Rewind With A Superstar System-Chapter 122: Golden Vessel

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Super Gremlin by Kodak Black>

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(Saturday, October 26th. 8:45 AM — Venetian Islands, Miami.)

The morning sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Von’s luxury suite. The adrenaline of the previous day release was still fading from his system, replaced by a sense of accomplishment. Lost And Found was out in the world.

Right on cue, a translucent blue screen flickered to life in his line of sight.

[Congratulations! You’ve released your debut music album: Lost & Found!]

[Quest Completed: The Empire Business]

[Reward: 5,000 EXP, 1x S-grade Skill, Title: [Mogul].]

[You have received an S-grade Skill: Golden Vessel]

[Golden Vessel: A passive skill that grants strength, agility, dexterity, and reflexes far beyond an ordinary human.]

[Requirement: Charm (A)]

Von’s excitement naturally grew as he read the S-grade Skill description. The physical advantage it offered while not meaningful was still something to look forward to. But seeing the bottom line of the requirement immediately disappointed him.

He had found out long ago that various high-tier skills came with stat requirements, and the better the skill, the steeper the barrier to entry.

Von didn’t know if this was a deliberate mechanism by the System to ensure he didn’t completely neglect his other stats, or if the skill simply needed the stat to work properly.

Either way, it still felt ridiculous to be forced to raise his [Charm] that high before his [Vocals].

Von grimaced and swiped to his status screen to check his current balances.

● Current Fans: 509,167

[EXP: 7,730]

Over half a million fans.

’I must have hit the massive 500k milestone mission overnight while the album was trending,’ Von thought, a smile finally breaking through. ’Coupled with the quest reward, that’s quite a sum. This is way more than I’ve ever had at once!’

Even though the sheer amount of EXP excited him, there was only one lingering regret in Von’s mind.

’I really wish I had this much EXP before producing Lost And Found.’

But things didn’t work that way. This massive influx of points was his direct spoils from the album’s success, so he couldn’t reverse time and apply it to the recording process. The music was already out. But right now, Von was seriously deliberating whether to spend a huge chunk of his new wealth... on his Charm.

He sat on the edge of the bed and considered his options. His Vocals were quite decent already, and the heavy lifting for the year was done. He wouldn’t be entering a recording studio again until December at the earliest.

Although Emily had planned to organize two to three live promotional shows in the coming weeks, Von knew that his current vocal stats would fare just fine for live performances.

"I mean, it’s not bad to become more handsome than I already am," Von muttered to himself.

He stood up and walked into the massive en-suite bathroom, staring at his reflection in the brightly lit mirror. Charm didn’t just alter facial symmetry; it actively improved his innate aura and his relations with people. In the entertainment industry, that was an invisible weapon.

He remembered Julian perfectly. His former rival had managed to charm the public and even the other contestants into thinking he was the absolute good guy despite his rotten personality.

Von knew exactly how powerful a high Charm stat was when navigating the corporate world. It made people want to agree with you.

● Charm: B- (10/1,000)

He looked at the EXP bar hovering in the mirror’s reflection one last time before sighing out.

"Let’s do this."

With a few clicks in the air, Von dumped a staggering 6,000 EXP directly into his Charm stat.

[EXP: 1,730]

● Charm: A (10/3,000)

A sudden, strange warmth washed over his entire body. It wasn’t painful, but it felt like a deep, vibrating hum beneath his skin. Von didn’t stop there. With his remaining balance, he dumped another flat thousand into his voice.

Vocals: A- (0/3,000)

It made him feel much better to see two A tier stats on his board, but it still hurt his pride a little to realize the math. Even when he eventually hit 1,000,000 fans, the cost meant he would probably only be able to afford one upgrade.

’Hopefully, I see more avenues for EXP soon,’ Von thought inwardly.

He leaned closer over the marble sink, looking at the mirror to inspect his new self.

Von couldn’t explicitly tell all of the differences at first glance, but the micro-adjustments were definitely there. His jawline seemed fractionally sharper, yet his overall face felt softer and more approachable. His hair felt remarkably fuller and fell perfectly into place without any product. He definitely looked better, possessing a magnetic, almost flawless quality, but the metaphysical effects were for others to experience.

Von was still touching his facial features, analyzing the subtle changes, when he suddenly saw a second him through the mirror.

The reflection wasn’t doing what he was doing. The second Von stood right behind him and clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Hello, handsome," the second Von said.

The twin flashed a deeply evil, unsettling grin that completely contradicted Von’s persona.

"Ah!" Von screamed out loud, his instincts completely failing him out of pure shock.

He scrambled backward, slipping on the slick bathroom tiles and tripping hard onto the floor. He scrambled to brace himself, looking up at the imposter.

Right before his eyes, the "twin him" dissolved into a mass of shifting black shadows, shrinking down rapidly until it turned back into a cute, furry black cat.

"Why? Just why?" Von groaned, dragging a hand down his face in pure annoyance as he pushed himself up from the floor.

Loki didn’t give him any face. She simply raised her tail proudly into the air and casually walked away, stepping right over his legs.

As she trotted out of the bathroom, Von heard her smug voice echo clearly in his head.

"I was testing the skill. I can use it now. It’s not bad, but it uses a lot of my energy."

Just a few hours ago, while Von was sleeping, Loki had leveled up further. Her rapid growth was terrifying, and her main skill had finally shot up to the S-tier. Von pulled up her interface to review the damage.

[System Pet]

Species: Void Lynx

Name: Loki

Level: 11

Emote Resonance: 2500/5000

Skills: Shadow Morph (S), Emote Consumer (A)

[Shadow Morph: Allows the pet to physically transform into inanimate accessories worn by the host, or perfectly replicate the appearance and voice of any human she touches. The pet’s true body will not take damage if harmed in her transformed state.]

[Cost: 2,000 ER per minute]

Von saw dozens of highly practical uses for this skill, especially for security and infiltration. But right now, Loki absolutely didn’t have the capacity to use it to its fullest. It was way too expensive on her reserves. Two and a half minutes of transformation would completely drain her empty.

But the biggest disadvantage wasn’t the cost. It was the fact that she currently couldn’t fool anyone with a working brain.

Von still needed her to learn how to actually act human, and most importantly, how to mirror him. Even if her physical appearance and vocal cords were transformed flawlessly into his, it didn’t change her feline, mischievous mannerisms.

That evil grin she just flashed looked completely psychotic on his face. That acting barrier went a long way in determining how useful the skill would actually be.

Recently, he had allowed her to wander around Florida neighborhoods and basically become a street cat for most of the day. It allowed her to consume far more residual emotions from random strangers in the city, which was exactly why her level had skyrocketed to 11 so quickly.

Von already had plans to bring her backstage when he had his first massive concert. The concentrated hype and adrenaline of a packed arena would be a fantastic opportunity for her to level up her reserves.

"Be careful how you use that," Von warned her sternly, walking out of the bathroom. "Actually, no. Don’t use it at all without my approval. Please!"

Von pleaded to the empty hallway. The cat had already left the master bedroom entirely without bothering to give him a telepathic reply.

Von could only sigh and hope she actually heard him.

He turned his attention back to his hovering system interface and focused on the new title he had received from the quest.

[Mogul: When equipped, passively sharpens the host’s financial intuition and increases the likelihood of highly profitable opportunities involving the host by 50%!]

"Fifty percent... that’s crazy," Von muttered, his smile growing as he read the description.

A passive, supernatural boost to his chances of becoming wealthy couldn’t be rejected.

In the music industry, where bad contracts and missed investments ruined careers daily, this was a godsend.

He still loved the effects of his current title, though.

So, Von made a mental note. He decided he would only equip [Mogul] whenever he, Emily, or Zack engaged in serious business talks.

Closing out the inventory screens, Von realized something else.

By upgrading his Charm to an A-rank, he had automatically fulfilled the strict requirement for his newest S-grade skill. [Golden Vessel] was now actively running in his veins.

He needed to test his strength.

He walked out into the luxury suite and his eyes landed on the heavy oak framed loveseat couch sitting in the center of the room. Von knew it was an outrageous idea, but he decided to try his luck anyway.

He walked over to the furniture. A solid piece like this easily weighed around 350 pounds. Lifting it off the ground alone was a surefire way to snap a normal human’s spine.

Von squatted down, kept his back perfectly straight, and placed his hands firmly underneath the heavy oak base. He braced his legs and lifted.

Whoosh. Shockingly, there was almost zero resistance. It didn’t just come off the carpet. Von drove his legs up and pushed his arms out, effortlessly raising the entire massive piece of furniture straight into the air.

He didn’t stumble. His muscles didn’t shake. He managed to lift the 350-pound couch fully above his head like he was holding a large, slightly awkward cardboard box.

"Wow," Von exhaled, looking up at the upholstery hovering above him.

He didn’t feel any strain. The couch felt remarkably normal in his hands, completely defying the laws of gravity and human biology. The system wasn’t lying. His strength was far beyond human limits now.

He was just about to carefully drop it back down onto the carpet when he heard a frantic scrambling noise in the hallway.

Loki suddenly sprinted into the room. Clamped firmly in the black cat’s mouth was a tablet.

"Get back here, you little menace!" a familiar voice yelled.