One Man Band System

Later that night, after dropping the girls off and leaving the van at Emma’s house, Eric finally made it back to his own place via a rideshare. The moment he walked inside, he sat down at the dining table and pulled up his system inventory. Hidden inside was an investment portfolio he hadn’t touched yet, along with a brand-new folder containing the shares for Trinity Entertainment. He clicked on both, and two physical folders materialized in his hands, one thick, one thin.

He opened a rather thick folder titled "Investment Portfolio." Flipping it open, he scanned the contents page and was instantly blown away by what he found. It was a comprehensive breakdown of stocks and 10 year growth projections for five separate corporations, along with several copies of land deeds in two prime locations, one of which was right in the central business district.

But what completely threw him off and caught him off guard was realizing that those five corporations actually belonged to his friends’ families. The last names of the CEOs and owners of these major conglomerates perfectly matched the last names of his friends.

The portfolio covered two of Priya’s father’s companies, which operated in hardware manufacturing and cybersecurity software, as well as a security firm, a hospital management group, and a medical equipment company owned by Heidi’s father, the law firm owned by Monica’s father, and finally, the real estate and development firm owned by Chloe.

"Thud."

Eric leaned back heavily in his chair, lost in thought. Without even realizing it, he had been backing the businesses of his friends’ parents as a silent investor. On top of that, it hit him that Chloe was technically a CEO, even though she was still in school and didn’t actively manage the company’s daily operations.

Then, as he reached the bottom of the list and scanned the fine print, he read the name listed as the primary investor. It was his own name, passed down as an inheritance from his father, Ethan Reed. He couldn’t wrap his head around it; he had received this investment portfolio directly from the system, so why was his father’s name officially listed as the person who had bequeathed it to him?

"Is this... for real? Is all of this even legal? If it is, then when I bought those computers and security cameras complete with installation yesterday from Priya’s father’s company... did I just buy them from my own company? I need to ask Mr. Stone about this. Maybe I should just snap a photo and text it to him... I’m so confused," Eric thought to himself.

Eric picked up his smartphone. Looking down at his lock screen background, he saw the picture he had taken together with Emma, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, Monica, and Laura.

"So that means every single one of them... is an heiress to a massive corporation... and I’ve just been treating them like regular people this whole time. No wonder the system ordered me to run away earlier. If they end up becoming superstars, they won’t be taking over their fathers’ companies, right... man, I am completely out of my depth here," Eric thought to himself.

He ran his hands through his hair until it was completely messy and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He began snapping photos of the documents and forwarded them all to Richard Stone, adding a quick text: "Could you please help me make sense of all this?" Three typing dots appeared, vanished, and popped up again before a text finally came through.

"Come to my office tomorrow at 10 AM," Richard replied shortly, offering no further explanation.

"Will do, Mr. Stone," Eric texted back.

After that, Eric set his smartphone back down on the table, organized the contents of the thick folder, and shut it. He glanced over at the paperwork for the 5% stake in Trinity Entertainment, picked up the thin folder, flipped it open for a brief second, and stacked it neatly on top of the other one.

Then, Eric turned his head to look at a photo hanging on the wall, a picture of his grandfather that he had recently brought upstairs into his living area. He studied his grandfather’s face, which looked incredibly cheerful as he laughed out loud and held a hand up, posing alongside four other men in the frame.

"Who exactly were my grandfather and my dad? I know my dad was my kindergarten teacher, but was he really just a teacher?" Eric thought to himself.

He then remembered how Emma’s mom, who was a famous movie star, had recognized him instantly because of how much he resembled his father. He felt a sudden surge of curiosity and wanted to call Emma right then and there just to speak with her mother, Miranda. However, checking the time on his smartphone screen, he thought better of it, abandoned the idea, and set the phone back down.

But a moment later, "ring!" his phone suddenly started buzzing loudly. He picked it up and saw Kevin’s name flashing on the smartphone screen.

"Yeah? What’s up, Kevin?" Eric asked, answering the phone.

"I’m downstairs. Come on down," Kevin replied.

"Huh... you’re downstairs? For what?" Eric asked.

But the line had already gone dead. Eric immediately threw the phone onto the table and rushed downstairs. When he pulled the shop door open, he was shocked to see a van parked right out front. Kevin was leaning casually against the back door, smoking a cigarette, though his face looked visibly tense.

"What’s going on?" Eric asked, walking up to him.

Without saying a word, Kevin flung the van door open.

"Hey," Eric gasped, stunned to see Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura all sitting in the back. He glanced over at Kevin, who gave him a slight smirk and looked right back at him.

"Seriously, what is all this?" Eric asked.

"They’re crashing at your place tonight... simple as that," Kevin answered casually, blowing a puff of smoke into the air.

Hearing Kevin’s explanation, Eric instantly whipped his head around to look at Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Heidi, and Laura. Sure enough, they were all packed and ready with their duffel bags, already dressed in their pajamas, offering shy smiles while doing their best to avoid his eyes.

"What’s going on? Why did you guys ask to come back here? Didn’t I just drop you all off at home?" Eric asked, completely bewildered.

"Um... it’s nothing, hehehe," Emma muttered.

"They got chewed out big time by their parents and wanted to crash at my place, but obviously my mom wasn’t having it. That’s why I brought them to you. Catch my drift?" Kevin chimed in.

"Huh... why on earth did they get chewed out like that?" Eric asked, still confused.

"Because they were all over the TV broadcast, on repeat... even my mom was getting annoyed by it, though she gets it, haha," Kevin answered casually with a smirk.

"Wait... that festival from earlier... it was broadcast on TV?" Eric asked.

"Of course it was. My friend’s company event was huge and had full city approval, so obviously it was going to be televised as an official event... that’s basically how it went down, and their parents immediately chewed them up and spit them out," Kevin answered, looking thoroughly amused as he glanced back at the six girls inside the van with a teasing smirk.

Eric smacked his forehead and glanced at the six blushing girls inside the vehicle. He shook his head; he knew that even though he didn’t want to get dragged into this, he had to take responsibility. After all, he was the one who had formed them into a band in the first place, completely oblivious to their backgrounds.

"Alright, fine... everyone come on inside," Eric said, utterly defeated and resigned to his fate.

"Yay!" the girls cheered happily.

Without a second thought, all six girls bolted out of the van with their luggage, rushed into the shop, and disappeared through the staff room to head upstairs. Eric could only watch from the outside alongside Kevin, who was still leaning casually against the van, smoking.

"I thought that festival was just a local thing... if I had known, there’s no way I would’ve agreed to perform," Eric said.

"Well... you and the girls really bailed me out today, so consider this ride my way of saying thanks. Just let them crash here for a few days, at least until their parents cool down a bit," Kevin replied, patting Eric on the back.

"Whatever, I guess. Who even are their parents anyway?" Eric asked, playing dumb.

"They’re all daughters of corporate big shots... so it makes sense why they got chewed out like that. Their families probably think it’s embarrassing for them to perform at an event like that... it’s always complicated with rich people," Kevin answered, shrugging his shoulders with his palms up.

"I see," Eric said with a sigh.

"Oh... except for Chloe. She’s just doing this out of solidarity with her friends, hahaha," Kevin added casually.

"How’s that?" Eric asked, confused.

"Because the only ones who actually ran away to my place were Heidi, Laura, Priya, and Monica... then before heading over here, they asked me to pick up Chloe, who decided to join in to support them," Kevin answered.

"I see," Eric said, turning his head to look inside. "Makes sense. Based on that portfolio from earlier... Chloe owns the company... and her profile says she’s an orphan... what a crazy situation, why am I getting dragged into drama like this," Eric thought to himself.