Chapter 10: Karaoke Club
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After another exhaustive night, I managed to knock out the next book from the system’s quest. It didn’t take me quite as long as the first time, but it still ate the entire evening.
Eventually, I’d work out where to cut corners without tanking my evaluation grade. With practice and a better strategy, I should be able to lower the time by a few hours. Then I could get to bed at a decent time, or maybe even finish two books a night if I really pushed it. Though, that would leave me burnt out and barely able to function the next day, so it probably wasn’t worth it.
I also used one of the library’s computers to look through Rosemont’s public records. I searched for information that might lead me to the hanged girl. No luck so far. The only thing of any relevance I found were the rosters for each class, but that was just a list of names. Nothing that listed hair color.
Student records, which might include a photo or physical description, were not publically available. If I wanted to look through those, I’d need special permission. The only way to gain access I knew of was to join the student council.
Another option was to use a teacher’s account. I happened to notice Mrs. Avery often left her computer logged in. If I was feeling daring, I could slip back between classes and use hers. For now, I’d forgo doing something that might get me expelled. There were a few other things I could try first.
The next day, classes went mostly without incident, except I noticed a few people looking at me strangely. They’d eye me from across the hall and whisper to each other once I passed by. Sometimes their gaze would flick back and forth between me and Alicia.
She cornered me at my locker between periods and threw a fit asking what I was telling everybody. I didn’t know what she was on about, so she explained that some rumors were going around. Apparently, someone got the impression we were a couple and spread it. No idea how they came up with that. People would make up all kinds of shit.
Sorry, Alicia. You’re on your own with this. I had too many things to worry about as is. Managing rumors wasn’t even on my radar. They could say whatever they wanted. Besides, what did she want me to do about it? Denying things just makes gossip spread further.
Now it was the end of the day. I once again found myself attending an after-school club. Or rather, I was standing outside the door hesitating whether or not to go in. This was something even more dreadful than getting my ass whooped for an hour straight at the martial arts club: Karaoke.
A sigh escaped my lips. Delaying wouldn’t make it any better. Singing in public was the absolute last thing a shut-in like me would enjoy, but the potential benefits of raising my Charisma were just too much to pass up. My poor social skills were one of my biggest flaws. There was a chance to change that right in front of me. No matter how much I didn’t like singing, it would be foolish to throw away the opportunity.
I opened the door and stepped inside. The audio equipment and soundproofing foam on the walls reminded me of a music production studio. This room was normally used by students to practice their instruments or record assignments for music-related classes, but once a week it was reserved for the Karaoke Club.
When I entered, there were a few people I didn’t recognize as well as two from Class A. First there was Tatsuya. It felt like I couldn’t escape this guy no matter where I went. Homeroom, in the halls, the cafeteria, and now after school too. He sat on a bench off to the side watching the girl in the center of the room. That was Sabrina Weller, another love interest from the game.
Sabrina was often called ‘the class idol’. It was easy to see why. She was a bombshell blonde with a flashy fashion sense. Every day she had some new accessory to show off. This girl knew the hottest trends and the juiciest gossip. Preppy, bubbly, and popular. Sabrina Weller was pretty and she knew it.
On top of all that, she could sing and dance too. Sabrina could easily be a model or an influencer, but her aspiration was to become a pop star. Naturally, the Karaoke Club was a perfect fit for her.
At the moment, she wore her hair in twintails tied up with girly pink bows. Her nails were painted to match. She had numerous bracelets and charms dangling from her wrists.
image [https://i.imgur.com/lSASO3j.png]
Everyone was so enthralled with listening to her upbeat tune, they barely took notice of my arrival. As the music in the background faded out, the group gave Sabrina their wholehearted praise.
“Thank you, everyone. It was nothing much, really.”
Sabrina smirked as she twirled a few strands of hair around her finger. That humbleness was nothing but a polite front. She happily reveled in the attention, soaking it up like a sponge. It was hard to blame her though. If I had a voice like that, I’d want to show it off too.
Tatsuya was chief among her fans. The boy shot up from the bench loudly whooping and clapping. His eyes shined with awe like he was looking at a goddess who’d descended to Earth. It seemed that since Alicia hadn’t taken to him, he switched targets.
“Wow, you’re amazing! I thought I was listening to an angel.”
The girl’s cheeks flushed after receiving such over-the-top words from a boy. Somehow the confident queen bee from a moment ago turned demure around Tatsuya.
“Hehe, you’re too sweet. But don’t let me hog the microphone the whole time. Why don’t you go next?”
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“Ah, well– I don’t know…” Tatsuya scratched his cheek. His eyes darted to the side in avoidance.
“Come on, don’t be shy! Here, this one’s good for two people, so I’ll sing it with you~.”
Sabrina loaded up the next song on the karaoke machine. Before Tatsuya could refuse further, the background track had already begun.
I acted as a wallflower, sticking to the edge of the room while I watched the impromptu duet. Tatsuya stumbled over the first few lines, but luckily for him, Sabrina picked up the slack. He was carried by her infectious energy. She had a way of keeping everyone’s eyes glued to her at all times.
Since the two were sharing one microphone, there were times where they both had to lean in close to each other. The girl was too absorbed in her performance to become flustered, but each time Tatsuya’s face would ripen like a tomato.
Eventually, after getting into the rhythm, Tatsuya turned out to be a decent singer. Nothing amazing, but definitely better than I could have done. He started getting swept up in the music the same way that Sabrina did, but while she could seamlessly pull off a few dance moves without breaking her stride, he was far more clumsy.
Towards the end of the song, the male lead went into a solo. Tatsuya took the mic and spun around as he belted out the lines with his eyes closed. This resulted in him wrapping his own legs with the cord and tripping himself. The klutz stumbled forward, pulling out the plug from the machine causing the music to come to an abrupt end.
At the same time, he knocked Sabrina over. The girl fell on her backside, unhurt but confused about what happened. She didn’t notice that her position gave Tatsuya a front row view straight up her skirt.
“Oh, are you okay?” She blinked up at him.
Tatsuya stood with his mouth agape staring pointedly between her legs. She finally followed his gaze and realized that she was flashing her panties at a boy. Letting out an exaggerated ‘eek!’, the girl clamped her legs shut and held the front of her skirt down with both hands.
It was only then that Tatsuya finally remembered to pick his jaw up off the floor. He swallowed his saliva and turned his head to the side.
“S-sorry! That was an accident.” He stuttered out an apology like he hadn’t just been drinking in the sight a moment ago.
“You didn’t see anything, right? Right?!”
“Nothing! Nothing at all.” The boy lied as easily as he breathed.
“A-alright… Let’s give some other people a turn now.”
Sabrina got back to her feet and straightened her clothes. She was too embarrassed to face Tatsuya directly. They plugged the machine back in and handed off the mic to the next person. Despite the awkwardness in the air, order was quickly restored.
Everyone went back to chatting and taking turns with the karaoke machine. After several more rounds, it came to my turn. My first time was a disaster. I was offkey and the song had some difficult high notes. My voice cracked when I struggled to reach them. I even noticed one girl put her fingers in her ears. Um, excuse you. Rude.
Despite the terribleness of my performance, the experience wasn’t that bad. Maybe it was due to the promise of a reward from the system, but I didn’t mind singing in front of others as much as I thought I would. It was actually kind of fun to give it my all. I started to laugh at my classmates’ pained reactions instead of feeling embarrassed.
While I waited between rounds, I watched Tatsuya. This guy was really something else. He already looked like he’d forgotten all about the incident. Perhaps he had. Panty flashes and nip slips were probably an everyday occurrence for him.
Sabrina had mostly recovered, but she glanced at Tatsuya from the corner of her eyes every now and again. Each time it would cause her cheeks to flush scarlet anew as she remembered what happened.
Just then, there was some movement by the entrance. The door had a narrow rectangular window. I thought I saw a shadow pass behind. It wouldn’t be unusual for there to be a janitor or someone in the school this late, but for some reason it gave me an uncomfortable feeling.
I stood up and acted like I wanted to stretch my legs. No one took notice, their attention focused on the boy singing a popular song by a famous country artist. I made my way to the door and peeked through the window.
Since it was after school hours, most of the lights in the corridor were off. A single flickering fluorescent strip blinked at the far end. I looked both ways, but there was no sign of the person or anything else.
Weird. I could have sworn I saw someone.
“Isaac, you’re up again.”
My attention came back to the group after they called for me. I let the matter slip from my mind and refocused on the karaoke. Halfway through the next song, I got the system notification I had been waiting for. I didn’t let my concentration slip, taking just a quick peek while continuing to sing.
[Optional Quest: Golden Voice - Difficulty: Very Easy]
[Objective: Perform in public five times. (1/5 Completed)]
[Reward: +1 Charisma]
Only five times? This quest was even easier than the last one. I think I guessed right when I speculated raising a lower stat was easier than a higher one.
Based on what I’d seen so far, it seemed the difficulty rose by roughly double for each point. Or maybe it was triple. It wasn’t an exact metric. There was some variance between different attributes.
In any case, raising my Charisma wouldn’t take much effort at all. All I needed to do was show up for the Karaoke Club once a week for another month. The way the quest was worded, if I found another way to ‘perform’, I could raise it even faster. That was something to look into.
It came to the last verse of my song. I put my heart and soul into it as the music built up for a grand finale. But then, just before the end, I happened to glance once more towards the door.
A figure peered back at me from the corner of the window. Their face was mostly hidden as they peeked around the edge, but I could see a single bloodshot eye. The pupil was so dilated, their iris seemed almost entirely black. A soulless, unblinking abyss. And it was fixed entirely on me.
I couldn’t help but let out a yelp of surprise, causing me to botch the last line of the song. Since that wasn’t much worse from my normal high notes, no one noticed my distress.
Sabrina took the mic from me eager for her next turn. “That wasn’t too bad, Isaac. You’re getting better.”
I was too preoccupied to pay attention to her placating me with empty words. Rubbing my eyes and blinking them clear, I looked again at the window. The figure was gone.
As the class idol wrapped the club up in another performance, I opened the door and stuck my head out. I didn’t see anything, so I stepped out into the hallway. Looking down both ends, I squinted to peer through the darkness. Nothing.
If there had been someone watching, they ran off the moment we made eye contact.