Chapter 354: House Rules

The lobby was crowded. Almost 50 people were gathered in the room.

Aside from their group, ATOMIC and ALTAIR, there were two more groups present in the room that Rayen didn’t recognize. They also had no name tags, so aside from those he already knew, he just glanced at them.

Still, the group that gathered the most attention was expected: ATOMIC. And... Adrian, who was still caught in Minjae’s arms.

In particular, the two groups who seemed to be from the same generation as SEEDZ were curious about Adrian.

"Who’s he?"

"I don’t know."

"Why is he so friendly to Senior Minjae?"

"Who knows?"

Despite that, the two guys continued raising each other’s chairs.

"Oh, I loved your debut song. I’ve really been a fan since you debuted," Adrian said.

"Is that so?" Minjae was pleased, his small eyes almost disappearing from his constant smiling. "I seem to have also heard your group. You must be promising, then."

"Haha. That’s too much praise, Senior~."

’How can he shamelessly act like this?’

Still, since Rayen had been with Adrian for a long time already, he understood that Adrian was just playing the game. Didn’t Adrian even boast to him about his powerful connections?

Rayen avoided looking at the two greasy guys to prevent his expression from changing.

So, why were they even gathered here?

Like in their waiting room, there was also another wall-embedded monitor in here, though slightly larger. It flashed the House of Idols logo repeatedly, only stopping when all participating idols were gathered in the lobby.

Then, Lee Darin’s voice was heard from the speakers scattered across the room.

"Hello, participants. How are you? Have you all greeted each other?"

For a moment, Rayen was reminded of his time during Idol:Revive. His body stiffened as he looked around. But he quickly reminded himself that it was different right now.

’There’s no going to be deaths this time. No disappearing souls. No more begging to be saved...’

At least these guys weren’t zombies like them.

Finally, Rayen calmed down. He belatedly heard Lee Darin’s annoying welcome again.

"Welcome to House of Idols Season 4, kekeke!" Lee Darin laughed and clapped at the same time.

"....."

As expected, no one joined her. However, she didn’t mind it at all and continued to talk by herself.

"Since this is a new season, I will also introduce the house rules. But there are too many, so we have provided every group with a House Bible of your own for you to study together."

Rayen’s eyes noticed the five booklets on top of a low cabinet under the mounted monitor. It was as thick as one finger.

’Just how many rules does this house have?’

No wonder it was called a House Bible.

"But aside from that, I will also explain the new game mechanics for this season."

The new mechanics were flashed on the monitor.

...

Minji was just casually browsing through Y when she encountered CKCharger’s reposted content.

[Proud Charger @CKCharger reposted

What?! Why weren’t there any teasers at all?!

--

"Breaking News! House of Idols officially starts today?! Rumors confirmed! ATOMIC is one of the housemates!"

(House of Idols Livestream August XX, 20XX.jpg) ]

CKCharger is the handle name of her schoolmate who was a dedicated fan of ATOMIC. Most of her reposted content was about ATOMIC, of course. Normally, Minji would have scrolled down without paying the post any attention. However, a particular redhead caught her eye in one of the photos attached to the post.

’Rayen?!’

In Minji’s eyes, all red-headed males = Rayen. Ever since she forgot about him, she made sure to associate Rayen with red, so whenever she sees something red, the first person she would think of is Rayen. It was a measure for her to not repeat the same mistake of forgetting about him.

She tapped the photo to enlarge it. It was a CCTV wide shot from behind the idols, so only their backs could be seen. Nevertheless, it didn’t hinder her vision. With wide eyes, she observed the top of the head of the person in the photo. And she was certain.

"Rayen!" She gasped in surprise.

Immediately, she reposted the same content.

[Kang Minji @Mimimimimi

Whaaa! Edens and Prickles! It’s time to assemble again! SEEDZ is on House of Idols!]

– What? House of Idols?

– Isn’t House of Idols supposed to start in February?

– What’s happening?

– OMG, it’s true! Their UCube channel is currently live!

Minji’s eyes sparkled at the last comment.

That’s right. House of Idols was not just a survival show. It’s also a reality show. It wasn’t just Lee Darin’s efforts why the show was able to last for 4 seasons.

What’s the charm of reality shows? It’s being able to take a peek into a famous person’s private life! And House of Idols monopolized this charm to the maximum with its 24/7 livestream.

’I’ll be able to watch Rayen every day, every second of my life, for at least a few weeks!’

Truly, Oh My God.

Her eyes misted with imagination. She didn’t even notice that her drool was about to drip.

A few moments later, she finally came back to her senses. After briefly informing Seoyun, she immediately headed to House of Idols’ UCube channel. Currently, the only available livestream was from the lobby cam.

Minji clicked on it and watched the idols being briefed on the new season rules.

The infamous Lee Darin’s voice echoed from Minji’s speakers, and her words greatly shocked the newly arrived viewers.

"This new season will be endless."

– Endless?

– Guys, I just came after hearing the news. But what does she mean by endless?

It didn’t take long before Lee Darin explained what she meant.

"The five groups here today are the pioneer tenants. You’ll live with each other, perform tasks with each other, and do your duties according to your role. However, your goal in this house isn’t to live leisurely. Your goal is to leave and escape the house."

– Hahahaha, what happened to House of Idols? Wasn’t their original goal to keep living in the house?

– ATOMIC NUGU ATOMIC NUGU

– Shut up. ATOMIC isn’t a nugu group!

"When a group manages to escape, a new group will arrive from the outside to be your new housemates. That’s what I mean by endless."

– !!!

– lololol I think this is gonna be fun!

– How much budget did they get this time to keep running indefinitely?

– This is a new season! A new rule! A new journey!

– Is that why ATOMIC joined?

"There’s only one way to get out of the house," Lee Darin continued. "Be the bread winner three times by being the top performer during the open-house day."

– Go, go ATOMIC! We’ll make you young masters in Lee Darin’s house!

– Starlets, we won’t lose! Let’s aim for ALTAIR to be the young masters!

– It’s too bad that Win isn’t here. I’d like to see Win in a casual outfit at least once.

– Win in boxer shorts (drooling emoji)

– Navin in boxer shorts (drooling emoji)

– Wow. ATOMIC fans are crowding the comment section.

– Heh. Surely, ATOMIC will win! Charger, let’s show the fans of these nugu groups who are truly the nugus!

– Go on. Go on. If you do that, you won’t be able to see your idols for long anyway.

– !!!

– I’d also love to make SEEDZ the bread winner, but... thinking about it, I want to see them longer. I’m sorry, my babies, but you have to endure a bit longer.

– ...

– This new rule is so despicable!

While the fans were torn between supporting their idols and wanting to watch them longer, Lee Darin continued giving instructions.

"Now, please. Choose a representative to draw your first role."