Julie was sitting in her office, staring at a phone pced on the desk. It was Cyrielle’s.

  ‘I took it from her because it was the obvious thing to do, but what am I supposed to accomplish with that ?’

  She had been thinking about it for several days, to no avail. Bernadette Dupuit had told her ‘Give me the man’s name, I’ll bcklist him from everywhere !’, but Julie wasn’t keen on doing that.

  ‘Cyrielle has never told anyone about her past, not even me. She always lies and says that she grew up in the countryside near a forest, but I know better. And one thing is for sure : If she has been so careful until now, she wouldn’t want us to find out about her past in this way. Even if I’m itching to know who this bastard is, I can’t do that to Cyrielle.’

  Even if she thought about it some more, Julie wasn’t sure she would find a satisfactory answer. In the end, there was only one thing to do.

  ‘She needed to change her number anyway, now that she is famous. Annoying roaches from her past will keep trying to suck up to her if she doesn’t. I should buy her another phone while I’m at it. Once it arrives, I’ll transfer her data and let her handle the rest, choose which contacts to send her new number to. I think it’s the best I can do.’

  With that settled, she ordered the newest phone with the best specs, and went back to work. She opened her mailbox, and found a peculiar message.

  {Hello, I’m Cyrielle’s father. I would like to meet her, could we arrange a meeting ?}

  It was signed ‘Laurent Laporte’, the same family name as Cyrielle. Julie scoffed.

  ‘You threw her out of your family because she wanted to be an illustrator, and now that she is famous you want her back ? As if ! If you guys had a good retionship, you wouldn’t be sending her agency an email, you would contact her directly. Off you go, you bad dad !’

  She blocked the sender, and posted a notice in the agency’s virtual workpce, telling the employees to be wary of a ‘Laurent Laporte’ who acted as Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s father in the hopes of meeting her. She didn’t know it but, due to her own misunderstandings, she had resolved Cyrielle’s problem.

  Julie continued to check out all the emails in her inbox. Cyrielle had received quite a lot of offers, singers asking her to compose a song, or artists proposing her to be their first part during their concerts. Every single one of those contracts involved a hefty pay, but it wasn’t prestigious enough for Mademoiselle Cyrielle, who was quickly becoming a phenomenon. Recently, reporters and industry professionals had given her a new nickname : the idol of French youth.

  Everyday, Angel-Minet’s staff had to check countless packages, some being contracts and sponsored products, others being fanmails and gifts. Sorting through each one was a task on its own, and recently Julie had decided to hire security personnel to check each box. She wanted to make sure that nothing dangerous would ever approach Cyrielle.

  Now, she also had a second talent to worry about : Coline Fntier. The information wasn’t made public yet, but the model had already joined Angel-Minet. It was a period of transition, where Coline had to honor the current contracts she had signed with her previous agency - two photoshoots were still remaining - while also starting her activities with Angel-Minet. It wasn’t an easy feat, and the administrative side was a mess.

  ‘We already have two talents, and both have participated in an ad campaign that shook Europe. How can I take care of international models when I’m still learning how to operate an agency ?’

  Julie also had her own problems.

  “Madame Minet ?”

  It was Yannis Fabre, the massive secretary. He nervously entered the office, and stood in front of the desk, a stack of paper in his hands.

  “We just received new offers.”

  “Again ? Didn’t I already tell you to sort it out ?”

  “I did, it’s just that… This one is different.”

  He put the stack of papers in front of Julie, who immediately skimmed through it.

  “A guest appearance in a TV show ?”

  She read the offer attentively, with a confused look.

  “To sum up, the show has been losing its younger audience, so they want to stir things up by adding Mademoiselle Cyrielle to the roster for one episode… I know this show, it’s a bit boring, it’s a historical series about a noble family, right ?”

  Yannis nodded.

  “The first season was quite fun, they were always bickering with each other, and the aunt was the funniest character I had ever seen.”

  “Yes, the time when she sent the twins to collect pig manure was hysterical ! But the quality dropped after the second season… Which role do they want to give Mademoiselle Cyrielle ? She isn’t exactly a comedic genius.”

  The secretary searched through the stack and took out a page.

  “Here, they say it’s the role of the queen.”

  Julie’s eyes widened.

  “The queen ?! Mademoiselle Cyrielle, the queen of issues, will actually py the queen ?”

  At the same time, in her beautifully decorated apartment, Cyrielle had finished an outfit, the one Coline would wear for the runway.

  ‘That’s one done, next…’

  [A new opportunity has come ! Acquiring ability : ‘Acting’.]

  ‘Huh ? Wait, I’m still riding on my album’s popurity and I didn’t finish my collection, what do you mean ‘acting’ ?!’

  [Just as I said, an opportunity has come. And that's not all !]

  Blue characters appeared again, and Cyrielle could only stare in disbelief.

  [‘Refinement’ interacts with ‘Stage presence’, ‘Modeling’ and ‘Acting’. Creating an ability category ‘Social’. All the cking abilities in the ‘Social’ category are enhanced.]

  ‘What do you mean ‘social’ ? How is that ‘social ?’

  [Ultimately, you perform those abilities for the other’s eyes. It’s part of a social skill.]

  ‘That’s just ridiculous… ‘

  She shook her head, but Path of Destiny’s logic made some sense. Anyway, the name of the category wasn’t the problem.

  ‘Now, tell me, what’s the use of working on my abilities if they just get enhanced every time I earn a new category ?’

  [Isn’t your goal to master the capacity without the ability ? If you do that, all those skills will truly be yours, without the help of Path of Destiny.]

  Cyrielle whined a little, but ultimately the system was right. She put down the needle and tread that she was using, and took out her goal list.

  -Make an album

  -Concert in front of a thousand people

  -Make a collection

  -Fashion book

  -Home decor book

  -Makeup lookbook

  -Model for a runway

  -Win a rosette in horse jumping

  -Having 5 diplomas

  ‘The collection is halfway done, that would make it two goals attained in less than a year. I think it’s pretty good ! Should I first try to finish all of those, or should I add some for the new abilities ?’

  [You can continue to add new ones. You never know where the opportunities will take you and in which order you will reach those goals. It’s better to dream big.]

  ‘I guess you’re right.’

  Cyrielle took out her pen and added new entries to her list.

  -Do characters designs for a videogame

  -Make the pns for a building

  -Act in a movie

  ‘That should be good enough. Those are really big dreams, but I have no idea how to achieve any of them. How do I go from here ?’

  [Do you want my help ?]

  ‘Well… Do you have any advice right now ?’

  [Yes, find the models for your collection’s runway, and finish the prototypes.]

  Cyrielle sighed.

  ‘I know. I’ll ask Julie to post a recruitment notice.’

  [Will you participate in the portfolio review ?]

  ‘I should ! It’s the models for my first collection !’

  She felt the emotions of the system. It was very mischievous.

  ***

  -Did y’all see the notice on Angel-Minet’s website ???

  ?I did ! I’m not dreaming, right ? Mademoiselle Cyrielle is doing her first collection????

  ??That’s not the most important thing, anyone with a portfolio can try to get a position, as long as they have the vibe our angel is asking for ! She will fit the outfits for us, which means no limits of weight and height !!!!

  ???What??? I didn’t see that ! Isn’t it, like, super rare in the fashion industry ???

  ????honestly I never saw it, our angel making history again mdrrrr

  -Hey admin here ! If you want to send your portfolio to participate in Mademoiselle Cyrielle’s runway, here are some tips : Be sure to send different types of photos, with these as the base : What you look like when modeling an outfit, a neutral close up photo of your face, and 3 full body pictures showing your front, back, and side (must be neutral, without any makeup and with light clothes). Ideally, you must also send a video of you walking as if you were walking on the catwalk. The notice is describing the collection as being formal wear targeting the middle css, so dress appropriately for the modeling photo and the walking video. You can find a tutorial about making a portfolio here [Link]. Good luck !

  The electricity was palpable in ‘Angel’s Horseboys’ but it was not the only pce. Outside of the Internet, talent agencies had also noticed the change on Angel-Minet’s website.

  “Are you sure that you don’t want to send your portfolio ? Mademoiselle Cyrielle is getting really popur, it could be an opportunity for you !”

  “She is only a beginner designer, no way. I’m worth way more than that.”

  Other models, on the other side, were enthusiastic.

  “Mademoiselle Cyrielle, isn’t she the one who created Coline Fntier’s apple green dress ? Send my portfolio immediately, I can’t wait to see what she came up with this time !”

  And stly, there were those who were hesitant.

  “I’m not sure about this. She didn’t really participate in any fashion industry events, and didn’t try to mingle with us. She is peculiar…”

  “I understand your feelings, but we don’t have a choice. Your career isn’t taking off, and we should take any chance we have.”

  “I know, I understand this well. Let’s try it, send the portfolio.”

  That’s how, on the second day after the notice was posted on the website, Angel-Minet had received hundreds of portfolios.