Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

System opened the status window immediately.

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[Tristan Gemello (Tristan Hayes)]

[Current identity: Pop-star. Second identity: Criminal.]

[Pop-star rank: Contracted Young Star.]

[Criminal rank: Made Man.]

[Pop-star Points: 0]

[Criminal Points: 0]

[===Attributes===]

[Appearance: 150]

[Charisma: 237]

[Fearsomeness: 135]

[Strength: 223]

[Dexterity: 228]

[Toughness: 144]

[===Skills===]

[Singing: 1357]

[Dancing: 1078]

[Playing guitar: 1494]

[Music theory: 679]

[Music production: 521]

[Acting: 813]

[Songwriting: 1232]

[Voice control: 808]

[Stage presence: 759]

[Playing piano: 801]

[Video editing: 217]

[Styling: 506]

[Playing flute: 1]

[Sneaking: 844]

[Close-quarters combat: 1224]

[Observation: 923]

[Driving: 618]

[Pickpocketing: 533]

[Firearms shooting: 816]

[Athletics: 419]

[Treating injuries: 201]

[Lockpicking: 1]

[Combat analysis: 505]

[Hacking: 1406]

[Governing: 5]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[===Talents===]

[Clark Kent Effect] [Sleepless] [Clean Hands] [Bullet Time] [Hypnotic Voice]

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Seeing four-digit numbers put a wide grin on Tristan's face, especially when he could feel in himself the skills attached to them.

However, a much more drastic change lied in his appearance.

To see it, he went to check himself out in the bathroom mirror.

Tristan's bathroom was small and cluttered with all the skin- and hair-care products he kept there.

'Now that I have more money from my work, I should move out of this apartment. But do I want to keep staying in this city? I will have to travel to Los Angeles for the contest finale, anyway. All the best opportunities are in Los Angeles, too.'

Tristan put that thought aside and looked at his reflection.

From there, a stunningly handsome black-haired young man was looking at him.

Tristan's features didn't change with his increase in appearance attribute. His bone structure was already very appealing to an eye, with a sharp jaw and a straight nose.

But now Tristan looked like someone fixed his face in an image-editing program, removing slight imperfections of the skin and structure.

That change spread to his hair, too. It looked silkier and smoother than before, and even the casual shape in which Tristan brushed it this morning looked more stylish than ever.

This was a look that Tristan needed a ton of makeup and styling to do before that transformation. Now those were his natural looks.

With styling, Tristan will easily compete with many online models that edited their photos to absolute perfection.

After smiling at his own reflection, posing in front of a mirror for a few more minutes, and snapping some photos on his phone, Tristan went toward his musical setup.

He had to make a cover of Nel's song, and Tristan was already itching to put his increased skills to good use.

Nel didn't send Tristan the chords of his song yet, but Tristan didn't need them. Instead, he listened to a replay of Nel's song posted on his social page.

With Tristan's current songwriting and music theory skills, disassembling the melody into chords took only a few replays.

After that, Tristan picked his guitar and repeated the entire song from start to finish, together with vocals.

At first try, he stumbled a bit, simply forgetting what was in the next part; but at the second try, Tristan got it perfectly, at least in a technical sense.

The song by itself lacked the spark of wild inspiration that Nel put into it. This included the flashy and sparky costume Nel wore when performing it.

Tristan hummed the melody to himself while absentmindedly strumming the strings of his guitar.

'Because I was saving money for a car, I still have to use a pretty cheap guitar… I should get a better one before I make a cover. I don't think I will need to pay for it if I can convince the Golden Talent Group agency to just give me one, heh.'

The sound of this guitar was really cheap to Tristan's trained ear. In a casual setting, like now, it didn't matter much, but on a stage, it will show.

Tristan's thoughts returned to the cover.

He wanted to put his own spin on Nel's song. To make it fit him instead of Nel.

It took a while of thinking and experimenting, but eventually, Tristan set on an idea.

As soon as that happened, the inspiration forced him to work almost feverishly until evening, until Tristan had to change identity and deal with routine matters in the King Lion Gang.

***

Next day.

"Both of you really work fast," Derek Writfield said, looking at both artists in front of him in shock.

Although only a day had passed, both Tristan and Nel presented to him their ideas and drafts for song covers, what they wanted for their music videos, and the backstory they wanted to put into the promotion.

Nel clearly worked through the night and now had bags under his eyes, but was still cheerier than ever. On the contrary, Tristan almost shone with health, as if he had a spa day yesterday, but his mood was just as high.

"Will you be able to keep up, Mr. Writfield?" Tristan asked. "I know the preparation and the editing might take a long time, but I want to finish shooting itself quickly."

Derek fixed his suit. Today, instead of glaring red, it was dark blue—but with an incredibly daring pattern of large white polka dots.

So far, Tristan wasn't sure if his manager's fashion sense was killing it, or killing him.

"It's not only up to me, but I will do my best that the crew prepares everything necessary for shooting as soon as possible, starting with the detailed scenario. Either way…" Derek looked over the notes given to him again. "This looks very promising already. I'm honestly eager to help you two bring this material to life."

Nel smiled almost shyly at the manager.

"You think it will go viral?"

"It might."

"It will," Tristan said with assurance.

He walked up to Nel and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I will make sure of it even if I will need to stand over your shoulder and poke at your every mistake on set. If you are going to make a cover of my song, I will make sure it's not just great, it's AMAZING!"

Nel chuckled nervously.

"Why do I feel like I'm in danger?"