Rewind With A Superstar System-Chapter 110: It Doesn’t Even Matter (1)

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Pompeii MMXXIII by Bastille, Hans Zimmer>

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[Ding! Zone State Activated]

[Time Left: 0:59:58]

Von found himself in the center of the white space and his mind was already moving at lightspeed.

The fatigue of the past few weeks was completely wiped away. Every thought, every fragment of a melody, and every lyrical idea he had ever entertained sharpened into focus.

It felt exactly like it did during the making of Masquerade, but this time, he was more accustomed to the rush. It felt as though every single one of his attributes had temporarily skyrocketed.

"Incredible..."

But he didn’t admire the process for too long. An hour was never infinite. He needed to get straight to work.

Von quickly locked onto the core goal. It Doesn’t Even Matter. A song to pour out anger. A song about trying so hard to keep something together, only to watch it fall apart in your hands.

His mind began piecing the structure together. Initially, he thought about a standard pop duet, but he immediately scrapped it.

Pop was too clean and too safe. Alex wasn’t safe right now; he was a walking open wound of survivor’s guilt and frustration.

It had to be a rock song. Specifically, a heavy, driving rap-rock track.

As Von paced through the white void, his mind went to multiple places. He imagined what it actually meant to try and try again, bleeding yourself dry for a cause, and still end up failing.

He thought about Alex, stealing from registers to buy medicine for a sister who died anyway.

Giving up was easy. But giving everything you had, only to realize that the effort didn’t change the outcome... that was the real tragedy. That was where the anger lived.

Von’s mind got to work. He began visualizing the sonic landscape.

It needed to start with a deceptive calm. A single, echoing piano melody, lonely and isolated. Then, the bottom needed to drop out. Heavy electric guitars, crushing bass, and a violent drum beat that marched forward like an army.

He split the vocal duties. Alex wouldn’t sing the main melody; he would take the verses. He needed to deliver the lines in a way that bordered on rap. He would be the voice of the relentless clock of reality. Von would take the chorus. He would act as the melodic release and the cry of realization.

Lines began to form in Von’s head, snapping together with flawless rhythm.

Von felt a massive surge of creativity. He wasn’t just guessing what sounded good; he knew exactly what frequencies worked together.

He transitioned the heavy chorus into a quiet, tension-building bridge, mapping out the exact vocal layering they would need to make the climax of the song feel like an anthem.

He was far more creative now than he had been with Masquerade. As he finalized the drum patterns and locked in the lyrics, Von knew for an absolute fact that this was going to be his best song so far.

He spent the last few minutes reviewing the track from start to finish in his head, making small adjustments to the tempo.

[Ding! Zone State Expired]

The white void shattered like glass.

Von blinked rapidly as the soft lights of Studio A flooded his vision. He was lying flat on his back on the leather couch.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.

To his surprise, the room wasn’t dead silent. Alex and Patch were actually having a conversation. The fact that Alex was willingly engaging in small talk was a massive leap forward.

Hearing him from the leather couch, Alex turned around.

"You’re finally up," Alex said, walking over. "Your body must be taking a toll on you. Did you get enough rest?"

Von pretended to stretch his arms over his head. "Maybe. But I’ll manage. Let’s continue. I have an idea for something."

Von immediately grabbed his blank notebook from the coffee table and picked up his pen. Before the absolute clarity of the Zone State completely faded from his short-term memory, he furiously wrote down the lyrics, the song structure, and the tempo notes.

Once he had it all secured on paper, he took it slowly, revealing the idea to Alex bit by bit.

"Okay, look at this," Von said, pointing to the verses. "You’re taking these sections. But you aren’t singing them like a ballad..."

They spent the next twenty minutes adjusting a few lyrics together. Thanks to Alex actually participating and giving his input, the track felt even more authentic to his specific voice.

Von didn’t mind the alterations at all; the core of the song remained absolutely perfect.

When they were done mapping out the entire vocal arrangement, Von made sure Alex completely understood the demanding nature of the idea.

"This isn’t going to be an easy take," Von warned him. "You have to really sound pissed off."

Alex looked down at the finished lyric sheet with a serious look on his face. "I really like this song, Von. It’s incredibly demanding in energy... but I’m more than ready for that."

Von loved the spirit Alex was finally showing. The ghost was completely gone.

"Alright," Von said, standing up and walking over to the mixing desk. "Next stage."

Von leaned against the console and looked down at Patch. "I have the perfect backing track mapped out for this. It’s a rock song. Rap-rock, if I’m being specific..."

He began to explain all he expected from the backing track, and it was nothing short of complex. When Von finished, Patch rubbed his chin in glee.

"Ooh. This is indeed a hard beat. Synthesized drums are one thing, but getting digital distortion to sound like a real stadium rock band is tough."

"Can you do it?" Von asked.

"I’ll see what I can do with the drums and the piano," Patch said, clicking his mouse to open a new session. "But to make the chorus hit right, I’ll need to hire someone to play the rough take on a real instrument. Or... can you perhaps play electric guitar?"

Von grimaced slightly. He wished he could. But his [Instrumental Mastery] was still stuck at [Basic].

With his meager EXP left, there wasn’t nearly enough to spare for an upgrade.

"I can’t play..."

"No problem," Patch shrugged, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I know a session guy in the city. I’ll call him in to lay down the heavy riffs."

"When will you be done with it?" Von asked, eager to get into the booth.

Patch did some quick mental math, looking at the structural notes Von had written down. "Building the drums, recording the session guitarist, and mixing the heavy low-end... the beat should be ready tomorrow evening."

Patch looked up at Von and Alex. "Go get some actual sleep tonight. We’ll continue then."