The Music system

Chapter Three : The first challenge

Jamal stared at the blue screen floating before him.

[HOST, YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL MUSIC CHALLENGE IS NOW AVAILABLE.]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT?]

He didn't hesitate.

"Yes!"

[DING!]

[CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!]

[BEGINNER'S CHALLENGE: BECOME A STREET SENSATION.]

[OBJECTIVE: PERFORM AN ORIGINAL SONG THAT ATTRACTS AT LEAST 500,000 VIEWS ONLINE.]

[TIME LIMIT: 48 HOURS.]

[REWARD: $50,000 + RANDOM MUSIC SKILL.]

[FAILURE: 50% REDUCTION IN HOST'S CURRENT BANK BALANCE.]

Jamal's smile slowly disappeared.

"Wait. What?"

He read the notification again and blinked twice.

Five hundred thousand views?

Within forty-eight hours?

"Are you kidding me?"

There was no way he could have that kind of view. Even Zack Effron couldn't pull that kind of stunt in just seconds.

He looked around at the people who had gathered to watch his performance.

There were barely twenty of them.

How was he supposed to get half a million views?

[DING!]

[HOST, YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY UNLOCKED THE MUSICAL SHOP.]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ENTER?]

Jamal sighed.

"At least let me see what you have."

He pressed the floating button and Immediately, another screen appeared.

[MAGIC MUSIC WORLD – MUSICAL SHOP]

AVAILABLE CATEGORIES:

1. VOCAL SKILLS.

2. SONG CREATION.

3. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

4. STAGE PERFORMANCE.

5. SPECIAL ABILITIES.

6. LEGENDARY MUSIC LIBRARY.

Jamal's eyes widened.

"Legendary Music Library?"

He tapped the category.

A list of songs appeared before him.

There were thousands of them, arranged according to different genres.

Pop.

R&B.

Hip-hop.

Country.

Rock.

Jazz.

Gospel.

Classical music.

There were even songs he had never heard before.

He scrolled down until another notification appeared.

[PLEASE NOTE: ALL SONGS IN THE LEGENDARY MUSIC LIBRARY ARE EXCLUSIVE SYSTEM COMPOSITIONS.]

[HOST MAY UNLOCK SONGS USING MUSIC POINTS.]

[CURRENT MUSIC POINTS: 0.]

Jamal scratched his head.

"Of course. Nothing comes for free."

He returned to the main shop and checked his available balance.

[AVAILABLE CASH: $10,000.]

His eyes widened when he saw the money was actually there.

He quickly opened his banking application.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe.

His previous balance of $12.46 had changed.

$10,012.46.

He stared at the screen before letting out a loud laugh.

"Ten thousand dollars!"

A man sitting nearby turned towards him.

"Are you alright, brother?"

Jamal quickly nodded, "Yeah. I'm perfectly fine!"

He looked at his account again.

For the first time in months, he wasn't completely broke.

He could pay his rent, clear some of his debts and buy proper equipment.

But then his expression changed when he remembered Zack.

That bastard had offered him one hundred thousand dollars to keep quiet.

Jamal shook his head.

"Just wait. I'll show you what a real musician looks like."

***********

Thirty minutes later.

Jamal finally left the street performance area.

His legs were tired, and his throat felt slightly dry.

However, something unusual had happened during his performance.

A young woman had approached him, asking whether he was a professional singer while another man had requested his social media account.

A few people had even recorded videos of him.

He hadn't thought much about it until his phone started vibrating.

DING!

DING!

DING!

Jamal frowned.

He brought it out and noticed several notifications.

A message from an unknown number caught his attention.

Unknown: Hey, are you the guy who was singing beside the subway station?

Jamal typed a reply.

Jamal: Yes. Why?

Unknown: I recorded your performance. I've uploaded it online. It's already getting attention.

Jamal's eyebrows rose.

"Really?"

He immediately opened the social media application.

There it was.

A video of him singing with a caption over his head.

WHO IS THIS GUY? I STOPPED WALKING WHEN I HEARD HIS VOICE!

The video had already accumulated over three thousand views.

Jamal's mouth opened.

"Three thousand?"

He refreshed the page again and saw 3,245 views.

He refreshed again and the viewers kept pushing up.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

Then he checked the comments.

His fingers moved quickly across the screen.

This guy can actually sing!

Why have I never heard of him before?

His voice is incredible.

Someone needs to sign this man!

Wait! Is he the guy who wrote Zack Effron's new song?

Jamal's smile disappeared when he read the last comment.

Another person replied.

No way. Zack wrote that song himself. Stop spreading nonsense.

Jamal clenched his jaw.

Even on the internet, Zack's fans were defending him.

He locked his phone.

"Not yet. I'll deal with that later."

***************

The following morning,Jamal woke up to the sound of his phone ringing.

He groaned and reached for it.

His landlord's name appeared on the screen.

He almost ignored the call but eventually answered.

"Hello, Mr. Collins."

"Jamal! Where is my money?"

Jamal rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Good morning to you too."

"Don't play games with me. Your rent is overdue, and I've been patient enough."

Jamal sat up.

"I know. I'm sorry about that. I'll make the payment today."

There was a brief silence.

"Today?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Jamal smiled.

"Absolutely."

"Alright. I'll give you until evening."

The call ended.

Jamal immediately opened his banking application again.

He smiled when he saw the balance.

"Finally."

He quickly transferred the outstanding rent and paid some of his debts.

After that, he went to the bathroom, took a shower and changed into clean clothes.

He had something important to do. He needed to record a proper song.

The street performance was only the beginning.

***********

Two hours later.

Jamal stood inside a small music studio.

It wasn't particularly impressive, but it had everything he needed.

A recording booth, a microphone, a computer and a sound engineer.

The studio belonged to a man named Derek, someone Jamal had met during one of his performances.

Derek had agreed to give him a discount after hearing his voice.

"So, what are we recording today?" Derek asked.

Jamal placed his backpack on the floor.

"Something new."

Derek raised an eyebrow, "Something new?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have the lyrics?"

Jamal nodded.

"Actually, I have something in mind."

He sat down and opened his laptop.

For a moment, he considered using the song Zack had stolen.

It would have been easy.

He could record his original version and release it online, proving that he was the real songwriter but he needed something bigger.

Something that would make people remember him.

His eyes suddenly moved towards his phone.

The Magic Music World system.

He opened it.

[HOST, WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS THE SONG CREATION FEATURE?]

Jamal's eyebrows rose.

"Song creation?"

He quickly pressed YES.

[SONG CREATION FEATURE ACTIVATED.]

[HOST MAY NOW CREATE ORIGINAL SONGS USING AVAILABLE MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE.]

[CURRENT SONG CREATION LEVEL: BEGINNER.]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE A BEGINNER SONG CREATION PACKAGE?]

Jamal tapped the screen.

[BEGINNER SONG CREATION PACKAGE: $2,000.]

His eyes widened.

"Two thousand dollars?"

He hesitated.

That was a lot of money but then he remembered the challenge.

He needed half a million views.

If the system could help him create something special, it might be worth the investment.

"Purchase."

[DING!]

[PURCHASE SUCCESSFUL.]

[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: MUSICAL INSPIRATION.]

[HOST CAN NOW COMPOSE ORIGINAL MELODIES WITH IMPROVED MUSICAL UNDERSTANDING.]

Jamal felt a strange warmth spread through his body.

Suddenly, several musical ideas began flowing through his mind.

He could hear different instruments playing together.

The sound of a piano, A soft guitar, A beautiful drum pattern and a melody that seemed to fit perfectly with the words forming inside his head.

He quickly opened his laptop.

"Derek, give me a minute."

The sound engineer looked at him.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just got an idea."

Jamal began typing. Within minutes, he had written the first verse.

Then the chorus.

He hummed the melody before adjusting a few notes.

Derek slowly turned towards him.

"Hold on."

Jamal continued working.

"What's wrong?"

Derek stared at the screen.

"Did you just compose that?"

Jamal nodded.

"Yeah."

Derek leaned closer.

"Play it again."

Jamal hummed the melody.

The man's expression changed.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

Jamal chuckled.

"I've been doing music for years."

Derek shook his head.

"That's not what I mean. This melody is beautiful."

Jamal smiled.

"Then let's record it."

---

Three hours later.

Jamal stood inside the recording booth.

He adjusted the headphones over his ears and looked through the glass at Derek.

"Are you ready?"

Derek nodded.

"Whenever you are."

The instrumental began.

Jamal closed his eyes then he started singing. His voice flowed smoothly over the melody.

He sang about a young man who had nothing but dreams, a man who had been rejected by the world but refused to surrender.

The lyrics were personal.

They were about his struggles, his disappointment and his determination to rise above everything.

When he reached the chorus, his voice became stronger.

Derek slowly leaned back in his chair.

He had worked with several upcoming singers, but there was something different about Jamal.

The young man wasn't just singing, he was making him feel every word.

When the recording ended, Derek remained quiet.

Jamal removed his headphones.

"How was it?"

Derek looked at him.

"Play it again."

Jamal laughed.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Play it again."

The man shook his head.

"Jamal, where have you been hiding all this talent?"

Jamal smiled.

"Somewhere nobody cared to look."

Derek laughed.

"Well, I think people are about to start looking."

Jamal looked at the recording screen.

He had finally done it.

He had created something that belonged entirely to him.

[DING!]

[ORIGINAL SONG SUCCESSFULLY CREATED.]

[SONG TITLE: RISE ABOVE.]

[QUALITY: EXCELLENT.]

[GENRE: POP/R&B.]

[HOST HAS RECEIVED 10 MUSIC POINTS.]

Jamal's eyes widened.

"Ten points?"

He quickly opened the system.

[CURRENT MUSIC POINTS: 10.]

He smiled.

Things were finally beginning to make sense.

That evening.

Jamal sat on his bed, preparing to upload his new song.

He had created a simple cover image and used his own name as the artist.

JAMAL.

He stared at the screen for a moment.

For years, he had imagined what it would feel like to release a song under his own name.

Now it was happening.

He pressed the upload button.

[YOUR SONG HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY UPLOADED.]

[BEGINNER'S CHALLENGE PROGRESS: 0.5%.]

Jamal frowned.

"Only half a percent?"

He refreshed the page but nothing changed. He sighed and dropped his phone on the bed.

"Well, I guess I have to be patient."

A few minutes later, his phone vibrated. It was a notification from social media.

Someone had commented on his song then another notification appeared and another.

Jamal picked up his phone and his eyes widened.

The number of people listening to his song was increasing rapidly.

5,000.

12,000.

27,000.

He sat up.

"What?"

He refreshed the page.

The numbers kept climbing.

Then he noticed a new comment.

WAIT! ISN'T THIS THE GUY WHO SANG BESIDE THE SUBWAY STATION?

Another comment appeared.

I LOVE THIS SONG! WHO IS THIS JAMAL GUY?

Jamal's mouth slowly opened.

He looked at the system.

[DING!]

[BEGINNER'S CHALLENGE PROGRESS: 8%.]

[HOST, YOUR SONG IS RECEIVING POSITIVE ATTENTION.]

He smiled.

But just as he was about to celebrate, another notification appeared.

It was a message from an unknown account.

Unknown: Hello, Jamal. My name is Victor Hayes. I'm the talent director of Global Star Records. I've listened to your new song, and I'd like to discuss something important with you.

Jamal stared at the message.

Global Star Records?

One of the biggest music companies in New York?

He quickly opened the sender's profile and the account was verified.

His heart began beating faster.

Then another message arrived.

Victor Hayes: Also, I believe we can work out something interesting. Reply to messages of you are interested.

Jamal stared at the screen and wasn't sure if joining a music industry was exactly where to begin his revenge against Ranita and Zack.