Bab 21: Group Interview

"So, how does it feel being the only four to move on to the next round from your batch of twelve today?" Chris asked the four who were comfortably seated in front of him on the plush couch.

"Hmmm… I should be wary of how I respond to that question yeah?" Steven was the first to answer with a playful question of his own to which Lily responded in kind while slightly nodding.

"Yes. Anything can and will be used against you in the editing process"

"My lips are sealed then" June added in amusement while gesturing with her hands.

"So uh… yeah, I guess we're all feeling good judging by the way they're acting" Kyle properly responded for all three of them with a light smile.

Currently, all four were seating in a smaller secluded portion of the filming studio that had specifically been made prior to the time before the show even began for joint interviews like this.

Apparently, it was how the interviews were going to be done for the blind audition rounds and possibly even the later rounds too.

Chuckling a bit at their individual responses, Chris liked the unexpected chemistry that was present between all four.

"Let's start with June. How were you feeling before your audition?" the host then asked.

"Nervous. Super nervous. But as I walked on stage and began performing, it just kind of dissipated and I was able to focus on giving a good performance" the brown-haired lady with similarly dark brown irises, responded with a sigh of relief.

"How about you Steven. How were you feeling?" Chris directed the question to Steven this time.

"I wasn't nervous at all... at first at least. But then I did end up getting quite nervous when I was nearing the end of my song and Coach Jack hadn't turned around yet" Steven truthfully said, his hands wiping a fake sweat from his forehead.

"You do realize that you had already been promoted the moment Kiara and Blake turned around, right?" Chris gazed at him with a curious expression.

"I'm a perfectionist really. That's all there is to it" he replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

Nodding his head as if satisfied with that answer, Chris shifted his attention over to Lily.

"Now Lily, you using the violin in an unexpected manner… That was quite something hmm?"

"Yeah. I just felt like I wanted to make an impact right from the start so I decided to try it out. I'd already practiced it previously so it wasn't too hard to pull off on-stage" she responded with a slight grin.

"Well it had an impact alright. The judges and the audience really seemed to love it" the host replied with a small smile too.

"I'm glad they did" Lily smiled in response.

"So, Kyle… You really came in guns blazing didn't you?" the Caucasian host focused on the raven-haired young man this time.

"I mean, when you put it like that, then yeah. I definitely did" Kyle responded with a slight grin.

"You said you'd been working on the song for about four to five years? Any details on that?" Chris asked in curiosity.

Even his fellow contestants in the room had their curiosity piqued by that question.

"Well… It's one of those song ideas you have in your head for a long time but you never really plan to sing it to the world. Kinda like those conversations you pen down in your diary you want no one else to read" he answered, a thoughtful expression on his features.

"So why'd you decide to sing it now though?" the host asked again to which Kyle lengthily replied.

"I just felt like I'd tweaked it enough to be sang properly. I really felt like I could pull it off. That was really just it. I'm also glad the production team also didn't mind an original song from me this round too"

"For the record, I'm glad that you sang it. It would've been a shame if a good song like that never got to see the light of day now that we've heard it" Chris genuinely said with his charming smile.

"Say Kyle, would you be willing to give me composing classes? I can pay" Lily then jokingly asked with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"How much are we talking exactly?" Kyle played along while folding his arms.

"Peanuts Kyle. That's all she can afford" Steven butted in with a condescending remark, a small smirk on his lips.

Watching as they both directed another fierce glare at each other, Kyle couldn't help but sigh while June just chuckled in amusement.

Liking the fun interactions between all four contestants, a small smile on his face, Chris then proceeded to ask a few more questions.

After about three more minutes, the friendly host then asked all four a pretty important question.

"There's a high possibility you could face each other in the upcoming rounds? How do you feel about that?"

"Simple. I'd give it my all to win" Steven confidently replied, his expression serious.

The same could be said for the other three as their expressions instantly got serious too, any trace of playfulness vanishing in an instant.

Sure enough they could befriend each other, but it didn't take away the fact that there were all still contestants vying for the number one spot on the show.

Chris, contented with their mature attitudes towards handling and balancing friendliness with competitive spirit, gave an approving nod and with a few more pleasantries, ended the interview.

* * *

"Thanks Oliver. I really appreciate it" Kyle, sitting in a lotus position on the bed of his new hotel room, gratefully said to the man speaking from over the phone.

Having already been promoted to the next round, a secret hotel which had previously been reserved for the advancing contestants was given to each of them.

Each room had its own toilet and bathroom, along with a small kitchen for light cooking.

"Wait a minute! How exactly did you know about my performance today?" the young man curiously asked with a squint.

Considering today's auditions would air in the next two weeks, Kyle was a bit confused as to how his agent had watched his performance.

"I was among the audience of course. How else did you think I saw it?" Oliver replied casually.

"Oh yeah. You probably do have connections… Fair enough" Kyle replied with an understanding nod.

"Yes. Anyway, you said you could act but I'm not actually sure of your acting capabilities" Oliver began.

"Obviously, I'll need to know your skill level before I decide the best projects for you to star in so you have to be totally honest here. How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 Kyle?" he asked.

'Hmmm… if I use the rating from the system, I'd probably sit around a scale of 3 to 4…' the young man mused to himself.

'But creating a skill to boost my performance may actually bridge a one or two level gap…'

'So I guess either a scale of 5 or 6…' Kyle tilted his head as he came to a conclusion?

"Well, I think around a scale of 5.5 Oliver" he finally replied after a brief silence.

"So just barely above average hmm…" the agent thoughtfully said.

"Yeah" Kyle nodded.

"Alright then. I can work with that" Oliver's understanding voice rang from the other end of his phone.

After that, the agent then had a few more mundane conversations with Kyle and soon, it was almost time for them to stop conversing.

"Oh and before you hang up the call, I should inform you that I've paid off your college fees" Oliver casually threw in.

Kyle was completely and utterly stunned by those words.

After a brief moment of silence, the youth then spoke again, his voice loud as he sprung out of the bed.

"W-WHAT?! How did you know?!"

"Did a bit of digging here and there to know more about you. I apologize for that but it is my job to know quite a lot about you if we're going to be working together" the agent calmly replied.

"Also, did you know Haley Woods was the one who had your scholarship revoked?" he then asked curiously.

"I mean I figured she was probably influential enough to do that but it's a bit disturbing how the entire thing just got buried. What's up with that?"

"Well that's the thing with crazy people. There's no logic to the stupid and unfair things they do" Kyle shook his head in disappointment and then continued.

"So just ignore her" he concluded with a tired sigh.

"More than that though, I'm really grateful to you for paying off the fees. Thank you so much! I won't let you down!" Kyle gave his heartfelt appreciation this time.

A bit of silence came from the other end of the line but after a short while, Oliver replied;

"Well, just think of it as an investment. So focus and try your hardest at winning the competition"

"You got it boss!" Kyle replied and Oliver let out a small chuckle before he then hung up the call.

Feeling like a massive load that had being weighing on his shoulders was finally off, Kyle became even more motivated to give it his all.

'Alright! Let's check it out' he inwardly declared, opening up his system which bombarded him with a buttload of notifications.

Although it had rung in his head the moment he had finished performing, he had opted to just check it all out later.

| You have performed another original song and impressed everyone! |

| You have obtained a huge amount of exp. points! |

| 1500 exp. points have been awarded! |

| Total exp. points available (3630) |

| You have leveled up! |

| Singing has advanced from level 7 to level 8! |

| Composing has advanced from level 8 to level 9! |

| Keep singing and composing to improve your skills! |

___________________________

{Kyle Kestis} – Exp. Points (3630)

⸶Skills⸷

| [Soulful Vocals (P)], [Growth Spurt (P)], [Appraisal(A)], [Resonance (P)] – {E}]…

* Exp. Points can be used to create skills.

⸶Levels⸷

| Singing › Level 8

| Acting › Level 6

| Composing › Level 9

| Dancing › Level 5

| Instrument Mastery (Piano/Guitar) › Level 7/6

* Levels will increase in accordance to your growth.

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'That's good progress…' the young man thought to himself with a satisfied nod.

Although he could have created a new skill if he wanted to, Kyle realized he'd rather be more reserved about how he spent his exp. points.

Ever since he created [Growth Spurt] with 25,000 exp. points and [Resonance] had already given him that error message about a high-level skill being created, he had wanted to reserve as much points as he could for an acting skill he had in mind.

So, for the meantime, Kyle decided to just focus on improving himself with what he currently had instead of just depending on his system all the time.

Even if it was a gift from Ollie and the gang, the young man never, ever, wanted to become complacent.

If he could take the chance to improve any of his raw skills by himself, he definitely would.