One Man Band System

"Twang! Crash! Dum! Cling! Cring! Yeaaah!"

The melody came to a thundering end, and a massive wave of applause and deafening cheers instantly echoed through the entire venue. Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura immediately rushed to the front of the stage to stand alongside Emma and Monica.

The six of them took a deep bow together, then turned and walked back behind the curtain, escorted by the lingering roars of the crowd. The moment they stepped out of sight "thud!" All six of them collapsed right onto the floor, as if their legs had suddenly turned to jelly.

"Siiigh."

A collective wave of relief washed over them as they exhaled. They looked around at one another, wide grins breaking across their sweaty faces, radiating pure satisfaction.

"We were awesome, hehehe," Priya said, letting out a breath.

"Seriously, we were totally incredible. That was amazing," Chloe added weakly.

"When you’re out there on stage and you hear a crowd that massive cheering for you... it feels so good. I don’t know... it’s a completely new feeling, and calling it just good doesn’t even do it justice," Monica said, shaking her head as she took it all in.

"Exactly. I’m literally still shaking... not because I’m scared or nervous anymore, but from the pure adrenaline, hehe," Heidi added, looking down at her hands with a look of pure relief.

"We just played a live gig... we actually played a real live gig... we played a gig," Laura muttered over and over, staring blankly at the floor.

"Hey... what is wrong with you? Snap out of it, Laura!" Emma yelled, playfully shaking Laura’s shoulders.

Just then, they all looked up to see Eric, who had just walked over and was standing right in front of them. He squatted down to eye level with the group. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"You guys were amazing. I’m really proud of you," Eric said.

Without a second thought, all six girls launched themselves forward like heat-seeking missiles, slamming into Eric so hard he fell flat on his back, buried under a giant dogpile of girls.

"Oh my god... hey! It’s my turn now, I have to get out there... hey!" Eric shouted, trying to scramble up.

"You still have a few minutes... smooch," Emma said, planting a kiss on Eric’s cheek.

"Hey!" Eric shouted in surprise.

"Emma... please don’t be so reckless... smooch," Priya added, kissing Eric’s cheek as well.

"Give me a break, why are you guys just kissing him out of nowhere... smooch," Chloe teased, kissing the other side of Eric’s face.

"You guys are a mess... count me in too... smooch," Monica said, kissing Eric’s forehead.

"I’m not missing out on this... smooch," Heidi chimed in, kissing Eric’s other cheek.

"Smooch," Laura kissed Eric’s neck, since she was positioned a bit lower than the rest of the group.

"Aaaah... alright, enough, enough! Get off me, quick... it’s my turn now!" Eric yelled.

Just then, they finally noticed a stagehand standing right next to them. He was holding a tablet, wearing an intercom headset, and very obviously staring in the complete opposite direction, doing everything in his power to hold back a laugh.

"Um... Eric Reed... you’re up now," the staffer said, still keeping his eyes glued to the other side of the room.

"See? I told you... get off!" Eric yelled in a panic.

"Fine, fine," the six girls replied.

They scrambled up one by one, allowing Eric to finally sit up, push himself to his feet, and dash out from behind the curtain without looking back. Once Eric was gone, the six girls slowly helped each other back to their feet.

They glanced around at one another in dead silence, their expressions instantly souring like they had all just swallowed lemons. They looked ready to start a massive brawl right then and there, but before any chaos could break out,

"Hey."

They turned to see Kevin walking over toward them, accompanied by Sophie and the members of The Red Tide. Without hesitation, Zach stepped right up to Monica and extended his hand. Seeing the gesture, Monica reached out and shook it.

"Your vocals are absolutely incredible... we, The Red Tide, admit total defeat to your band. By the way, can I get your number? I think I’m really falling for you," Zach said with a smooth smile.

"Thwack!"

Suddenly, Max and Jack smacked Zach across the back of the head so hard his face dropped, his hands immediately flying up to clutch the spot. Zach whipped around to face his two bandmates, tears practically welling up in his eyes from the pain.

"Hey... what is your problem?!" Zach yelled, completely annoyed.

"Stop hitting on girls from other bands, what is wrong with you?!" Max shouted back.

"Seriously, you’re embarrassing us," Jack added, backing him up.

"Good grief, they literally never change," Naomi said, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head with a completely exhausted look on her face.

"Um... I actually already have someone I like, so I can’t accept your feelings. I’m sorry," Monica said, bowing her head slightly.

The space instantly fell dead silent. Max and Jack rubbed their faces in utter annoyance while trying their absolute best to choke back a laugh, while Naomi whipped around, slapping both hands over her mouth to keep from bursting out. Meanwhile, Zach stood there looking incredibly awkward, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh... I think you got the wrong impression... I said I’m really falling for you because I like your vocals... not like that in a romantic way... um, I’m actually married too... you get what I mean, right?" Zach explained quickly.

Hearing Zach’s words, Monica instantly snapped her posture straight, a look of sheer confusion on her face. She glanced back at Emma, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura, who all looked equally dazed. When Monica turned back to face Zach, her face flushed bright red in an instant, and she immediately buried her face in both hands.

"Sorry... can I ask? How old are the six of you, exactly?" Zach asked.

"Um... seventeen," Emma answered.

"That explains it," Naomi muttered, still trying her best to choke back a laugh.

"You guys... are apparently still so innocent... sorry," Max said, turning around and covering his mouth to hide his amusement.

"Alright... sorry for the misunderstanding. Since you guys are only seventeen and still in high school, we can’t invite you to join our band anyway. Sorry about that again," Zach said.

"Um... okay," Emma replied, still not entirely grasping what Zach meant by that.

Suddenly, a massive burst of applause and piercing whistles erupted from out front. Everyone immediately turned their heads toward the stage beside them.

"Is Eric already done?" Emma asked.

"Looks like it," Chloe answered.

"Hey, we need to talk."

They all turned to look at Kevin, who was standing behind them, holding his smartphone and a business card in his hands.

***

Five minutes earlier, when Eric first stepped onto the stage, a total hush fell over the crowd. He bowed at the center of the stage, then walked over to the keyboard, grabbing the mic stand along the way to set it up right beside the keys. Seeing the audience waiting in dead silence for his performance, Eric didn’t say a word. Without introducing himself or greeting the crowd, he simply pressed the first key.

His fingers instantly began flying across the keyboard, leaving the audience completely spellbound. The crowd looked visibly shocked; using just a keyboard, Eric made it sound like an entire backing band was playing along with him, pulling off the performance of a one-man band. Then, Eric began to sing, his deep, raspy vocals sounding incredibly beautiful as he poured his entire soul into the music.

This time around, there were no cheers at all. The entire audience stayed silent, absorbing every single lyric Eric sang with profound emotion. A few people in the crowd even started tearing up, some pressed their hands against their chests, and others swayed slowly to the rhythm. The melody, the lyrics, and the notes Eric played resonated so deeply within the audience’s hearts that not a single sound could be heard from the crowd.

Even the cameramen stood completely frozen behind their equipment, as if their eyes were locked onto their viewfinders. Meanwhile, all the way at the back of the lot,

"Anthony," Robert said.

"Yes, Mr. Harrison?" Anthony replied, turning to face his boss.

"In addition to Reed’s Empress... invite him as well. He’s the guy from that livestream, and it’s a stroke of luck that we ran into him today. We need him in Trinity Entertainment too. Go, quickly," Robert ordered.

"Y-yes, sir," Anthony replied, immediately rushing off.

The moment the song ended, a heavy silence lingered over the venue for a brief second, right until Eric stepped out from behind the keyboard and took a bow. Instantly, a massive wave of applause, whistles, and roars echoed through the entire space. Eric glanced down at his holographic screen.

[First objective complete.]

[Second objective : Escape and avoid getting caught by anyone from Trinity Entertainment, alongside Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura.]

Eric furrowed his brow, his expression turning dead serious the moment he read his second objective.