEEDZ!"
"Now, who will be the ones joining us in this journey?"