After collecting the additional paperwork and handing off his prepaid number to the staff, Ari entered the church bus along with Steven Choi before sighing in relief.
"Good job, young man. I'm sure it was nerve-wracking, but you seem to have succeeded." Steven Choi patted his back strongly before he began driving through the city traffic.
"Yes. I really have to say thank you so much. If it hadn't been for your help in providing me a place to sleep and driving me here, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish any of this. I really, really appreciate it!"
"Not at all. It was clearly the talent you've been honing for years, and supporting the community is what I should do. Not to mention how good of a job you did in cleaning the church! Now I happened to hear that you're making a song. As I told you earlier, if you need to use the Choir practice rooms or utilize the computer in the room, you're free to do so. We also have some instruments in storage, so take a look and let me know if you want to use anything."
"Ah, yes, thank you so much!"
This man and his family were really too nice!
Ari decided to clean the church extra nicely, do some outdoor weeding, and help out in the bath house starting tonight.
But first, he had another issue….
As Steven Choi focused on driving, Ari closed his eyes to think about the information he had just received.
The second round of Pop Star Academy: 777 was a live audience showcase of 200 contestants who passed round one.
The contestants would have to perform and the audience and judges would rank them from 1-100 based on their performance.
In other words, 100 people were going to get eliminated just like that.
And in this performance, contestants could choose to be in groups or as individuals.
Although an individual performance allowed you to control every aspect of your performance, in this scenario, a group was better.
For one, a group performance has higher entertainment value, which would please the audience and fill up the stage.
But secondly, it would allow contestants to showcase a more complete performance while still highlighting their strengths to the judges, who were looking to form a 'group' with the program.
Since there were contestants who had applied together as a group, the synergy was already there.
But Ari was stuck doing it alone, and to make matters worse, he was to do it with a self-composed song.
How was he supposed to magically make a song for an audition in two weeks when he had no idea how to start making music at all?
Although he could play a couple of instruments, his skills were limited to reading notes and replaying things he had memorized.
He had never made a song, even as a joke.
Could he purchase a song from someone and add his own lyrics while tweaking it a little? Or could he pay some kid online to make it for him?
As he was trying to figure out what to do.
[Ding!]
[Surprise Mission: Liar Liar Pants On Fire!]
[You have boldly made a promise that you will perform and succeed with a solo, self-made song at the Pop Star Academy Round 2 Talent Showcase in two weeks.]
[Unless you want to be called a liar, be booed off stage, and fail pathetically at the second round of the idol survival show, utilize your skills to make a decent song, perform it, and successfully move on to the next round of Pop Star Academy.]
[Reward: +5 Stat Points & 3 Charm Stat Points & 1 Gacha Gift Token][Failure: -20 Stat Points]
[Cannot be refused.]
[P.S. You cannot purchase a song or lyrics and claim it as your own. Must create the song with more than 60% of the components coming from you. This includes the melody, lyrics, etc.]
"What the heck is this? When did you start giving custom missions??" Ari mumbled under his breath.
[Since you dare to lie shamelessly, I decided to enforce it just as shamelessly.]
Ari looked over the quest before clicking his teeth in resignation.
How stingy.
There goes his plan of just finding a cheap online demo and randomly writing some lyrics.
He guessed it was time to utilize the skill selection ticket he had received.
One of the skills was definitely related to songwriting, so maybe another one related to music production?
He could only hope.
Mumbling under his breath, he spoke to NOVA, "Are you sure I can't get a detailed summary of the skills?"
[As previously said, a skill summary can be provided by:]
[(1) Selecting the skill (shocking, I know)]
[(2) Using one stat point to reveal one random skill description (New!)]
[Since option 1 has been communicated before, would you like to proceed with option 2?]
[I will use the stat points you've gathered to reveal the description of a random skill on the list.]
"Hell no! Absolutely not!"
"What was that?"
"Uh, nothing. Sorry for cursing."
Ari quickly lowered his voice and turned to hide his face against the window.
He wanted to groan while beating up the system, but instead whispered as quietly as he could to NOVA.
"Don't you owe a completed mission? I got accepted into Popstar Academy. Where's the stat point?"
[Ah.]
[Hmmmm.]
[That's right.]
[The dancing was so pathetic and the lies were so shocking, so…]
[I forgot.]
Ari: "..."
[Ding!]
[Rejection Is Part Of The Process - Is What Losers Say! - Successfully audition to any idol survival show that plans to debut a group or solo act within a year, and begin your journey to super stardom - Complete! ]
[Current Rewards: 1 Stat Point]
"And the mission board?"
[Stop Nagging. I got it.]
'Didn't you just say you forgot?'
[Mission Board #2 Complete]
[Mission Board #2 Reward: 1 Skill Slots Token Received]
[Mission Board #2 Reward: Mission Board #3 Unlocked]
[Where would you like to put the stat point? Visuals? Dancing? Charm~ (recommended)]
"Just hold onto it for now. Let me see the new Mission Board and my stats, please." Ari whispered.
[Ding!]
[Mission Board #3]
1. [I'm Not A Stalker, I Promise!! - Get an autograph and sincere advice from a famous person. Reward - 1 Stat Point & 1 Charm Stat Point]
2. [Hi, My Name Is-! - Introduce yourself to at least 100 contestants and remember their names. Reward - 1 Stat Point & View Status of Other People & 1 Charm Stat Point]
3. [Bzzzz. Bzzzzz. Generate Some Buzz - Get at least 100 people talking about you at the same time. In person or online, the choice is yours. Reward - 1 Stat Point & 1 Charm Stat Point]
Ari glanced through the list before glaring at the transparent screen only he could see before whispering harshly.
"You couldn't have told me this while I was still at the audition? I could have gotten Selena or even that prick Larry Jackson's signature! They were giving me sincere advice! For free!"
[Oops.]
[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]
[Cry about it.]
"Isn't it your fault that you didn't complete the mission while I was there? As payback, you should give me the rewards of that mission for free."
Rather than responding, the system just decided to skip past the issue.
[Here are your stats.]
[Ariel Matisse]
[Vocals: B]
[Dance: F]
[Visual: F]
[Rap: F]
[Charm: F+]
[Current Rewards: 1 Stat Point & 1 Skill Selection Ticket & 1 Skill Slots Token]
The stat screen looked completely dismal except for his Vocals stat.
If he completed the new missions and added in his current stat point, Ari could directly take Vocals to an A+, which would probably increase his singing ability spectacularly.
The problem was everything else.
Charm was somehow going up even if he did nothing, but the visuals were the sore point.
It needed to be addressed before the bruises on his body healed, so he didn't get accused of plastic surgery or anything else.
But before that….he had to somehow come up with a song to pass the audition.
Which meant he was back to the skill selection.
Since he didn't know what every skill on the list did, it was better to use the random selection Slots token first and go from there.
"Let's use the Skills Slots Token." Ari quietly whispered to NOVA.
[As you wish.]
As he stared, the blue screen in front of his eyes transformed into a simple black slot machine with three slots, with a silver and red handle off to the side.
Similar to the gumball machine, a gold coin entered the slot and paused as if waiting.
Ari slowly reached out to touch the handle while pretending to stretch, and suddenly, it cranked down hard, and the slots began wildly spinning.
Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-
A loud sound rang in his ears as the slots spun quickly.
As the sections began slowing down, the different colored text written on them suddenly became visible.
From Black, Green, Blue, Red, and even shining Gold, the colored words flashed like prizes, and some of the names written on them looked familiar.
[Say Cheese]
[Bendy]
[Greedy Fingers]
[...]
As the slots continued to spin, the first slot began to slow, and through the blur, Ari spotted an enticing skill written in glittering gold.
[Music Producer]
This was it, this was the skill that would allow him to make music!
Fervently, he clasped his hands together as if he were praying while cheering in his mind.
Choose that one!
Choose that one!