“Oh, you’re back. You didn’t see a weird pervert in the bathroom, did you? That guy just stormed out of the bathroom complaining about someone.”
“...No…”
Grammo shrugged. “Anyway, let’s talk about what we should do now.” Grammo looked at Patty with an expectant gaze. If Patty was serious enough to bet his own expulsion in this bet, then he must have had a plan in mind, right? He must have thought this whole thing through from start to finish with multiple backup plans in case things went south. After all, he was very confident when he signed-on to the bet without a worry in his mind.
“Hm?”
That was a bad sign. Could it be that Patty actually didn’t think about what to do after saying all those big words? No, right? Patty was lazy for sure, but he wouldn’t bet expulsion based on no plans at all, right?
“You know, our next plan. What we’re going to do next.”
“Ah!”
Grammo was relieved to see that Patty did have some plan in place after all.
“I like what you’re thinking, Grammo. Since we have the week-off, let’s binge watch Space Invaders up to the latest episode.”
“We’re dead.” Grammo slapped his own forehead. He shouldn’t have relied on the one guy whose whole reputation was the guy with no plan at all. Why did he expect a lazy person to think ahead and plan something?!
“How am I going to improve my singing in a week?”
“Huh?” Patty gave him a confused look. “Why are you asking me? Aren’t you the one who should figure that out?”
“Then why did you make that bet with the professor if you didn’t have a plan for me to get better at singing?!”
“Look, if I have to do everything for you, then you have a problem. It’s your dream, you should figure it out.”
“But…but…”
Despite how unfair that was, Grammo had no reply to that. It’s true. He was the one talking and trying to convince everyone that he was going to be a global singer in the future, so he should be the one who figured out how to achieve that. It wouldn’t be right for Patty to shoulder that.
“It’s just that…I didn’t think that I had to get better in one week! I have to impress the whole classroom. That’s thirty students. I have to convince each and every one of them that I have what it takes to be a singer.”
“Don’t worry man. I believe in you.”
Of course, believing in someone was very easy for Patty. It cost him nothing and he didn’t have to do anything at all.
“Okay, okay. I do know that there is something that could help me. What do you think my problem is when I sing?”
“I really don’t know? Your voice, your tone, your breathing, your intonation, your lyrics—”
“--That’s enough. It’s because I can’t hear myself properly when I sing. I don’t know if I’m singing the song in the correct tune, so my singing comes all wrong and–
“--grating to the ears? Annoying to hear? Makes others want to pop their own ear drums so they wouldn’t have to listen to it anymore?”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“...yeah. Are you sure you want to help me?”
“Yeah, yeah. So?”
Sometimes, Grammo didn’t think that Patty believed that he could achieve his dream because it seemed like Patty was discretely dissing and making fun of his ability to sing. But it must only be in his imagination, right?
“There’s a C-class Yellow Fame Teqx that would be perfect for me. It would solve all my problems.”
Patty nodded while he rotated around the rolling chair.
“It will give me a Modulated Voice Box ability. And because it’s only a C-class Teqx, the possibility of getting this ability is at least 90%.”
“Hmm…hmmm. Okay, okay…so why don’t you just get that?”
“That’s the problem. First of all, buying a Teqx is too expensive. The leaders of those singing groups don’t want to pass down their Teqx to someone that wouldn’t be employed by them, so if someone wants to get a Teqx, they would have to pay a heavy price.”
“Those bastards…”
“But I understand. Only those who have reached a high enough level in their path to their ultimate dream have the ability to pass down a Teqx to other people.”
And because only a few ever passed this certain threshold, they were far and few in the entire world. If a dreamer ever reached this point, then they could finally establish their own group or corporation because they would finally have the ability to pass down their Teqx to others; they could finally entice others to work for them. If you were to reach this point, others could consider your career a successful one.
“But lucky for us, there is another way to get this Teqx.”
“How?”
“The Atlas Group.”
“The what now?”
“Come on. There’s no way that you don’t know about the Atlas Group. They’ve been all over the internet recently. They are one of the few groups who is actually transforming from a nation-level corporation to a global-level corporation. It’s a once in a century event!”
Patty shrugged. “I don’t know them.”
“Maybe you know their theme song.” Grammo opened his mouth and started to ‘sing’--if you could even call it that. From Patty’s ears, it sounded like a frog being squeezed to death while being submerged in hot scalding water. The classes from beyond the walls thought they heard a cat’s claws screeching against stainless steel.
aTLaS, oH atLAs, eVeryThinG on SiGhT
pRotEct, prOTecT, eVeryThinG on SiGhT
hoLd thE wOrLd oN yOuR ShoULdeRS
“Oh Supremes! Stop! Stop! I remember them now! They are the ones who own the Floating Island of Paradise, right?”
“They have multiple floating islands, but yes, they are known for owning that tourist hot spot.”
“Damn. If only I had enough money, I would totally move there. I heard that everything floats up there and you can fly everywhere. You don’t have to be weighed down by gravity.”
Patty’s eyes looked beyond reality and started to fantasize about his dream vacation spot. He was floating around in a small room, and he would never have to use his legs ever again. He would just float wherever he wanted to go. It was a literal paradise.
“Patty? Hello? Patty? Focus, please.” Grammo waved in his face to break him out of his trance.
“Right, right, you were talking about the Atlas Group.”
“In their expansion, they need a lot of manpower. And right now, they have a project to recruit students from our school.”
Hm? Patty briefly remembered his conversation with Sam just a few minutes ago. He was also talking about the Atlas group and how they have an internship that would give a guaranteed high class Teqx to anyone who passed. Sam also wanted to join the internship for a chance to be one of the lucky few to have that kind of power.
“Don’t tell me…do you want to join an internship with them?”
Grammo immediately shook his head. “That's a vicious dog-eat-dog world. I am not insane enough to join that cruel environment. Even the top of the top in our classes can barely pass the qualification to join it.”
“I’m talking about a competition. A musical competition.”
Patty got a flashback to Grammo singing the Atlas group theme song and he immediately got chills. A competition? With his singing?
“Uh huh…is there another way?”
“It’s our only shot.”
Patty thought about it for a second and reluctantly agreed. “Fine. Let’s go to this competition.”
Grammo smiled and immediately started to walk with excited steps. Somehow, he kind of believed that he would have a good chance this time. He was strangely optimistic about it. Could Patty have had a positive effect on him? After all, he would probably be packing his bags and returning home if he didn’t start the bet with the professor.
“Let’s go!”
“Hey…”
Grammo looked to his side and didn’t see Patty following him.
“Hey.”
Grammo looked behind and saw Patty still sitting in the rolling chair, with his legs swaying back and forth.
“HEY! You weren’t expecting me to walk there do you? Did you forget our agreement? Did you forget how I helped you from being kicked out of school? Are you an ungrateful person?” Patty crossed his arms against his chest and closed his eyes in protest. It was clear he wasn’t going to move on his own. He needed someone to push him from behind.
SIGH
All the enthusiasm and excitement drained out of Grammo as he walked back to Patty.
Once the rolling chair was strolling through the hallways, Patty perked up and shouted to Grammo. “Yeah! Let’s go!”
Thus started their misadventures.
—--------------------------------------
RING RING
Griff opened up the door and saw his friend standing there with a weird grin on his face. He had this devious look on his face, and he immediately knew that he was planning something bad.
“Hey Griff, you wouldn't believe what I heard about Patty and Grammo…”