Super Versatile System: Urban Domination

Chapter Eight

All of Abel's classmates were looking at him like he was some alien. Abel had been strangely quiet today.

  Mathew hit his shoulder playfully and whispered,

  "Why are you so moody today? Did someone steal your babe?"

  "Get lost!" Abel kicked him harshly.

  Unbeknownst to them, someone else had been monitoring him the whole time.

  "Abel, are you okay?" Mrs. Alicia couldn't hold herself back anymore and asked worriedly. Among all the teachers in the school, she was the one most familiar with Abel despite being quite new.

  It was due to Abel’s constant teasing. That had left a deep impression on her.

  "Yes, I'm fine, Miss Alicia."

  "Having a bad day, I see. Meet me in the staffroom after this class." She didn’t say anything else and continued teaching the class.

  Mathew patted his friend again, playfully.

  "You are my GOAT, Abel. My mentor."

  Abel knew what he was getting at but ignored him. Funny enough, all the guys seemed to agree with Mathew as they looked at Abel in reverence, while the girls pouted.

  After the morning class was over, Abel went to the staffroom as instructed.

  "Abel, your grades aren't good at all. You keep getting bad results every term. If you continue like this, you might not be able to pass the national exam," Miss. Alicia started reprimanding him the moment he walked in. Luckily, no other teachers were around to witness Abel getting scolded.

  He smiled cheerfully.

  "You seem to care so much about me, Miss Alicia. Could it be that you've truly fallen for me?"

  "Bastard!" She felt like beating him up right there. She was only being nice because she believed Abel was a kid with good potential and had left a strong impression on her.

  "Mind how you talk to your teacher, Abel," she warned. He laughed and didn’t continue teasing her.

  "Here, I made some notes for you. I wrote down some important topics to focus on." She handed him a notebook.

  "Leave now. I don’t want to see your face anymore," she added, dismissing him.

  "Thank you, Miss Alicia. You always look out for me. In case you have truly fallen for me... I want you to know I also like you." He immediately escaped after saying that.

  Alicia was exasperated. She looked around to make sure no one else had heard what he just said. Luckily, they were the only ones in the staffroom.

  "That bastard! How could he be bold enough to flirt with me?" she cursed.

  But... why didn’t I find it unpleasant? Did I truly like him? No... how could I think of such a thing? What’s wrong with me? This is all your fault, bastard!

  Abel was unaware of her inner monologue. At the moment, he was outside the school. He had just received a call to come and sign some documents for his new record label.

  "So, you’re Mr. Abel Wyn? You're younger than I expected," said Mr. Johnson, the former owner of Sky Movers Label.

  Abel quietly studied the man. He was short and pot-bellied. His hair was already balding, but he refused to shave the rest, giving him a comical look. He wore a dark grey business suit and had a wide smile on his face.

  Abel quickly signed the documents with him. The man looked relieved afterward. It seemed like he had just gotten rid of a heavy burden. Abel had a bad feeling about this.

  "Mr. Abel, once again, thank you very much. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going," the man said.

  Abel nodded, still wondering how the system managed to acquire properties without being physically present.

  On second thought, it was probably done digitally. In today's world, the internet was more advanced. Properties could be acquired online. Even some real estate mansions were being bought that way.

  Abel decided to visit the label to assess the situation. He took a cab to Westlake Business Area, where the label was located. The cab dropped him at the address the system gave him.

  "So this is the label? It’s quite large," he muttered, staring at a two-story building. The place looked majestic and matched his aesthetics. He stepped in calmly.

  To his surprise, two men were already standing at the entrance, as if waiting for him.

  "Boss, welcome," they both greeted.

  One of them, a middle-aged man with a mustache, stepped forward.

  "I’m the manager of Star Movers Entertainment Tony Stark and this man here is our music video director, Micheal Logan. We received word from our former boss that you’d be coming today."

  Abel nodded approvingly.

  "What’s the current state of the label?" That was his first question. He had a nagging feeling something wasn’t right.

  The manager smiled wryly and scratched his head.

  "Actually... our label is currently facing major difficulties. The former owner was a gambler. One day, he lost a huge amount of money and tried to reclaim it using the label’s funds."

  He sighed before continuing.

  "The label wasn’t huge to begin with, we’re just a medium-sized record label and hadn’t been around that long. He lost the money, and when it was time to pay the artists their royalties, we couldn’t. That caused a huge problem. Many of them used the chance to break their contracts."

  "They thought there was no hope left since we could no longer promote them due to lack of funds."

  "The company couldn’t fine them either, because we were the ones who failed to fulfill the contract terms. If not for that, they would’ve never dared to leave, not with the kind of penalty they’d normally face."

  "Currently, we only have two artists, and they’re new. One of them is currently participating in the Star Rising competition that airs on TV. That show’s been gaining traction lately. If she manages to rank well in the finals, she might debut easily... since she hasn’t debuted yet."

  Abel felt like crying.

  System, you are very unreliable. He imagined himself flipping the system off.

  So this was it? A broken label with only two artists, and one hadn’t even debuted?

  The two men exchanged awkward glances. They knew their new boss would be disappointed.

  But Abel didn’t dwell on it for long. He wasn’t someone who liked crying over spilled milk. He preferred finding solutions.

  He decided to tour the label first, then figure out his next course of action.