"S-Sis... Why did you cut your hair?" Xu Jiji was the first one to break the silence.

Everyone perked their ears, waiting for Iris's response.

"Nothing. I just want a fresher look. Besides, aren't we supposed to be a boy group? I've seen that post, saying that I looked too feminine and that it might be an issue, so I just cut it."

"Why..."

Xu Jiji was about to say more, but Iris cut him off.

"Let's eat now. We also have a scheduled meeting later."

Xu Jiji could only purse his lips. The others were also hesitant to grab their utensils, but the hunger gradually made them give in and so, they started eating in silence.

Contrary to Yeo Haru's earlier complaints about Xi Huan's cooking, he was actually who was the most glutton out of everyone, second only to Rayen.

After they ate their fill, it was Xu Jiji's turn to wash the dishes.

Then, they all went to the 2nd floor together as per scheduled.

...

When they entered the familiar practice room, they were greeted by ten people. Apart from Plotter, most of them, Rayen recognized as the entity sponsors that supported his teammates. For example, Drake, then the fat lady who was also Liam's sponsor.

There was also that large man with blue eyes, who was Binh's former sponsor.

Plotter stepped forward between the two groups. "Okay, everyone's here!"

He looked around to look for his own sponsors, but he didn't find anyone from his five sponsors.

'What "everyone's here?" Where are my sponsors, then?'

"Well, I'm sure that almost everyone is already acquainted with each other, but I'd still like to introduce them."

Hearing Plotter's words, Rayen eventually gave up on finding his sponsors and instead focused on him.

"These nine sponsors are either the one who used the most resources to support you, or the representative that their team of sponsors chose. They're going to be your individual managers," Plotter explained.

'Individual managers?'

Just then, Yeo Haru raised his hand. "We get individual managers?"

"Yes. Didn't you hear me?" Plotter's smile widened.

"I did, but..." Yeo Haru put down his hand. He continued speaking as though not sensing Plotter's annoyance. "Usually, idols only have one manager per group, right?"

"Well, it's not uncommon for a group this large to have multiple managers."

"But isn't assigning individual managers too much?"

For a moment, Yeo Haru's eyes glanced at Drake, but when their gazes met, Yeo Haru averted his eyes.

'I don't want an individual manager!'

"Hehe, you don't have a choice in this matter," Plotter said, reading what was on Yeo Haru's mind.

Once again, Rayen looked at the nine sponsors in front of them.

It's actually not one of his five first sponsors who spent the most resources on him?

'Then who is it?'

His gaze swept from left to right. Then, he noticed a scrawny man with a scarf wrapped around his neck. From time to time, he would cough or sneeze.

'This guy looks familiar…'

As though sensing Rayen's gaze, he glanced at him. Their gazes met.

The man smiled before coughing again.

As soon as the man's lips curved up, Rayen felt a shiver run down his spine.

'Why the hell is he looking at me so creepily?'

After Plotter denied Yeo Haru's refusal, the new managers approached the member they were going to manage. That man walked and stopped before Rayen.

Coughing once more, the man swept his gaze at Rayen from head to toe, then his lips curled up even more.

"Perfect," the man muttered in a husky voice.

"....."

Noticing Rayen's speechless reaction, he cleared his throat.

A different voice went out of his mouth. "Hi~"

"H-Hi..." Rayen greeted back.

"I'm Zi Xu. We've finally met face to face so close."

The man stretched out his hand for a handshake which Rayen looked at with hesitation.

'Won't I get infected if I hold his hand?'

But Rayen didn't want to offend the sponsor who spent the most on him. He could only grab it, thinking that he would just buy some pages to heal himself if he ever gets infected.

As Rayen shook his hand, even though the man's lips couldn't curl up even more, Rayen could sense his mood turning lighter.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna make you a star!"

"Haha..." Rayen laughed awkwardly. "Thank you."

Finally, the individual managers stepped back as the nine members of Seedz redirected their gazes at Plotter.

"Now that you're all acquainted with your personal managers, I'll be reintroducing myself," Plotter said.

'Reintroducing?'

"Nice to meet you~ I am going to be the head manager," Plotter said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the members were even more speechless.

'Head manager?! Won't we get charged with illegal child labor with his height?'

Rayen stared at Plotter's eyes, assessing how serious he was.

'Damn. He's serious...'

He's serious trouble...

Aren't Overseers supposed to be even more busy than regular Entities? Then why the hell is this short Overseer volunteering as the head manager of their group?

"Hehe. Any violent reaction?"

All the members could only shake their heads. Plotter nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, let's all proceed to the next agenda. Before we continue with deciding your roles, I have to explain something of great importance."

Plotter said as he pulled out a whiteboard out of nowhere. He instructed everyone to sit down and listen.

"As the new manager of Seedz, I am obligated to tell you your duties as Pseudo-Existences."

'Pseudo-Existences? We're not Entities?'

Plotter seemed to have read Rayen's mind.

"Yes, you're not nourished through good merits and got reincarnated like the Entities. You were seeds born from regrets and desires of people like us.

In a sense, you're somewhat like an Existence that is a manifestation of a pure wish. However, you're not entirely an Existence either becase you couldn't exist on your own without being artificially recorded in many people's Life Books. Hence, you're just Pseudo-Existences."

The sponsors also seemed interested in the topic. Their ears were all turned toward Plotter.

Plotter continued.

"Since you are a new type of being, aside from your jobs as being idols, you also have other duties.

Lately, there has been a virus going rampant and affecting ordinary people's souls, degrading it to rot. We, the Overseers, discovered this problem lately and have come up with a way to fight this rotting problem. That is why we decided to hold the survival show.

Our goal is to create a new branch in the Entity System to fight off this disease."

As these words left Plotter's mouth, he suddenly grabbed the air. A black marker appeared in his hand.

He turned his back to write on the white board.

"Thus, you are now called Minstrels!"

'Minstrel...'

Suddenly, Xi Huan's voice echoed in the entire practice room.

"Cool, I love it!"

Plotter nodded, his ego bursting. "Good, I'm glad you like it."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.