Chapter 2: Rising Star
Chapter 2: Rising Star
Scribble, scribble, scribble. With unfocused eyes, Eden scribbled in his notebook. He was currently present in his classroom.
Although today was Sunday, these special classes were available, as long as one paid $50 per session.
Legacy Academy not only focused on music but also on acting, literature, painting, and many more such fields.
This was just a special literature class that anyone could visit after paying a certain amount.
"Sigh, why do you have to drag me here, eh?" Hugie, who was sitting beside Eden, asked as he toyed with the pen. His words brought Eden back to reality.
"I thought you wished to participate in Rising Stars from the writers' section?"
"Uh, An Author? I hate them."
"Right, says who? Noveller_J?"
Rising Stars. This was a grand competition held for newcomers. A competition that had different ranking sections for different fields of arts.
A competition that was held annually. If one came within the top ten, then it could be said that their career in that field was set.
Moreover, the person who reached the topmost rank in each section would receive an invitation to "Master of Arts."
If Rising Stars was a basic-level competition, then Master of Arts was an intermediate competition. Those who managed to win this level too would reach the Advanced level competition known as GSA - Grand Spirity Awards.
A competition held throughout the continents between all Master of Arts.
The final one that lay after it was "The World Class," also known as "Superstars."
Those who managed to reach this level were the most prestigious artists of the field, the kings of kings and the queens of queens. It was basically a battlefield between the gods, where competition was at its peak.
Eden dreamt of going to that level. But it was nothing more than a mere dream.
With his trashy writing skills, there was only one way to win the competition.
Step 1: Grab a pillow.
Step 2: Grab a blanket.
Step 3: Go to sleep.
Step 4: Keep dreaming.
Even then the chances were less than 1%
'But then this weird-ass system, sigh.' He once again focused on the things taught by the teacher.
The class soon ended. After reviewing his notes, he stood up ready to go.
"Hey, do you want to listen to my newly composed song?"
"Yeah sure, why not?" Eden shrugged his shoulders in a carefree manner.
"Let's first eat in a restaurant."
"Your treat?" He asked playfully.
"Of course. My newest song earned quite a bit."
"How much?"
"$30,000."
Eden, who was walking, almost choked on air. His legs became weak.
"But ain't you a composer?"
"So?"
"Wait... Did you become a professional maestro?"
"What? No."
"Can newbies even earn that much?"
Hugie froze at that sentence. His eyes started twitching.
'Ah, I forgot... This ain't earth anymore, sigh a bottle of water costs 20 dollars here...'
"What do you... Wait a minute..." Realization struck Hugie. "So you really have been living under a rock?"
"Am I tripping or did you really just say that?"
"Bro like... How do you even not know that? You're studying music, no like not even a singer or instrumentalist, or a sound engineer. Bro, you're a freaking composer like me too."
"We're second-year students... Like what have you been doing all this time? The first chapter of the first year was The Income of a Composer?"
"F*ck, who the hell even passed you?"
"Ahem." Eden coughed in embarrassment.
"Let's just go and eat. Since you earned such an amount, we'll have a meal at a delicious all-you-can-eat."
"You f*ckin gold digger."
'Haaa... Looks like I underestimated the importance of art in this world.'
...
"Ahh~! That was satisfying..."
"Mhm."
"Well, music time. Let me just set up the music equipment."
Eden, with a bloated stomach, lying on the bed, nodded sheepishly.
Currently, his eyes were fixated on the semi-transparent blue screen in front.
[Lottery Points: 10]
All kinds of gambling games were present on the screen; however, he was too poor to play most of them.
At the end, he looked at the game (flip the card).
"Accept." He said in a low voice.
Instantly, 100 cards appeared in front of him. The urge was to click on every single one of them and receive the rewards. Unfortunately, only five of them could be selected.
[Ding!]
A dramatic flipping sound echoed before the card flipped.
{Special Talent: Acting}
{Level Up Card: Talent}
{No rewards}
{No reward}
His face twisted as he received no reward twice.
Taking a deep breath, he finally extended his finger.
"Eh? Are you drunk?" Hugie was confused as he saw his childhood friend randomly stretch his hand. It was as though this dumb friend of his was trying to click on something.
"Damn it!" Next second, Eden's face contorted into that of an angry devil as he exclaimed loudly, startling the hell out of Hugie.
"Did you drink something weird again?"
"Haa, it's nothing."
Inwardly, he looked at the Talent Panel.
[Talent: Actor - Level 1]
"Haaa..." His eyes suddenly shone brightly. All he could see was money.
After the love for the new family in this world, Eden had two more eternal lovers.
One of them was his passion for writing, becoming the greatest author of all time.
The other was money. Money was power, money was strength, money was everything! Only those who possessed this thing called money had the right to dream, and pursue their passion freely.
Before the system was activated, Eden had thought of plagiarizing some famous novels for money. If he was going to die anyway, why not leave behind some money for his family?
Unfortunately, with his trashy writing skills, he ended up ruining those masterpieces.
This world wasn't like Earth, at least in terms of art. Even a simple online author had great skills, perhaps those top authors back on Earth would only be able to have some fame over here.
With his trashy writing skills, there was no way to earn even a single cent. The amount of money he was able to earn through books was all the contribution of that one foolish fan...
But now that he had this system which could gift him talents, a way to earn money had appeared.
Eden was reluctant to use the system. He was reluctant to die. He was reluctant to follow the damned fate.
But what choice was there?
So what if he was suspicious of the system? Life often required some thrill. Life often requires risks.
So what if the system really meant harm?
What could be the worst-case scenario?
He would die? Well, that would just be postponing the inevitable.
His family? They would just get rid of a burden.
His passions and dreams? Fate crushed them a long time ago. He didn't see himself achieving his dreams anytime soon.
Only by taking risks did they seem to be in sight.
It was either to live on with regret, knowing that there was a thin thread of hope, or die without any regrets.
The choice was very clear.
"Eden?!" Hugie finally exclaimed. It was the fifth time he had exclaimed.
Abruptly, Eden stared into Hugie's eyes.
Determination.
There was no way in hell that he would lose this chance.
"Which do you think is more profitable..."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone