Pre-Chorus.

A young man of African descent with rough, short brown hair and a scar on his left hand sleeps deeply on a mattress with visible holes. Beside him lies a pack of cigarettes and a half-drunk beer bottle. He looks to be around 19 years old.

An older woman enters his room, wearing a giraffe onesie. She appears to be in her mid-40s to 50s, her expression fierce—like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.

"MARCUS!!" she roars. "You better get your ass up and get ready for work! It's almost 11 AM!"

Marcus jolts awake, nearly frightened to death by the sudden shout.

"Jaz, you could have woken me up a little calmer," he protests. "I have good hearing, you know."

"You don't tell me what to do!" Jaz snaps. "And stop calling me by my first name! I'm your aunt! Now get your ass up and go to work."

Marcus scoffs but, after meeting his aunt's sharp gaze, he quickly obliges. Jaz leaves the room.

Finally, I think I get some good sleep, and that gorilla has to wake me up for work. I don't even work—I just tell her that. If she knew I wanted to be a rapper, she would kill me.

Marcus grabs his phone and calls a contact saved as 'Manager K'.

Ring... ring... ring... ring... beep—

This guy is always sleeping around with that woman Cassie. He's probably asleep. I should call her and see.

He dials another contact—'Manager's Bitch'.

Ring... ring... rin—

Cassie answers, her voice bright. "Hello?"

Marcus inquires, "Oh hey, Cassie. Is Ken around?"

Cassie gasps. "Is this Marcus?! Oh my godddd, how good is it to talk to you finally! He talks about you so much!!! Yes, he's right here!"

She hands the phone over, and a groggy male voice answers.

"Um... hey, who is this?" Ken mutters.

Marcus states, "It's Marcus. You there, K?"

Ken pauses before responding. "Marcus? I don't know a Marcus."

Cassie's voice can be heard in the background. "It's your godson, Marcus!"

Ken suddenly perks up. "My godson? Ohhhh, Marcus! You should have just told me it was you! How are you doing, little man?"

"I'm doing fine, Ken," Marcus replies. "By the way, when are we going to shoot the new song?"

Ken hesitates. "Oh that... I don't know how to tell you this, but the studio doesn't wanna shoot another song with you."

Marcus exclaims, "What?! Why not? Didn't you pay them?"

"Yeah, about that... The last song you did kinda got a bit of bad reviews."

Marcus presses, "A bit of bad reviews? How? Tell me, please!"

Ken sighs. "A famous streamer called Kas Yenat checked it out... and he kinda made it into a meme."

Marcus shouts, "Kas Yenat?! The Kas Yenat?!"

"I'm sorry, kid, but I think you gotta explore something other than rapping."

Marcus shakes his head in disbelief. "I just can't believe it... One bad review really did all of that?"

Ken sighs again. "Yeah... I'm sorry, kid. Not much more you can really do. Anyway, I have to go now—urgent calls."

Marcus mutters, "I see. Alright, goodbye, man."

Ken hangs up.

Just what am I gonna do now? This is a disaster... I spent so much money on the studio...

He checks his phone and opens Instantgram. His worst fear is confirmed—his song has become the number one meme overnight.

This is so crazy. Just when will this calm down?

Suddenly, Jaz storms into the room, her phone clutched tightly in her hand. Her eyes burn with fury.

"MARCUS, explain to me RIGHT NOW what this is!!" she demands.

She shoves her phone in his face. The screen displays an Instantgram post titled: "Kas Yenat reacts to one of the worst songs ever."

Ouch… 'one of the worst' is crazy…

"You lied to me!" Jaz accuses. "You said you worked as a janitor at the mall while you kept borrowing money for transportation! All this time, you were hustling me?!"

Marcus stammers, "Wa-wait... I can explain—"

"Explain?" Jaz cuts him off. "Just so you can lie again?! I don't wanna hear another word! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"

Marcus tries to calm the situation down, but Jaz refuses to listen. She throws him out.

As he wanders the streets, utterly destroyed, he spots a homeless man with long golden dreads. The old man looks to be in his 70s or 80s, rapping an impressive hip-hop verse.

This guy is really good... Even for his age, he's much better than me. Just who is he? I don't got much on me, but I'll give him all I have. He deserves it more than me...

The homeless man glances at Marcus and, in a faint voice, asks, "What's your name, kid?"

Marcus hesitates before responding, "Um... it's Marcus, sir."

The old man chuckles.

"You might not have understood me... What's your rapper name, kid?"

This old man… he's crazy, isn't he?

Marcus shrugs. "It's Lil M, sir...?"

The old man suddenly bursts into hysterical laughter.

"GOOD, GOOD!!!"

Without warning, a bright golden beam erupts from a golden gun in the old man's hand.

Fuck... Is this how I die? I still haven't lost my virgini—

The blast hits Marcus, and he blacks out.

Hours later, a familiar voice stirs him.

"Hey, Marcus??? Are you okay???"

He slowly opens his eyes. In front of him is a bright golden box displaying the words.

[THE VON SYSTEM]

Fuck am I dead...?