<🎧 Song Recommendation: One Dance by Drake ft. Kyla, Wizkid>

...

Von followed Leviathan out of the loud ballroom, into the elevator, and all the way up to the top floor of the hotel. Leviathan swiped a keycard and pushed open the double doors to his personal suite.

The room was massive and incredibly classy. It had a sprawling living area, high vaulted ceilings, and huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows that offered a breathtaking, panoramic view of the Los Angeles city lights.

"Wow," Von remarked, looking around the luxurious space. "You really don’t have any chill, do you?"

Leviathan smirked, tossing his hotel key onto the kitchen island. "Of course. I can’t afford to settle for less because I’m making a film."

In the far corner of the massive suite, near the windows, was a completely different vibe. Leviathan had brought in a desk and completely transformed it to suit his gaming and music needs during the lockdown.

Von walked over and took one of the leather chairs in the room, sliding it closer. Leviathan took the main chair facing his setup and woke the computer up with a tap of the mouse.

He spun around to face Von after wearing his headphones loosely around his neck.

"So regarding the soundtrack, it’s complete already," Leviathan explained. "I got some of my buddies in the industry to handle that... That’s why I can’t afford to even try you on the main album."

"Ohh," Von nodded in realization. He had first assumed that the rapper didn’t acknowledge him enough to let him on the project, but that just wasn’t the case. The spots were simply already filled.

"But what’s the new stuff?"

Leviathan turned back to his screen, clicking open his digital audio workstation.

"It’s not actually complete. There’s one more song missing. It’s for the montage. But I’m working on that one myself."

Hearing this, Leviathan grabbed a spare pair of headphones from the desk and handed them to Von. Immediately after Von put them on his ears, Leviathan hit play.

Von began hearing the beat. It started with a very soft, mellow piano chord progression, but within seconds, it dropped into an incredibly infectious, fast-paced rhythm. It was heavily driven by thumping drums and sharp clapping beats that made his head instantly want to bop.

🎶 🎹 🥁

Grips on your waist

Front way, back way

You know that I don’t play

Streets not safe

But I never run away

Even when I’m away

OT, OT, there’s never much love when we go OT

I pray to make it back in one piece

I pray, I pray

That’s why I need a one dance

Got a Hennessy in my hand

One more time ’fore I go

Higher powers taking a hold on me

🎶 🎹 🥁

Von listened to the song all the way to the end. At first, his expression was completely stunned. The lyrical genius, the flow, and the chill vibes of the song were incredible. It was catchy in a way that just stuck in the brain.

But as the track continued going without losing or changing rhythm, he eventually got tired. He shook his head slightly.

This was his first time hearing this song, making him wonder why it hadn’t made an appearance in his past life at all.

Regardless of its origin, there was a major flaw in the song, and Von could bet Leviathan already knew it.

After the track faded out, Von took off the headphones and rested them on his lap.

"So, what do you think about the song?" Leviathan asked, watching Von’s reaction closely.

Von praised him honestly. "It’s really good, I have to admit... Chart-topper kind of superb. Except one thing."

Leviathan’s eyes turned expectant, knowing that the young pop star might have just passed the easy test. "What’s it?"

"The rhythm, it’s too bland..." Von said directly. "The song feels so one-dimensional right now, and I don’t think it will suit the montage at all. Maybe if there could be a bridge, something to switch up the tempo and give it some new life in the middle, it would be a hundred times better."

"Exactly!" Leviathan grinned widely, clearly pleased that Von caught the exact issue he was struggling with. Without telling him anything else, he said, "Now hear this."

He clicked his mouse, changing the track, and played another file.

As the music entered Von’s ears, he realized it was the exact same beat, aside from an opening vocal lyric from a very familiar voice that didn’t exist in the first version.

But as the song progressed, Von figured out that wasn’t the only change. Right where the song used to feel flat, a full new verse was added over a slightly stripped-down, echoing beat.

I need to know, where do you wanna go?

’Cause if you’re down, I’ll take it slow

Make you lose control

Where, where, where

Where, where, where, where

’Cause if you’re down

’Cause if you’re down

’Cause if you’re down

I need a one dance

After Von heard that verse, he was genuinely surprised. That was Aura’s vocals.

The addition of the female R&B voice had instantly made the track several times better, breaking up the repetitive rhythm perfectly.

Before making any verbal judgments on the song, he quickly used [Inspect] on the two different audio files sitting on Leviathan’s computer screen.

[Unnamed 1]

[Artist: Leviathan]

[Song Score: 73]

[Unnamed 2]

[Artists: Leviathan ft. Aura]

[Song Score: 84]

’There’s still room for improvement,’ Von considered inwardly. ’Maybe it can reach the Quest levels if I contribute.’

At that exact thought, he summoned his system interface.

[Quest: Song To Save The Day]

[Description: You have stalled production, drained the budget, and generated terrible PR for the movie by going unconscious. A true superstar is meant to fix his own messes and carry the project to the top. Use your musical talents to generate unstoppable hype.]

[Objectives:

○ Contribute to a soundtrack for the movie, Perfect Ruins.

○ Song Score of the soundtrack must achieve a minimum score of 90!]

[Reward: 1x Lottery Ticket]

[Failure Penalty: None]

The Quest had given Von an idea back in his hotel room: maybe just making one very great song for the movie might be exactly what gives it massive hype, despite the disaster covering the production right now.

And even though there wasn’t a penalty for failing this quest, he was still more than ready to take the chance.

The last lottery ticket he had used had gotten him his troublesome Loki. Maybe this one could be something much better!

Von closed the interface and looked back at Leviathan.

"The second track is a lot better..." Von admitted, nodding his head. "And I’m not saying so just because Aura is my friend or anything. It legitimately fixes the flow. But there’s still one thing."

Leviathan personally felt like it was still missing something tiny, so he leaned back in his chair and entertained Von’s suggestion.

"I acted out the montage, and I can tell you right now, it doesn’t fit the scene entirely... But I can help you fix it. Give me a feature on the track and I can take it to higher levels. I’ll allow you to be the judge of that if you accept."

Leviathan narrowed his eyes at Von’s bold suggestion.

The young artist had laid his cards on the table, and it was a good offer... But was it worth it to trust him?

Leviathan didn’t know a lot about Von’s actual composition level in the studio, or his ability to tell what made truly timeless music.

This was a massive risk, given the importance of the song. It was the lead single meant to carry the movie’s marketing. If Von ruined the track, they had nothing.

Von looked at the rapper contemplate in silence for several long seconds. He steeled himself for a positive response, but at the same time, his mind raced as he considered the case of it not working out.

If Leviathan said no, he had no other way to complete the Quest before the movie wrapped completely.

Finally, Leviathan stopped rubbing his chin and turned fully to face him to relay his decision.

"..."