Monday, 20th February 2017 1045hrs
“Laura, I am done with the housekeeping even though it may not look like much. I was not able to mop the floor though but I manage to sweep the dust under the beds and around the general areas. Say, I’ve got 15 minutes before I report for work, so I would be here by 2 am. Would that be alright? My naked bed would still be around when I come back tonight, wouldn’t it?”
“Sure, no problem, Matthew. Thanks for helping us around. Be seeing you at 2 am then. I am going off soon by midday and return here before midnight tonight. Hahaha. Don’t worry, your naked bed is still around. The clients would prefer to sleep in the games room as it had a heater on the side of the walls.”
I thanked Laura and the rest of the staffs and left towards my workplace at 114 Brompton Road.
The lunch hour crowd was quite busy and the status in the kitchen area was quite hectic. But nothing compared to the one in the dishwashing area which the two helpers were calling it ‘The Island’.
I changed, took my lunch and then proceeded to perform my duties even though it wasn’t time yet. I passed by Mr Aziz’s office and found that it was locked as he seemed to have either gone out or have no reported for duty. The work around the restaurant does not involve him and only the dignitaries would seek him out.
As I ended my overtime shift, Mr Aziz gestured me into the office as he gave my salary for yesterday’s and today’s work. It was a total of £210. I was even paid in advance and it was all based on trust!
“You worked quite alright. So I pay you advance for tonight. So you take weekly pay every Sunday, yes?”
I thanked Mr Aziz profusely and I gladly received the p*****t and signed the cash voucher that he handed to me and I returned it back once I had acknowledged it.
“Weekly pay is fine, Mr Aziz. I would clear the week’s salary on every Sunday. My overtime shift remains as it is and I will let you know in advance when I would take an off day, would that be okay?”
Mr Aziz acknowledged and then I left the office, feeling delighted to finally have some quid in my pocket. Since I am staying at a shelter, it would be best if I put some money here in the locker so at least I felt safer rather than having all of it with me. I would need to open a bank account as soon as I could but how could I open one if I do not have any form of identification? Can it be done with just a name over here?
When I was taking my break, Sue sounded in my head again and congratulated me for being able to locate temporary accommodations that boost my health. Secondly, it congratulated me for earning the first quid here in Popstars! I was surprised that Sue did not notify me that she was online earlier and she told me that she does not wish to disturb my activities.
“Since you had gotten the first quid, how would you like to spend it? I had explained to you halfway regards the Skill Books but I haven't informed you of the prices yet. New books for Basic Skills cost £500 but a used book could cost anything from £50 to £450. If you need extra coaching on the skills that you are learning, it would cost you at least £200 per hour and you would be able to cut down the time to upgrade by 25%.”
“Intermediate, Advanced and Professional Skill Books costs £2,500, £5,000 and £10,000 and the lessons per hour would be £500, £1,000 and £2,500 respectively.”
“You would then need to write your songs or maybe buy off from the auctions depending on the genre and how popular the song might be. If you write your songs, you need to work on both the lyrics and melody until you max it out. You would be notified if you had maxed out the attributes. But you need to set your status accordingly for each task since it would affect the performance of what you are trying to learn and achieve.”
“Once you had acquired at least one star in some of the Basic Skills, you can book a jamming studio that ranges from one star to 5 stars and it would cost you from nothing at all to £50 per hour for a minimum 2 hours, £100, £200, £500 and £1,000 for 2, 3, 4 and 5 stars respectively.”
“Look out for those jamming studios with 3 stars and above for free sessions. But it would be first come first served and you can even book them in advance too.”
“Once you had worked up to one star on your Basic Skills, and had attained maximum competency on your song or songs through concentrating on them and jamming, you could book a locale to showcase your debut. The locale would be genre-specified so choose carefully. Then book the time and the duration for the event would be a maximum of 1 hour. The fees you can charge can be free to whatever the limit may be for your debut performance. To get the best results, book 1 week in advance and the locale’s owner would put up free advertising for you.”
“The songs you may compose would go out of date in a very short while in the first few phases, so its best you concentrate to build up at least 3 stars for all your Basic Skills before you embark on writing your songs. I would be informing you of the quality of songs by determining how many star it was able to attain.”
“Since you are on the roll and have a steady job and income, it would be best you start by saving your quid. It would come in handy in case one day, you decided to stay put here and open your locale which starts from £100,000, £250,000, £500,000 and £1,000,000 where the least amount of investment would let you own a small shop. You could be selling new or second-hand skill books, musical instruments, sound and lighting equipment et cetera.”
“As for bigger investment, you could own an advertising company, whether it’s a website builder or even a radio station to do live podcasts. For the next one, it would be limited to recording and jamming studio. Last but not least, it would be dining and entertainment areas such as restaurants, lounges and pubs.”
“If you made the right investment, and when you have £10,000,000, you could even own a bank or even concert arena that would be able to accommodate at most 10,000 to 15,000 spectators!”
“Have you got all that, Matthew?”
I was not listening for nought since I had set my dinner aside and had taken plenty of napkins with me and I have written down all the important details that had been narrated by Sue and I can tell you its much more mouthful this time. I didn’t realise how elaborate this virtual life would be and I wondered if there’s anything else that I had missed out.
“Once you had made the first purchase for any Skill Books, I would then present to you the system where you can directly access to check on your progress.”
“Wow…this is more like it. I am sure there would be more things for me to probe in the future!” I thought inwardly as I set the napkin aside and finished my meal of yet another sumptuous Fish Biryani.