Rise To Stardom - Chapter 180

Chapter 180: In Reverse
Slowly but surely, the month of October was reaching its end and Kyle, was obviously, hard at work with his album.

Despite all the sudden debacle and drama that had sprung up at the Award’s Show due to Justin’s comments and him losing out on the award again, the young man remained unperturbed and simply focused on the task at hand.

In fact, Justin’s comments and the debacle couldn’t have come at a better time to help promote his album’s announcement even further in a frankly unexpected way.

This was largely thanks to his steadfast fans who backed him up by sitting on the belief that Kyle didn’t attend the award show because he was busy with his debut album and honestly, also wasn’t obligated to considering last year’s shenanigans had repeated itself again.

Now that the production of the fourth song had been finalized though, the young man had immediately moved on to figuring out the remaining three.

As usual, it had been pretty taxing on him mentally but gradually, he sorted it out.

His team too, did a good job of keeping the album in the general public’s minds every once in a while over the course of the rest of the year, but not to the point of overexposure.

Eventually, by the time November came and went, and, December’s heavy snow and jingling bells of Christmas paid a visit, New Year’s soon arrived.

And on the 17th of January, 2021, Kyle Kestis, finally recorded the last song to complete his Debut Album.

* * *

“Congratulations Kyle!! Woo!!!” Jennie applauded alongside Owen and Oliver, both of whom shared a similar smile of pride as the young star exited the recording booth.

Caleb, Maeve and Paul, also applauded in respect, all of whom now collectively had the band name ‘Kickback Radio’, courtesy of [Awake], the song Kyle had produced for them needing an artist name to be featured in the game’s credits.

For everyone of them, it had been an amazing experience being part of the journey that led to Kyle finally completing his debut album, Oliver more than anyone else in the room especially.

Basking in the applause though, also showing his appreciation for all their help, everyone soon dispersed a few minutes later to satiate their hunger.

They had been working all morning after all with nothing in their stomachs and needed a good refuel.

Owen on the other hand, went to get refreshments for both himself, Oliver and Kyle.

Now, it was only the young star and his agent in the room, both having a pretty mundane conversation that then eventually got cut short when Oliver, received a phone call from one of the managers handling reservations for one of the sites they had been planning to rent out for one of Kyle’s music videos.

Now alone in the room, Kyle took the opportunity to pull up his notifications and the system’s interface.

| You have completed your very first album! |

| Huge bonus will be applied! |

| You have obtained a huge amount of exp. points! |

| 15,000 exp. points have been awarded! |

| Total exp. points available (25,150) |

| [Resonance] has increased from Grade A to Grade S! |

| Host now has full control over [Resonance]! |

| Singing has advanced from level 14 to level 15! |

| Composing has advanced from level 14 to level 15! |

| Instrument Mastery (Piano) has advanced from level 10 to level 11! |

| Instrument Mastery (Guitar) has advanced from level 10 to level 11! |

| Advancement in singing and composing will become exponentially harder from here on out! |

| Advancement in Instrument Mastery will become even harder from here on out! |

| Keep singing, composing and performing to improve your skills! |

___________________________

{Kyle Kestis} – Exp. Points (25,150)

⸶Skills⸷

| [Soulful Vocals (P)], [Growth Spurt (P)], [Appraisal(A)], [Resonance (P)] – {S}], [Charisma (P)], [Polyglot (P)], [Deep Dive (A) – {S}], [Recollection (P)], [Scene Stealer (A)], [Action & Stunt Mastery (P)], [Bleeding Effect (P)], [Detoxification (A)], [Peak Human Conditioning (P)], [Flow (P)], [Choreography Master (P)]…

* Exp. Points can be used to create skills.

⸶Levels⸷

| Singing › Level 15

| Acting › Level 14

| Composing › Level 15

| Dancing › Level 12

| Instrument Mastery (Piano/Guitar) › Level 11/11

* Levels will increase in accordance to your growth.

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As the young man stared at his panel, he let out a genuine sigh of contented relief.

Closing off the interface though, Kyle’s attention shifted to the door as Maria and Christina walked in a few minutes later.

Casually lounging on the couch, Kyle watched as Christina plopped right beside him, congratulating him with the brightest of smiles on his completed album while also, handing out the music video scripts for the music videos.

Maria too, also congratulated Kyle, her expression warm.

Both had already met Oliver on their way out whom had briefly, informed them that Kyle was done with the album.

That said, out of all the seven songs Kyle had created, only three of the songs were planned to get a full-fledged, high-production value music video.

One of the songs though, although originally included amongst the three that had been chosen to have a music video, was instead going to be promoted mostly through radio, as per Stuart and Oliver’s recommendation after listening to the full song.

<Thank you Christina. Really, I appreciate it.> Kyle thanked the lady with a warm smile of his own as he received the scripts.

<Oh it’s nothing. You deserve the best and only the best, Kyle.> she signed in response with a beautiful smile nestling on her lips.

Just as Kyle was about to go through the scripts though, Maria then commented;

“The ideas for the music videos are very feasible. Won’t be too much of a hassle to shoot really… save for the fourth song, of course…”

To that, Kyle laughed lightly, understanding where Maria was coming from.

The production values for the fourth song were quite literally, off the charts and expensive to say the least… for an independent artist like Kyle at least.

It was an idea Kyle had run through Christina, just like his other music video ideas, one that the talented lady herself then went on to refine to perfection.

In fact, by the time Jasmine had read through Christina’s written script for it, she couldn’t help but be quite excited yet similarly concerned about the expenses Kyle was going to end up spending.

To really sell the music video, the young star was going to need a healthy amount of professional back-up singers and also dancers, none of whom would be content with being paid meagerly for their services.

As for the music video of the second song, one that involved the guys solely, theirs was more streamlined yet similarly exciting, the expenses far less than that of the fourth song.

“We’ll work it out, I’m sure.” Kyle responded to Maria’s words, his tone relaxed as Christina chuckled.

Nodding in her head in agreement, the music video director then casually spoke again;

“That said, the music video for your lead single, although will be the easiest to shoot, will require you to learn the lyrics of the song, backwards.”

No sooner had she said that, Kyle tilted his head in a mix of confused curiosity, wondering how Christina had spun his idea into something unexpected.

Glancing over to her, eyes seemingly questioning if that was true, the young man watched as the lady gently bobbed her head up and down in response.

“Huh…?” Kyle couldn’t help but mutter out loud, curious about the script as he picked it out to read.

Just as he was about to though, Owen whom was back with refreshments, walked back in with a light smile on his lips while stating;

“Carlos just contacted me a few seconds ago and he said, that the game, is finally completed!”

“He also said, that you can give the order to release it anytime from next month and they’d be confident to show the game to the world.” Owen concluded, much to Kyle’s genuine excitement.

And as if to add to that good news, Oliver too, walked in almost immediately and stated casually;

“Just got off the call with the Manager in charge and he said, that we have permission to use the beach for the music video next week.”

* * *

Grand Bend Beach.

Located on the shores of Lake Huron in, Ontario, Canada, it was typically a vibrant, sunny and picturesque hotspot to visit for tourists and locals alike.

However, in the freezing cold of winter, it took on a much quieter and calming atmosphere, the soft golden sands, nowhere to be found.

All that was left of the beachscape and the surprisingly energetic waves of its turquoise waters, was a fascinating thin strip of sand by the shores, followed by a very wide strip of snow that then layered the rest of the beach.

As the falling snow, reflected through Kyle’s irises, a warm smile was nestled on his lips.

“It’s perfect…” he quietly commented as he stared at the snowy beachscape, hands in the pockets of his winter coat as the vapor from his breath, diffused into the cold air.

Jennie and the rest of the crew were also a few meters behind him in the distance, pulling their stuff out of their van slowly and carefully.

Oliver, Owen and Jennie too were also around, each of them walking across the expanse of the snowing beachscape in interest while the film crew, quickly began to set up the equipment with skilled professionalism.

“I have to say Miss. Aubert. You truly outdid yourself this time.” Kyle soon spoke again as he glanced over to the lady whom had walked over to stand beside him, the rest of her untucked blonde hair gently ruffling in the cold breeze.

Currently, the lady’s hands were encased in cute, self-knitted yet patterned white gloves, along with a winter cap and a muffler.

Taking a small bow of pride, Christina then chuckled silently… after which she then tugged on Kyle’s muffler in realization, her question evident from the gesture.

“Yeah. Would’ve been a shame if I just let your birthday gift go to waste eh?” he responded with a light smile, to which the lady’s cheeks flushed red in appreciation.

Soon, she gave Kyle a small, approving head bobble in agreement, which in turn, earned a slight chuckle from the young man.

The self-knitted blue muffler Christina had gifted Kyle for his birthday last year, was one that he hadn’t even been around to receive as he had already travelled to Miami by then.

That said, when he did return, he had been very appreciative of it, enough that he’d been wearing it consistently whenever he got the chance.

“Alright Kyle. We’ll be ready to shoot the music video in five.” Maria stated as she walked over to the duo and then added;

“Hope you’re ready too Christie?”

In response, Christina nodded affirmatively and so did Kyle who responded, his tone calm and confident;

“Already have the lyrics learnt backwards, perfectly, so I’m all set.”

“You just say the word director, and I’ll be ready.” he concluded, a relaxed smile on his lips.