Idol Revive: If I Don't Debut, I'll Disappear
Chapter 61: Your System Is Weird

Chapter 61: Your System Is Weird

"Rayen!" Adrian exclaimed in surprise. "You’re here too?"

Behind Adrian stood Liam, looking around the area, on his face was a look of nostalgia.

After a brief pause of watching Liam, Rayen asked, "You got sent to the wrong place too?"

Adrian shook his head. "No... I was actually sent to the right place. I only ran into Liam while looking for the others."

The bizarre situation caused all three of them to fall silent.

"Then? Is your system working?" Rayen asked, breaking the silence.

"No..." Adrian shook his head again. "It’s not working at all."

Suddenly, Adrian paused speaking as he remembered something. Leaning closer towards Rayen, Adrian glanced at his phone.

"What about yours?" he asked Rayen.

Also looking down at his phone, Rayen only then realized that Mini Plotter was nowhere to be found.

’Where’s he?’

"It gave me instructions just now..."

"Instructions?" Adrian asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Rayen blinked in confusion, shifting his gaze between Adrian, Liam, and their powered-off phones. "You didn’t receive any instructions?"

Liam also noticed the oddity in Rayen’s words. What instructions? Their systems weren’t even accessible.

Adrian lowered his hand and oddly stared at Rayen. "I’ll be honest. I think your system is... weird."

"Huh?" Rayen blinked even more.

This time, Liam also joined the conversation. "You can talk to the system?"

Memories of the night before the interim evaluation resurfaced in Rayen’s mind. He and Adrian also had a conversation about his system before, but in the end Adrian dismissed the topic himself. Now, however, Adrian seemed intent on pointing it out instead of keeping it to himself because of the situation at hand.

"I can..." Rayen admitted, despite being confused.

’So they can’t talk with it? Is mine the only weird one here?’

"What did it tell you?" Adrian asked again.

"It told me to find an open space where there aren’t many people."

"Hmm..." Adrian frowned, sinking deeper into thought. "Do you think it’s because they’re coming to fetch us?"

Rayen’s eyes lit up at the possibility. That made sense! Perhaps they didn’t want others to see them vanish into thin air.

"Then, let’s hurry and find one," Rayen said, already walking ahead.

The other two followed, relieved to finally have a lead.

As they walked through the familiar surroundings, nostalgia washed over them. Although this wasn’t exactly the place they frequented to, the similarities were enough to evoke memories.

Especially for Adrian. Seeing the students heading home from school reminded him of his mischievous younger sister.

’That girl is probably on her way home right now,’ Adrian thought.

After walking some distance, they finally found a relatively empty spot. They stood there, waiting, but as time passed, the empty spot gradually became crowded with people.

And the reason? It was Rayen.

His bright red hair was too eye-catching, drawing attention even from afar. While he wasn’t immediately recognized at first sight, a few stares were enough for someone to figure out who he was.

Before long, they were surrounded by people eager to take pictures with him. Adrian and Liam were practically ignored by his side.

"Can I also take a picture with you?" One student asked after the first one left.

Rayen could only nod reluctantly. Having already agreed to one request, he couldn’t easily refuse the others. Doing so would make them think he was arrogant.

The student turned towards the two tall guys beside Rayen. "Can you take a picture of us?"

"....."

Seeing the awkward situation, Rayen quickly intervened, his gaze apologetic towards Adrian and Liam. "Uh, why not take a selfie? That way, we can see if it looks good right away."

"Oh, right." The student happily obliged and took a picture with his front cam.

The two other guys were also included inside the frame.

Adrian crossed his arms as he watched the scene quietly, but he didn’t show the displeasure from his face.

Rayen was the same back then — overly compliant — even if the things demanded of him was quite unusual. Like the jukebox’s instructions during the first day.

Sigh.

’This won’t do.’

The crowd only grew bigger, and Rayen began to feel overwhelmed. Finally, Adrian decided to step in. His tone was polite but firm.

"Guys, we’re quite busy at the moment. Can we go now?"

No one listened to him.

Nerves bulging, Adrian remained calm and spoke again.

"Guys, we really have to leave."

Rayen also heard it and spoke himself. "G-Guys, this will be the last one, okay? We need to go..."

"What about us?"

The others echoed the same words.

"Let’s just take a group picture, everyone," Rayen said.

He took out his own phone and opened the camera. Thankfully, it was a default application along with the browser.

After taking the picture that Rayen was satisfied with, he thanked the others. However, it created another problem for them.

"Can I get a copy of the groufie?" one student asked.

If he didn’t get it, how could he boast about it to his friends?

’I’ll tell everyone I just saw Cactus Guy. Heh,’ the student thought inside his mind.

It was the usual way to become popular —jump on the latest clout trend.

Unable to take the situation any longer, Adrian lost his patience. He grabbed the daze Liam before pulling Rayen with his collar. Forcefully dashing out of the crowd, the three of them ran away.

Once they regained their composure, Rayen began running on his own.

"I don’t think we can wait at an open space anymore. Can you talk with the system again?" Adrian asked.

Rayen nodded and checked his phone only to find the Idol:Revive app that he had left running in the background had somehow crashed. When he tried to reopen it, it crashed again.

’Damn Plotter. Hurry and fix this bug already!’

The silent Liam also spoke to Rayen while running, his tone sounding a bit reluctant. "Your apartment... It’s near here."

Rayen’s eyes widened. Right!

"Can we just run there?" Adrian asked.

Rayen shook his head. "It’s close, but running would still take 30 minutes. That’s too much."

"Then what about a taxi?"

Taking public transportation was risky — Rayen could easily be recognized again.

After a few more minutes of running, they finally flagged down a taxi and climbed in. Rayen immediately told the driver the destination.

However, they had overlooked another problem.

When they reached their destination, the driver held out his hand. "350 pesos."

Rayen glanced back at Adrian and Liam, who both looked equally flustered. Turning his head back to the driver, Rayen’s lips turned up awkwardly.

’Do you take Memorial Coins instead, sir?’