The next morning, the whole building felt tense. The atmosphere was heavier than usual. Workers whispered as they passed through the hallways, holding their phones and scrolling through the news. Everyone had seen it.

When Michael arrived at the office, he walked straight to his desk. His face was unreadable, but the pressure in the air said everything.

A few minutes later, Tiffin walked in holding a stack of printed documents and her tablet. She placed them carefully on his desk. "Good morning, sir," she said quietly.

He didn't look up at first. "What's that?" he asked. His voice was calm but cold.

Tiffin swallowed before speaking. "Sir, it's about Dayo. The video he posted last night… it's everywhere now. News outlets, blogs, even international media picked it up."

Michael slowly lifted his eyes to her, his expression blank. "And?"

Tiffin took a breath and opened the file. Inside were printed screenshots — Dayo's post, the evidence, the voice recordings, and the NDA copy that mentioned Vivian's name.

Michael leaned forward as he went through the pages. At first, he was quiet. Then his eyes widened slightly as he read further.

There was a short silence. Then, suddenly, he slammed his hand on the table so hard that Tiffin flinched.

"What the hell is this?!" he shouted. "How the hell did this boy get all this?!"

Tiffin said nothing. She stood still, hands together, trying not to make eye contact.

Michael flipped through the papers again, muttering to himself. "The video, the call recording… damn it." He threw one of the sheets aside. "How could they be so careless?!"

He stood up, pacing around his office. "Vivian's name is everywhere. Paul's name too. Even Chris is getting dragged into this mess." He looked back at Tiffin sharply. "Who leaked this first?"

"No one, sir," Tiffin said carefully. "It came directly from Dayo's verified account. And the video has over twenty million views already."

Michael's jaw tightened. "Twenty million?"

"Yes, sir. And it's still climbing."

He rubbed his forehead in frustration, his voice low but dangerous. "This boy just threw a bomb into the industry overnight."

Tiffin hesitated, then asked softly, "Should I prepare a public statement?"

Michael looked at her like she had asked the wrong question. "A statement? What do you want me to say? This is already a mess, and I was wondering why he was quiet."

He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "No. For now, stay quiet. Let me think."

"There's more, sir."

"What again?"

"Well, he performed a song about the whole thing and released it last night."

Michael paused for a bit, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Not only did this boy outsmart me, but did he just use my resources to promote his song?"

Tiffin just stood there quietly, not even knowing what to say. This was the first time in three years she had seen her boss like this. She made a silent prayer for JD.

Michael kept mute for a while, then turned to Tiffin. "You brought me a report on one of his artists who almost broke the record for first-week sales for a rookie, right?"

"Yes, sir. Her name is Lois."

"Hmm… well, then it's time to show Dayo that being smart is not enough. You also need overwhelming power to succeed in this industry."

Tiffin nodded and was about to leave the room when Michael said, "Also, prepare a ticket to the next venue. I think it's due time that I meet him face to face and see how he declines my offer straight to my face."

"Alright, sir. I'll do that now. Also, sir, should we start action towards Lois?"

"Yes. I want her under me before we travel. One more thing, that Vivian issue made me lose, so you know what you have to do."

Tiffin nodded and quietly left the office.

As the door closed, Michael sat down again, staring at the screen on his desk where Dayo's face filled the news page — calm, confident, and untouchable.

He clenched his fists. "You think you've won, huh?" he said under his breath. "Let's see how long that lasts."

***

After proceeding from the Quarter-Finals and clearing his name, Dayo's popularity increased even more. He made another breakthrough in his singing and writing. His writing was now S-, while his singing had reached A. He also received the rewards he hadn't gotten for qualifying for the next round.

[Mission 3 → Quarter-Finals Push]

Objective: Secure a spot in the Top 20.

Status: Mission Complete

Reward: Skill Upgrade (random performance or production stat boost).

Bonus (Top 3): Special Endorsement Buff (+5% reputation gain across all regions and 5% higher chance of top brands approaching you) + Momentum Token (+7% voting power for the next round).

DING!

[STATS UPDATED]

Name: Jason Dayo

Age: 20 years

Status: National Artist (Level 5)

Singing Level: A- → A

Writing Level: A+ → S-

Acting Skill: C-

Visual: A-

Instruments:

Guitar – SS+

Flute – A+

Piano – S-

Violin – A-

Music Production: SSS+

Video Editing: B+ → A

Potential: SSS+

Skills:

Prodigy's Instinct

Status Viewer

Perfect Match

Trend Insight

Archive Vault

Cards:

Global Spotlight Card → Doubles exposure/reach of next release (7 days)

System Level: 2

---

Dayo smiled faintly as the new stats appeared. "Guess all that work finally paid off," he said quietly.

He activated the Skill Upgrade and the Special Endorsement Buff at once. His phone buzzed immediately as notifications started popping up nonstop. His new song, The Truth I Told, had exploded overnight.

The performance video he used as the official music video had gone viral on every platform. The raw emotion in his voice and the story behind the song made people connect deeply.

Within 48 hours, the numbers were unbelievable:

YouTube: 18.4 million views

Spotify: 6.7 million streams

Apple Music: 4.3 million streams

Audiomack: 3.9 million plays

And by the second day, the song had entered the Billboard Hot 100, sitting at #48.

For an independent artist, it was a miracle.

Dayo read the article headline on his phone and smiled to himself.

"Global Competitor JD Breaks Into Billboard with a Scandal Song."

He locked his phone and chuckled. "Yeah… now this feels good."

Later that evening, he went out with his friends, Maya, Misha, Emily, and Min-Jae, to celebrate. They laughed, ate, and talked about the crazy week they'd just had. For the first time in a while, Dayo felt light.

When he got back to his room that night, he sat on his couch, picked up his phone, and called Valery.

She picked up on the second ring. "Hey, superstar," she said with a smile in her voice.

Dayo laughed softly. "Don't start, Valery. I just wanted to ask, how's Lois's album doing?"

Valery paused for a second, then replied with one word. "Amazing."

Dayo smiled to himself. "Good. Really good, so what are the numbers?"

Valery laughed softly. "Before I tell you that, let me just say this — you really surprised me, Dayo. You took something that could've destroyed you and turned it into a win. That was really amazing."

Dayo smiled faintly. "Nah, I just didn't know what else to do. I knew it would cause a lot of talk, maybe even trouble for me later, but I couldn't care less. I just wanted the truth out."

"I understand," Valery said. "You did what most people wouldn't. But for now, just keep your focus on the competition, alright?"

"Yeah, you're right," Dayo said quietly. Then he added, "Yeah so, how's Lois's album doing? Have you seen the numbers yet?"

Valery opened a file on her laptop. "Yeah, it's doing really well. The reviews are great, and the streams are growing fast."

"Hmm, nice," Dayo said, smiling faintly. "Send me the numbers or tell me where she's standing."

Valery paused for a moment, looking at the figures. "Alright,"

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