Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 173: The Visionary

<🎧 Song Recommendation: peekaboo by Kendrick Lamar ft. AZ Chike>

...

(Tuesday — 28th May, 2020)

Just as Von had promised, he dropped the bundle he had been preparing with Patch.

Emily had strongly protested that decision. Dropping two surprise tracks without a single day of teasing or promotion was already a nightmare, but dropping them on a random Tuesday morning was what really gave his manager a headache.

The music industry operated on a Friday release schedule.

A Tuesday drop meant the songs barely had two days to accumulate streams before the Billboard charts refreshed, completely ruining any chance of a high debut.

But Von wasn’t keen on tracking weeks or chart placements. These two songs were more of experimental art to him.

He had even made the crazy decision to release the bundle completely copyright-free. He wanted the internet to take the tracks, remix them, and use them in videos without fear of strikes.

He just wanted to see what the reaction to this new sound would be.

But he didn’t have the time to sit around refreshing his feed to find out. Right now, Von was on his way to Los Angeles.

The black Escalade cruised smoothly past the security gates of the Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport.

The SUV drove directly onto the tarmac as it approached an isolated section of the airfield.

The tarmac was completely empty, save for a massive, single aircraft parked against the morning sky.

Bunny stepped out of the driver’s seat, his eyes scanning the empty perimeter to ensure it was clear before he walked around and pulled open the passenger door.

Von stepped out into the humid Florida air. The first sight he took in was the ridiculous size of the vehicle waiting for him.

It was a custom Bombardier Global 7500, painted in white with sharp gold accents tracing the wings and fuselage.

Black and gold dragon heads were placed at strategic areas to mark its owner, giving it a certain predatory aura.

In the elite entertainment circles, this specific jet was famous. It was known as Dracula. Worth an estimated seventy million dollars, it was one of Leviathan’s most extravagant purchases. Seeing it up close, Von could finally confirm for himself that the Multi-Diamond Rapper lived on a different plane of existence.

Von shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark hoodie and looked over at his towering bodyguard.

"You think we could trade the car for a window seat, Bunny?"

Bunny kept quiet, maintaining his neutral expression. His eyes didn’t even flick toward the jet.

Von sighed beneath his face mask. He knew he wasn’t going to get a laugh out of the wall of muscle, but he couldn’t help trying. "Let’s go."

At his words, Bunny reached into the back of the Escalade and pulled out a black suitcase.

It contained Von’s essentials, including a few pieces of Vanguard clothing Emily had insisted he pack for the trip.

Bunny fell into step just behind Von’s right shoulder as they walked toward the aircraft’s deployed airstairs.

The flight crew was already waiting for him at the base of the steps. Because of the lockdown protocols sweeping the country, there was no glamorous greeting.

A flight attendant dressed in a white uniform stood waiting, her face half-covered by a mask and her hands gloved.

"Master Leviathan welcomes you warmly, Mr. Varley," the flight attendant said, her voice slightly muffled by the mask.

Von pulled his own mask down just an inch and flashed her a lazy, easy smile. "Just Von is fine. Thanks for having me."

Even behind the mask, Von could see the blood rush to the tips of her ears. She swallowed, her eyes widening slightly before she quickly looked down at her tablet.

Her sudden flustered reaction made Von wonder inwardly. He knew the System had fundamentally changed him, but the visual differences weren’t drastic.

Aside from his hair, which was now thick and overflowing past his forehead, his face looked the same in the mirror. Regardless, people reacted to him differently now.

He didn’t comment on it. He stepped forward and allowed a masked medic to press a temperature gun to his forehead.

After a quick temperature scan and a brief check of his eyes to ensure he wasn’t showing any symptoms, he was cleared to board.

Von turned back to Bunny. The bodyguard handed over the suitcase.

"Don’t miss me too much, man," Von said, giving the big guy a brief fist bump.

Bunny simply nodded back and turned to walk back to the Escalade.

Von climbed the stairs and stepped into the cabin of Dracula. If the outside was intimidating, the inside was pure luxury.

The main cabin featured wide, cream-colored massage chairs facing large mahogany tables. Toward the back of the jet, a heavy sliding door blocked off a private rear cabin, which Von assumed was Leviathan’s personal bedroom and strictly off-limits.

The co-pilot stepped out of the cockpit to greet him.

"Morning, Mr. Varley. We’ll be wheels up in about five minutes. Just a heads up on the flight plan: we aren’t heading straight to LAX. We’re making a brief pit stop in Texas at a private strip to pick up two of your co-stars."

Von nodded, sinking into one of the leather massage chairs. Emily had already briefed him on these details. Most of the movie’s cast already lived in Los Angeles, which made production significantly easier given the strict travel regulations choking the country.

But Leviathan had gone out of his way to arrange private transport for the few actors scattered across the states.

Von’s situation, however, was strange. He was flying out on the billionaire’s dime, but he didn’t actually have the job yet. He was just going for an audition.

Emily had made it very clear that if Von completely bombed the audition and didn’t get the role, he would be responsible for booking and paying for his own private flight back to Miami.

It was a subtle flex by Leviathan, pressuring him to perform.

The engines roared to life and Von buckled himself in and pulled out his phone.

He hadn’t read the script. He hadn’t even read the original novel the movie was based on. Under normal circumstances, Von would have been panicking about his time not being enough to comprehend the material. But he had a secret weapon.

He pulled up his interface.

[Title: The Visionary (SS)]

[Description: The mark of a true artist. When equipped, the user’s reading comprehension, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence are increased by 400%!]

[Note: Equipping title for extended periods may induce significant mental strain. Upgrade Willpower to fare better.]

Von read the description again. A four-hundred percent increase was a massive multiplier, but stats and percentages were hard to quantify in the real world. There was only one way to find out exactly what it felt like.

He opened the file Emily had forwarded to him.

The title page loaded on his screen: Perfect Ruins.

It was a large document, exactly 120 pages, coming in at roughly 25,000 words. For an average person, sitting down to read a script of that size like a regular book would take about two hours. But reading it was different from comprehending it as an actor. An actor had to analyze subtext, map out emotional beats, and memorize dialogue cues. That kind of deep analysis usually took days.

Before he started reading, Von focused his eyes on the screen and triggered a basic System skill.

[Inspect]

[Movie Script - Perfect Ruins]

[Script Writer: Marcus Burglewater]

[Script Score: 69/100]

● The plot structure relies heavily on standard coming-of-age clichés, but excels in creating profound character dynamics.]

● Material lacks environmental depth. The setting relies heavily on standard locations, making the world feel slightly one-dimensional.

● The narrative pacing is strong, but the third act rushes toward an unresolved conclusion. The story feels incomplete and would highly benefit from a continuation or sequel.

Von frowned slightly at the text. He couldn’t make a total sense of the review yet, but he knew the numbers well.

When he put the score of 69 in the context of his own music stats, it seemed very mediocre. But he knew better than to trust the System blindly. He had to judge it for himself.

"Let’s see how good this Title actually is," Von muttered before getting comfortable and equipping the title.

Instantly, his brain felt like it had been dunked in ice water.

Von began reading at a ridiculous pace, and just twenty-five minutes later, he was done with the entire document

"Fuck," Von muttered after feeling his head hurt. He didn’t need to be told to unequip the title right away.

The clarity vanished, leaving his mind feeling sluggish, but the intense migraine began to slowly fade.

"That hurts like hell," he groaned, rubbing his temples.

The System’s warning hadn’t been a joke, but he didn’t have any EXP left to make things better. So he was stuck managing the backlash the hard way.

Von closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest, deciding to take a break. He needed to let his brain cool down and assimilate the dump he had just absorbed.

It would be a disaster if he passed out from exhaustion before they even landed in California.

As he sat in the quiet, Von’s mind naturally flew over the details of the script. He realized that while the SS-Title let him speed-read, he hadn’t retained the finer details of the story.

He would need to read it a couple more times before he could claim he had understood.

"I’ll go again when my head gets better," Von muttered to himself.

Just as promised, in a few minutes, the sharp pain faded. Von felt a bit better and picked up his phone. He continued to read with the title on again.

It took him over three hours of focused reading with short breaks in between. But by the time Von closed the script for the fourth time, he felt a lot more confident about it.

"It’s actually good," Von could not help but mutter in realization as a small smile formed on his face as all he read finally clicked.