Rise of the Zillionaire Star

Chapter 35: Media Warfare

The morning after the ValeStream Showcase felt like waking up in the middle of a heavy rain without a roof over his head.

Jaylen’s phone didn’t just buzz, it vibrated with stacks of notifications faster than he could swipe. Notifications like news articles, trending hashtags, and influencer hot takes all pointed the same poisoned spear in his direction,

“ #JaylenKillsTheShow, #UnstablePerformer and #ValeStreamDisaster” The hashtags were all trending over the media.”

It didn’t matter that the audience had chanted his name in the dark, or that his acappella freestyle had gone viral in underground hip-hop forums. The mainstream machine was making the night look like a failure.

Zee’s holographic interface flickered into the corner of Jaylen’s vision with a sharp and clinical voice.

“Smear velocity at Level 3 and climbing. Ninety-eight percent of trending headlines frame you as the cause of last night’s technical blackout.”

Jaylen’s jaw tightened. “They’re trying to erase what really happened.”

The system replied, “Correction: They are trying to own what happened. Control the narrative and control the fame economy.”

Across his social feeds, blue-check influencers were already making reaction videos, mocking his meltdown and mimicking his freestyle delivery like it was some desperate cry for relevance. One clip even had fake booing edited in. The crowd was digitally altered to make him look alone on the stage.

Jaylen’s hands balled into fists. “This is Roman Vale’s moves.” He stiffened his face.

Zee’s tone shifted to something more dangerous. “The Blackout Protocol, Level Two… confirmed.”

The light interface pulsed red before spreading into Jaylen’s field of vision. Strings of code flowed across every social platform he had, re-routing data, cutting traffic to certain smear posts, and quietly flagging bot networks tied to ValeStream’s PR accounts.

Within minutes, the entire chains of viral tweets began vanishing from trending lists. Reaction videos stopped getting algorithm pushes.

But the smear machine wasn’t slowing down. The more Jaylen’s side pushed back, the more coordinated the opposition became. News pundits booked industry insiders to talk about his “instability” and “risky branding.”

That’s when Jaylen made his move.

He uploaded a single post to all platforms. It was just a thirty-second behind-the-scenes video Zee had decrypted from ValeStream’s security cloud.

The footage showed a stage tech in a ValeStream jacket cutting power cables with bolt cutters.

Jaylen’s caption was simple, “You can’t dim the light. We saw you.”

Within thirty minutes, the post exploded. The audience who had been at the show swarmed the comments confirming they had seen technicians running behind the curtain.

Independent bloggers began stitching the clip into breakdown videos, pointing out that the “random” tech sabotage had conveniently occurred during Jaylen’s set and no one else’s.

The narrative shifted, but not entirely in his favor.

Zee flashed new analytics. “Public opinion recovery at fifty-four percent. However… Sub-Quest unlocked: Discredit the Influencers.”

Jaylen narrowed his eyes. “So, they are still keeping the heat on me.”

“Affirmative. Several top influencers are continuing to push the meltdown version. They are being paid.”

Jaylen felt his pulse heating steady due to his focus. “What are their names?” He asked.

Zee projected a spider-web chart of influencer accounts. Each of them were linked to shell PR firms. At the center sat the Vale family crest.

“They are all connected to Roman Vale’s extended media ring,” Zee explained. “If you can dismantle their credibility in the public eye, the smear collapses entirely.”

Jaylen knew what that meant. There are no half-measures and no polite counters. This was a strike-back war.

That night, Jaylen went live. It was not just a casual I*******m session. He hijacked multiple platforms at once through Zee’s streaming patch, broadcasting simultaneously to millions.

The stream opened with him in front of a whiteboard covered in timelines, receipts, and profile photos. “I have stayed quiet long enough,” he began with a steady voice that carried that magnetic heat that pulled people closer.

He walked viewers through the sabotage footage frame by frame, then began connecting dots between the influencers who had mocked him and the PR firms paying them. Every name he dropped was backed with timestamped invoices, leaked emails, or DM screenshots.

The viewers started commenting at once.

“Yo, he’s got the receipts!”

“How deep does this go???”

“Roman’s cooked!”

The influencers blindsided tried to go live themselves to deny everything but the damage was already spiraling. One misstep in the fame economy and sponsorship deals start drying up. By the end of the two-hour stream, three of the loudest smear voices had lost their biggest brand contracts.

But winning one battle didn’t end the war.

The next morning, Jaylen’s phone rang. It was not a normal call. Zee pulsed an urgent red alert before the ringtone even finished. “Incoming legal threat,” it said in block letters.

Jaylen swiped to answer.

A clipped voice came through. It was unmistakably from a corporate lawyer. “Mr. Jaylen, we represent ValeStream Entertainment and Mr. Roman Vale directly. This is a cease and.desist order. Effective immediately, you are to remove all defamatory content and refrain from making further statements involving our clients.”

Jaylen almost laughed. “Defamatory? You mean the truth?”

“Mr. Jaylen, if you fail to comply, we will pursue litigation for damages exceeding eight figures.”

The call ended before he could reply. A P*F hit his inbox seconds later. When he opened it, he saw that it was a formal letterhead dripping with legal jargon.

Zee analyzed it instantly. “Standard intimidation tactic. Their goal is to freeze your momentum by forcing a defensive posture. My recommendation: counterattack.”

Jaylen leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing at the glowing letter. “No. Not just a counter. We go on offense… and we make sure Roman Vale regrets pulling me into this game.”

The system’s interface pulsed brighter, almost like it was grinning with him.

“Questline Updated: Crush the Vale Machine – Stage Two Initiated.”

……………

Jaylen didn’t waste time. If Roman was going to weaponize the media, Jaylen would turn the weapon back on him in a harder way. He contacted indie journalists, leaked select files to outlets hungry for clicks but not tied to Vale money, and set up a guerrilla street team to plaster QR codes around major cities. Each code linked directly to the sabotage video and the influencer payment receipts.

Social feeds became a warzone. On one side, ValeStream’s expensive PR engine flooded timelines with polished smear videos. It was the raw and unfiltered truth going viral faster because it felt real.

By the fourth day, even mainstream outlets had to acknowledge the controversy wasn’t so simple. “Did ValeStream Stage the Cruz’s Incident?” read one headline.

Jaylen knew he’d forced them into neutral language - that was the first crack in the wall.

But then, Zee’s tone dropped into something colder than usual.

“Warning. Legal escalation probability now seventy-eight percent. Roman Vale will not stop at PR warfare.”

Jaylen’s lips curved into a dangerous smile. “Good. I’m done playing defense.”

And as if the universe wanted to punctuate the moment, a new notification rolled in. The notification wasn't from Jaylen this time around, It was a text message from an unknown number. There is no greeting and no explanation.

It was just four words, “You won’t survive Vegas.”

Jaylen’s grip on the phone tightened. The Vegas Awards is the biggest stage he’d ever been invited to and it was only two weeks away.

Jaylen stares at the threat, knowing Roman isn’t bluffing.

“Questline Progress: Crush the Vale Machine – 37% Complete.

Sub-Quest Active: Discredit the Influencers.”