From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 82: Warrior (2)

Staff members rushed them off the bus and ushered them through the hallway to a large waiting area that had seats.

Waiting there was the previous stage director, Sherill Lanole, who had been in charge during the second round.

Sherril was holding a clipboard, and as the 100 boys filed in, she began directing them.

"Teams placed on the first three pyramid levels, please follow the staff member at the door to hair, make-up, and costume stations. Team leaders of every team, please follow me, we need to decide the exact filming order."

Ari immediately followed Sherill, who was walking quickly while doing his best to ignore Ian, who continued smirking at him, and William, whom he hated.

The stage director led them to a room with cameras before turning to them.

"The order priority is given to those who rank higher on the pyramid, so B(1), you have first pick. What order do you want?"

"First of course," Benjamin replied with a broad smile as he stepped forward from where he was chatting with another contestant.

He was completely confident that his team would nail it regardless of the order, but he preferred to get things done sooner rather than later.

"Great. Next, Team B(2)?"

"Second."

The teams’ order followed the order that they were in on the pyramid, with each team wanting to go as early as possible.

Finally, it was Ari’s turn.

"D(2). What order would you like to go in?"

"Last," Ari replied calmly.

As everyone looked at him in surprise, he simply adjusted his snail mask and nodded his head.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I want my team to go last."

Sherill Lanore looked at him in confusion.

Most contestants wanted to go early or toward the middle so that they were in their best condition.

Especially with some teams having the ability to have multiple takes, the filming would probably take all day, and they would be tired from waiting.

She thought about it for a second before looking at the sheet and seeing that there was only one team after him anyway.

Then, she remembered that Ari’s team was the one who had requested a water stage.

He probably wanted to return as soon as possible because he would be soaking wet.

Nodding in understanding, she marked it down

"Okay, next."

The final team leader chose the only remaining time slot, and Ari left to head back to the waiting room.

As he walked, Benjamin slung a muscular arm around his shoulders and yanked him closer while his crisp British accent sounded out.

"Big Man Ari. Wagawan?"

Used to Benjamin’s overly friendly behavior from the few times he had caught him and Jamie in the cafeteria, Ari just instinctively protected his hair from being ruffled as he replied.

"Good. What’s up?"

"You’ve been quite secretive about your props, bruv, and now you’re going last? Seems suspicious innit? Especially since the rumors say you’re confident you’ll get top three. Wanna tell ol Benny here your secret, promise not to blab." Benjamin playfully crossed his heart and held out his pinky.

"What? I don’t see you telling what your team chose either. Are you scared that you won’t keep your number one spot? " Ari childishly goaded him while pretending to snap his teeth at Benjamin’s finger, which switched to poke his masked cheek.

"Not at all." Benjamin laughed as he patted his back, "I was just a bit curious. Either way, good luck to you, brother. Best man on top, yeah?"

"Yeah, good luck to you as well."

Ari waved at Benjamin, who was heading to get his makeup and hair done, before joining his own team in the waiting room.

"What order are we?" Sachi asked, wholeheartedly wishing that they were going to get it done early so everyone in the group could finally go to bed early and sleep in after the week of torture that they had just been through.

"Last."

"What?"

"Nooooo!"

"Why?"

As his teammates began moaning, Ian, who should have gone to get his makeup applied, sauntered over with a smirk.

"He chose to go last, by the way."

As his teammates swiveled their heads to glare at him, Ari shrugged, "What’s the difference between last and second to last?"

"The principal!" Caleb yelled, but Ari just rolled his eyes again as Ian left after causing a small bit of chaos.

As other teams looked over at them, Ari took off his mask while smiling brightly.

"If you have the energy to shout. Shall we practice until it’s our turn to go? I feel like we can still get better."

"Ugh."

All his teammates immediately swiveled their heads to look away from him, and Ari sat on a chair while yawning.

"Since we’re not going any time soon, I suggest that you take a nap and get your energy up. Make sure you don’t touch your face and mess up the paint. When it’s time for us to warm up, I’ll wake you up."

Almost immediately, everyone slouched on their chairs and went back to sleep.

They were genuinely exhausted after getting less than 4 hours of sleep a day for the past couple of days, which had felt like a military boot camp.

"You can take a nap while I stay up. I know you’re tired and you’ve been rubbing your throat for days, and you haven’t really slept. Your voice..." Vishal suddenly commented from where he sat across from Ari.

His expression was concerned as he stared at the boy who had barely gotten any sleep within the past couple of days while driving everything from group and individual practice, vocal corrections, outfit organization, and more by himself.

It was honestly a miracle that he hadn’t fallen over, considering how intensely he had been taking care of things while running on such few hours of sleep.

Even now, his voice seemed hoarser than usual, and he had been living on cough drops and honey tea for the past couple of days.

"Ahem, it’s fine. It will last for today." Ari cleared his throat before sticking another cough drop in his mouth. "I’m going to walk around for a bit. I’ll be back."

He stood up and walked through the hallways until he found a stairwell that led up to the roof.

After climbing, he went to hide behind a tall vent and began trying to rap through a whole song in the hopes of gaining one additional stat point to put into dance.

.

.

"Ḩ̴̬̪̞̭͇̉̀͗͒̏̽̔̊͛̀̏͊̀̈́i̴̡̡̹̼̳͚̘̬̠̮̠̜͓̲͐͒̀̾̔̔̇̕͠s̸̨̨̼̝̩̗̗͇̥̦͓͔̦̀͒̒͌̈́͋͛̒̽̂̆̕͘͝ͅ ̶̛͍̫͍͈͖̿̾ṕ̴̨̨̹̟̤̗͖̦̞͍̻͎̹̻̃͐̅̀͒̅̊͜͝͝ạ̶̰̰̦̓̈́̂͑̈͗̑̆̃̆̌̒̽̚ͅl̷̨̨̢̥̳͓̭̉̈́̀̇̕m̸͎̥͔̮͑̉̔͒̑̅̆̋̀͗̎͊͠ͅs̵̢͉̐̒͒ ̷̛̞̺̜̀͐̋͘͜͜ͅă̸͍̂͛r̶̢̲̳̬̻̾̎̋͌͝͠e̷̡̡̖͎͔̼̺̫͉̙̫͙͛͋̋ ̸̢̼̯͓̫͉̯̱͙͙̹͙́͆͗̎̍̆̔͝s̸̨̛̥̠͛̑̾̉̑̇̏̎̆͋́͜͝͝͝ẃ̶̻͎̺̼̭̪͉͇̌͛e̶̥̥̱̠̹͔̹̻̥̣̿̊́̈́͗̒̏̌͆̈́̚͠å̸̛͈͓̹͍͉̩̉̄́̈́̄̓̈́͆̇̐̕͠͠t̵̛̺̭̝̲̹̀̈̓͆͗̅ͅy̶̞͚̙͋̀́͗̄͛̍̂̔̂͘̕͝,̸̛̠̰̰͊̀͒̈́̌͐̿͂̈́̆̔͗͐ ̴̹̳̓̉̈́͂̓̿ḵ̵̜͔͑̓̋ͅn̶̨̯̞͎̙͋̋͐͑̈́͗̾͑͆̓̈́̕ͅé̴̢͕͙̣̿͗̆́́̎͝e̵̲͔̹̟̱͉̲͓̹̱̥͍̓́͛̋͗̈̉̕͝͝s̴͉̤͓͙͌͆̉͠ ̸̭̳̯̱̭͈̘̮͗̅̿̎̓͒́̀́̌͂́͝͠w̴̢̨̛̜̟̗̭̠̮͍̱̦̭̪͍͛̈̈̊́̎̉͆͋̉̿͑ͅẹ̴̰̌̃̀̈́̀̾̀͝͝͝a̴̢̱͖̳̝̟̮̲͌k̵̨͉͉͓͉̤͓͕͗͆͑̽̍͑̓̃͠ͅ,̶͖͓̙̳̬́̆̄̎̉̒̈́ͅ ̵̨̡̢͎̲̭͈̞͔̹͍͖̩̒̒̀͑̄̓͜͜ă̵̢̺̜̦̝̝̞̩̗̙͊͛̐͆̃͊͊̏̒͌̚͜͝r̷̢̨̨̤͔̠͍̠̥̻͇͇̟̿̑̋̓ͅͅm̴̞̦̹̺̥͕̲͕̹̮̖̯̑̍̏́̾̇̚̕̕̕͝͠͝s̴̛̼͇͂͊̓͗́̅̇͋͌̚͘͝ ̴̭̭̯̼̝̀͌̿̃̔̂͊̒͗ͅa̷̮͔͍͍̻̹͗̽͑͂̏͒̾̓́͛̚ͅr̴̨̪̼͚̰̰̣̤̀̾̍̔̾͘͠ẽ̷̻͕͍͔̙̰͖̘͇͐͐̽̆̓̀͊̒́̏́ ̴̘̞̯͗̈́̇̓́̄̾̚͝h̷̻̺̳͗̈́̽̓̂̋̀̽̽̀̑͝͠ē̸̢͔͇̙̣̩̲̘̣̍̋a̸̦̟͍͉̦̗̩͍͈̞̺͚̪̱̽͋̆̔̊̋̈́̚͜v̷̨̢̙̘͎͇͉͌̓̅̋͋̎͂́ÿ̸̡͚͍͍̰͎́̈͆̊̈́̊͋͛͝.̷̡͔͎͖̪̠̙̺͌̾̀̿̑̂͒̍̉̈̂͊̑̚͘"

.

.

Cough cough!

A harsh cough ripped out of Ari’s throat, and he quickly stuck another cough drop into his mouth as he tried to soothe it.

For some reason, no matter how he tried, he wasn’t able to get through the song without messing up, even though he used the same techniques he learned in vocal classes.

As he tried again-

Cough cough cough

He broke out in a violent cough that left him panting.

"Should I just give up?" Ari stared up into the sky while muttering to himself.

"You don’t have to give up. You’re just doing it wrong." A voice with a Korean accent sounded out.

Turning to the side, Ari spotted a figure dressed in black leather clothing, with dark eye makeup, and slicked back orange hair.