Idol Revive: If I Don't Debut, I'll Disappear-Chapter 338: No Longer Here

Rayen finally woke up.

With everyone’s explanation, he was able to ground himself in the current situation.

"The others, what?"

’They also collapsed with me?’

While still in a daze, he racked his brain.

Didn’t Son Areum only try to destroy his phone? Even though his memory was somewhat hazy, Rayen was sure that Son Areum only dropped his phone.

"Where are they?"

Rayen looked around, but he was the only patient in this room. Silence enveloped the whole room which caused his heart to thump.

’Don’t tell me...’

It was the former Director, Clandestine, who answered his question. "We’re the ones who should ask you."

"Me?" Rayen blinked in confusion.

’Why me?’

Yuzuka explained to him as the only person in this room who was together with the Minstrels when the accident happened.

’They got sucked into my phone?’

Rayen furrowed his brows. He had no memory of that happening.

However, he could still ask someone else.

"My phone. Where’s my phone?"

Immediately, Clandestine fished out his phone from her pocket. "Here, but don’t expect it to work. It broke—"

The screen of his phone was already lit up.

"Huh?" Rayen asked as he looked at her.

"... Nevermind."

Clandestine’s words trailed off as she stared at the phone in Rayen’s hand with furrowed brows.

Rayen waited for her to speak more, but seeing that she had clamped her lips shut, refusing to open them again, he resumed tapping on the screen. Opening the Idol: Revive app, he directly headed to the chat support.

[Rayen: Hey.]

Thankfully, Mini Plotter responded right away.

[Propagator: (Mini-Plotter exhausted.gif)]

[Rayen: Where are my teammates?]

[Propagator: Don’t worry, they’re safe. I’ll let them out in a while.]

Reading that, Rayen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mini Plo—I mean, Plotter said that they’d be out later. No need to worry," Rayen said.

"Plotter?" Clandestine lifted one of her brows.

"... Yeah. Plotter."

"But Plotter’s no longer here."

When Rayen heard those words, his body stiffened.

"... What do you mean?"

"Plotter disappeared," Clandestine said, her expression nonchalant.

"That’s what I’m asking... What do you mean he disappeared?"

Clandestine stared straight at him, not answering. "On the day of your incident, he disappeared."

"....."

Rayen went silent.

’Plotter disappeared?’

Suddenly, his head ached as he fell into a state of confusion. He then turned to Yuzuka with rigid movements.

"What about Yoo Gyeo?"

Yuzuka looked down, unable to look him in the eye. "He also disappeared."

’What the hell?’

His mouth opened and closed. He tried to rack his brain for the right way to feel about things.

However, he couldn’t.

Rayen was unsure about what to say.

He recalled the scenes in his dream.

The tremendous pain he felt when Plotter forcefully plucked his own petals to create dozens of his incarnations still lingered in Rayen’s mind. It hurt like crazy, yet Plotter still gritted his teeth as he did it.

For what?

"To make Rayen famous!"

That’s what he heard in his dream.

Was his previous life engineered by Plotter all along? Why did he do it?

’Why?’

Rayen had wanted to ask this the moment he woke up, but now, he was struck with a new reality because of Clandestine’s words. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

However, Clandestine did not care about his feelings at all and shot off another question. "You must be talking to Propagator, right?"

Dazed, Rayen stared at Clandestine with hazy eyes. "You know about it?"

"Of course. That’s why I want you to ask it what happened to Plotter."

Rayen looked back at the screen of his phone, his fingers hovering over it.

’Right... There’s still Mini Plotter.’

After a while, he finally moved.

[Rayen: What happened to Siel?]

He had wanted to type in ’Plotter,’ but changed it midway upon recalling Plotter’s true name.

Unexpectedly, Mini Plotter responded right away. It seemed as though it had been waiting for Rayen to ask all along.

[Propagator: Gone.]

Rayen’s finger stiffened for a second. It took him a while to form another question.

[Rayen: What do you mean by ’gone’?]

[Propagator: In the literal sense of it.]

[Rayen: ... Why?]

[Rayen: Is it... because of me?]

When Rayen typed those words, his hands were a bit soaked with sweat. He closed his eyes, waiting for Mini Plotter’s answer.

It didn’t take long before his phone vibrated.

[Propagator: You could say so.]

Upon reading this, a complex feeling rose up from his chest.

But Mini Plotter wasn’t yet done.

[Propagator: Your soul had been destroyed the moment your phone broke. However, my original incarnation had accounted to this happening. The Stars of Life book page you received as a reward from your debut had been activated to supplement the missing pieces of your soul.]

The Stars of Life? Rayen’s impression toward this page was clear. It was the unique book page he received back then.

’But wasn’t its purpose just to let me experience a book page scene from the people who once supported me?’

As if reading Rayen’s mind, Mini Plotter immediately sent an explanation.

[Propagator: It was but a 1% chance. What makes up a soul? My original incarnation always wondered about that. Maybe it was a collection of something eventually forming the identity of a person. What if that ’something’ constituted of memories? And so, he made a gamble. As the person who knows you the best in the world, he used his memories to try to recreate the parts of your soul that was broken.]

Rayen was unable to say anything.

’The person who knew me best in the world?’

He wanted to laugh, but couldn’t.

’D*mn Plotter.’

Who the hell was he, truly?

[Propagator: However, to make sure this book page worked, it has a hidden requirement. Without a petal source, it might not work.]

’So, that meant...’

[Propagator: He spent the last bit of petal he had to try to maintain your existence.]

Rayen silently read Mini Plotter’s words, his feelings incomprehensible.

’Why? Why would he come to such lengths?’

Rayen lifted his gaze toward Clandestine, still confused.

Clandestine glanced toward the Entities inside the room.

"Can you leave us for a bit?" she said.

The Entities were a bit hesitant for a moment before Harjun went out first. The others could only follow suit.

At last, Rayen and Clandestine were alone.

"Tell me. What did you learn?"

Rayen relayed Mini Plotter’s words to her.

But she only frowned.

"... What’s wrong?" Rayen asked.

"How can that happen? You’re telling me he’s broke?"

"....." Rayen was entirely speechless.

’That’s what you concluded with what I said?’

Clandestine explained as she read his expression, "He can’t have only one petal left."

"But he spent his petals already by creating his incarnations."

"Huh?" Clandestine’s frown deepened.

Rayen decided to tell her what he experienced in his dream. When he finished, she was dumbfounded.

"What? Is that possible?" Clandestine pinched her chin.

Rayen shrugged his shoulders. From what he had seen and experienced, it was possible.

"What a madman."

’I agree.’

The two agreed in silence.

"But it’s still impossible for him to be left with only one petal all this time. He should have been able to acquire some more petals through his merits."

It was Rayen’s turn to be confused now.

Just then, Rayen’s phone vibrated. They both glanced at it. Mini Plotter sent a message as though he was also listening in on their conversation.

[Propagator: My original incarnation... He had lost the world’s favor.]

"So, that’s why." Clandestine could only sigh.

If Plotter had lost the world’s favor, then he would just be the same as an Unaffiliated Entity. He wouldn’t be able to gain any more merits.

Meanwhile, Rayen stared at Clandestine as though asking for answers.

"Can you stop looking at me like that? I also don’t know what’s going on in that person’s mind."

Rayen bit his lips.

"Are you sad because he’s gone?" Clandestine asked.

’No, it’s not that.’

Rayen only sighed without telling her that.

Instead, he said, "Why are you so nonchalant about it?"

Aren’t they supposed to be partners in crime? But why was she acting like this was just nothing?

"My, my... Were you so touched by Siel? You’re almost crying," Clandestine teased with a straight face.

"....."

"Don’t worry. Siel is a bad weed. That person wouldn’t just die like that."

"... What do you mean?"

Clandestine chuckled. "Don’t you have Propagator? It’s also considered as Siel’s incarnation, but it didn’t disappear when Siel did."

Immediately, Rayen’s eyes widened.

’That’s right!’

Rayen’s mind cleared for a bit. He looked back down at his screen.

[Rayen: Did you hear that?]

He typed excitedly. But Mini Plotter was bound to disappoint him.

[Propagator: My original incarnation and I are separate entities. Our connection is unlike the other incarnations. They came from my original incarnation’s petal. Which meant they are still him and a part of his soul. Meanwhile, I’m just a program created by my original incarnation.]

"....."

[Propagator: However, my original incarnation left something for me before he disappeared. It will take a while for me to analyze it.]

Exclamations seemed to appear on Rayen’s face.

[Propagator: I’ll have to go into maintenance for a while.]

With that, Mini Plotter no longer responded. The entire Idol:Revive app was also forcefully closed. A new interface appeared before Rayen.

[The system is undergoing maintenance.]