Chapter 299: Meeting Golden Generation (10)

Chapter 299: Meeting Golden Generation (10)

[Ding!]

[Surprise Mission: Enough is Enough. Information walks. Misinformation flies. The Truth Will Be a Bomb That Takes Your Enemies Out While Making Them Regret Their Actions.]

[The journey to become the greatest global superstar is one filled with people loving you as well as naysayers and people wishing for your downfall. Despite the thorns that will appear in your journey, you must rise above it all to stand at the very top.

Pop Star Academy is your very first step on the journey to super stardom. Despite your best efforts, you’ve been subject to issue after issue with those in power trying to force you to stay silent, bend the knee, and conform to the person they want you to be rather than your true self.

Staying silent in the face of adversity is not a sign of weakness, yet the people in power have taken your refusal to address any rumors, pursue legal actions against them, or act out in a more significant manner as an excuse to increasingly portray you in an exceedingly negative and violent manner to push their narrative and prop up their chosen contestant.

While idol survival shows are inherently biased, with PDs controlling contestants and public opinion like puppets, PD Ji-ho of the Pop Star Academy production team has crossed a line.

In addition, William Forbes, Analise Crouch, and others have added fuel to the flames by spreading lies and fueling conspiracy theories, which tarnish your brand and are completely unacceptable.

It’s time to take matters into your own hands, clear up rumors, and show people that you, Ariel Matisse, are a force to be reckoned with and that they should be very careful when messing around with you.

[Time Limit: 1 week (performance day end)]

[Tasks:

1. Acquire and have your childhood photos published to disprove plastic surgery allegations. Reward - unedited footage of William’s repeated assault on other contestants during the Field Game, as well as PD Ji-ho’s flippant responses to the injuries of contestants.

2. Ranking within the top 3 contestants within each category for the surprise vocal, rap, and dance assessment in 3 days - Reward - Early Completion of the 4 repeat missions to gain 4 free stat points.

3. Convince Daniel Kim to stop supporting and to turn over the evidence he has against William Forbes - Reward - The contact information of a party currently investigating the death of the old man who perished the night you received this system

4. Decide on whether or not you’ll proceed to sue Pop Star Academy - Reward - Evidence that is admissible in the court of law that, if leaked to the press, will make the show immediately shut down, permanently ending the dreams of several contestants, excluding yourself. Additionally, PD Ji-ho and several other individuals will likely lose their jobs, possibly face jail time, and be blacklisted from the industry; however, the real power behind him will most likely only receive a mild punishment, if any at all.

5. Begin the process to sue the Crouch family for many things, including defamation of character, theft, negligence, child abuse, and more.

Reward - Possible monetary payment depending on the outcome of the lawsuit.

[All tasks are entirely optional, and you can complete as many or as few tasks as you please within the time limit.]

[Do you accept the surprise mission?]

"I accept." Ari immediately agreed.

There was no way he would refuse this surprise mission, as it addressed many of his current issues.

Plus, there were a lot of things that caught his attention.

"What is the evidence? Can I have it and not use it? I don’t want to end the dream of other contestants; I just want to threaten the PD into behaving. How are you going to get this information in the first place?"

[No.]

[Your safety cannot be guaranteed if it’s found out that you’re the leaker of the information.]

[Don’t tell me you forgot how you and I got together one dark night?]

He hadn’t.

[Secondly, how I get the information is none of your business.]

[Just know that if you decide to sue them, your case of mistreatment will be at the forefront of everything, and those you now call your friends might hate you for ending their dreams after years of hard work.]

[Because of the lawsuit, those without connections might be blackballed by the industry.]

"What about me? Are you saying I shouldn’t sue because I’ll be blackballed?"

[No.]

[I want you to sue.]

[I do not care about these contestants. You alone are my priority, and I believe being on here is no longer worth it if this is how it’s going to be.]

[If you sue, you will have the pity of the world and can use that to catapult you to another level of fame because, to some extent, you are getting bigger than the program.]

[I fully believe that if you leave now, some of the talented ones might join you to create a group.]

[Even without them, I alone can still make you a superstar because you’ve gotten the most important thing you needed to get from this show.]

[The seedlings of fame and connections in the industry.]

[So sue.]

[And let’s watch it all burn to the ground.]

The red screen in front of him flickered in an almost evil manner, and Ari considered the words honestly.

While it sounded enticing watching the entire show come crashing down, the fact that he would be the reason to end the dreams of people like Carlos or even Jamie, who fought against his parents and family to be here, to Justin, who cried that he wanted to be included and not sidelined despite his broken leg, just didn’t sit right with Ari.

It wasn’t like they had a good time either; it was just that the production team targeted Ari more than the others.

The thought of being the person to end their dreams after they had all suffered so much left a bitter taste in his mouth and made him feel uncomfortable.

So rather than thinking about it, he shifted his thoughts back to l NOVA’s interference with him, checking the internet reaction, and more importantly, the mention of Analise Crouch, an unexpected name that shouldn’t be appearing in his surprise mission.

As he pulled out his phone again, a giant red screen, so opaque that it felt like he could touch it, filled his vision.

[Don’t look.]

[Just contact a lawyer, tell them about the case, and let them do the work of retrieval.]

[Some things don’t need to be seen personally.]

Despite NOVA’s warning, Ari looked.

And almost regretted searching his name because it was quite honestly a shit show.

People were ordering him to quit the show, to leap off a bridge, and worse.

He was being accused of everything from assault to being abusive and crazy, being called every name under the book, and being told to die in so many creative ways.

While the insults towards himself were bad, the worst part was the accusations towards his parents for raising a violent, psychopathic person, which was probably the reason that he was in foster care.

Analise Crouch was even getting a redemption arc as she insinuated terrible things about him, all the while insulting his parents.

She, her children, and everyone else painted him as a horrible villain, while William was praised as an innocent victim, and truly, Ari had to laugh a little sadly.

It felt like an organized smear campaign, and he couldn’t believe how many media outlets had written an article about the episode.

He just found it a bit funny that everyone spoke with authority, but nobody knew the truth or wanted to think.

The production team had recently gotten whacked with the previous leaks, which exposed how they didn’t treat contestants well, and yet, with this new episode, everybody took the opportunity to dogpile on him without questioning what they saw or even asking for a statement or clarification.

There had been so many injuries this time, some of which were shown during the episode, and the only thing people were focused on was him.

Ari didn’t know whether to be honored or horrified.

All he knew was that he just felt sick looking at people insulting his parents for his own actions.

If this was what super stardom held, he wasn’t sure he wanted it at all.

Regardless, he read through what people had to say, both good and bad.

Ari sat there and scrolled through everything, watched every video, and saved it all.

He saw people making accusations like they knew him personally, and he saw those who were defending him, including the main moderator of his community, being attacked, downvoted, and reported, and he was extremely thankful and saddened for them.

These were strangers he didn’t know personally, fighting hard for him, and he couldn’t help but be touched.

They didn’t need to do this; just like others who were criticizing him, they didn’t know him personally, and yet they were fighting for him like he was their family member.

Seeing that, he really disliked the PD Ji-ho, and for the first time ever, Ari wanted to make a post addressing the issues.

He wanted to sit with each person, making accusations and trying to reason with them.

He wanted to make them apologize to the innocent people who had to suffer vitriol just for defending him.

He wanted to thank those who were supporting him and cheering him on despite everything. All he seemed to do was bring his supporters trouble, and yet they still stood by him.

And most importantly, he really wanted to punch PD Ji-ho, William, and the mystery uncle at least one good time in the face.

But since he couldn’t do that, Ari checked his bank account to verify how much money he had saved, then sent a text to Levi asking for his family lawyer’s contact information.

Even if he had to spend every dime that he had or take out a loan that he would spend the rest of his life paying back, Ari would make sure that Analise Crouch and her whole family would pay.

He was willing to swear on it.

He also sent a message to Grace, telling her not to worry about the situation, but didn’t receive a response.

One way or another, it would be handled within a week, and since he had no plans on quitting the program, as long as his team did well enough for the judges, he would probably be safe.

The fourth task was one he would have to think heavily about, so he would ignore it for now.

Right now, the easiest one to accomplish was...

"Childhood photos. The question is...who would have my childhood photos? All my mom’s family photo albums were in her private collection, and they all disappeared when I was thrown into foster care and then to the Crouch family. There’s really nothing..."

[You have no extended family?]

"No. Both of my parents are only children with dead parents."

[Were there any coworkers who were close to your mother? You said she was a photographer.]

"Yes, but she was very strict about people not taking photos of me. Maybe? But I don’t have any phone numbers of anyone. Oh wait-"

A light bulb went off in his head as he remembered his mom’s enemy.

"Let me see if that drunk, angry old lady still works at that magazine company..."

Pulling out the laptop, Ari began searching for a particular name, but after clicking several links, it all showed that she had been retired for several years and had no social media.

There wasn’t even an email address he could send anything to, and naturally, he couldn’t fly to France right now to see if she still lived in the same place.

Hmm...

Who did he know that could help him acquire her contact number?

Of the short list of people he knew who were decently influential, there was only one person who came to mind.

And unfortunately, he had to go through someone annoying to contact them.

With a resigned sigh, Ari opened his Finstagram account.

Ignoring the thousands of new messages, he clicked on a profile and checked the messages from a person he constantly ignored because they were annoying and had not a single shred of self awareness.

Despite him not responding a single time, only reading them occasionally, there were still over 100+ messages from her.

Sighing once more, Ari typed out a short, quick message.

Ari: Pink Puma, can you send me Martin’s personal number? I heard he was your cousin.

PinkPuma: Ari! Omg, you actually responded. I thought it was broken but my manager said it wasn’t....

PinkPuma

PinkPuma: Of course, you have if you’re on here hahaha.

PinkPuma: just know I believe you <3

PinkPuma: and even though you said that you would never date me, I still support you. I vote so often ahaha.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

As his phone constantly went off with the constant messages, for a second, Ari wanted to block her entirely but remembering that he was already in hot water with the public, the uproar from her fans when she followed him, and the fact that he needed a favor from her, he tried to bring her back to the main topic.

Ari: Please focus. Martin’s direct number. Please. It’s really important to help me clear my name.

PinkPuma: Ahh, well I’m not supposed to...

PinkPuma: ...but if you give change your answer about dating me maybe?

PinkPuma: I’m just kidding.....unless?

PinkPuma: hahaha, I see that you read it and are not saying anything.

PinkPuma: Are you ignoring me?

PinkPuma: .... :( :( :( :(

PinkPuma: Here’s the phone number. Please don’t ignore me.

Ari: Thank you.

PinkPuma: I’m so excited to see you in Korea. Please don’t pretend like you don’t know me!

Ari immediately put her account back on mute, hoping with all of his heart that the last message he saw was a horrible joke.

He absolutely did not want to see her, especially right now.

There were so many other things going on, he didn’t need any dating rumors to add to the drama.

Crossing his fingers, Ari stared at the simple 10-digit number.

He felt like if he called it, he would be making a deal with the devil.

But there wasn’t anything he could do; the task had to be accomplished.

Checking to see that it was not the middle of the night, Ari directly called rather than texting.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The phone rang several times before a deep, smooth voice answered.