One Man Band System

Two days later, in a suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of town, Eric and Emma were driving around the block in Eric’s car, looking for the address of the baby shower, the home of Caleb’s future in-laws. As the GPS indicator arrived at the destination, showing a line of cars parked along the curb, Eric pulled up and parked his Maybach on the side of the road, not far from the driveway.

Naturally, seeing a luxury car pull up to the curb, the guests hanging out on the front porch, whether they were neighbors, friends of Caleb’s fiancée, his future in-laws, or Caleb himself, instantly turned their heads to watch the street in front of the house.

"Alright, let’s head in," Eric said, reaching into the back to grab several store shopping bags filled with neatly wrapped gifts.

"Okay... let’s go," Emma replied.

The two of them stepped out of the car. Eric was wearing a sharp, tailored black button-down, dress pants, and designer leather shoes, while Emma wore a black evening dress that looked casual yet elegant, paired with high heels that brought her up to Eric’s cheek level. They walked up the driveway carrying the bags, under the intense, curious stares of the crowd, who were completely captivated by how stunning the couple looked.

Just as Eric stepped onto the porch, Caleb suddenly burst through the front door and walked across the veranda to greet them with open arms, giving Eric a hug.

"You actually made it, man! I didn’t think you’d show up," Caleb said.

"I told you I’d be here... oh, by the way... here you go," Eric said, handing over the gift bags.

"Wow... you shouldn’t have, there was really no need," Caleb said, accepting them with the usual polite modesty.

"Don’t be like that. Anyway, congratulations!" Emma chimed in.

"Thanks... whoa... you look absolutely gorgeous, Emma," Caleb said, looking at her.

"Thank you," Emma replied, slipping her arm through Eric’s.

Suddenly, a beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair peeked out from behind the front door. Caleb looked back, and the moment he saw her, he immediately went over to her side. They walked out together to greet Eric, and it was clear that the woman was pregnant.

"Eric... Emma... meet my fiancée, Avery," Caleb said, introducing her.

"Hi... Caleb talks about you guys all the time," Avery added, shaking hands with Eric and Emma.

"Well... hopefully it’s all good things," Eric said.

"Don’t worry, they’re all great stories. Come on, let’s head inside," Avery joked, welcoming them in.

They walked inside, passing a few guys on the porch and giving them a polite nod. Once indoors, they found a pretty lively crowd that extended all the way to the backyard, where smoke was drifting in, clearly coming from a barbecue grill.

Soft music drifted from the indoor sound system, blending with the relaxed chatter of people mingling around. As they made their way into the living room, Eric noticed an organ pushed against the wall and a guitar hanging nearby.

Suddenly,

"Vwooong."

A holographic screen popped up right in front of Eric’s face. He forced himself to keep a straight face as he read the prompt:

[Side quest triggered.]

[First objective: when the sound system goes out, play a song using the guitar.]

[Reward: ???.]

Eric let out a small smile, his eyes darting over to the sound system set up right next to the backyard exit in the living room. As he was checking it out, "clap." A hand smacked Eric’s shoulder from behind.

"What are you spacing out for?" Caleb asked.

"Nothing... just taking in the place," Eric replied, pushing up his glasses.

"Wow... the food on the table looks amazing," Emma chimed in.

"Come on, let’s grab a bite," Caleb urged.

They walked over to the dining area, where two tables had been pushed together to hold a massive spread. As Eric picked up a glass of cocktail, he felt a crowd of eyes locking onto him. He glanced over and saw a group of women, likely Avery’s friends from the hospital, staring his way, along with a few middle-aged women who seemed to be friends of Caleb’s future mother-in-law.

Out of nowhere, an approachable-looking middle-aged woman with blonde hair showing dark roots, wearing a dress and a pearl necklace, walked up to Eric, Emma, and Caleb.

"Who is this, Caleb? Your brother?" the woman asked. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Yes, Ms. Martha, this is my cousin Eric, and this is his girlfriend, Emma," Caleb introduced them.

"Oh, stop it... call me Mom. As soon as that baby is born, you two are getting married right away, aren’t you?" Martha said, revealing herself to be Caleb’s future mother-in-law.

"Oh... right, Mom, haha," Caleb replied, looking visibly nervous.

"Nice to meet you, ma’am," Eric said.

"Nice to meet you too. Please, grab some food, and thank you so much for the gifts," Martha welcomed them.

"You’re very welcome, ma’am, thank you," Emma replied.

Martha then took a close look at Eric, but a second later, her gaze shifted to Emma, studying her intently.

"You look so familiar. Have we met somewhere before?" Martha asked.

"Oh... her mom is Miranda Cruz, ma’am," Eric chimed in, nodding toward Emma.

The entire room went dead silent. Every single eye instantly locked onto Emma, making her incredibly uncomfortable, until she finally got annoyed and gave Eric a sharp, subtle pinch on the waist.

"And he’s the musician who’s going completely viral right now," Emma shot back, gesturing toward Eric.

Caleb instantly locked his eyes on Eric with a look of pure shock, even though he had already suspected the guy he saw in the video was Eric. Naturally, tons of eyes shifted over to Eric, especially the younger guests, the young adults working as nurses, and Caleb’s coworkers. Avery walked over to stand beside Caleb, studying Eric and Emma’s faces from up close.

"Whoa... turns out you’re a celebrity, dude," Caleb said, breaking the silence as he grabbed Eric’s shoulder.

"If I told you I don’t know how to play the guitar, would you believe me?" Eric asked, testing him.

"Hell no. Honestly, I never believed you from the start anyway," Caleb answered.

"Screw you," Eric replied.

"So you’re the child of the artist Miranda Cruz?" Martha asked Emma.

"Huh... Miranda Cruz’s daughter?" Avery asked in shock, staring at Emma.

"Um... yeah," Emma answered shyly, having no choice but to admit it.

Instantly, the two of them became the absolute center of attention. Even Caleb’s future father-in-law, Avery’s dad, Thomas, walked inside to join Martha, still holding a pair of barbecue tongs. Question after question kept flying their way, completely overwhelming the couple.

Then, someone pulled up the video of Eric’s guitar solo and the instrumental band track he had uploaded just yesterday. Instantly, almost everyone was staring at Eric’s face on their screens, comparing it to the real thing while peppering him with questions, leaving Eric completely trapped. Finally, the background music faded away as someone turned off the sound system.

"Ah... so this is what it meant by ’when the sound system goes out’... what a pain," Eric thought to himself, keeping a polite smile plastered on his face as a substitute for the questions he really didn’t feel like answering.

"Come on, dude, give the guitar a spin. There’s one right over there, it’s my dad’s," Caleb said, stepping forward and throwing his arm around Eric’s shoulders to guide him toward the organ against the far wall.

"Alright, alright," Eric replied, giving in.

Giving up on eating for now, Eric took the guitar off the wall, tuned it, and sat down on the organ bench. He started playing the melody and singing, performing the exact same song from the video. Eyes widened all around the room as they heard Eric’s beautiful voice. Everyone turned off the video playbacks on their phones, leaving only the sound of Eric and his guitar echoing through the room.

Emma walked over and sat down right next to Eric, swaying along as she enjoyed the melody. After five minutes, the song came to an end.

"Clap... clap... clap."

Caleb’s future father-in-law, Thomas, immediately broke into applause, and everyone else quickly followed suit. Eric noticed the middle-aged man had a thick but neatly trimmed beard and wore a cowboy hat. He stepped right up to introduce himself to Eric.

"My name is Thomas. I’m Avery’s dad and Caleb’s future father-in-law. I’ve heard a lot about you from Caleb. Do you know how to play any country music?" Thomas asked, shaking Eric’s hand.

Eric was a bit caught off guard by Thomas’s question, and it suddenly clicked that the guitar he was currently holding clearly belonged to Thomas. He shifted his gaze back to the man standing in front of him.

"Um... I’ve never really tried it, sir," Eric replied.

[First objective completed.]

[Second objective: play country music on the guitar, matching the request of Caleb’s future father-in-law.]

Seeing the text on the holographic screen change, Eric just shook his head. He looked up at Thomas with a smile.

"Is there a specific country song you’d like to hear, sir?" Eric asked, offering a look of playful resignation.