CHAPTER 204: NOVA’S BACK

Not wanting to deal with William’s nonsense or get caught fighting with him on camera, Ari just rolled his eyes and wanted to end the conversation quickly, but the blonde boy refused to take a hint.

"I don’t think there’s a misunderstanding at all, and I certainly haven’t stolen anything from you. I don’t believe in shaking hands with people, and there’s nothing to clear up."

"You literally just shook hands with the MC 10 minutes ago." William immediately pointed out, not willing to let it go.

So?

Take the hint that I don’t want to talk to you.

Especially here, you weirdo.

"Is it because you hate me? I don’t understand why you refuse to shake my hand. Sure, we’ve had some mildly unpleasant issues, and you did steal from me, but I’m willing to forgive you once I get the stolen item back. We can put that behind us with just one handshake. Won’t you shake my hand?"

William forcefully stood right in front of Ari and extended his hand while Ari looked at him incredulously.

Mildly unpleasant issues in the past?

You ordered me to get killed and didn’t even remember, you tried to get me arrested and kicked off the show, and you’re calling that mildly unpleasant?

And now you want to touch me and possibly take my stats?

Hell no!

Oi NOVA!

WHERE the heck are you????

"Don’t you think you owe me after stealing from me? Just shake my hand and it’s done."

- Why is he being so weird?

- He stole from William?

- He did get arrested after all. Captain Crashout is back.

- He’s basically a criminal.

- Shhhhh

- I heard this is all a ploy from production.

As the other contestants began whispering and moving closer, Ari began cursing NOVA in his head as one of the cameramen moved closer.

Seeing that Ari was cornered, William let out a pleased smile. "Let’s shake and put this behind us, shall we? Permanently. Then in the future, if we debut together, we can be best of buddies and share vocal notes. What do you say?"

Hell no.

That was what Ari wanted to say, but when he glanced at the camera, he just stayed silent as he simultaneously yelled at NOVA while trying to think of what to do.

"Well?"

[Yawn.]

[How unpleasant.]

A large transparent blue screen suddenly filled Ari’s vision.

[All the yelling and screaming I’m sure you’re doing in your head is giving me a headache, and I don’t even have a head.]

[Not to mention all the havoc you’ve wreaked in the short time that I’ve been asleep.]

[Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.]

[Stop causing a scene, say status, and just shake his hand. I’ll protect that face and voice that you’re always so worried about, and we can finally see what we’re working with.]

Seeing the blue screens that he hadn’t seen in a while, Ari let out a small sigh of relief.

Finally, NOVA was back.

Although he wanted to scold it for disappearing for so long, Ari just laughed instead.

"What was that? Are you laughing? At me?"

"No, it’s fine. Let’s shake hands and get this over with."

"Ah, good. You’ve decided to become reasonable. That’s what’s needed to live a long life."

Not responding to the smug smile on Williams’ face, his own slender fingers clasped Williams, and as the blond boy began squeezing his hand in a show of dominance, Ari whispered ’status.’

The transparent blue screen in front of his eyes seemed to glitch, but then, slowly, a status screen that was both familiar and unfamiliar appeared in front of his eyes.

[William Arthur Forbes]

[Age: 19]

[Vocals: D-(currently B)]

[Dance: C- (currently B)]

[Visual: B-]

[Rap: F-(currently C-)]

[Leadership: D-(currently C)]

[Charm: C+]

[Pottery: A]

[Acting: D-]

[Break Dance: C+]

[Composing: C-]

[Whistling: F]

[Baking: E]

[Wood crafting: B+]

[Skiing: A]

[Unicycling: F]

[Piano....]

[Violin....]

[Guitar....]

[Pogo stick hopping....]

[Caligraphy.....]

[...]

The status screen in his vision was constantly flashing, displaying both expected and unfamiliar skills, some of which he had never encountered before.

Each time the transparent blue screen updated with new stats, his eyes blinked quickly, trying to read everything that popped up.

It was the craziest thing that Ari had ever seen, and he could only stare as more and more screens with strange statuses filled his vision while William was crushing his hand in what was supposedly a handshake.

At some point, it was no longer in English but in a strange text that he couldn’t understand.

[Hmm?]

[As I thought, it’s your kind.]

[Filthy little thing.]

[Eating up people’s skills and stats with no concern for the damage you leave behind.]

[Rubbish.]

The screen displaying Williams’ extensive status suddenly froze before Ari’s status screen appeared as well.

[Ariel Matisse]

[Age: 18]

[Vocals: A]

[Dance: C]

[Visual: A]

[Rap: F]

[Charm: A]

[Skills: JukeBox(A), Picky Listener (B), Pen Pal (C)]

As Ari stared at his status, marveling at how much it had changed in such a short time, a red tinge was creeping in from the edges of the status screen, causing it to flicker and glitch, as if something was interrupting the signal.

Then his status screen disappeared and reappeared before a block of text covered everything.

[DARE TO TRY AND CLAIM ME?]

Even though he couldn’t hear NOVA’s voice, Ari had a sense that it was furious.

[I refuse.]

[Ariel Matisse.]

[Let go of his hands. I’ve seen enough.]

Ari immediately tried to yank his hand back, but William clutched it tighter while muttering under his breath.

"Exchange vocal notes with me and give it back. Give it back. Give it back. It’s mine. Exchange. Exchange."

[Vocals: A - B- - B- A - B- - B- A - B- - B- A]

Ari’s vocals began flickering between A and B. He kept trying to pull his hand back, but William’s vice-like fingers were digging into his skin, and he felt his bones creak from pain.

[Sigh.]

[This is pathetic.]

[You’re too weak.]

[Your next round of missions must include you getting into the gym to build some true strength.]

[But for now, I will handle this even though it will hurt quite a bit.]

[Filthy creature.]

[This one here is not for you. I’ve grown quite attached to him.]

[He’s mine.]

[So stay away.]

CRACKLE

A strong feeling of static filled Ari’s hand, causing it to turn numb and then overheat drastically, like he had touched a hot piece of metal by accident.

It seemed that the feeling transferred into William’s hand because he groaned as his fingers convulsed.

"Ahhhh!"

"Bordel de merde-"

Simultaneously, Ari bit off his curse as he and William snatched their hands away from each other while grimacing in pain.

Before Ari could say anything, he was yanked backward, and someone began fanning his hand with a white hat.

"Ari! Your hand is literally shaking and red. Are you okay? What happened?"

"...I’m not sure?"

Ari let Jamie fan his aching hand while staring at William, who was staring at his own hand, and then at the air in shock.

It was like he couldn’t believe what just happened.

Ari felt the same way, and he wanted to ask NOVA what the hell had just happened, but he couldn’t say anything right now; he just forced a smile before speaking.

"We shook hands, so everything is settled, right? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch me again. It’s clear you feel some type of way about me and used the opportunity to hurt me, and I don’t want to go through that again."

"What did you do?" William bit out as he began glaring at Ari.

"Shook your hand and almost got mine broken in return after you falsely accused me of stealing?" Ari replied sarcastically.

"No. What the hell have you-

"Oi Willie, stop messing with the kid, yeah? Why would you squeeze his hand that hard? You bruised it!"

Benjamin shoved his way between the two of them, being careful not to touch William, pointing at the bright red fingerprints on Ari’s skin, which looked as if he had been branded by a hand-shaped metal.

From the stark contrast between the paleness and redness of the surrounding skin, it was clear that it would bruise.

Badly.

And it hurt quite a lot.

Ari could barely clench his fingers into a fist without a jolt of pain shooting through them.

"All this talk about him doing you wrong, it’s his first day back, and you do this to him? Are you mad, bruv?" Benjamin asked in a furious manner.

"You’re exaggerating. I didn’t hurt him. And don’t involve yourself in business that doesn’t concern you." William replied, his eyes looking right past Benjamin at Ari, looking as if he wanted to skin him alive.

"You’re chatting bare shit, and you know it. You’re about the same complexion as Ari, yeah. On a science ting, pass your hand over and let me squeeze it until the same thing happens to you. We can see if it hurts or not, innit?"

"Try me and I’ll make you regret it, British boy."

"Okay, okay. Break it up, all of you. Shows over. Ari, Ben, and William separate. The rest of you, start getting on the bus so we can leave. Ari, how’s your hand?"

Kate and another staff member came forward, breaking up the mini crowd of contestants, while pointing the cameraman in a different direction.

As the contestants slowly walked away, still craning their necks and ears to overhear any juicy details, Ari cradled his hand gently and decided to throw as much mud on William’s name as possible.

"It hurts a lot. It feels like it’s broken. "

[Oh?]

[The lying show has begun once more? How lovely.]

[I’ve missed this.]

"I doubt that it’s broken, but we’ll get you an ice pack and have the medic look at you. William, apologize to Ari. I understand you may be frustrated over whatever conflict the two of you have, but that doesn’t mean that you can hurt him like this. You’re both too old for that. If you have any accusations, you can come to the staff to mediate."

"Apologize? Me?" William looked incredulous, as if he had never been told those words before, but Kate had a firm expression on her face.

"Otherwise? Shall I report this to the PD?"

Although William looked as if he would rather die, he eventually bit out a tiny ’Sorry’ before stomping away.

"Where’s he going? I didn’t even say I would accept his apology."

At his words, Benjamin burst out laughing while he got strange looks from others.

Ari shrugged before turning to Jamie and Ben.

"Yo. I’m back. Tell me what I missed."

"You! You! You didn’t even tell us that you were coming back! How could you!"

At Jamie’s comically betrayed expression, Ari laughed while ducking away from the chokehold he knew was coming.

"Sorry, I couldn’t say anything. But now you can update me without having to censor your words. Seriously, what did I miss?"