Idol Revive: If I Don't Debut, I'll Disappear-Chapter 317: Club Initiation (2)

Gil glanced behind him, only to see that the (likuan) he came from had become blocked by a wall of tables and chairs. The students behind him were no longer in sight. Well, except for one person — Son Areum.

"What happened?" Gil asked her.

Son Areum shrugged. "I was just following behind you."

Gil frowned. He traced back the path they took earlier and tried to peep through the holes between the tables and chairs, but he could only see darkness. So, he tried to place his ear on it. Still, no sounds.

They were completely separated from the other students by the wall. The only path for them was forward.

Gil went ahead on the path, still holding his stamp card, followed by Son Areum.

"You're Seoha's friend, right?" Gil asked.

"Lee Seoha? She's cute."

"I wasn't asking if she's cute."

Son Areum smiled sheepishly.

"Won't Seoha be mad at you that you're trying to join Healing Arts?"

Son Areum blinked. "Why would she?"

Gil glanced at her, brows raised. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"She's the one who insisted I join Healing Arts."

"What?"

Son Areum only laughed, not repeating what she said. She raised her head, looking above. The moon was high in the night sky.

"Being surrounded by the tall wall, this maze feels completely huge, right?"

Gil was silent.

"I don't think that the rooftop can be this huge," she continued. "Don't you think so?"

Gil still ignored her.

"Mister, you're so snobbish."

Suddenly, Gil stopped walking. "Excuse me, I'm just eighteen."

"Mister, do you think I'm so easy to trick? You look so old to be eighteen."

"....."

"Stop trying to pretend you're young. That's too creepy!"

This girl... Since before they entered the maze, she had been rending his heart.

"If you say anything more, I won't be polite."

Son Areum smiled sheepishly, but she did shut her mouth. Gil also stopped pretending as she pointed out. He straightened his back and his middle-aged aura surrounded him once more.

Sensing that, Son Areum couldn't stop herself from speaking one more time. "You look more handsome this way, Mister."

"....."

"So, how do we get past this initiation?"

The maze was definitely huge, and according to Rayen, they needed to find at least three stations and get their stamps. However, if they carelessly roamed around it, they might get lost.

Just as Gil was thinking of this, after walking straight for a minute, a desk appeared ahead of them. Gil and Son Areum slowed down in their steps.

"Hello," Xu Jiji greeted with a forced smile. "Welcome to the Dance Station."

"... Here I thought I would get lost in this place, and then you appeared," Gil said.

"The maze isn't huge."

"It seems like it. So, what challenge do we need to take?"

After he asked that, Xu Jiji looked left and right. When he was certain that no other students were around, he gestured for the two of them to come closer.

They stepped closer. Xu Jiji snatched the stamp card from their hand and then quickly stamped on it.

"Eh? Why did you stamp on my card?" Son Areum asked.

"It's free of charge for the first challengers." Xu Jiji handed the cards back to them.

"Thanks," Gil said.

"What about the challenge?" Son Areum asked.

"Can't you just be happy that you were given a privilege?" Gil said.

Now, he was certain that this Son Areum was an Unaffiliated Entity like him from Xu Jiji's action.

"That's true..." Son Areum turned to Xu Jiji. "Thank you!"

Xu Jiji only nodded with an awkward smile. It was quite unexpected that one of Yoo Gyeo's 'bullies' was an Unaffiliated Entity.

Weren't Entities supposed to be good-natured?

However, Yoo Gyeo didn't seem to mind Son Areum. He even sent an approval in their group chat when Rayen informed them of the names of the Unaffiliated Entities.

Meanwhile, Gil mumbled to himself. "So, this was how they would ensure our safety, huh?"

Truly 'fair'.

At the same time, the first batch of normal students also appeared from another direction. Gil continued on the path that the students had come from.

"Look, there's a station ahead!"

Just then, they noticed Gil.

"Eh? Where did they come from?"

Didn't they enter from one entrance earlier? So why was there a student who came from the opposite path from them?

Before Gil passed by them, one student asked them. "You already got a stamp?"

Gil nodded while Son Areum showed them her card.

"I got it f—"

Immediately, Gil covered her mouth.

'That was close!'

Does this girl not have a filter in her mouth?!

The students only frowned for a bit, but they didn't pursue Son Areum's words.

"Was the challenge hard?" they asked.

"Right! Was it hard?"

"Mmh-mmh-mmh..." Son Areum tried to answer, but her words were muffled under Gil's hand.

"???" The students wore confused gazes.

Suddenly, Gil pretended to laugh heartily, trying to shift their attention and dispel their suspicions.

Under the puzzled gazes of the students, he tapped them on the shoulders with his other hand while pulling Son Areum with the other.

"Good luck," he said before going past them.

Gil continued walking away with Son Areum in tow. Once they were far away and out of the students' sight, he let go of her.

"Can you not reveal that you got special treatment?"

"Was it supposed to be a secret? Okay, then."

Finally, Gil heaved out a sigh.

They continued walking. On the way, they also encountered a few students. This time, Son Areum did not explicitly show them her stamp.

Just as they passed by the students, another rumbling sound appeared, this time, coming from in front of them.

This sound had actually come from the moving walls.

Ahead of them, there was supposed to be a fork where the students had come from. However, within the span of a few seconds, the walls of tables and chairs moved, realigning the path ahead into a straight line.

"Did the walls just move?"

"The walls just moved," Son Areum confirmed.

"... Is this maze alive?"

Son Areum nodded.

This was the first time they encountered such kind of magic. Even though they were supposed to be Entities, they weren't exposed to the system and had not encountered any other magical phenomena except for the time when they reincarnated.

Maybe it really wasn't a bad idea to change camps. Acting as a teenager was getting pretty boring recently.

The two continued on traversing the straight path, and as expected, another station was ahead of them.

This time, Miles was the one manning it.

"Hello there," Miles greeted with a low-spirited voice. "Let's get this over with. Give me your cards."