From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 148: Prince William’s Reign (2)

"Go ahead and start the music."

Withholding a sigh, Ari pressed play on the tablet.

Thum~

The electric bass sounded vibrated around the practice room, rattling the mirror slightly.

As everybody’s eyes widened from the intense sound, a low, raspy voice sounded out.

I’m like,

Some kind of supernova

Watch out!

Look at me go

Zooooooom~

Hotter than y’all

Zooooooom~

Like the sun’s core

So hot hot

Hot hot hot hot

Zooooooom~

You can’t cool down

I cause sparks to fly around me

I bring the heat frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

You can’t stop me, I’m all you see

Drop!

When I come, you all stare ah oh ay

I’m a star, can’t compare ah oh ay

That tick that tick tick bomb

That tick that tick tick bomb

Even if my reign is short, I’m on top

Brighter than your sun

Su su su Supernova

Nova

Can’t stop, hyperstellar

Brighter than any other

Bring the light of a dying star

Gonna blind all the haters now, so watch out

Supernova

Zooooooom~

Ah body bang

Gotta take them out

Right now, they probably feel they’re so special

Our light had dimmed, so they really thought they had hope

They really thought that the pressure caused an explosion

They didn’t know, I had it under my control~

Don’t gotta ask who we are ah oh ay

You all know I’m a star ah oh ay

Look up in the sky (Ha)

Su su su Supernova

As the chorus repeated once more to the electric pop base, Ari nodded along while already singing along to the chorus.

Ari actually liked the song.

Even if the lyrics were repetitive, they were catchy, and the intense electronic beat reminded him of racing games and sci-fi movies.

Vocally, it wasn’t particularly challenging, and even though there were more sing-rap portions, there was still a decent part split between the rap portion and the singing portion, which meant everybody could probably find a part that fit them well.

Additionally, because of the high bpm and intense bass line, it seemed like it would be fun to dance to.

Just from listening to the song once, Ari already had tons of concepts that would fit the vibe of the song and even allow for a fun facial reveal for himself.

All in all, it seemed like it would be a fun song to perform at a concert, regardless of the type of concert it was, but clearly William didn’t feel that way since his expression was quite dark the more he listened to the song.

Once the music stopped playing, Ari got up and placed the tablet by William, ignoring his weird look, before sitting back down.

Then he just sat there waiting for the conversation to start.

William sighed before he passed out the lyric sheet that had the different song sections highlighted in various colors.

"Let’s start by assigning parts, then deciding on a concept. I’ll take the intro and all three choruses."

Right off the bat, William claimed four of the vocal highlight spots, and although Ari wanted to say something, he kept quiet for now.

"Benjamin, what parts do you want?" William called out to the British boy.

"The long rap verse after ’drop’, and the two ad lib sections toward the end of the song," seeing that nobody was stopping William for being greedy, and not wanting to get into another fight with William after the last time and be labeled aggressive, Benjamin just moderately picked the parts that were best for himself.

"Okay. Next, Carlos?"

"The first vocal verse and any high-pitched ad-libs are fine with me."

At Carlos’ words, Williams’ eyebrow twitched, and he put on a concerned expression

"Are you sure? Your voice was iffy the last time."

It was iffy because of you!

It’s because you messed with his stats, you punk!

Looking to the side and covering his mouth, Ari whispered ’Status’ to quickly check Carlos vocal status, relieved to see that it was back to normal.

[Carlos Emilio Ortiz Rodriguez]

[Age: 21]

[Vocals: A (S+)]

.....

It meant that Carlos could easily hit those high notes without issues.

"I feel fine and my voice recovered well over the break."

"I’m only saying this because I’m concerned about bringing the team down with a lackluster performance. What if your voice gives out again? You don’t even know why it happened last time. Plus, with your practice history..." At William’s words, Carlos’s face darkened, and he looked down...

"Well..."

"He said he’s fine, and we can deal with that if it happens. I’m next on the list, right? I want the ’body bang’ adlib, the third verse, and the last chorus of the song." Ari cut it, since he knew the whole story of what happened, and the sight of Williams pretend care disgusted him.

"I took that section."

"I know. But I counted out the parts on the lyric sheet," Ari waved it around for emphasis before continuing, "and if we divide things evenly among 8 people, everyone should get a maximum of 3 parts. Since you currently have 4 parts, including all of the choruses, I would like the chorus after the portion that sounds like it should be a dance break. I’m willing to compete for it, and have everyone vote on who performs it best if you would like."

"I said I want to do that part. There are other parts of the song not chosen, so why don’t you choose one of them?" William replied through gritted teeth, but Ari shrugged.

"I understand that. However, that’s the part I’m interested in too, and since you have four parts, I want that one. If you’re against it, you can pick which one of your parts you’d like to give up."

Ari stared at William without backing down.

Out of the choruses that William took, the last one was the most energetic and exciting to the ear, especially when combined with the high-pitched ad-libs that Carlos would do. Coming right after a dance break, it was sure to draw attention from the crowd.

For the concept he wanted, having that part would be best, but if he couldn’t have it, Ari would at least reduce the parts that William would have.

And glancing to the side to verify that the red lights on both cameras had turned off, he could argue as much as he wanted.

The two of them stared at each other before William bit his lip and looked down sadly, like he was being bullied.

"I don’t understand why you’re always picking on me."

"I’m not picking on you."

"There are so many other parts available, I don’t understand why you’re only coming for my parts." William continued, and Ari snorted as the rest of his teammates stared at him, clearly picking a fight with William.

"I chose two of the unassigned parts and one of the four parts that you claimed for yourself. You have four parts when everyone should have a maximum of three. Ask yourself if that’s fair. And as I said, I’m willing to compete for the part right now, so may the best singer win the part." Ari calmly replied, not willing to back down.

Of course, William didn’t respond at all and just continued looking sad silently while posing for the cameras.

"Just give up one of your parts, mate. It’s not that deep, and you’re holding things up, especially when you have one more part than anybody else. We have to plan the concept, costumes, and even the busking event." Benjamin told William, and the blonde boy bit his lip as he turned dramatically toward the door.

"Are you planning on storming out again? You’re the leader. That’s childish behavior." Ari added, ignoring the elbow that Carlos poked at his side and the shocked gasps from people around him.

When William turned to him incredulously, Ari pointed at the two dead cameras and the blonde boy’s flushed face in embarrassment as he stared at them.

All that acting was useless if nobody could see it.

"You’re childish!"

"I’m 17 and still legally a child, while you’re pushing 20. What’s your excuse?"

At Ari’s uncaring words and the green eyes mockingly staring at him like he was stupid, William vowed to get back at him.

"Fine! You can have the chorus that you want so badly. You’ll see it’s not worth it anyway!"

"Thank you very much."

The rest of the part distribution went smoothly, and just as they finished, Kate, the staff member who had taken him to the hospital, ran in with several large batteries in her hands while looking frazzled.

"Ah, guys, I’m so sorry. I forgot to change the camera batteries earlier. Do you mind repeating all the stuff you’ve done so far? Try to make it look natural, okay? And don’t tell the PDs they’ll kill me. Please! I’ll treat you to whatever snacks you want from the vending machines!"

At William’s angry expression that he tried to hide, Ari laughed to himself, thoroughly pleased that the universe was working to make the other boy angry.

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