Rise of the Zillionaire Star

Chapter 32: Fame Arena Access

The city skyline burned gold in the late afternoon light, but Jaylen barely noticed.

His eyes were fixed on the pulsing blue icon that had appeared at the corner of his system notification. It was unlike any he had seen before.

“Fame Arena: Beta Access Granted.”

His heart thudded. “Zee,” he said in a low voice. “What the hell is the Fame Arena?”

The system's voice slid into his ear with a mix of excitement and caution. “Think of it as the dark net of influence, except it’s not illegal, just… hidden. It’s where the real celebrity battles happen. Talk of campaigns, alliances and digital assassinations. If social media is the ocean, the Fame Arena is the deep trench at the bottom. You win there, you control the surface.”

Jaylen’s jaw tightened. “And are you saying I just got invited?”

“You didn’t just get invited,” Zee replied. “You were given a seat at the table. Few ever see it, let alone survive it.”

……..

…

…….

Jaylen sat at his workstation, dimming the lights. The notification expanded into a spiraling tunnel of shifting code. Hashtags morphing into different celebrity faces, those faces warping into news headlines. Then the scene locked into place.

A vast three-dimensional map unfolded before him. It wasn’t geography, it was influence. There are spheres representing public figures floating in a void. It's linked by threads of engagement, controversy, and sponsorship. The bigger the sphere, the greater the power. Some glowed gold, those are legends. Others pulsed red, those targets an active conflict.

At the center was his own sphere, burning in bright white. Around it clustered smaller orbs, some allies and some enemies. He spotted Lana Syxx, her sphere had cracked and dim after their public face-off. Dr. Carver was barely visible, his career was down. But far away, surrounded by a fortress of alliances was Roman Vale.

Jaylen’s lips curled. “So this is where you have been playing your game.” He muttered through his teeth.

“Zoom in,” Zee instructed. The map shifted, revealing a second layer: The Influencer Tree.

It branched as pathways, each part representing a career path. Talk of Music, Politics, Film, Tech, Activism and Underground Culture. Icons glowed along each branch. Skills, passive boosts, and key allies waiting to be recruited.

“This is your path to long-term dominance,” Zee said. “Every enemy you take down here permanently reduces their reach and transfers some of it to you. But tread carefully, these nodes fight back.”

Jaylen reached out and touched a glowing node marked Cultural Gatekeeper – Level 1.

The data blinked and unlocked trend manipulation tools. Another branch was Media Monarch – Level 2. It's a promised exclusive access to algorithm backdoors.

“It looks like a talent tree for war,” Jaylen murmured.

“Exactly,” Zee confirmed. “And every player here has their own map. Some will try to recruit you. Others will try to destroy you.”

Suddenly, a red ping lit up near his sphere. A profile card spun into view. On it was written, “Marcellus Kyne – Podcaster, Audience 1.2M, Alignment: Hostile.”

“Looks like someone’s planning an anti-Jaylen episode,” Zee noted. “Arena intelligence gives you lead time. You can counteract, sabotage, or… let them talk themselves into irrelevance.”

Another ping came in and this time, it was in gold colour. “Rika Dawes – Indie Filmmaker, Audience 400k, Alignment: Neutral.” Zee whispered, “She is a potential ally. She is known for taking down corrupt industry players. Could be useful against Roman’s PR arm.”

Jaylen smirked. “And here I thought my schedule was clearing up.”

The map trembled. A deep violet glow emerged at the far edge. Jaylen's eyes caught its view at once. A new sphere slid into view. It was larger than most mid-tier celebrities yet strangely unconnected to existing threads.

“Incoming…” Zee muttered.

The profile unfolded, “Dahlia Vale – Occupation: Model, Socialite, Heiress. Audience: 3.5M. Alignment: Unknown.,”

Jaylen’s eyes narrowed. “Vale? As in Roman Vale?”

“It's his niece,” Zee confirmed. “He was kept out of the spotlight until now. Rumors say she’s the family’s ‘clean face. She is untouchable even with scandal-proof. If she’s in the Arena, she’s here to play hard.”

Jaylen leaned forward, studying her profile. A single line of bio read, ‘Perception is a weapon.’

“She’s here for me,” he said flatly.

Without warning, a side panel blinked red. It was a flash entry test, “Survive 90 seconds in Viral Duel. Opponent: Dahlia Vale.”

“What the hell…?” Jaylen's jaw dropped.

“It’s protocol,” Zee explained quickly. “When two Arena players connect for the first time, the system forces a micro-duel to determine initial standing. This is going live on the underground influencer feeds right now.”

A split-screen stream appeared in front of Jaylen. Dahlia sat in a small white room. Her beauty is almost too perfect. It looked more like a sculpted mask. Her eyes flicked up to the camera.

“Well,” she said smoothly, “so you’re the man my uncle warned me about.”

Jaylen kept his tone measured. “And you’re the one sent to do his dirty work.”

“Not dirty work,” she corrected, her voice honey and ice. “Correction work. Your brand is… flawed. I intend to fix it by removing it.”

Jaylen grunted with displeasure.

…….

The timer began ticking. Jaylen’s feed filled with trending hashtags Dahlia had launched mid-sentence, #PolishTheBrand, #JaylenDrama, #ValeStandard. Comment sections had exploded.

Zee’s voice was sharp. “Deploy counter-tags. Now.”

Jaylen triggered a burst of #TruthOverTrends and #ValeCoverUp. His counter surged, but Dahlia’s engagement curve climbed higher.

She tilted her head, smirking. “Is that all you’ve got? Because I was hoping this would be fun.”

Jaylen switched tactics, pulling a stored clip from Lana Syxx’s collapse. “Funny,” he said, overlaying the footage, “I’ve seen what happens when the Vale network tries to ‘correct’ people.”

The engagement chart spiked and her audience hesitated. Dahlia’s eyes hardened.

At this point, the time was 00:42 seconds.

Zee pinged a hidden tool, “Pulse Drop – cuts opponent’s trending curve by 50% if timed with a high-credibility moment.”

Jaylen didn’t hesitate. “You talk about perception,” he said, locking eyes with the lens, “but perception is worthless if it’s built on a lie. Ask Roman.”

“Pulse Drop activated.” Dahlia’s trend line plummeted.

The timer hit 00:00.

“Result: Narrow Victory.

Standing with Dahlia Vale: Hostile Rivalry Established

Reward: +1 Arena Node, +2 Fame.”

Dahlia smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Impressive,” she said. “But we’ve only just begun.”

Her feed cut out. The violet sphere remained on the map, now tethered to Jaylen’s with a jagged red line.

Zee’s tone was grave. “She’s not like Lana or Carver. She’s trained for this. All her moves are calculated and every misstep is fatal. The Arena just got a lot more dangerous.”

Jaylen leaned back, the glow of the map reflected in his eyes. “Good,” he murmured. “I was getting bored.”

The system dimmed. Outside, his phone buzzed an encrypted message. When Jaylen checked, it had no sender ID.

It read, “The First round was cute. Let’s see how you handle the real game.”