Rise of the Zillionaire Star

Chapter 43: The Court of Public Opinion

The next morning, Jaylen woke to the sound of his phone buzzing nonstop. He pulled up from his bed lazily. "Who the hell is disturbing my phone?" He complained. He lifted his hand, picked up his phone. When he checked, he realized it was different notifications from Zee. On it was a video streaming across it's holo-screen.

“Public interest spike is +3.2 million mentions in the last twelve hours. Majority sentiment is undecided. Recommended decisive move is to sway the opinion.”

The storm Roman Vale had stirred was still raging, but Jaylen wasn’t going to let the man dictate the narrative anymore. This wasn’t just about his reputation, it was about breaking Roman’s chokehold over the industry’s image.

Jaylen leaned back in his chair, staring at the glowing interface of Zee’s dashboard.

“Alright,” he said quietly, almost to himself. “Let’s take this fight where the people actually listen.” He blinked slowly, different thoughts going through his mind.

Zee’s avatar flickered into focus, smirking in that signature cocky way.

“If you are thinking of the streaming AMA, the status is of High-risk but you will get an high reward too. If you can’t keep your cool, Roman will twist the footage into his own propaganda. But if you pull it off, instant mass will be swayed by the message.”

Jaylen cracked a half-smile, pleased by what the system just said. His vision was a blur of the next moment. “Book it now.” He passed the other without giving it other thoughts.

An Hour Later, the platform’s top live host, NikoByte had already gotten 20 million followers. The man’s live chat alone could make or break any individuals careers overnight. Jaylen had called in a favor, and NikoByte, intrigued by the chaos, agreed.

Jaylen’s camera feed went live. His image was projected onto tens of thousands of screens all at once before the number began moving higher. The viewer count was like a detonating bomb starting from three hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand to 1.5 million to five million.

NikoByte leaned toward his mic with a wide grin. His breath swirling slowly. “Alright, netizens, you asked for it. Jaylen Cruz is here to do an uncensored AMA. There are no filters, no PR managers, just him and your questions. Let’s see if he survives.”

The viewers started commenting from the base. And in just a few minutes, the chats had been flooded with numerous comments like,

user452 commented, “IS IT TRUE YOU FAKED THE EXPOSÉ?”

FanQueen gave her comment, “JAYLEN, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE HATED BY HALF THE INDUSTRY?”

Roman4Life commented, “UR A FRAUD BRO, STOP ACTING CLEAN.”

BeatDropKing made a comment, “I saw the docs, Vale is guilty!”

Jaylen’s heart was steady. He didn't flinch in any of those questions. Zee’s Calm Protocol was active. It was helping Jaylen to modulate his breathing and heart rate. He leaned in toward the mic.

“First question, did I fake my exposé? No, I didn't do that. Every file and every statement you saw came from verified sources, and for anyone doubting it, here’s the kicker, those sources have already been submitted to independent auditors. You will see their reports in two days.”

NikoByte’s eyebrows rose. “You are actually promising a public audit? That’s bold.” He said taken by surprise

Jaylen smirked. “Truth doesn’t need to hide.” He spoke with audacity.

The chat feed suddenly shifted with hundreds of accounts spamming identical lines, “JAYLEN LIED, MUSICIANS ARE LIARS.”

Zee’s voice clicked in his ear. “Coordinated troll flood detected. IP traces, Vale-affiliated bot farms. Should I deploy counter-filters?”

Jaylen kept talking, not missing a beat. “For the record, no one has died because of me. But you know what kills? Silence. Silence when the powerful exploit the powerless.”

The flood lost its sting as real fans began filling up the spam with heart emojis and #JaylenTruth hashtags. It was like watching the tide turn in real time.

A user’s question shot up the queue. It was boosted by a suspicious number of votes:

“If Roman Vale offered you a public apology and ten million dollars, would you take it and drop this crusade?”

Jaylen’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t take it for a hundred million. This isn’t about my bank account, it’s about an industry where new artists get chewed up and spat out while the same old hands pocket the profits.”

NikoByte chuckled. “So that’s a no?”

Jaylen leaned forward with a sharp gaze. “That’s a never.”

The chat erupted in a wall of emojis.

Another highlighted comment blinked, “Aren’t you just bitter because Roman didn’t sign you years ago?”

Jaylen almost laughed. “Roman didn’t sign me because I refused to give him the rights to everything I’d ever create. I walked away because I value my soul more than a contract.”

Zee whispered, “Sentiment shift: 63% positive, 20% neutral, 17% negative. Fame meter rising.”

Jaylen answered in a fireback as he blended facts with charm, calling out hypocrisy. When someone accused him of grandstanding for clout, he simply pulled up a clip from his charity stream and said, “This is where the clout went, straight into abandoned musicians’ accounts.”

The audience loved it.

A question popped up from TruthTrekker, “If you could say one thing to Roman Vale right now, what would it be?”

Jaylen looked straight into the lens, the tension in his jaw visible. “Roman, you’ve built your empire on smoke and mirrors. But you can’t silence everyone. And you can’t scare me.”

For a moment, the chat went quiet before exploding into #YouCantScareMe.

After an hour, NikoByte ended the AMA.

“Well, folks, I’ve hosted senators, CEOs, and pop icons, but I’ve never seen a public grilling turn into a standing ovation like that.”

Jaylen’s fame counter pinged in Zee’s interface, “+7 Fame, +2 Talent. Fame Level 10 unlocked.”

Zee’s avatar appeared in his peripheral view, smirking. “Congrats. You just face-slapped the entire internet.”

Jaylen leaned back, a rare grin spread across his face. “And this is just the warm-up.”