"When I was once born in Mexico, I loved eating cactus."
That's what Rayen first thought of as he listened to the boy's "brilliant" idea.
Just the image of the thin spikes made Rayen's mouth hurt. How could he even eat that? The excited youth also noticed the way Rayen's face wrinkled in imaginary pain and realized what he was thinking.
"Of course, you should remove the thorns, Stupid Seed!" the youth said.
Rayen chuckled dryly. It just never crossed his mind, but he remembered that these sponsors had already lived countless lives before and had gained various experiences. That must be the difference between them.
"I guess, I just lack imagination," Rayen responded.
"Don't you know, cactus is a good food! It's drought-resistant, delicious, and not hard to grow! It's definitely not like you, Seeds, who need so much care to grow! Don't underestimate it or I'll spank you with it!"
This youth unexpectedly changed all of a sudden just because of a cactus... His mouth seemed to become a machine gun as he uttered various trivia about cactuses.
Wishing to switch the topic, Rayen asked an essential question.
"But where do we find a cactus to eat? Do I really have to eat it for my introduction video?"
The youth continued to speak as though he hadn't heard Rayen. Even the other three sponsors were getting tired of his chatter!
"Miles, stop," Sophie interjected, but was ignored. "Stop!"
She screamed with her lungs, yet nothing could disturb the youth from speaking his mind. Only when Yuzuka patted the youth on the shoulder did he stop to turn toward her.
At last, he stopped talking. Rayen wanted to sigh from exhaustion. It was just the morning, yet his energy was already gone and depleted.
Sophie then turned to Rayen and spoke when it was finally calm.
"Actually, Miles's suggestion isn't that bad, but we should still focus on highlighting your strengths."
Finally, a reasonable person aside from Grandma Sponsor who had just betrayed him.
She continued, "I also have an idea, but I'll ask first if it's possible."
Her hand felt for her breast pocket and took out her phone. She dialed a number for a second before placing the phone on her ears.
"Hello? Can we make an ad for a participant's self-introduction video?"
'What? Ad? As in advertisement? Why is the direction turning even more into something unknown?'
With his back sweating, Rayen felt even more nervous as this business-attired woman in front of them dialed another number, then another, and another.
It went on until everything was all decided. All it took was only thirty minutes to finish the preparations.
He had to shoot an advertisement for a new cactus chips and candy product as part of his self-introduction video.
As the calls concluded, Sophie smiled at Rayen.
'What the hell just happened? Who's this woman?'
Still unable to fathom what had happened in the sponsor's room earlier that morning and the filming that followed afterwards, Rayen had to head to the dance studio again.
He had no energy left, but he had to!
The next itinerary for the afternoon segment of the show was another filming. Getting tired of the word "filming," Rayen felt like puking when he saw the cameras surrounding every corner of the dance studio.
He wanted to get out already. But then, he saw himself in the mirror wall and felt even more exhausted.
His bright red hair was too eye-catching amidst the crowd of participants in the studio. It didn't seem unnatural, though, as if it was his original hair color. The book page had done wonders, but Rayen couldn't help but think he didn't look like himself.
The color complemented his skin so well that it even seemed fairer than before, yet the image of the cactus with the red flower crown on the card he had picked earlier would still persistently pop out in his mind.
As Rayen observed himself in the mirror, he saw Adrian approaching him from behind. Rayen immediately turned toward him before he could even speak.
"Don't ask me, ah. I'm tired. It's that Plotter's fault!" Rayen said.
Adrian only chuckled lazily. "It suits you."
Frowning, Rayen also noticed something different about Adrian. His eyes constricted as he observed him in silence but couldn't figure out what was different. Just then, Adrian took off the glasses that hung on his shirt's collar and put them on.
Rayen finally realized. This guy's eyebags had disappeared! He looked vibrant, his skin silky and pinkish, like he had just gotten out of a warm bath. Overall, his complexion had gotten better.
Adrian looked at himself in the mirror and fixed his hair.
"A change of image is also good," he said. "See? Most of the people here made some changes too."
When Rayen heard his words, he also noticed the changes of the other participants. The most noticeable one was the rank 1 participant, Jiji.
She had her hair cut into curtain hairstyle for guys. Even the style of clothes she was wearing was no longer for fresh, cute girls but instead baggy clothes and trousers.
Did that mean she really became a he?
After finally feeling satisfied with his looks, Adrian spoke to Rayen again.
"Why don't we find our seats?" he said.
Rayen only nodded at this fresh young man in front of him. Did his sponsors provide him with a free spa and milk bath? Suddenly, he felt envious.
'I was only made to eat cactus...'
They walked to the rows of foldable chairs in the middle of the dance studio. When they found the chairs with their rank numbers, Rayen paused when he noticed the person sitting behind his chair.
The person in question also went motionless on his seat. Liam slowly raised his head and met Rayen's gaze.
"What a coincidence," Adrian said beside Rayen.
"Long time no see," Rayen greeted.
They had just seen each other yesterday, but that's the only thing he could say to Liam. Although, unlike most of the participants, nothing had really changed with his friend's style, Rayen felt like he didn't know him anymore.
Liam still had his usual black hair and his iconic string of earrings on his left ear, but the way he acted around Rayen was definitely different.
Back then, he would definitely flash a smile and shouted Rayen's name loudly as a greeting, which always seemed annoying for Rayen.
"Everyone, assemble to your chairs! We will start the filming now!"
Rayen stopped minding his friend and sat on his chair. Even though he wanted to talk to this old friend of his, he couldn't right now. Well, he could just drag him after this.
The other participants also scrambled to their seats.
"We will be filming your reactions for the pre-release of the first episode. Show us some good faces, everyone!"
'Another exhausting segment... Can I just go back to my coffin?'