Chapter 14: The interview
"I understand it's a sensitive issue to talk about for you, but can you please shed some light on the events that lead to her kidnapping?"
Rocky heard the question and then saw the system panel appear before his eyes.
Having never seen the system panel popping up before in public, Rocky was a little worried if others could see it too, however, from Sunny and the audience's reaction it seemed like no-one beside him could.
However, as soon as he read the text displayed on the system screen, he realized that he was worried about the wrong thing, as what he should worry about was the system text.
[ "I was on the phone with my sister, I had gone to my friend's for new years and she was worried about why I had not returned home although it was past my curfew time.
We were on the phone when she was suddenly startled by someone entering the house as she said
'It's you? How did you enter the house?'
She seemed to clearly know the individual who entered the house, however, unfortunately I could not hear a name.
Then, suddenly she dropped the phone, I could hear distant noises of two people fighting and struggling as I shouted over the phone, calling desperately for my sister as I took off barefooted from my friends home and towards my own apartment, and being only five minutes away I felt like I could reach it pretty quickly.
Alas, right as I was around my apartment's street corner, I heard a loud explosion as I saw the glass windows of my apartment burst open, as flame engulfed it all.
My mind blanked out for a second, I feared my sister was dead, however, they later confirmed that there were no traces of her being killed in the explosion and that she was kidnapped" ]
Rocky narrated quite calmly, as he heard sympathetic gasps from the audience.
On the surface, this tale sounded accurate enough to what the media had reported, however, only Rocky understood that it was not entirely true.
Riva had never said the line 'It's you? How did you enter the house', neither did her actions reflect that she knew who the attacker was.
The system was making Rocky bluff on a critical point and he understood the dangers of lying about such a sensitive case all too well.
"I'm so sorry to hear this, are you okay?" Sunny asked sympathetically as she reached out and placed her palm over Rocky's hand in show of her solidarity.
"I'm okay-" Rocky affirmed as he displayed the same cold indifference that he was famous for, showing a full control over his range of emotions.
" I'm terribly sorry for prying more into this topic, however, from your statement it seems like you doubt that there might be someone close to your sister who must have betrayed her…." Sunny said in an unsure voice, as the system screen before Rocky changed.
[ *Nod solemnly*
"Yes, there are many things fishy with the incident when I think about it and I do fear it to be an inside job.
I have no hard proof to back my belief, however, there are things that just won't add up in my mind.
The True Elites guild was supposed to be protecting my sister, there was meant to be a guild member looking after her 24x7, however, there was a 3 minute window between when she was attacked and when the apartment exploded where no-one came to her aid.
It's almost been a month since then and the progress about finding her whereabouts is non-existent.
The guildmaster Karna personally assured me that the guild is working hard on this topic and that they would not hesitate to go on a war for Riva, however, I just don't see it.
The best guild in the entire world making 0 progress while investigating using all its available resources doesn't make any sense to me.
The guild member who was assigned to my sister's security detail, not showing up in her time of need is not normal.
My gut tells me there's someone within the guild torpedoing the flow of essential information….. that someone Riva trusted has a big hand in betraying her" ] Rocky said, as he felt sweat form on his back as he uttered these words with conviction.
There was no turning back now, he had officially bit the hand that was feeding him, as the mad system had made him go after the integrity of the largest and most successful guild in the history of humanity.
"Wow…. Those are some very serious accusation's young man" Sunny said, as her tone while addressing Rocky shifted significantly after he openly criticized the True Elites.
In this world, where monster outbreaks occured every four years and climbers were forced to risk their lives to defend the normal citizens, it was beyond taboo to criticize a guild.
However, the True Elites was not just another guild and was the largest and most successful one in the history of humanity.
Karna was akin to humanity's chosen son, and even insinuating a hint of criticism towards him was akin to committing sacrilege.
To make matters even worse, Rocky had chosen to push the narrative that there was someone within the guild who had betrayed Riva when the True Elites famously had the slogan "One for all and all for one" which signified their unity and integrity.
All of humanity knew just how tight knit and pure the guild environment was, by throwing around such accusations, Rocky was throwing mud at white walls that had never seen stains before.
Rocky could sense the shift in atmosphere very well, every member in the audience had their burrows furrowed now and they looked at Rocky with a hint of hostility.
He had to tread very carefully about what he wished to say next.
[ "I know very well what I'm saying and what the consequences of my words might be.
But I choose to say it regardless.
People keep asking me under my vlogs about why do I train as hard as I do?
What demons am I fighting?
Well, I've never said it before, but I'll say it here.
I'm training so hard, because I swear to bring the culprits who kidnapped my sister to justice.
I'm too weak now, and anyone who can kidnap my sister is clearly a very strong climber as my sister was incredibly strong herself.
Agents of Olympus? Church of cowards? Someone she knew and trusted?
It doesn't matter who did it...
It doesn't even matter if it turns out that the entire True Elites guild is complacent of the crime.
If they hurt my sister, I'll fight them all" ] Rocky said with conviction, as although it was the system who offered him the words, the emotion with which he delivered it was very real.
Rocky did actually feel this way, and if it turned out that the entire guild was complicit in kidnapping his sister, Rocky would actually fight them all, however, it was not a wise thing to say on national TV, as this statement was what marked him as the 'Villain'.
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/// A/N - This bonus chapter is sponsored by patron allcat_gaming, please thank him in the comments for this one ///
Chapter 15: Anxiety
Since the interview was not live, there was no immediate backlash for Rocky as it would be a week until it aired on national TV, however, after the things Rocky said on that interview, he felt genuinely afraid to head back home.
On the bright side, he had received 5 body strengthening potions that would help improve his physique by leaps and bounds, however, on the downside he now had to face Amelia and explain to her as to how after all the kindness she and the guildmaster had shown Rocky, he proceeded to stab them in the back on national TV.
On his way back home, Rocky felt genuinely restless and anxious, as he did not feel too good about the things that he said, he had difficulty sitting in one spot and was constantly shuffling on his seat as he racked his brains about how to explain this situation to Amelia.
He knew better than to reveal the presence of the system to anyone, as he realized that whoever came after his sister might also come after him if they found out that it was him who possessed her treasure now, however, without introducing the system in his story, Rocky could not think of any other excuse that would sound convincing enough.
Deep down in his heart he knew that he truly did believe every word that he said and that if someone from the Elites did turn out to be a backstabbing serpent in hiding, Rocky would take him on, even if it meant taking on the whole True Elites guild, but, having no proof of this heavy accusation that he made, Rocky felt like shit as for all he knew, this could cause unnecessary rift inside the guild and lead to Karna and Amelia hating him.
'Stupid system making me do things I don't want! I knew they called the great god Shakuni a mastermind strategist, however, isn't this too much?' Rocky wondered, as he silently cursed the system in his head,
Soon, he was driven back home by the chauffeur as he entered Amelia's apartment with a heavy conscience.
Once back home, Rocky wondered if packing his things up and running away was a smart choice?
Rather than facing Amelia and confronting her with what happened, Rocky felt that it was easier to just run away, however, running away was what a coward would do and Rocky was no believer of that stupid cult.
His father always taught him to face problems with a straight spine and hence Rocky decided to be upfront about this incident and talk it out with Amelia once she returned from work, later in the night.
To pass time, Rocky decided to complete his pending tasks for the day trying hard to keep his mind occupied, however, the anxiety of the impending confrontation did not allow him to fully focus on any task at hand, as he felt stressed and restless all through the day, until Amelia eventually returned home, late at night.
"Rocky, how many times have I told you to not wait for me to have dinner?
It's not good for a young kid like you to eat your dinner so late, it doesn't give your digestive system enough time to break down the food" Amelia complained as soon as she returned home and saw that yet again Rocky had not eaten dinner, waiting for Amelia to return.
Although she complained about it everyday, secretly Amelia was very happy that Rocky waited up on her on a daily basis as it made her feel like family.
"Aunt Amelia, I have something to confess-" Rocky said shakily, as he wasted no time once Amelia returned in pleasantries and cut right to the chase.
Amelia raised an eyebrow and picked up the food from the dinner table to re-heat it while gesturing to Rocky to go on.
"Today at the interview, I kind of criticized the guildmaster and the guild, I insinuated that someone from within the guild was torpedoing the investigation related to my sister and that I was training hard to bring the guild down should it be proven true" Rocky said as he fit everything wrong that he spoke into two-three lines.
"Hahaha, of course I've already seen your interview Rocky, Sunny's staff has already sent me the uncut version….. I'm the secretary of the biggest guild in the world. Do you really think anyone can air the guild's criticism without my approval?
What you said was quite brave and I like your guts to be willing to fight a guild like the Elites for your sister, however, I'm not sure you fully understand just how much backlash you will get for this interview.
While guildmaster Karna is not afraid of a child's criticism, nor is the guild, the commoners and other climbers within the guild won't see it that way.
I don't know why you lied in the interview, claiming that your sister knew her assailant, when you've told the guild that she did not.
But you're playing with fire here Rocky and if I were you, I'd be careful not to burn myself" Amelia said, as she seemed very casual about what Rocky said in the interview, as if it did not matter to her at all.
" I…. I, don't care about the backlash from the people. I just don't want you to misunderstand me.
I'm very grateful for everything you do for me.
I know how busy you are, how late you come home from work and how early you leave, yet every night after dinner, you cook a lunch for me to carry to school and refrigerate the dinner.
I don't show it, but it means a lot to me" Rocky said sheepishly as he felt relieved that the thing that he was so anxious about was no big deal to Amelia.
A soft smile broke on Amelia's face, as she felt her heart warm a little when Rocky revealed his true feelings and she found it cute that her opinion mattered so much to the kid.
In reality, even she and the guildmaster suspected that someone from within the guild was involved in Riva's kidnapping, however, uptil now they had no proof to back this belief.
Rocky's interview was a welcome relief to them as it was bound to stir up trouble within the guild that could provide an opportunity to breakthrough, however, she could not reveal these plans to the kid.
All she could do was share a warm dinner meal with him while assuring that she was not mad at him as she knew very well that Rocky was in for a world of trouble in itself when the interview aired a week later.
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/// A/N - This bonus chapter is sponsored by patron Cervantez91, please thank him in the comments for the same ///
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
21 Power
stone 
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