Beep. Beep. Beep.
Athena's alarm screamed in her ear at 5:00 a.m., shrill and unforgiving, like it had a personal grudge against her existence.
She slapped it blindly, groaning as she rolled over — muscles aching, throat dry, hair a tangled mess of wet strands stuck to her face.
For a glorious half-second, she forgot everything.
The rain.
The rejection.
The system.
And then...
[Mission 001: Basic Vocal Skill Leveling]
Progress: 0%
Deadline: 18 hours]
A flashing notification hovered above her, as real as the peeling paint on her ceiling.
Athena groaned louder, flopping back onto her bed like a dying fish.
"Right," she muttered. "Dream Fulfillment System.
Because my life wasn't already stressful enough."
Still, a tiny spark in her chest burned, stubborn, stupid, and so, so alive.
She scrambled up, yanked open her cracked closet, and pulled out her battered notebook — the one filled with dreams, goals, and messy, hopeful scribbles.
She flipped to the page she had written when she was thirteen years old.
MY DREAMS (written in pink glitter pen)
Be the best singer ever!!!
Be a dancer!!!
Be a K-pop idol!!!
Be a rapper!!!
Be an actress!!!
Be a mafia boss (shhh)
Be a billionaire
Be a writer
Be a surgeon
(also marry a K-pop idol... optional... but a girl can hope.)
Athena smiled despite herself.
She had promised her younger self she wouldn't quit.
And now?
Now the universeor some glitchy, insane cosmic system had decided to throw her a lifeline.
She wasn't going to waste it.
Not this time.
By 6:00 a.m., Athena was standing in her cramped bathroom, toothbrush dangling from her mouth, blasting vocal warm-ups on her phone.
"Meee-meee-maaa-maaa," she sang with a mouthful of foam, earning herself a sharp thud on the wall from the neighbor.
"Keep it down, Maxine!"
Mr. Santos from next door. Eternal grump.
Athena spat into the sink, wiped her mouth, and bowed dramatically to the wall.
"Sorry, Mr. Santos! Future global superstar coming through!"
Another thud.
She grinned.
It felt good.
It felt crazy.
It felt... possible.
The System beeped again.
[Skill Tip: Breath Control is essential.
Suggested Training: 100 deep diaphragmatic breaths while singing.]
Athena narrowed her eyes at the suggestion.
"One hundred?" she muttered. "Bro, I can barely do twenty without passing out."
The System, naturally, did not care.
Two hours later, Athena was halfway through her self-imposed training session in the tiny living room, standing on tiptoes, belting scales at the cracked ceiling while balancing a heavy book on her stomach for breath practice.
Sweat dripped into her eyes.
Her voice cracked.
Her legs shook.
She wanted to cry.
She wanted to collapse.
But more than anything — she wanted this.
And somewhere between the fiftieth and sixtieth breath, something shifted inside her.
Her voice hit a note cleaner than anything she had ever managed before.
Stronger. Clearer.
It wasn't perfect — not even close — but it was real.
And as the note rang out, pure and bright, the System flashed:
[Progress Update: 10% Complete.
Bonus: +5 Confidence.
Reward: Early Access Skill — Basic Mic Technique (locked until completion)]
Athena dropped to the floor, gasping, laughing.
It was working.
It was really working.
Later, as the sun rose higher and the city around her woke up — tricycles rattling down the streets, sari-sari stores opening their rusty doors, neighbors shouting greetings and gossip, Athena stood by her tiny window, breathing in the sticky morning air.
She felt... different.
Lighter.
Stronger.
She wasn't "just dreaming" anymore.
She was building it brick by brick, breath by breath.
And even though she had no idea how she was going to survive the next missions (hello, mafia boss??), even though she was terrified of failing, even though every part of her screamed that it was impossible...
She was doing it anyway.
Because maybe that's what dreaming really was.
Not wishing.
Not hoping.
Fighting.
Even when no one believed you.
Even when you didn't believe yourself.
Athena wiped sweat from her brow, grabbed her notebook, and scribbled two words in bold, messy letters across the page:
[Mission Started.]
Then, grinning like a lunatic, she whispered:
"Bring it on."
---
End of Chapter 1
Word Count: ~698 words