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.
Chapter 12: An invite
( One month later )
Rocky hit an astonishing 1 million subscriber count by the time he reached day 30 of his 90 day hard challenge on MeTube.
Over the last 30 days, his physique had improved by leaps and bounds and the exercises that once left him in heaps and exhausted, were now more tolerable as he could at least reach the 6-7th set for each exercise without his muscles feeling the need to revolt.
His aesthetics improved rapidly as the challenge progressed, with his body looking much more toned and athletic on day 30, compared to when he first started the challenge.
Although working hard and eating right could improve the physique of anyone, Rocky's growth within one month was akin to what non-climbers achieved with 1-2 years of consistent efforts, as he benefited greatly from the after-effects of his awakening.
For climbers, the first awakening was like a deep body cleanse. An event that opened their mana pathways and improved their innate constitution, however, to make the most of it, one needed to train their body hard in the days following the first awakening to build a solid foundation.
While humans of Earth were not too aware of this benefit, there were many other races across the cosmos who were also connected to the tower that understood the importance of building a solid physical foundation.
Rocky's system, which already had access to this information, issued missions to Rocky to guide him on the right path, even though he himself did not understand the real logic behind it.
For Rocky, the benefits did not end at just the aesthetic and strength improvement, though as with 1 million subscribers under his belt, Rocky had officially become a real life influencer.
Thousands tried out his workout and lifestyle routine across the globe, trying and failing to keep up as they realized just how hard the challenge that Rocky was performing really was.
The few that did manage to follow his routine past day7, became cult loyalists who heaped mountains of praise on Rocky as they were secretly convinced that Rocky was in a world of pain after the disappearance of his sister and that he was doing all this to forget about his pain as in their understanding, no-one in their sane minds could consistently do what Rocky was going, if they did not have some sort of clear goal to train for.
Rocky's usually aloof attitude, coupled with some viral interviews of his classmates and teachers narrating tales of how indifferent he was to everything, mixed with his pitiful circumstances made him an internet sensation with a cult following as he had all the ingredients to become an internet sensation.
Girls drooled over his body.
Guys respected his work ethic.
NEETs appreciated his indifference to the world around him
And Critics could not help but appreciate his role in starting a youth fitness trend instead of uploading cringe content.
At this point in time, Rocky could do no wrong and any hate comment under his post was usually met with fierce opposition from his loyalists.
However, the best villains often started out as spotless heroes who could do no wrong, as the higher the pedestal they were placed on, the greater was their fall.
[ Strongest System Notification :- You have a new event quest!
The popular TV show 'Dinnertime With Sunny' has invited you to be a guest on their show as a result of your increasing popularity.
Accept this invitation and follow the live system script while answering questions on the show.
Time Limit :- 42 hours.
Rewards :- 5x Body Strengthening Potion.
Failure penalty :- Your next vlog video will accidentally be switched to a porn video featuring a prominent actress, resulting in your account being banned and you being sucked into a whirlpool of controversy.
Note- Not accepting the quest, not following the system script, not delivering the system script convincingly will all be deemed as failure ]
Rocky had received many invitations from popular podcasts and news channels over the month, once his MeTube channel started to explode, however, the system did not seem to react to any of those invitations uptil today.
'Dinnertime With Sunny' was by far one of the most popular shows in country X and all over the world, with almost every prominent climber having featured on it at least once.
It was a big deal to be invited to such a show, however, if not for the system coercing him into going, Rocky would have politely declined the invite if it were left to his discretion.
He did not like getting unnecessary attention, however, with the system giving almost inhumane failure penalties, Rocky had no choice but to play ball as under duress, he accepted the proposal to feature on the show.
**********
( Meanwhile, on floor 92 of the tower )
"The lamb is fattening up well, don't you think so brother?" Ravan, the younger of the Gemini brothers said as he looked down on Rocky's life with his omniscient eyes.
"He needs to get much fatter brother…. A few million followers won't be enough.
He needs to become the most famous man on Earth for him to be of any real use to us.
This is but the start" Shakuni replied, as Ravan laughed heartily listening to his response.
Since it was his brother pulling the strings from the shadows, the upcoming events were sure to be extremely entertaining.
—-------
/// A/N - Hey guys! I have some excellent news to share.
The novel has just gotten contracted today with the platform! So it's here to stay as an exclusive work.
Cheers to us all, because it's probably the fastest book to be contracted of all my previous works! ///
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
21 Power
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