BXBX NOVEL Chapter 41: What Tristan will compete against
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[Tristan Gemello (Tristan Hayes)]
[Current identity: Pop-star. Second identity: Criminal.]
[Pop-star rank: Vying Young Star.]
[Criminal rank: Rook.]
[Pop-star Points: 150]
[Criminal Points: 2690]
[===Attributes===]
[Appearance: 80]
[Charisma: 40]
[Fearsomeness: 44]
[Strength: 222]
[Dexterity: 227]
[Toughness: 144]
[===Skills===]
[Singing: 657]
[Dancing: 628]
[Playing guitar: 794]
[Music theory: 279]
[Music production: 521]
[Acting: 412]
[Songwriting: 532]
[Voice control: 408]
[Stage presence: 159]
[Playing piano: 801]
[Video editing: 217]
[Styling: 506]
[Sneaking: 843]
[Close-quarters combat: 1023]
[Observation: 907]
[Driving: 116]
[Pickpocketing: 533]
[Firearms shooting: 611]
[Athletics: 219]
[===Talents===]
[Clark Kent Effect] [Sleepless]
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All his relevant skills were high. His stats, though…
Tristan frowned.
'15 extra points in charisma will definitely help me woo the judges.'
He made his decision and tapped the buttons.
[Ding!]
[Charisma attribute increased from 40 to 55.]
He finished just in time to see the next performer come out on stage to the applause of the audience.
Jane Greenpawl, another person on Tristan's revenge list.
She stepped out on stage and smiled at the audience and the jury, showing pearl-white teeth. With her doll-like features and an hourglass figure, Jane was a picture of traditional beauty.
'Smile while you can, shallow bitch!' Tristan thought.
Jane was clueless about his anger.
"I'm so happy to perform here tonight," she said into the microphone. "Thanks to this contest, my songs will reach the hearts of more people. As a singer, I can't ask for more. So this song is called… 'For Your Heart'."
With this, slow music started playing from the speakers.
Tristan knew perfectly well that Jane didn't like playing instruments and was barely passable for any of them. Neither could she hope to dance in her long blue dress.
However, even through his bitterness, Tristan had to admit that she was an excellent singer.
Jane's voice was powerful, high, and gentle. It flew over the audience like a golden thread that tied people's attention firmly to Jane's eyes.
"Your eyes meet mine in the crowd,
And my heartbeat becomes so loud…"
She looked at the audience and smiled again with love in her eyes. It was a smile directed at no one in particular, but at the same time, Jane made it look like she was smiling at everyone in the audience at once.
Although Tristan was at the very edge of the audience hall, he felt like Jane was glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.
It was a truly powerful acting trick!
At that moment, Tristan could almost hear hearts of men in the audience and the jury beat faster as they became enthralled by the promise of Jane's love.
It was painfully reminiscent of the time Tristan and Jane spent together. Although back then, she wasn't as good at these acting tricks, Tristan remembered her looking at him like that.
He grit his teeth.
Tristan knew that the golden threads were nothing but a fishing line, and Jane was a beautiful, bright and fake lure!
"I never knew someone could shine so bright,
Pulling me closer with every step tonight."
With each verse, Jane's song reeled people in more and more. Her stage presence was truly strong, and the lyrics of her song made it look like it was addressed to everyone who heard it.
Tristan could see past the surface, though. Her song was incredibly banal, and so was her melody. She didn't have anything except the song in her performance.
Compared to modern pop performances it was quite underwhelming.
But would the judges see it, too? Most of them were men. And men were all too easily swayed by the beauty of women, which Tristan knew from personal experience.
With a dark expression, Tristan watched as Jane finished her song and bowed to the audience.
The audience followed her leave from the stage with overwhelming applause, and a few judges—with dreamy looks.
The host stepped on the stage again.
"And the next competitor is from much humbler origins than Ms. Greenpawl. A simple village boy, he went to the big city in search of success and fame, but will he succeed in finding it? Welcome Nelson Mayar!"
Nel appeared on the stage in his loud and shiny outfit, grinning and waving at the audience.
The applause for him was already much weaker than it was for Jane, yet Nel didn't seem dejected.
Compared to her fake face, Nel's genuineness was incredibly refreshing. Even if he looked like an anime character with his bright silver wig.
Actually, even anime characters usually weren't that colorful and shiny.
"I'm so glad to see you all here!" Nel told the audience before his performance. "It's so GREAT to just be near people who understand all the getup, you know?"
He gestured at himself and laughed.
"Anyway, here's the song! I called it 'Jester Jester'."
Nel hit the guitar chords, and from the first seconds, Tristan could say that he had talent, but was probably mostly self-taught.
It showed in his lack of proper technique and the way he handled the guitar. Normally, this would be something to look down at…
But somehow, Nel made it work!
Like a newbie swordsman who scares off a master by sheer unpredictability of his actions, Nel strung a song out of chords that Tristan wouldn't have never have thought to put together on sober head.
Nel hit the strings, shook his head, making the silver hair fly all over the place, and sometimes he even hit the guitar to create a beat.
Tristan was ready to bet that some notes he played were pure improvisation.
The melody was utterly wild, and Nel didn't even start singing yet.
The pure and unconstrained creativity of it captured Tristan so much that he didn't realize that Nel spent more than half a minute just not singing.
At this point, Tristan began thinking the song was purely instrumental.
However, Nel proved him wrong, and also showed that he wasn't done with surprising people.