Chapter 10: Climber Registration
Before going to sleep, Rocky decided to scroll through his phone and immediately noticed a slew of missed calls and text messages inquiring about his sister's disappearance.
He scrolled through the notifications without opening the actual messages, purposefully keeping them unseen.
Additionally, his channel, launched just an hour earlier, had already attracted 50 subscribers, with five comments on his first vlog which was unusually quick growth for a new channel which he had put no effort into promoting.
Apparently, his sister's disappearance was trending online, and sharing the same surname drove organic traffic to his channel which was fuelling this growth.
Among the comments, three were inquiries about his relation to Riva and her whereabouts, while two praised his content, looking forward to his next update.
After quickly absorbing the online chatter, Rocky set his phone aside to organize his thoughts. With school scheduled from 8 am to 2 pm the next day, he realized just how constrained he was for time and understood the importance of managing it properly.
Given his current workload, completing his routine would take about 8-9 hours, making the balance between this and his school commitments a significant challenge.
After carefully thinking everything through, Rocky decided to complete half his workout before going to bed and decided to complete the book reading tasks during school hours itself.
Since filming would not be possible in school, he decided to just reshoot him reading the book later, but since he would only be acting then, it would not take more than five minutes.
If everything went as planned, he could complete the rest of his workout and editing between 3-7 in the afternoon giving him a buffer time to complete any tasks should things go wrong and also leave time for schoolwork.
Although living like this would make his life extremely hectic, Rocky was committed to completing the system mission daily for the full duration of the 90 day challenge.
As planned, he began with his workout, putting in a good two hours of effort to tire himself out so that he could finally hit the bed.
***********
( Next day, Commodore High-school, City X )
Just as Rocky expected, from the second he walked into his high school, people began swarming him and asking him about his sister.
Some gave him looks of pity, some took joy in his misery while most just found his situation to be interesting as they craved for some drama.
Since he had awakened yesterday, protocol mandated that Rocky inform his high school at once that he was now a climber, which was why instead of attending his homeroom class, Rocky headed straight towards the principal's office to inform her of his awakening.
"Rocky, my boy, I'm so sad to hear about your sister, are you okay my child?" The principal asked Rocky when he showed up in front of her office, however, Rocky showed no emotion before her.
"I'm okay…. Thankyou for asking ma'am" he said, as he concealed his true emotions perfectly.
There were some people who wore their lives on their sleeves as one could just look at their faces and understand everything about their life, however, Rocky was not one of those people.
Ever since he was a child, Rocky rarely showed emotions to outsiders and was fake and cold to most, however, ever since he lost his parents, his personality became even colder as he only gave measured and calm responses to everyone.
" One mistake-, one mistake is all it takes to lose everything in this world for middle class people like us Rocky. Always remember my words.
One mistake is all it takes-" his father would repeatedly tell him as a child, as he taught Rocky the importance of always being in control of his emotions.
One wrong tweet that hurt someone's sentiment.
One wrong slur spoken out of anger
One wrong street fight picked against a thug
One wrong insult to someone in power
These were small things that could catch a man off-guard, however, had the power to ruin their entire life and Rocky's father always reminded Rocky to never slip for such pitfalls.
While as a kid, Rocky could not understand the gravity of his father's words, as he matured and saw the ugly side of the world, he realized that displaying emotion was perceived as nothing but weakness and hence he learnt how to conceal his true thoughts well.
Even though he was agonizing internally, feeling angry, frustrated and on the brink of a mental breakdown, he maintained his composure in public and acted his usual self while interacting with everyone.
" How can I help you today, my child?" Mrs Alka, the principal, said as Rocky informed her about his awakening.
" I'm here to register as a climber. My birthday was on 1st January where I turned 18 and also underwent my awakening" Rocky said as Mrs Alka gasped in disbelief.
" The same day as your sister got kidnapped?
Isn't this what happened to Riva as well? Awakening the same day as experiencing the tragedy of losing your parents?" Mrs Alka said as she tried to form a pattern between tragedy and awakenings.
Rocky said nothing regarding her hypothesis and chatted politely with her while she registered him as a climber and completed the necessary procedure.
Since Rocky was not a trouble child, the principal gave him the ' No Objection Certificate' to become a climber on the spot, however, had he been a notorious troublemaker then the school was supposed to give him disciplinary classes before sending him to behavioral analysis bureau who would determine if the student was eligible to enter the tower or not.
This was only a rule applied recently as cases of climbers becoming criminals were on the rise and the government wished to curb any early signs of dissent to eliminate future criminals from attaining power.
However, all that did not affect Rocky as his registration went smoothly, which meant that as long as he graduated, he would attain his license to become a climber and enter the tower.
Chapter 11: Tough Day At School
News spread like wildfire within the school that Rocky had awakened as a climber.
Having good looks and being the younger brother of the rising star Riva, Rocky was already a pretty popular figure in school albeit being famously cold and unapproachable.
He maintained a very close circle of two male friends and never displayed much attention towards the girls in class which was why despite his good looks he was still single at 18, however, with the news of him awakening as a climber, his status within the school elevated dramatically as many surprising events took place at once.
Belle Lita, the class beauty who had previously shown only lukewarm interest in Rocky and was famously involved with someone else, openly declared her longstanding affection for him during lunch break, becoming the focal point of even more chatter and sensational drama.
Meanwhile, Rocky also found his desk filled with three love letters from other classmates, evidence of sudden, burgeoning interest that he had not enjoyed just a couple of days ago.
With his elevation to a chosen of the tower, Rocky was now on a path to attain fame and fortune beyond the wildest dreams of ordinary humans and those eager to bask in the glow of his impending success wasted no time trying to ingratiate themselves with him, hoping to secure their own fortunes before he ascended beyond their reach.
'Fucking disgraceful-' Rocky thought internally as he felt repulsed by the hollow attention that his elevated status brought as although he did not express it, he felt disgusted by those who were trying to get closer to him just because he was now a climber.
Externally, Rocky preserved his cool and distant demeanor, gracefully declining the school belle's advances and shredding the love letters unread, signaling his disinterest in the flurry of sudden affections.
He remained courteous, avoiding rudeness, yet unmistakably clear in his rejections as he turned down post-school hangout offers from peers and romantic overtures with equal indifference, refusing to indulge in their superficial games.
"Bloody hell, mate, Big Bust Lita threw herself at you!" Taylor, his childhood friend, exclaimed, playfully hitting Rocky in the chest.
"Hey, Taylor, cut it out, man. Rocky's sister got kidnapped just two days ago. Look at him—do you really think now's the time for your crap jokes?" Adam interjected, causing Taylor's joviality to morph into remorse as he scrambled to apologize.
"Pfft, haha, of course, it's the perfect time, Taylor, look at your face. It's not every day Big Bust Lita declares her 'undying love' for someone... Hahaha," Adam continued, teasing Taylor for his gullibility.
Rocky couldn't help but let out a laugh at his friends' banter. Among all those vying for a spot in his life, only Taylor and Adam truly belonged in his inner circle, being utterly indifferent to his climber status..
Having been inseparable since kindergarten, Taylor, Adam, and Rocky shared a bond akin to family, allowing Rocky to be his genuine self with them, in stark contrast to the reserved facade he presented to the rest of the world.
"You guys know I don't give a fuck about Big Busts, I'm more of a petite lover myself-" Rocky said as he shrugged his shoulders, prompting both Adam and Taylor to slap their faces in disappointment.
"I don't get it man, I just don't…. What sort of a straight man prefers small boobs over big ones. It makes no sense!
It's like saying I prefer being shorter, or that I prefer having a smaller dick….
It's unnatural yo-" Taylor said as Adam agreed and chimed in as well.
"He's right man, you got to be able to hold it.
Get a grip on those pom poms…." Adam said as he gestured gripping those pom poms and made a lewd face full of satisfaction as he imagined gripping them.
"Spoken like true virgins" Rocky argued as he hit his friends where it hurted the most, at the fact that all three of them were grade A virgins.
"Ouch-"
"Like you're any better!"
The two of them protested as they shared a friendly banter for a while.
Just like Rocky, Adam and Taylor were hoping to become climbers as well, as all three of them hoped to become great warriors together.
With Adam's birthday in February and Taylor's in March, they were going to find out soon whether they would become climbers or not, but if they did, it was a given that the three would attend university together within the tower.
Just like that, with his two friends as his shield, a bit of drama and a lot of popularity gain, Rocky managed to get through his super active school day somehow, with him returning to his system assigned daily task once school ended.
By the time he uploaded his second vlog, his subscriber base had increased to 2500! With there being over 200 comments on his first vlog.
Apparently, someone from school had discovered his vlog and had shared it within school groups which was why Rocky was gaining followers fast, as everyone wanted to follow the life of the man who was currently the talk of the town.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
21 Power
stone 
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