The rain poured like a thousand needles from the heavens, stabbing into the cracked sidewalks of Quezon City.
Athena Maxine Ortega tightened her hoodie around her head, blinking through the blur of water, mascara, and humiliation. Her sneakers squelched with every step, soaked through, but she couldn't feel her feet anymore. Couldn't feel anything except the aching pit inside her chest.
Failed.
Again.
The audition building loomed behind her like a crumbling giant, the doors that had closed in her face still echoing in her mind.
"We appreciate your effort, but you're not what we're looking for."
"Maybe next time."
"You just don't have the star factor."
They said it gently.
They always did.
As if soft words could soften the sound of a dream shattering.
Athena laughed under her breath, a sharp, broken sound that didn't match the teenage girl she was supposed to be.
Seventeen years old.
Filipina.
Dreams too big, too bright, too heavy for her small frame.
She wiped her face, smearing rain and tears into a messy canvas.
"Stupid," she whispered. "So stupid."
A K-pop idol?
A singer?
A dancer, rapper, actress, author, surgeon, mafia queen, billionaire?
She could barely get one "yes" — what made her think she could have it all?
The city lights blurred into puddles of neon, reflecting a million broken versions of her. For a second, she imagined herself slipping into one of those puddles and disappearing entirely.
Maybe it would be easier.
Maybe it would hurt less.
[Ding!]
Athena froze.
The sound hadn't come from her phone — it had come from somewhere else.
Somewhere inside her head.
Her heart stumbled into an uneven rhythm.
Maybe she was finally going crazy.
Maybe the pressure had cracked her open from the inside out.
[Ding!]
There it was again.
And this time, something flashed before her eyes — a screen, semi-transparent, floating in the air like a glitch in reality.
[Dream Fulfillment System initializing...]
She stumbled back, tripping over a pothole, heart slamming against her ribs like a prisoner trying to break free.
"No," she whispered. "No, I'm hallucinating. I'm tired, I'm cold, I'm just... just..."
But the screen didn't disappear.
Instead, it flickered once, twice, and then stabilized into clear, golden letters.
[WELCOME, ATHENA MAXINE ORTEGA.
Dream Level: Beginner.
Dreams Detected: 8 Primary, 54 Secondary.
Mission: Fulfill all primary dreams before system expiration.
Penalty for failure: Dream lockout — permanently]
[ Would you like to begin?]
[YES] [NO]
Athena stared.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be real.
She had read stories like this. Watched anime. Seen Wattpad novels where systems, magic, fate came swooping down to save the chosen ones.
But not her.
Not here.
This stuff didn't happen to girls like her — girls who worked minimum-wage jobs after school, who skipped lunch to afford voice lessons, who knew the weight of disappointment better than their own reflection.
[Ding!]
The cursor blinked patiently.
[ Would you like to begin?]
Athena swallowed hard, rainwater tracing the curve of her trembling lips.
"What if I say no?" she whispered into the empty night.
No answer.
Only the blinking cursor.
And somewhere deep inside her, a flicker of the same stubborn fire that had carried her through years of being laughed at, doubted, rejected that fire stirred.
What if... this was real?
What if... this was her chance?
What if... all the times she refused to give up finally mattered?
She lifted a shaking hand.
Hovered her finger over [YES].
Paused.
Because dreams were beautiful when they were safely out of reach.
They couldn't hurt you there.
But chasing them?
Chasing them meant falling.
Breaking.
Bleeding.
It meant facing the possibility that you were never good enough not because the world said so, but because you found out for yourself.
The cursor blinked.
Patient.
Unjudging.
Waiting.
And Athena realized, with startling clarity, that she would rather crash and burn chasing her dreams than spend another night wishing she had been brave enough to try.
She tapped [YES].
The rain stopped midair.
Literally stopped.
Droplets hung suspended like glittering diamonds, frozen in time.
And from the silence, a voice spoke calm, mechanical, but laced with something else.
Something almost... proud.
[Dream Fulfillment System activation confirmed.
First Dream Path Unlocked: K-pop Idol.
Mission 001: Complete Basic Vocal Skill Leveling.
Deadline: 24 Hours.
Failure Penalty: 10% Dream Progress Lock.
Bonus Reward: Dream Token (1)]
Athena blinked, watching as a glowing map unfolded before her — a roadmap of her dreams, winding, vast, breathtaking.
It was terrifying.
It was insane.
It was perfect.
The rain crashed back into motion, soaking her instantly, but Athena didn't care anymore.
Because for the first time in a long, long time...
She wasn't running away.
She was running toward something.
By the time Athena stumbled back into her tiny bedroom, it was past midnight.
The peeling posters on her walls — old K-pop groups, favorite movie quotes, handwritten affirmations — seemed to shimmer in the dim light, like they knew something she didn't.
She dropped onto her bed, clothes dripping, heart racing.
The System hovered in her vision still, invisible to everyone else. A private miracle.
[Mission 001: Complete Basic Vocal Skill Leveling.]
Underneath, a bar glowed empty.
0%.
And next to it...
A tiny microphone icon.
Athena stared at it.
Clicked it.
Instantly, sheet music, tutorials, vocal exercises flooded her mind — like knowledge being downloaded straight into her brain.
She gasped, clutching her head as waves of sensation crashed over her.
Pitch. Breath control. Vibrato. Emotion.
It wasn't perfect — it still needed practice — but it was like someone had just unlocked a secret room inside her.
Athena sat up, dizzy, laughing.
It worked.
It was real.
And it was just the beginning.
---
Outside her window, lightning split the sky into veins of gold.
In the distance, the city breathed, alive, waiting, daring her to rise.
And Athena Maxine Ortega smiled, fierce and unstoppable, as she whispered to the storm:
"Watch me."
---
End of Prologue
Word count: ~990 words