Ty grabbed a quick lunch, a quick bath, and he might have caught a quick nap had he had the luxury.
He decided to give the first side quest a try. He was a rapper, and he'd had his fair share of fast spoken words. It was not a new thing to say words quickly, but he knew that tongue twisters weren't a joke. They were tongue twisters for a reason and they were not meant to come easy.
He pulled his phone out and Googled some popular twisters. He tried a few slowly before finally selecting one he could manage to conquer. It went thus:
"She sees cheese."
'Aha. This is going to be easy. I only need to repeat it ten times.'
[I doubt it.]
"Keep your doubt to your translucent ahh self."
So, he started:
"She sees cheese... She sees cheese... She sheesh sheese... Heck no!"
[Told you.]
Ty tried again, but he could only manage saying it three times before mixing "s" with "sh" and vice versa.
"Is this undoubtedly the most difficult task I've ever done in both my past and present life?" Ty was visibly frustrated. He tried a few more times but it only got worse.
[Fun Fact (exclusively my opinion): Did you know that what the internet consider the hardest tongue twister is actually easier than most of the rest?]
Ty entered a prompt search on his phone again and found the tongue twister that was reputedly one of the hardest. It goes:
"Pad Kid Poured Curd Pulled Cod."
He went at it for close to thirty minutes, failing and failing on either the sixth or seventh repeat...until he got it in the end.
He heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He only discovered after he was done that he had been holding his breath for that last round.
[Upgrading Stat]
[Flow/Rhythm]: level 5 =>> level 6
The second task came too easy.
[Sing a popular melodic chorus 5 times without your voice cracking.]
He racked his head for the easiest one he could find. Ty was generally a fan of music, he only loved rap more. So, he always tried to balance the scale when it comes to rap and sweet, soulful music. Of course it always tips in favor of rap, but he was not lacking either in the knowledge of other genres of music. It was a wonder how his [Vocals] stat turned out so low (level 5) because he'd most times found himself singing his heart out during long baths under the shower. But maybe it only sounded pleasant in the bathroom. Every little song sounds pleasant in the bathroom.
He finally opted to sing "Let Me Down Slowly" by Alec Benjamin.
It was one of his favorite, as he enjoyed how Alec was a master in voice control and his uncanny ability to portray his emotions to even the most tone-deaf and emotionally dead listeners. He enjoyed Alec Benjamin's storytelling the most though.
He started, hoping it ends well:
"...this night is cold in the kingdom
I can feel you fade away
From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and
Your steps keep me awake..."
Wait...
"That's the first verse, not the chorus. The system asked for a chorus."
[You are both dumb and funny.]
He tried again, this time more passionately. He didn't want to give it more than the five trials the system gave. Singing for too long makes his throat burn.
"...Could you find a way to let me down slowly?
A little sympathy I hope you can show me
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leaving baby, let me down slowly
Let me down down
Let me down down
Let me down
Let me down down
Let me down down
Let me down
If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely
If you're leaving baby, let me down slowly..."
He was so engrossed with the song that he almost started singing the next verse out of pure thrill.
'Trial two,' he thought while he sang it all over again. He's managed to not get his voice cracked during the first trial. He only hoped it'd continue till he's done.
And yes it did.
He sang the beautiful chorus one last time, making it five times, and after he was done, he grabbed a cup of water to quench his dry throat.
'My voice would have cracked if I had sang it one more time.'
He could only wish one of his studio friends wasn't outside listening to him sing like a "Barbie princess". He knew he wouldn't hear the end of it should the news spill. Fair enough, because he'd do the same for any other rapper friends also. It's what they all do.
[Upgrading Stat...]
[Vocals]: level 5 =>> level 6
This last upgrade meant Ty now has his lowest stat to be on level 6, while the highest was on level 8. He didn't show it but he was a little proud of the upgrades. The system had designed each stat carefully and he knew they'd all be functional in making him a superstar someday.
The third side quest was however the hardest. He couldn't even believe how nearly impossible it turned out to be.
[Learn to twirl a microphone around your fingers without dropping it.]
He used a damaged microphone, and twirled and twirled till his fingers hurt. But it ended up falling no matter how hard he tried.
Visibly frustrated, he decided to forget about the quest for now. He checked the timer, and he still had 10 hours and some minutes before the quest ends.
'I'll get back to it later.'
Should he manage to play with the mic successfully, the reward was an [Aura] upgrade and this will increase the level from 7 to 8. But Ty felt he could manage just fine with a level 7 Aura for now.
He needed to start writing. With his [Creativity] level now on 8, he would be able to come up with better words and more impactful meaning quicker.
He took a deep breath and poised his pen over the notepad.
"...Listen, y'all milking babies think you're hot
But your rhymes are whack, you don't even have a plot
You're spitting bars like you're reading from a script
But we ain't feelin' it, you're just a quick flip..."
He paused, pleased with how easily this one came out. It was like he had planned it beforehand.
He then continued...
"...You think one weak rival will put you on the map?
I'm no fluke, hell, you don't even know where I'm at
When I pave the way, you have no option but to ride the wave
Your music is basic, even a light spark will produce better flames..."
"Sweet," Ty commended quietly. "I now have two composite. Maybe if I combine them, I could succeed in taking one opponent out completely."
He worked more on the diss rhymes for about three more hours. By the time he was done, it was already dusk. The sun had set, and the day was almost gone to be replaced by the dark
He'd wanted to go see Breezy again before the day ends, but there was no a chance now. Especially now that he was on the brink of completing a solid diss track. Just a few more add-ons here and there, and he was good to go.
But he dropped his pen and sought for playful things to do to clear his head. He pulled the system screen up and saw that he still has 7 hours till the side quest was removed.
He grabbed the mic and started moving them clumsily around his fingers again. It felt different this time around. He even managed to send it round twice before it dropped off his hand.
Then an idea hit him. He opened the YouTube app and searched for the easiest way to play with a...pen? He couldn't find a tutorial that used a microphone but he watched the pen version all the same.
He kept watching until it started getting boring. The tutorial didn't help because a microphone was a lot more bigger than a pen, and therefore harder to handle.
But he kept twirling all the same however clumsily. He played with it for a long time that he didn't notice that he hadn't dropped the microphone for the past 20 minutes.
Soon, he started nodding off to the commanding voice of sleep. He dropped asleep right there on his working table and nothing could wake him up after. Not even the loud noise the microphone made as it dropped after sliding away from his loose grip.
Not even the systems "Ding!" that came with a notification message.
He woke up the next morning and the first thing he said was, "shit, I haven't polished my verses. I haven't even rehearsed them!"
It was the day of the rap competition in Littlefield arena at Brooklyn.