Next early morning.
With all the excitement of yesterday, Tristan only now had time and power to check his notifications. Although he didn't need to sleep anymore, he still needed time to unwind, which he did by doing household chores and surfing the Web.
At some point, he increased his charisma again, earning even more Criminal Points. Now he had 4190 of them in total.
'Time to check if there's something new and interesting in the system shop.'
[======]
[===Shop===]
['Clean Hands' talent: 4000 Criminal Points]
[Playing violin skill: 10 Pop-star Points.]
[Logistics skill: 10 Criminal Points.]
[A dose of truth serum: 1500 Criminal Points]
[======]
There sure was. Excited, Tristan checked what the talent did.
[Clean Hands: blood doesn't stick to your body and clothing. You also don't leave fingerprints, unless you want to.]
Tristan's eyes lit up. He didn't hesitate a moment before buying the talent.
It was worth its Criminal Points!
'As for the truth serum, beating people up has worked out for me so far.'
After this, Tristan returned to his usual routine. Pierce only gave him one day off, and today he actually got a text message with a name and address of another person who crossed Pierce's way.
Another routine job, which Tristan did in a couple of hours, busting the face of the pitiful druggie until his mother wouldn't recognize him and taking the money he stole from a business under Pierce's 'protection'.
The 'Clean Hands' talent worked perfectly. Blood flowed off Tristan like it was water and he was covered in oil! All he needed after dealing with the target was shaking his hands and jacket a little and he was clean again.
Tristan nodded. He thought about it, too. The judges were all either small-time celebrities (still rich enough that even the cash prize for the contest's finale wasn't good enough for them), or people from music labels and talent agencies.
They resumed walking toward the audience hall, from where they will watch the announcement of the results. On the way there, Tristan spotted Jane in the crowd, wearing a flowing golden dress.
His eyes narrowed.
Tristan didn't send the recordings he had of the thugs and Carlos anywhere yet. He didn't think he'd need to.
Instead, he kept it as a trump card, just in case.
One way or another, Jane's days of leisure were counting to a close.
Soon, she would taste the misery Tristan felt when he was abandoned in the hospital room.
As if feeling his eyes on her, Jane turned and saw Tristan. Her eyes widened, and her face lit up with happiness.
Tristan turned away and went to a free seat, with Nel taking one next to him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jane trying to find a seat close to him, but all the other seats nearby were already taken.
She was forced to sit where she could, pouting all the while.
About fifteen minutes later, when everybody had come to the hall and sat down, the lights in the hall turned off.
A moment later, they turned on again, hitting the host, who stood in the middle of the stage.
Several cameras who recorded this moment for TV turned toward him, while others stayed directed at the audience, catching reactions of people present.
"Welcome again to the Californian Young Star contest, spectators and future stars! It's time to applaud our amazing juries, who spent the last two days thinking again and again about who deserves to win the most!"
When the audience stopped applauding, the host continued.
"Which of all the talented people sitting in front of me will go to compete in Los Angeles in the finale of this competition, and who will leave with only conciliatory certificates?"
Nel leaned forward in his seat. Tristan forced himself to stay relaxed.
'Anxiety is for weak people. It only makes you perform worse, no matter what you do. I resolved to be strong, so I can't be anxious... Can't show anxiety, at least!'
"And the third place in our competition, is given to..."