Chapter 70

'Please support me on the 4th of December!'

I sent out on all of my socials a message/post for all of my viewers.

The news of my hospitalization wasn't made public because the public's reaction to possible 'brain damage' would be an unknown variable that we did not want to mess with.

All they knew was that I was on a hiatus.

Within minutes, my socials were being spammed. In Twitter with the most active communities, I received thousands of likes and the thrill was getting to everyone.

Well, that's the power of public psychology.

Disappear at my peak of 1 million subscribers, and when everyone's curious I reappear.

People asked questions regarding what on the 4th of December and speculators suggested it had something to do with Knife Agency.

At this point, I hadn't confirmed nor rejected the idea that I was in Knife Agency.

After a few more minutes, people realized that the date fell exactly on Knife Agency's Winter Fashion Show.

Minutes after a fan pointed that out and received thousands of likes, the agency's PR department acted immediately and tweeted out:

'Who's ready? (:eyes_emoji:)'

…

It was the third of December.

In Regalia, we were preparing ourselves to present to the soon to be audience.

I had no time to appreciate the beauty of a nexus city and spent my entire being revisiting past topics and things I should or shouldn't do for the show.

Though I have them memorized, going over things like this calms my nerves.

Around a dozen and more hours later would it be the Winter Show.

Currently, every single model was present on the runway.

The main director of the show was on the stage, once again repeating the schedule, mood, and atmosphere of the show.

We all knew what we were doing but he was doing it out of formality.

We'd spent weeks practicing, after all.

I now knew the etiquette of walking on the catwalk and the best expressions to have.

Honestly, it all just depended on the clothes you were wearing, though.

Some were comfortably sat on the floor exuding nobleness. Etiquette usually forbids sitting on the floor, but if you look good doing it then there's no reason to prevent it.

I think these people sitting on the floor specifically practiced sitting on the floor for situations like this. They look too unnaturally 'perfect' to just be sitting on the floor.

Maybe I should learn how to sit on the floor perfectly.

The rest of us were formally standing up, but no matter what position; sitting or standing, we were all paying keen attention to the director's words.

Obviously, as a rookie, it'd be disrespectful for me to sit down or even have any thought of it.

The duck walk, as ridiculous as it sounds, strengthened my legs to a considerable degree. The hidden muscles were penetrated to be regenerated with power.

The bones were tempered by the unnatural method of walking and concentration of weight in the ankles.

Standing for hours was as easy as cake.

I still have questionable thoughts about quacking, though. Why not yell something else? Why does it have to be quack?

Paying attention while having my own separate thoughts about quacking, the director finished today's message.

Most likely, tomorrow he'd repeat it again.

From behind, I felt an arm wrapping itself around my shoulder.

"Waddup, dude."

I turned around to see Felix's shit-eating grin.

"Felix?"

"You haven't forgotten me, right? How's the brain?" He tried joking around but couldn't hide the serious tone by the end.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Alright, I'm leaving."

"I'm joking. The brain feels better."

We laughed.

"Good to hear that the brain is better. Maybe next time you could visit one of my concerts."

"Oh… I forgot you had invited us to a concert…"

"Yeah, man. Your health is more important though."

I slapped his back.

"That's right."

His eyes took a mischievous tone.

"How was the Modeling training? Did Blake work ya down?"

Having experienced similar training to mine, he doesn't think the training was what lead me to the hospital bed.

"It was fun."

He nodded.

"That's your idea of fun," he merely kept nodding.

"Yes. I believe quacking is more fun than walking on four legs and barking."

"..."

Smirking, I patted his back.

"How was the concert?"

"It was fun," he smiled and reciprocated my exact words.

"Got to meet lots of new people and the music was okay. Live performances are definitely thousands of times harder than prerecordings that allow many takes. Everything has to be absolutely perfect."

"Yes… Usually, performers are always left unsatisfied by their own performance. There's always more to be improved."

He nodded and mouthed the words 'there's always more to be improved' with a glint in his eyes.

"So you're going to be modeling too?"

"Nah, only here for the entrance show. It's my first time ever that I'll be performing in it and year by year the Winter Show has been getting more and more viewers."

"Really? Just how many people watch the Winter Show?"

"Last year was a few million streamed live on TV, Youtube, and other streaming sites."

"...A few million? I thought Jessica said it was a few thousands?"

"In a way, it is a few thousands. But don't worry, the Fashion Show itself won't have numbers that big. It's just the Entrance Show that's mostly watched. We've got a musical entrance, a few comedians, and some stuff before the Fashion Show."

"Oh, so the entrance show is part of the fashion show but people pay more attention to the entrance show than the fashion show?"

So like a Superbowl halftime show… but instead of Football, it's… a modeling agency?

"Kind of."

"Ohhh. Okay. Are you nervous?"

"Nope. I think it'll be fun."

"Great. I'll look forward to your Entrance Show, then."

"I'll look forward to seeing you on the runway. It'll be your debut!"

"That's right. What songs will you be presenting, by the way?"

"I dunno."

…

"Charlie, meet Arden. Arden, meet Charlie."

"Pleased to meet you, Arden."

He was a tall skinny dude with red hair with a pleasant appearance.

Rather than Felix's wild looks, Arden had gentler features— contrary to what his name would suggest.

"Pleased to meet you, Charlie."

Felix smirked at us and slapped our backs.

"Alright, you two can get rid of that serious act. Seeing you two goofs act like that makes me want to vomit."

I glanced at Arden's eyes and saw his smile transition from a polite one to a silly one.

"I see. Fortunately, It looks like I'm not the only one that has to deal with this monkey."

"Hahaha. I was thinking he was more like a golden retriever than a monkey."

Maybe it was the video of him barking that made me think of him more as a dog than a monkey.

"Hey!"

"You haven't seen him eat his banana milk. He's a psycho for banana milk."

I laughed and pointed at Felix.

"Felix, you like banana milk?"

"It's good, dude."

"Why'd you never tell me about your strange addiction?"

"He's ashamed of it."

"I'm not! It's so good, you guys have to try it. Tell ya what, let's go to the grocery store after everything's done and I promise I won't be the only psycho monkey in here."

"Yeah, yeah. Banana orangutan."

"Banana milk retriever."

…

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…

Blood pumping all dozens of us models moved swiftly and quietly in unison movement towards the door.

My heart was thumping against my chest with force and the thrilling feeling of being alive dulled my legs.

There would be three rounds each with a different style of clothing.

With each person sporting their excellently made and fashioned clothes, there was no shortage of handsome features.

Since it was winter, of course, the main theme of the first round would be classical western winter outfits.

Some had wild appearances with flashy designs, others had sophisticated clothes suited for serious environments, and others were dressed comfortably but outstandingly.

Everyone had varying clothes, but the determination and concentration required for the most important event of the day remained uniform within our faces.

Breathing heavily, my excited blood circulated quickly throughout my entire body.

The nerves in my legs were exploding with a shaky feeling that was overpowered by the tingly trickle of sweat trailing through my neck.

Months of constant hard work, sweat, and concentration all for this moment.

The heavy music finally stopped and the roar of the audience sounded.

Nerves firing off from my legs and arms, with a beating heart I distracted myself with a different thought.

What happened at the entrance, Felix presented his first song, and then it was the comedians who for a moment relaxed my nervousness with laughter.

Disturbed from my thoughts, the massive crowd roared again.

The deafening sound sent stronger alarms within my stomach and nerves.

After the comedians, there was a short film played. The film ended and right now, Felix just finished dancing and singing his most recent hit song.

Contrary to what I expected for a sophisticated fashion show, this looked more like a concert and entertainment show.

The crowd roared once again and Felix's tired and heavy footing woke us up from our stupor.

He opened the backstage door and we all stared at him.

"Congratulations Felix." Everyone said at once and he smiled at us.

"Good luck out there,"

Staring at the only thing separating us from the eyes of millions of people— a thin curtain, my heart started beating quickly.

This is it.

…

Lol cliffhanger

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...

Music from the giant speakers was being blasted again.

This was our queue to enter.

My stomach sank but my eyes remained with focus.

The first person to walk out would be an older man.

I glanced at him and saw his steady figure calmly walking towards the exit.

His sharp penetrating eyes glanced over the curtains as they slowly raised, and he fixed his shirt.

That's right… Calm.

I stared at my shaking fingers and gripped my fist.

I inhaled from my nose and slowly exhaled through my mouth.

The man's resonating footsteps walked to the light of the public and his face gained an easier outlook.

So they placed this older man with more experience first to help us maintain our composure.

More people began walking out with renewed vigor.

The blasting music filled us with energy.

The models went out in a stream and followed the older man on the runway.

Displaying and showing off the clothes immaculately, the older man began walking back calmly towards the backstage.

The models followed the same route and I soon reached the line.

The blasting music was now at my ears.

Taking a deep breath, I walked out into the light of the stage.

…

Cliffhanger?

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...

Remembering what Blake told me to do, my muscles deeply ingrained with the elegant walk, I walked out with a natural smile.

[Modeling has gained 165 points.]

Adorning a fashionable outfit, I suited the environment perfectly and walked with a confident smile.

[Modeling has gained 165 points.]

I stared at the public that not a moment ago was yelling for Felix's performance and scanned the area with a cursory glance.

The full force of my 12 points of charm blasted into the entire audience.

In combination with my mannerisms and elegance, I strode through the catwalk all eyes on me.

Not a few seconds after, the public recognized my features and erupted in cheers.

It seems my tweet worked out.

Looking at the sea of people, I noticed familiar faces. Poodlefluff and Yvette were loudly cheering and throwing their hands up at me.

So both of them live here in Regalia? Or did they travel?

With warmth in my heart, my smile turned genuine and the audience became louder.

[Modeling has gained 220 points.]

Are fashion shows supposed to be this loud? Is it just Knife Agency's Winter Fashion Show that is different from all other shows? Or are Pangaea fashion shows just different than Earth?

I looked up at the exclusive spots where all the fashionistas and famous people sat.

Directing a friendly smile towards the lady whose designs I was currently wearing, I was surprised to see Arden sitting next to Felix's empty spot with Blake.

[Modeling has gained 55 points.]

Well, famous people will be friends with famous people.

I turned my eyes to the front and finally walked to the curve where I would be returning backstage.

First round, success.

…