From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 166: Defense (1)

"You’re telling me it’s broken? Forever?"

[Yes.]

[Gone. Finito. The end. Hasta la vista, baby. Sayonara. Au revoir.]

[Shall we have a funeral?]

[Here lies snail mask. It didn’t live a good or long life...]

Ari couldn’t even be upset at the sarcastic words.

He was absolutely devastated at the loss of the mask that he had worn for almost 2 months straight.

He looked at the cracked snail mask that seemed to have lost its luster, gently running his finger over the crack.

"Please rethink it one more time. It can’t be broken. I’m sure you can do something."

[Do I seem like a magic genie that can grant you three wishes?]

"Yes. You do amazing things all the time, so you can do this. I believe in you." Ari replied honestly.

After all, he had no idea how this system worked, and it was somehow spitting out magical items that could affect the real world.

If that wasn’t magic, then what was?

It seemed that NOVA was suitably flattered because the blue transparent flickered for a bit, flashing red before it became blue once more.

[...]

[Hmmmmm.]

[I appreciate the flattery, but unfortunately, it will get you nowhere.]

[There’s really nothing I can do.]

[Once an item is broken, it’s broken forever. And you can never draw a replacement, so utilize them carefully.]

[As a free warning, be careful about your tracksuit.]

[If you keep washing that tracksuit every day, the threads will eventually fall apart and it will become useless.]

"How come? If it’s basically a magic item, it should last forever." Ari complained.

Of everything he had gained so far, that was his favorite apart from his face mask, and he couldn’t imagine not having it.

[That’s just how life is.]

[When you figure out how to live forever, let’s talk then.]

"But-"

[On a separate note-]

[Ding!]

[Surprise Mission: You think you’re better than me? It’s ci-pher you to prove it! - Complete]

[Reward: +2 Dance Stat Points]

[Surprisingly, you succeeded even if you didn’t directly participate, and since your opponent ran away, it’s your uncontested win.]

[Are you saving them or adding them to your dance stat?]

"Add them immediately, please."

[Dance + 2]

[Dance: D+ -> C (C+ with Ottterly adorable tracksuit)]

[Congratulations. You’ve entered the realm of normal dancers.]

[How do you feel?]

Ari hopped around while shaking his limbs and then spinning around before easily performing a move that Mathew had been trying to teach before.

It was as if his body was accurately reflecting what he pictured in his head.

Nothing felt jerky, all the movements felt smooth with his joints oiled, and nothing cracked.

If this were a C rank dance skill, he could only imagine what it felt like for someone like Mathew, who had an A rank dance skill.

"You know, I’ve always wondered, how do the stats actually work with my body? I didn’t really feel the change before, but I somehow feel lighter now that it has improved. Are you an alien, or is this some sort of spell or-"

[Rather than wondering about useless things, maybe you should go practice using these newly increased stats or go play defense for your friend?]

[The boy who’s not your friend seems to be getting a bit frustrated these days.]

"...fine."

Since NOVA wasn’t wrong, Ari easily agreed, carrying the mask and going back down from the roof.

As he walked by the staff office, the door opened, and the assistant PD, David, stepped out.

As their eyes met, Ari raised his brows at him, causing the assistant PD to glare at him before cursing under his breath and turning away.

"What’s his problem? I finally have my mask off, and he’s still unhappy?"

[Maybe he finds the sight of you annoying? You did threaten him the last time you saw him.]

"He threatened me first. Turnabout is fair play."

[Most adults don’t expect a child to talk back or threaten them in return.]

[This is why they call you a crash out.]

Then they shouldn’t act crazy toward me first.

Laughing to himself, Ari just shook his head as he made his way to Carlos’ room and knocked on the door. free𝑤ebnovel.com

The door quickly opened with Carlos handsome face being exposed in his training clothes while his roommates in the room stared at Ari in disbelief.

- Can’t believe that’s the face he was hiding.

- insane looks. If it were me, I’d be bragging constantly.

Since he had been getting that reaction since he was no longer wearing his mask, Ari just ignored it, nodding at Carlos.

"You came to pick me up again?"

"I’m your escort."

"You know you don’t have to do that. Nothing is going to happen to me. It’s literally safe here."

"You never know."

There’s somebody who is thirsting for your stats right this moment, Mr. #1 vocalist.

"Haha, okay. Let’s go to practice." Carlos laughed in his characteristic gentle manner as he mussed up Ari’s hair.

It was still amazing to him that this young-looking face belonged to a person who had such a sharp, forceful personality.

"Stop messing up my hair."

"Sorry, it’s a habit. It’s cause you remind me of my little brother. Same reaction too when somebody messes up his hair."

As Ari turned to glare at him, Carlos laughed harder but removed his hands, noting that Ari stayed still until he did so.

He was like an angry black cat that would complain and glare but still tolerate others messing with him as long as he liked them.

"Although his temper is not as bad as yours."

Ari immediately elbowed him in response, prompting Carlos to laugh with a ’see what I mean’.

"Whatever. Ah, speaking of which. Favorite color?"

"That’s random. Favorite color? That might be the first time I’ve been asked that. Hmmm," Carlos thought about it for a bit before speaking slowly, "Green and then red, though it doesn’t really matter. Why?"

"Just wondering," Ari replied neutrally.

The staff had previously asked them to submit stage outfit ideas, and along with Vishal’s idea, they had chosen a predominantly black uniform with rainbow-colored, reflective-lined details that would glow when hit by stage lights.

Ari was gunning for the all black outfit, but kept Carlos’ preference in mind since the older boy rarely spoke up for what he actually wanted.

Benjamin, with his expansive network of connections, had told him that one of the staff members had secretly said to him that the team costumes would be delivered today, so Ari was looking forward to it.

"You’re late." William immediately said as he stared at Ari before looking away, mindful of the cameraman in the room.

"Oh. Sorry about that." Ari replied insincerely and went to take his seat, sandwiching a bemused Carlos between himself and Benjamin.

He noticed that William generally didn’t speak to Benjamin if he didn’t have to, and both boys tended to pretend the other didn’t exist, except in front of the cameras.

There were two large boxes and a small one at the front of the practice room, one containing the uniforms, one with helmets, and one with the foot coverings and Ari’s special prop, which he was looking forward to using.

As the leader, William opened the boxes and brought out the top costume, which was completely black, with thin, reflected red stripes in cool, angular, and circular patterns along the arms, legs, chest, and back.

He then brought out the plastic red and black helmet, which had similar red patterns, trying it on his head while posing.

"How do I look?"

"That looks sick!"

"They actually did a really good job with it."

"I want to see what it looks like with the stage lights."

Everybody agreed that it looked quite cool, and the excitement toward performing only grew.

Satisfied with the praise, William removed it with a satisfied smirk before he began speaking, "Well, let’s start distributing costumes. I think you’ll all agree that as the leader, I should get the red costume. That’s literally the color of leadership."

The team all glanced at each other and shrugged, letting William’s words slide since there was generally no point in arguing, since all the costume colors looked good.

The only one that people didn’t really want was the black one.

"I want the blue one. To match the movie," Vishal added with a happy smile. It was a bit surreal for him to see his vision come to life.

"Yellow for me, and I’ll fight you all for it. Fist to cuffs." Benjamin added excitedly.

"You’re going to look like a warning sign," Mathew grumbled

"A very sexy one innit." The British boy replied while waggling his eyebrows at Mathew, who snorted.

"I’ll take whatever is left over," Carlos said quietly.

Rolling his eyes at the expected answer, Ari raised his hand and spoke loudly.

"I want the green one."

"It doesn’t match your prop." Naturally, William interjected, but Ari just continued speaking in a lazy tone.

"So? It matches my eyes. If anyone else wants it, let’s just rock, paper, scissors for it. If not, it’s mine."

Nobody else wanted to argue about it, and once each person had chosen, Ari held his hand out to Carlos, who high-fived him in confusion.

"Not that. Gimme."

"What?"

"Helmet, foot cover, and costume. Give me yours and take mine."

Carlos looked even more confused.

"Why? You said you wanted the green one. I told you, I’m fine with anything. Black is fine."

"I lied. I never wanted it in the first place, and always wanted black. Since green is your favorite color, take this and gimme." Ari snatched the all black helmet and outfit with a pleased expression.

Although Carlos looked a bit touched, he tried to give it back, but refused.

"You really don’t have to do that. It’s plain and doesn’t stand out at all."

"I know. But I’ve always wanted the black costume. But if you really feel bad for me, ....let me use your motorcycle helmet as my helmet. Oh! And let me put temporary paint on it for the performance. I promise not to damage it."

"Sure, that’s fine." Carlos easily agreed, wanting to pay Ari back for helping him with the choreography and parts early in the morning and now this.

"No way! That’s not fair! I want a motorcycle helmet!" Haruto began complaining, trying to cling to Carlos, who gently patted his head like a little puppy.

"Yeah, it’s not fair! How come you’re nicer to Ari than to us?"

Because I suffer every day at 5 am because of him.

Even though he really didn’t mind, knowing how sensitive Carlos was about the issue, Ari just smirked at them while grabbing his bright orange toy dart gun from the box, aiming it at Mathew’s reflection in the mirror.

"It’s cause I’m good-looking."

"Hey! Are you saying we’re not good-looking?"

Pew!

Ari fired the orange gun at the mirror, and it stuck to it, positioned directly between Mathews’ eyes, before pretending to blow the smoke off the gun.

"Headshot. 10 points for me. And comme ci, comme ça? It depends on whether you brush that hair of yours before coming to the practice room."

"I know that much French! He said maybe we’re ugly!"

"You’ve gotten a lot cockier since you took that mask off."

"You jealous?"

"Jump him!"

As he was pinned down by Mathew, Haruto, and Nile, with Benjamin joining in as the ref for the love of the game, Ari let out one final shout.

"Jealousy is a disease!"

"And pinning you down will cure it!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Benjamin began chanting before getting on the ground and beginning to pound it as he counted down.

"He’s pinned! He’s pinned. Three! Ari, fight back! Fight back!"

"Two! I told you, you need to work out and lift weights! Now look at you! Losing a fight you started!"

"It’s 3 versus 1! How am I supposed to win?!" Ari shouted as he was smothered beneath the weight of all three of them. Despite looking skinny, they were all quite heavy!

"All I hear is excuses! One! K. O! Winner - Nile, Haruto, and Mathew! Congratulations boys, the great evil has been defeated!"

"Yay!"

"We are the champions-!" as the three boys held Carlos’s helmet like a trophy and marched around the room while singing, the cameraman couldn’t help but laugh at the shenanigans.

How had what was supposed to be the costume reveal and hint of their performance turned into a wrestling match?

"I demand a rematch!"

While the rematch was being noisily conducted, William sidled over to Carlos.

"Carlos, I wanted to ask if you had time to help me sing my part. As you know, I’ve not been doing so well lately, and you really helped me the last time."

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