Greatest Idol C5 Transformation

I decided to channel my experiences as an "ugly" person into content—all those painful, demeaning moments. The question was whether to play it for laughs or lean into the raw emotion.

But ultimately, it didn't matter if people laughed or cried. All that counted was generating enough Fame Energy to feed Lux and myself. I lost myself in writing, barely registering Lux's chatter beside me before finally collapsing into bed.

The next day at work proved perfect for my plan. Between Mallory, Kyle, Samantha, and the customers, I had no shortage of material. Time to capture the reality of being treated like dirt. Someone out there has to relate.

During a quiet moment in the kitchen, I quickly filmed a close-up of my uniform and exhausted expression, tucking the phone away at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Lux," I whispered later, "can you hide in my clothes and record while I work?"

He sighed dramatically. "Only because your fame means my survival."

With Lux as my secret cameraman, I served customers while capturing their cold treatment. Perfect for my video.

"Hey, can you restock the sausages?" Mallory called out, her hands full of supplies.

Though I'd stopped being her personal assistant, teamwork was still part of the job. Besides, her casual commanding tone would work perfectly for the video. I made sure to inject weariness into my voice. "Sure."

She didn't even thank me, just urged me on before turning to Kyle with a complete shift in demeanor. "Want to split the shift meal?"

At my station, a customer took one look at me and asked, "Could someone else take my order?"

Despite being the only server available, I had to honor the request. As I walked away, I caught Mallory's laughter floating through the air. "Kyle, you're so funny!"

Watching their easy camaraderie, I felt a familiar pang. Even though I disliked them both, I couldn't help but envy their ability to find joy in this place while I remained an outsider.

***

Back at my apartment after a grueling shift, I felt relieved knowing tomorrow was Saturday. With the fast food joint closed on weekends, I had breathing room to craft my video.

Lux had captured about twenty minutes of footage. Now came the real work—distilling it down to TikTok's one-minute limit. I needed to cherry-pick the coldest interactions while cutting anything that didn't drive home the message.

Settling onto my bed, I began editing on my phone.

"Damn it," I muttered as the app froze again. "This thing keeps hanging."

"Well, it is a cheap phone," Lux observed. "Save up for a better one next time."

I nodded and pressed on. The opening shot would be my close-up—tired eyes and wrinkled uniform. I overlaid text: "Me clocking in, knowing no one's ready for my customer service energy..."

Then came the sad background music, courtesy of TikTok's free library.

For Mallory's scene, I'd told Lux to keep the camera on my face while catching her voice off-screen. Her cold commands about restocking, followed by her warm chat with Kyle, played perfectly against my changing expressions. I added text: "When you forget I'm not just a restock boy" over my practiced smile, tagging it with "side-eye" and "fake smile."

The customer rejection hit particularly hard: "Ma'am, I'm literally the only one here" appeared over my barely concealed annoyance.

Then Mallory's laughter with Kyle: "When they act like you're a background character" floated across my dejected expression.

The final shot showed me biking home, overlaid with: "Society really treats everyone differently. Especially someone like me. But I still need to do everything to pay rent and eat."

Dark? Maybe. But sometimes the rawest truth makes the best content.

After hours of editing, I finally had my minute of content distilled from a day of footage. I reviewed it several times, tweaking small details, before uploading it to TikTok.

Somewhere between refreshing the view count and reading early comments, exhaustion claimed me.

***

Morning light sliced through my window like a blade, forcing my eyes open.

Groaning, I reached for my glasses and stumbled out of bed—only to crash to the floor. "Son of a—" I bit back the curse.

As I pushed myself up, something felt wrong. The world through my glasses had become a smeared watercolor painting. How is everything so blurry? I'm wearing my glasses...

Disoriented and dizzy from the fall, I pulled the glasses off in frustration—and froze. The world snapped into crystal clarity. I blinked hard, then held the glasses up again. Blurry. Removed them. Perfect vision.

My heart raced. This was impossible. I'd been practically blind without these glasses for years. Yet now... I couldn't help but think of that famous scene where the superhero wakes up to find he doesn't need his glasses anymore.

But it wasn't just my vision. My whole body felt lighter, charged with an unfamiliar vitality that hummed through my veins.

As I stood there marveling at this transformation, Lux materialized on my shoulder with a soft *poof*. "No need to look so confused, little guy."

I turned to the truly "little guy" floating beside me. "Care to explain what's happening?"

Lux's grin widened. "Your hard work paid off. You've generated enough Fame Energy to begin your transformation—better vision, enhanced body, and most importantly..." He chuckled. "That unfortunate face of yours..."

Hearing what Lux said, I quickly grabbed my phone. My heart nearly stopped—1.4 million views in just a few hours!

The numbers kept climbing: 231K likes and thousands of comments pouring in. The top comment caught my eye: "Ugly gang rise up! At least we're saving money on mirrors 😭"

I found myself chuckling despite everything. Reading through the responses, many seemed genuinely touched by my story:

"u dont deserve this :( stay strong"

"this made me sad... we support u"

"i work retail too, ik how it feels"

"don't listen to the haters!!"

But mixed in were the cruel ones:

"lmaooo his face tho"

"this is why u work fast food"

"ugly crying rn 😂"

"get a different job then"

"bro needs to delete this app"

Each barb found its mark, striking deeper than I'd expected. Even with twenty years of emotional distance, the casual cruelty still stung.

I pushed past the negativity, focusing instead on the supportive messages, liking and replying "thank you" to each one.

Whether they came from a place of sympathy or mockery, the comments proved one thing—people related to the struggle of being treated differently because of their appearance.

"Stop obsessing over stupid comments and look at your new self," Lux floated impatiently beside me.

I sighed. "You're right."

Who cares if I'm ugly now? With Lux's power, that'll change soon enough...

I turned toward the full-length mirror with another sigh—and froze, eyes widening in shock.

Is that... really me?

The Jacob staring back seemed like a stranger. His skin tone had evened out, acne scars fading though not completely gone. Subtle changes transformed his features—a slightly more defined jawline, a straighter nose.

His teeth, while not perfect, had whitened and aligned themselves. Even his hair had changed, gaining a healthy shine and natural bounce I'd never seen before.

Yes... this was really me...

I felt my throat tighten with emotion at the transformation.

"Hey, hey, don't get all weepy now. Sure, you've improved, but you're still painfully average. Just another face in the crowd," Lux cut through my moment of appreciation. "You'll need way more viral videos before you become that 'desirable guy' you're dreaming of."

I chuckled wryly. "I know..." Though secretly, I felt pretty good about these changes.

Lux must have read my expression. "And don't you dare get comfortable. Stop generating Fame Energy and you'll slide right back to your unfortunate former self—blurry vision, four-eyes, the whole package."

That killed my good mood. "Can't I just enjoy the moment? You're really killing the vibe here."

Lux crossed his tiny arms. "Just keeping it real, little guy. Get too comfortable and you'll be back to your old insufferable self."

"Dial back the insults," I warned. "That appearance was still me, you know."

"Meh." Lux shrugged, the picture of indifference.

This little creature needs to learn his place.

"Aren't you supposed to be my humble servant? I'm your master, according to the contract. Show some respect before I have to punish you." I let a hint of threat color my voice.

Lux merely smirked. "Go ahead, try it."

Time to teach this tiny tyrant a lesson.

I spoke the binding words from the contract: "By our sacred pact, I command you to show proper respect."

Nothing happened.

Before I could process my confusion, Lux burst into laughter. "You forgot one tiny detail—while you're my 'master' since I changed that 'puppet' clause, I'm still YOUR master too!" His wings fluttered with amusement. "We're both masters of each other. You can't order me around like some servant—we're bound as equals!"

I frantically recalled the contract's exact wording. He was right—changing 'puppet' to 'master' hadn't altered Lux's own status as master. "Damn it! How did I miss such an obvious loophole?!"