Everyone stared at Xu Jiji's grumpy face. He was glaring at everyone who had just interrupted his sleep.
Xu Jiji glanced at Iris, his expression easing a bit, "What happened to you, S—... Bro?"
He just noticed the camera in Yeo Haru's hands, so he changed his address for her midway.
"When did you get here?" Iris asked.
Xu Jiji sleepily glanced at the clock. "I have been here... since 3 in the morning. So, three hours?"
"T-Then... Why are you sleeping here?" Yeo Haru asked.
"I was practicing 'till I felt sleepy, so I slept for a while. But then, you all just barged in, asking what grievances I have."
"....." Everyone was speechless.
"You've been practicing here since that early? 3 o'clock is the period when ghosts are most active. So, did you see anything like that?" Ren still hadn't discarded his Ghost Expert persona.
Xu Jiji rubbed his eyes then yawned. "Aren't we the ghosts here?"
Finally, someone said the right thing! However, the camera was still rolling. Plotter would have to edit that out later.
"Ajiji, you really didn't see anyone with long hair in white clothes inside the room?" Xi Huan asked.
"Long hair in white clothes?" Xu Jiji looked up to think. "Hmm..."
Everyone waited for his answer.
"Oh, I think I did see something like that."
Xi Huan gasped. "Where?"
"I saw from the mirror something like that entering the door earlier, but when I glanced back, there was no one at all."
Once again, Rayen was rendered speechless.
'So, is there really a ghost in the practice room?'
It wasn't only Yeo Haru and Iris reporting the same thing, but apparently, Xu Jiji saw it too. If there's really nothing, then what did they see?
Unwilling to give up, Ren scoured every corner of the room to find any trace of the ghost, but he couldn't find anything.
"Alright. Let's stop thinking about this. Let's practice first," Adrian finally intervened.
Although he wanted to laze around some more, they might get scolded for slacking off.
Ren could only give up. After Yeo Haru said goodbye to their imaginary fans, he also tucked the camera away in the corner.
Unwillingly, they gathered in formation.
Their schedule for the morning was memorizing other song choreographies. Since they were just a rookie group, they had to. If they didn't, they would be left to perform only one song during their stages.
It was also a way to level up their overall skills.
Well, with Rayen's dancing skills right now, it was just a breeze to memorize the choreographies.
After the morning practice with the group, Rayen had to head to Zi Xu's practice room for his personal training.
The sound of coughing and sneezing could even be heard from outside of the room. But when Rayen opened the door, the coughing was suppressed.
Mr. Zi asked, his voice oddly high as though he was straining his throat. "How's your Dancing skill now?"
"I've already ranked it up to B-."
"Good, good. We have exactly five months until your planned debut. We have a lot of time."
Right now, it's still February. That meant that their debut would be in July.
As Rayen was thinking, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. When he took it, he saw that a new message had arrived from Mr. Zi.
"This?" Rayen looked up.
Mr. Zi tucked away his phone. "It's a gift."
Rayen blinked, but then opened the message.
[Received ×5 Dance fertilizer.]
Rayen's eyes widened.
"T-Thank you, Mr. Zi!"
As Rayen stuttered in surprise, Mr. Zi looked away and sneezed before turning his head back to Rayen.
'... Should I give him a book page to cure his virus?'
Rayen recalled that book page that Liam used to heal his injury before. It seems like it could also heal illnesses.
After making up his mind to help Mr. Zi if there came a time he could gather enough MC, Rayen focused on his words.
"It was your other sponsors who gave it. Cough, should I just create a group chat for all of us? I don't want to be your mailman every time."
Whoever really bought it, Rayen was still grateful. Lately, he was feeling so poor. He couldn't afford to buy any fertilizer at the moment, and these came in handy at the exact time.
Zi Xu nodded with a cough and pulled out his phone once again. "I'll tell them that."
A few minutes later, Rayen's phone vibrated again. As expected, Mr. Zi really did create a new group.
[Rayen's Sponsors Hub: +3 new messages]
[Zi Xu added you and 5 others to the group.]
[Zi Xu changed his nickname to Manager-nim.]
[Manager-nim: Welcome, welcome.]
Rayen immediately tapped the new group chat and typed in a message. But before he could even finish the message, another one was sent to the group.
[Sophie: Rayen-chiiiiiiiii! Congratulations on debuting!]
As soon as Yuzuka's name appeared, Miles immediately followed.
[Miles: Congrats, Stupid Shitty Dancer Seed~ Whoever thought you would really debut?]
"....." Rayen's lips twitched.
'Since you're one of my sponsors, I won't fight you.'
Harjun and Ms. Beatrice didn't drop by. Seems like they were busy.
Rayen immediately deleted what he was typing and composed a new one.
[Rayen: Thank you, Ms. Sophie, Ms. Yuzuka. Thank you, everyone. I've received your gifts. I'll use it well.]
[Miles: What about me? You won't thank me?]
Rayen ignored him. He deliberately didn't mention Miles for the insult earlier. He might have decided to let it go, but it doesn't mean he won't be petty.
[Rayen: The fertilizers.]
[Sophie: Ah, you mean that. It's nothing. Here, I'll send more.]
[Sophie sent a gift box.]
Without even delaying a second, Sophie had already sent it. Rayen could only do nothing but tap on it.
[Received ×10 Revitalizing Drink and 10,000 MC]
Seeing the number, Rayen smiled awkwardly.
'They just gifted me so much earlier.'
[Rayen: Thank you... You don't have to.]
[Sophie: No, that's actually an advance payment, kekeke.]
[Rayen: Advance payment?]
[Sophie: I'm planning to hire you soon.]
[Manager-nim: You have to go through me first.] Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽
[Sophie: Have you gotten used to the high position already, Nugu?]
Mr. Zi's eyelids twitched at Madame Sophie's words, but he didn't let it show on his chat.
[Manager-nim: Of course.]
[Sophie: Alright. I'm too busy to argue with you. I'll talk about this later.]
As though winning this conversation, Mr. Zi now had a smug look on his face.
Upon noticing Rayen staring his way, Mr. Zi feigned a cough. He fixed his scarf to hide the smile on his lips.
"Let's start practicing, shall we?"
A/N: I've adjusted the roles of Mr. Big News on chapter 224 and 225.