Patty, as usual, opened his eyes and saw that he was at the very entrance of his future Alma Mater, Chain High School Education.
He was excited to meet Grammo again and tell him the good news.
He can continue being his butler again! Grammo can once again have the privilege of pushing him around in the rolling chair! Oh, and he would also tell Grammo that he finally found a solution on how to get the Voice Box Teqx, but that wasn't really all that important. What's important was that Patty can continue relaxing in his rolling chair. He was getting tired of using his legs to push himself inside the rolling chair
He was just about to roll inside the building when all of a sudden, he felt a tug on his sleeves.
"You're Patrick Patterson, correct?"
It was someone he didn't know. But seeing that he had the same uniform, Patty guessed that he was probably a batch mate. He didn't really know everyone in his batch except for his friends, but that's because he was really bad with names and faces.
"Yeah."
"You have been summoned to the Counselor's Office."
"What for?"
The guy got angry with that reply. "You've been recruited by a top company and you don't even know?" He was one of the people who would literally do anything to be a part of a big company. He couldn't believe the nerve of some people to not even be interested to know about internships.
"A top company?" Patty didn't seem to care that the guy was angry with his indifference to this kind of big news.
"Ugh. Yes. A huge company."
"What happens if I don't want to?"
"Tsk. Rub it in, why don't ya?" It was an insult to injury for Patty to ask that question. The guy wasn't even looked at by small companies, but Patty seemed to have top companies lining up for him for him to just disregard an offer from a big company as easy as that. "I don't think this has happened before, but if you don't even give a rejection letter, you would probably be in trouble with the principal. After all, that company has a big influence in the school."
The guy left after that, clearly too angry to deal with Patty's ignorance.
But of course, Patty truly was just confused. He didn't remember applying for any internships from any companies. He literally avoided doing just that. How could he have been selected for an internship that he didn't even know existed?
Then he remembered. Yesterday, there was an old man that annoyed him to no end and tried to recruit him for some company. He said he was from the Atlas Incorporated group, but who knew if he was telling the truth. And even if he was telling the truth, he remembered vehemently refusing any offers from him.
Even when they said that he would be personally taught by a bigshot master, he made it as clear as possible that he didn't want to be a part of Atlas Inc. Could it be that they researched him and found out that he was enrolled in this school? Were they that desperate to chase after Patty to the point of stalking him? He didn't even know why they were interested in him when there were literally millions of students so much more talented than him.
He wanted to just ignore the offer, but if he didn't at least give a rejection letter, he would be in trouble with the principal. He finally understood how Fame could hurt someone because the Fame of the company was forcing him to spend precious energy and not be lazy. Ugh.
[Double Mission]
[Requirement]
Go to the Councilor's office
Write a rejection letter to the company
[Reward]
500 Credits
Of course the system didn't want him to get in trouble with the Principal. The system was an eager beaver. If the system was a student, it would be one of those people who was the teacher's pet; it would never break the classroom rules and always make sure that the teacher didn't forget that there was homework due that day. It would be the kind of classmate he hated the most.
But at least the rewards were really good. If he completed this mission, he would have enough Credits to buy the Voice Box Teqx.
It was unfortunate that it didn't have a skip button this time, but since the Councilor's office was only in the first floor, Patty decided to just 'roll' there.
How was he going to do that, you ask? Well, Patty invented a technique called 'Wall Push', where he would push the wall behind him and use that momentum to propel him forward. It was a revolutionary new move that would change the game forever. Of course, Patty was the only one playing it.
Despite how it made his travel easier, nothing beats having a butler push him around. Why wasn't Grammo here when he was needed the most?
—————
Grammo walked through the gates of the school with a somber attitude. Although he didn't let it show yesterday, he was quite bummed that he didn't win the competition. Regret was eating through him. The 'what if' question kept bugging his mind. What if he listened to Patty and just played the guitar? What if he just didn't sing?
And even though Patty was unconcerned, saying that they still had 6 more days to figure out a new solution, he wasn't all that optimistic about it. He knew that the Music Competition was their last resort. The only thing that could have helped him get better at singing was the Voice Box Teqx. The next Music Competition doesn't restart until next week, but that was the deadline for their bet with the professor.
Grammo felt that they were done. They lost the bet. This morning, he decided that he would ask the professor to void their contract. He would plead that Patty be spared from being expelled, in exchange, he would voluntarily leave the school. Although Patty was nice enough to still believe that they could win this bet, Grammo didn't want him to be caught up in his incompetence.
Hopefully, the professor would accept this proposal. After all, this was what he wanted in the first place. He resolutely decided to go to the Professor's faculty room this morning.
But just as he looked up, he suddenly saw Patty just on the cusp of entering the building. He seemed to be talking to someone from their batch. He watched as the guy angrily walked away from Patty. Grammo laughed to himself. He bet that Patty probably pissed off that guy because he was being too lazy to care about something.
He raised his hand and waved to him. He opened his mouth, about to call out to Patty, when all of a sudden, someone walked in front of him and blocked his way. Grammo looked up and saw a familiar guy towering over him with a devious smile on his face.
"Jack…"
This guy was one of Griff's friends. Their 'gang' terrorized classrooms and bullied those they deemed weaker than them. Unfortunately, Grammo was one such being who was the target of their hate.
He knew that there was no talking to guys like these. In fact, if Grammo tried to talk back to them, they would just consider that as a verbal agreement to start the beat down. And because Griff was the son of the Great Sonny Sunverk and was the prime inheritor of their company, the school was closing their eyes to his shenanigans.
If they tried to snitch to the teachers, they would just listen to their plight but never actually do anything themselves.
'We'll talk to him'
'He will be reprimanded'
'This won't happen again'
But it always happens again. No one tries to help them. That was because in a world where the strong reigned supreme, everyone expects you to solve your own problems. 'If you were stronger, then you wouldn't be bullied'.
Grammo knew that nothing could stop Jack, so he tried to run away from him and rush to Patty. But unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Ryan appeared from the side and blocked him from running. With Jack and Ryan preventing him from advancing, Grammo had no other choice but to back away.
"You can't escape us," someone said from behind.
Buck held on to Grammo's shoulders from the back and forced him to stay in place. He was liberal in using force to subdue someone weaker than him. Grammo winced, but Buck didn't seem to care.
"We're not going to hurt you. You just need to follow us obediently and meet Griff in a discreet location."
Grammo was scared to his wits, but he was somehow able to refuse. Patty's blind defiance seemed to have rubbed off on him.
"I don't want to."
Jack laughed to himself. "You still don't get it, do you? You cannot win against us. Let me tell you this: with just one word from Griff, the whole school will close their eyes and let us beat you up right here, right now."
Grammo frowned.
"You cannot fight against someone that powerful. Who knows what will happen to you? Maybe, just maybe, you would suddenly lose the Music Competition," Ryan added.
"What…" Grammo was left dumbfounded.
"Maybe someone visited the judges and gifted them money, and in exchange, they had to change their votes."
"No…"
Buck then whispered on Grammo's ears. "And you know what's the best part about it? You would have won."
And before Grammo could react, Jack punched him in the gut and knocked him out.