Artland Series: MINORITY TALENT
The Person Who Doesn't Miss

"Wait!" A second before the door completely closed, a man suddenly brandished a side of his hand. "One question only, and this will affect my decision." He said to Athena.

The whole room automatically turned to him.

Ryan Gunawan and Last Dusk held the door half shut. Waiting.

Athena looked at the man while straddling him.

"Am I not too old to be here?" The man asked timidly. He looked to the left and to the right and observed everyone on the bench who was about twenty years old on average.

"How old are you?" Athena asked.

"Thirty-one years" replied the man.

The few men behind him cheered the man half blasphemously.

The man looked back and found four men his age were glaring at him. And he was immediately sorry. Oops!

"Sok your old man!" One of the men scoffed.

Athena smiled faintly, "You're not the only oldest person in this room, and you're not one of the oldest."

The man turned his attention back towards Athena.

Athena pointed to someone sitting on the back bench in the corner of the room.

All eyes in the room followed his gaze.

A man who was already gray, in his fifties developed a smile at them while pointing his thumb in a calm manner.

The whole room clapped in cheers to encourage the old man.

"Although if you're older than the others you're not necessarily dead first" Athena said frankly.

Make the whole room groan, then laugh to respond.

The man finally smiled as he shrugged his shoulders.

Athena turned her head towards Ryan Gunawan and Last Dusk behind him.

The two Paravisis exchanged glances, before finally pushing the iron door together.

But Athena held up her hand hinting them to hold the door for a while.

Making the two Paravisions in confusion.

Before long the sound of footsteps approached the door from outside the room, followed by the clattering of other footsteps behind him. A thin, sad-faced girl appeared from the door. Evan Jeremiah, Elijah and Jonathan Van Allent.

Athena developed her thin smile then nodded her head towards Ryan Gunawan and Last Dusk. That door can be closed now.

The iron door was officially closed. Ryan Gunawan, Last Dusk and Evan Jeremiah return to the Paravisi line. Meanwhile, Elijah and Jonathan Van Allent returned to the bench. The thin-faced girl softly followed behind him.

All eyes in the room were centered on the skinny girl now. The girl was the first to decide to go out. Everyone still remembered the girl leaving the room without the slightest burden. And now he's back without guilt. Strangely, none of the Paravisis dared to protest. Everyone on the bench then looked at Athena full of question marks.

Athena could feel that everyone was trying to demand a "Remember, what did I just say? We only give you one chance to change your mind. And you choose to survive. It's too late to change your mind. That door will never be opened again from now on. And that means there's no way out!"

The whole room shrieked stifledly staring at Athena wide. Soon, some girls started crying.

"What the fuck?" Some people started to grumble.

"This is unacceptable!" The others began to crimp.

"It's a scam!" Someone shouted.

"We've all been kidnapped" Ika Apriani began to whine, "gue wants to go home." He said to Luciana.

Luciana looked at Athena's face and observed Paravisi's face in front of the room one by one. Trying to find answers. But everything looks equally cold and mysterious. The feathers begin to crumble. He stared at Ardian Kusuma's face longer than the others.

The man simply threw his faint smile as usual. It makes no difference.

There was a spark of disappointment in his heart. I thought that all this time my existence was quite special to him, Luciana's inner sourness.

The Big Bang Elijah was not even able to do anything under these circumstances. Not because she lost her courage. But the reality he faces still looks biased. There's no certainty there. The mysterious figure of Athena gave a difficult explanation to digest her wits.

Most of the people in the room still looked confused even though some of them had already made conclusions. The atmosphere in the room began to sound riled up.

Only the faint-faced skinny girl who looked had started to yawn again. It was as if his burden of life in the world was just sleepy.

Athena and Paravisi remained unwilling to give an explanation. Like waiting for a massive reaction.

This is clearly part of the test, Esther said in her heart.

Athena suddenly looked at him.

Esther gulps. This was the umpteenth time he had seen Athena's reaction to the conscience. But it still feels strange to him. It is hard to believe but it has been proven time and time again.

"It should have been explained from the beginning, so that we all would have some preparation." Protest one of the girls who seems to uphold the most appearance. "We can at least bring a change of clothes or something. If I had known from the beginning this would have been so I wouldn't have chosen to stay. He said today the show was just some kind of registration?!"

Athena walked to the center of the room and then raised her hand. In an instant the room was silent. The woman was silent for a moment. Makes the atmosphere of the room feel tense. "MINORITY CENTER is not a home production or artist management that publishes talent. And we never open any registration or audition to get talent. As I said at the beginning, you are all here because of a call. A destiny."

"This is called kidnapping!" Some people started shouting out against Athena.

Athena smiled back in response. "Oh, come. Admit it," said Athena sharply. "What are your plans after this? Go home? Back work? Or looking for another job? Looking for a place to stay? Do you all have a definite purpose?!"

The whole room went silent again.

"Is this really kidnapping?" Athena asked.

Silent!

"Who can vouch for you if we demand a ransom to release you?" Athena asked again.

Still no answer.

"Are you missed? Are you out there getting a place? Are you welcome in society?"

"So you took advantage of our powerlessness?" Someone finally dared to open their voice.

"What are your advantages?" Sergey Athena is loud.

Everyone on the bench started to fall.

Athena sighed. Then lower his tone of speech. "MINORITY CENTER is a center of minority civilization built and established by people who were once rejected and set aside in society." Athena pointed her hand back, pointing at the Paravisi line behind her. "We used to be just like you, too" Athena said.

Making the entire room sigh heavily.

"Departing from the same struggle we finally found each other. Through our imperfections we perfect each other. Through weakness together we build strength. It was through this power that we built this building as a house as well as a fortress." Athena developed both palms on her sides. "Here, we have enough room to house all of you, have enough food for you to survive, have plenty of clothes to cover your disgrace..." Athena suddenly lost her words. Recalling his life journey with Paravisi behind him made his throat feel choked.

Evan Jeremiah walked slowly to Athens and sighed and gulped, adding, "we are all religious minorities who are spiritualists. Where our conscience is believed to be the Voice of the LORD. We believe in meeting as destiny. And on the day that we find you, we believe it to be a calling." The man looked up at the participants bench.

Everyone looked at him with a softened face.

"We don't believe in coincidence, except as truth. We don't look at physical appearance or strength." Evan Jeremiah continued. "We believe that everyone is born with the LORD's talents and mission. The mission of the LORD for us is to find lost talents. And that's you guys!"