Chapter 352: Take Care

"Where’s my phone?!" Rayen asked, panicked.

He was checking the new feature when a staff member from House of Idols kidnapped them out of nowhere. After that, Rayen had no idea what happened to it. His heart thumped in fear.

Just then, Zi Xu stepped forward.

"I made sure to take care of it. Cough," he said, handing out a contraband-like item to Rayen.

Rayen’s tearful eyes fixed on Zi Xu as he grabbed his tightly wrapped phone.

"... Thanks."

For a moment, he tasted something bitter in his mouth as he felt guilty about accusing Zi Xu of betraying him.

’How could I forget? My sponsors are the ones who supported me throughout my journey.’

And Zi Xu was the one who poured out most of his petals to support him. That’s why he ended up as Rayen’s individual manager.

From Plotter’s memories, Rayen deeply understood what it meant for them to give up their petals.

"Sorry..." Rayen muttered, looking down.

Zi Xu only smiled and tapped him on the shoulder. "That was nothing. Just make sure to raise your star value in this show."

’My star value?’

Rayen tilted his head in confusion. However, Zi Xu no longer paid him any attention. He also handed Xu Jiji’s and Yeo Haru’s phones to them.

Meanwhile, as Rayen was ignored, he just checked what happened to Mini Plotter.

As soon as he opened the app, he was met with a loading screen.

[Calculating Plucking Probability...]

"....."

Mini Plotter’s avatar wrote mathematical equations on a whiteboard, looping numerous times.

’Why...’

Before they got dragged into this place, Rayen recalled not agreeing to Mini Plotter’s question about using the new feature.

’So why is it calculating something?!!’

The corners of his mouth twitched.

Liam immediately noticed Rayen’s expression and glanced at his phone.

"... What’s wrong?" Liam hesitantly asked.

Rayen glanced at him tiredly. "My first-time free voucher was used up..."

"....." Liam didn’t understand what he was talking about and could only look at him stupidly.

However, Xu Jiji and Yeo Haru immediately understood what Rayen meant and went over to his side.

"What’s that about?" Adrian also went ahead to check the commotion.

Jiji and Haru explained the situation in low voices to avoid getting heard by any outsider who might be eavesdropping. The other members were abducted ahead of time by Ms. Lewis, so they didn’t have the chance to check on their phones yet, and they weren’t aware of the system coming back online.

Because of that, every member of the group crowded around Rayen, curious about the new feature. All of them stared at the looping animation on Rayen’s phone.

’I just hope you give me a good one.’

Plucking Sensor...

Mini Plotter introduced this new feature after inheriting Siel’s legacy. And Clandestine had just mentioned that they needed to be careful of Plucking.

Plucking would definitely be a major occurrence in their days ahead, caused by their instability from the incident. It must also be why Clandestine decided to enlist them in this show. For the meantime, it would be safer if their movements were limited.

After a few minutes, the progress gauge under Mini Plotter’s animation had finally filled up.

Everyone watched the result with nervous anticipation.

[Plucking Probability Detected!

There’s a 35% chance of Plucking Activity at Sauna in the Sky. It is recommended to stay away from this place for a day.]

"....."

The corners of Rayen’s mouth twitched. At this moment, he wanted to throw his phone and scream.

Plucking activity at Sauna in the Sky? Was it pointing to the daylight kidnapping they just experienced? If it was, wasn’t his first-time use voucher wasted?

Rayen wanted to complain to Mini Plotter.

Speaking of the devil. Coincidentally, Mini Plotter’s head peeked from the corners of Rayen’s screen.

"!!!"

The others who still hadn’t touched their phones gasped at the avatar’s sudden presence.

"T-That..." Mr. Big News pointed at it with trembling fingers. "Isn’t that..."

Meanwhile, Xu Jiji giggled and touched Mini Plotter with affection.

Once again, everyone gasped. Why was Jiji not flustered at all?

"R-Rayen, what’s this? Why is the dead manager here?" Mr. Big News asked.

"I also have one, Brother," Jiji said and showed them his own Mini Plotter floating on his phone.

"Also me..." Yeo Haru did the same.

This prompted everyone to finally check on their own phones, and they found their own clones looking back at them.

"Aren’t they cute?" Jiji asked with twinkling eyes.

"They’re indeed cute," Iris said as she played with her own Mini Plotter clone.

Meanwhile, Adrian only looked complicated as he stared at the Mini Plotter clone on his phone that was giggling at him.

Unlike the others, he was aware of Mini Plotter’s existence before this. And he also knew that only Rayen had it.

But now...

He stared at Rayen, who noticed his gaze.

Rayen let out a crooked smile.

’I guess I really have to explain to them...’

About his complicated relationship with the original Plotter.

But maybe not now. He still has something to confirm with Mini Plotter.

"What’s with this trash feature?" Rayen asked Mini Plotter, catching everyone’s attention.

Mini Plotter let out a giggle. "Are you dissatisfied with it?"

"Of course," Rayen grunted.

If the danger that Mini Plotter sensed ahead was truly about their kidnapping, then that meant this new feature was unreliable.

"There was no plucking activity at all," he continued.

"Well, aren’t you glad?" Mini Plotter just responded with a sly grin on its face.

"....."

This time, Rayen couldn’t talk back.

After all, Mini Plotter was right. He should be glad it was a false alarm. If it wasn’t, who knew what would have happened to them.

Rayen sighed.

’They say that knowing the future is actually a burden. Now, I understand it a bit.’

However, he still thought it was a trash feature.

"You warned us a bit too late, though."

And his first-time voucher was even used up.

Rayen thought Mini Plotter would spew out more words to shut him up, but Mini Plotter pouted with tears at the corners of its eyes.

The corners of Rayen’s mouth twitched.

’Why is it looking at me as if I’m bullying it?’

In the end, its tactics were proven effective as Xu Jiji immediately stepped forward to defend it.

"Stop blaming him, Brother! Didn’t the system just finish its maintenance? How could he warn us ahead of time?"

"That’s right, Rayeye. Don’t blame the innocent cartoon manager. You’re making it cry."

"....." Rayen and the two other managers.

’In what sense does it look innocent?!’

...

The two managers had to leave after sorting out the group’s accommodation with the production team of Idol House. Before they completely left, though, Zi Xu frantically fussed over Rayen.

"Don’t forget to eat."

The other members watched with complicated gazes.

Rayen forgetting to eat?

Ha! No way.

Ms. Lewis also did the same with Liam.

"Don’t always stare at the air."

Liam nodded without the slightest bit of emotion on his face.

The group would have to stay in this house for the entire duration of the show, unless they got evicted, so the other members understood the two managers’ feelings. It’s a shame that the other members’ managers weren’t here to send them off.

"Always make sure—"

Zi Xu wanted to say one more thing to Rayen, but Adrian interrupted the manager-talent duo by separating the two of them.

"We will do our best to take care of our main vocalist," Adrian said.

"... Cough. Well, then. Take care," Zi Xu said. "We’ll watch over you on TV."

Everyone nodded.

Finally, the two managers left. The group would continue their idol journey in this house for a few months.