Rewind With A Superstar System

<🎧 Song Recommendation: bad guy by Billie Eilish ft. Justin Bieber>

...

Von was not expecting much from the Photogram post he had just made, considering the limited number of followers he currently had.

In his mind, the hype around him from the finale was already fading away. Hence, after making the post, he concentrated on completing his daily quests and testing out Loki’s ability to "consume excess emotions."

He had originally feared that this ability was a negative one, that she would somehow take people’s genuine feelings away. However, he was reassured to find out it didn’t work that way.

By excess, the System meant the emotional runoff that had already served its purpose in the atmosphere.

Von still didn’t fully understand what any of that meant in a practical sense, but with the promise of a level-up when the Resonance bar filled, he wanted to test it.

He had walked across the street, picked up a cheap new acoustic guitar, and played some songs for Loki in the empty apartment. He poured as much feeling as he could into the chords and his voice.

Unfortunately, none of it succeeded in getting the bar moving even a fraction of an inch.

After an hour of experimenting and brushing up on his instrumental skills, Von set the guitar down and sighed. ’I guess the emotions aren’t excess enough.’

With that out of the way, he shifted his focus back to his phone. Opening his Photogram app, Von was left absolutely awestruck when he saw the numbers.

The post he had uploaded had generated 70,000 likes already, and there were over a thousand comments underneath it. Von couldn’t contain his smile as he opened the comment section to read through them.

[alien from mars: WTFF! Is that a studio!? Von is releasing a song!! Omg! 🫨🫨]

[Need To Sleep 🙂‍↔️: Man just lost a final less than two weeks ago and he’s back to the grind ✌️😭]

[DirtyBob Roundpants: But am I the only one curious? Is he making an entirely new song or finally recording Masquerade]

[Mr. Know It All 👁️‍🗨️: @DirtyBob Roundpants, It’s most likely the second option. Only makes sense he’ll build the on the hype and give us what we deserve]

[Only Normal One: I don’t even care what he’s making but it’s sure to be a banger if it’s coming from Von 😭🔥 Finish up already, bro]

Reading the positive messages gave Von a massive surge of adrenaline he didn’t even know he needed. He felt genuinely happy seeing the passionate reactions from his supporters, so he decided to reply to some of the comments.

To a fan that asked exactly which single he was releasing, he typed: I ain’t telling 😏

His playful reply got a lot of attention. In just a few minutes, many others were flocking under the comment Von had left, asking him various questions, including some prying inquiries about his personal life.

Von didn’t reply to the latter, but he continued answering the rest of the casual messages, even exchanging some jokes and memes with the fans.

By the time he finally had to put his phone down and stop, the public had an even better impression of him, and Von felt incredibly positive himself.

’Now I can’t wait for the release myself.’

***

As promised, Von slept for a solid 12 hours that night. It would have been 13 hours if Emily’s phone calls hadn’t woken him up as early as 9:00 AM.

Hearing his ringtone blaring against the hardwood floor, Von sighed in defeat before he finally picked up.

"Are you still asleep??" Emily’s voice demanded through the speaker before he could even say hello. "I’ll be at your place in forty-five minutes, please get ready already."

Emily hung up after not even giving him a chance to counter or defend himself. Von could only sigh in defeat once again before peeling himself off the mattress to head to the bathroom.

It only took him fifteen minutes to be done with his morning prep and get fully dressed. There were about thirty minutes left before Emily would arrive, and he was standing in the living room considering what to do with that free time when a small furry creature sneaked up on him and blocked his path.

<Feed me, human!!>

"What? You ate last night," Von twitched his eyebrows in annoyance, looking down at the Void Lynx.

Loki looked away in defiance, lifting her chin. <Yes, it’s morning now and I’m hungry. You got groceries last night, so no excuses for you!>

Right on cue, Von’s own stomach growled slightly, as if supporting Loki’s argument. He thought about it, realizing he had enough ingredients in the kitchen to cook up some good breakfast. He hadn’t used his cooking skills in a while, either.

Von simply sighed and walked toward the kitchen island. "Well, you’re in luck. I’m hungry too, so I’mma cook now."

He pulled out the groceries he had picked up the night before. With his skill passively guiding him, his hands moved with swift, practiced motions. He started with Loki’s demand, searing a fresh cut of salmon in a hot pan until the skin was perfectly crisp but the center remained a tender, flaky pink.

For himself, and out of courtesy for his dear manager he cracked several eggs into a bowl, whisking them vigorously. He poured the mixture into a buttered skillet, folding it into rich, fluffy omelets loaded with melting cheese and fresh chives, before sliding them between perfectly toasted, buttered bagels.

The rich, savory aroma of toasted bread and sizzling butter quickly filled the usually empty-smelling apartment.

Just as he finished wrapping Emily’s portion in foil to keep it warm, a sharp knock echoed through the room.

Emily let herself in, immediately freezing in the doorway as the smell hit her. "What is that smell?!č

"I cooked," Von said casually, tossing her the warm, foil-wrapped sandwich.

Emily caught it, looking at it with a mix of suspicion and intrigue. She peeled back the foil and took a tentative bite.

She wasn’t expecting much, but her eyes widened instantly, a look of absolute amazement breaking through her usually stoic, professional demeanor. She chewed, swallowed, and stared at Von.

"Von... this is incredible~" she purred, taking a much larger second bite. "I thought you only knew how to sing. This is better than the deli down my street."

"I have hidden depths," Von smirked, leaning against the counter.

"If this is how you cook, I’ll be coming over to this apartment a lot more often," Emily said, genuinely impressed as she continued to devoured the rest of the sandwich.

As soon as she walked further inside, Loki immediately trotted over. The Void Lynx eyed the last piece of the wrapped food in Emily’s hands, letting out a demanding meow and standing on her hind legs to try and eat her portion.

"Oh no you don’t," Emily said, lifting the sandwich out of reach. She wasn’t moved by the cat’s cuteness any bit this time.

After Emily finished her breakfast and wiped her hands, she looked at Von and laid out their agenda for the day.

***

"Guerrilla marketing," Emily had called it that morning. It sounded edgy and exciting in the warmth of the apartment.

In practice, it was just cold, exhausting, humiliatingly grounded.

There was no movie-magic moment where the entire city of New York stopped what they were doing to gather around him in awe. It was a Tuesday in late autumn, and New Yorkers had places to be.

They started at noon in Washington Square Park. Emily had hauled a heavy, battery-powered Roland street amplifier out of the trunk of the van, and Von had carried the mic stand. He stood by the fountain and had to perform Masquerade in the cold.

A few people recognized him and some simply admired his songs. They clapped, cheered, and took selfies with him when he finished the set. But after twenty minutes, a park ranger strolled over and threatened Emily with a citation for using unpermitted amplification.

They had to pack up and run.

From there, it was a grueling montage of the city’s underbelly. They dragged the heavy gear down the steps of the Union Square subway station.

Von sang over the screeching metal of the N train pulling into the station. He poured his soul into Masquerade for everyone to listen.

Commuters threw quarters and crumpled dollar bills into the open guitar case Emily had placed on the ground. It was just an ironic prop, considering he was singing to a backing demo track Patch had bounced to Emily’s phone.

On, the bright side Loki’s resonance bar managed to surge all the way to 5% after the day sessions.

By 4:00 PM, after a short break, they moved to a street corner in Brooklyn. By 6:00 PM, they were outside a busy shopping center in SoHo.

Emily, for her part, didn’t complain at all. While Von sang, she handed out small business cards she had printed that morning. They simply had a QR code on them that linked to a Pre-Save page for the single.

By 8:30 PM, the temperature had dropped severely, and the crowds had thinned out entirely.

"Alright," Emily finally said. Her bob was slightly windblown. "We’re done for the day."

Von didn’t need to be told twice. He killed the power on the Amp and helped her pack the heavy equipment into the Pelican case, his fingers still stiff and numb from the cold.

On entering the van, Von melted into the seat and Loki coiled into his arms right away.

<I require premium sashimi for this indignity.<

Von just sighed, letting his head fall back against the headrest. He looked over at Emily, who was already staring at her phone, her thumbs flying across the screen.

"Was that even worth it?"

"Hmm. Define worth it."

"I mean, what’s the use?" Von gestured vaguely toward the window. "I have fifteen thousand followers on Photogram already, I don’t think singing to a few hundred people will help with much."

Emily smiled lightly and turned to him "We’ll, it’s called digging the trenches. If you build a cult from the streets up, they will follow you to hell and back. Those accepting ones are going to brag that they saw you before the song even dropped and that’s advertisement for us."

Von rubbed his eyes, digesting her words. She was right. He had let the reality TV fame warp his expectations. Real music careers were built with struggle.

"So, what’s the timeline?" Von asked, petting Loki absentmindedly. "When does the song actually come out? We can’t do this every day."

"We won’t have to," Emily said, a small, confident smile returning to her face. "I’ve locked in with the distributor already and next Friday midnight is the release date. That gives us nine days to tease the snippet online, do a few more strategic pop-ups, and build the pre-saves."

"Next Friday," Von repeated, nodding slowly. It felt real now. The finish line was drawn.

Emily was about to elaborate on the social media strategy when her phone suddenly started vibrating in her hand.

Emily frowned, but answered eitherways.

As she made the call, Von observed her expression, and how it went from relaxed to annoyed with each passing second.

After the call was over, she searched something online to confirm her fears, and color drained from her face immediately.

"Emily? What’s wrong?" Von couldn’t help but ask.

He didn’t get a reply, as she simply simply turned her phone around and handed it to Von across the seat.

Von took the device. The screen was displaying an exclusive article from Billboard’s official website. It had been published less than ten minutes ago.

At the top of the page was a high-resolution, professionally styled photograph of Julian West. He was wearing a designer suit, sitting on a velvet throne, looking every bit the manufactured pop prince he was.

But it was the headline beneath the photo that made Von’s stomach drop into his shoes.

{CROWN OF GOLD: Project: Star Winner Julian West Announces Highly Anticipated Debut Single, Set to Drop Next Friday.}