Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 211: Interviews, Interviews

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Greater Together by John Paesano, Ben Billions>

...

By the end of the day, the effect of Von’s reveal was clear for everyone to see. The news had already catapulted into the top ten trending topics on X and several other social media platforms.

No one was able to wrap their heads around how Von’s popularity could be that outrageous. He had managed to cause a city-wide gridlock just by taking off a mask.

But to Marcus and Leviathan, this was the exact kind of attention they had been seeking for!

Even if it didn’t come purely in the form of support, they had succeeded in making noise. Now, almost everyone wanted to see the premiere.

After all, the public had watched Von dominate the music sphere almost every single time he released something.

They had also seen his music video for Far Away, which many would argue had better acting than some actual movies on the market.

So it only raised intense questions of how he would fare in a feature film.

Many people wanted him to fail.

They were simply tired of him picking up wins and breaking records at just twenty years old.

Meanwhile, the other group of fans were already confident that he was going to deliver so hard and silence the critics.

Because of the chaos, the premiere got postponed by four days. It was officially scheduled to now take place in the massive Roy Thomson Hall.

Surprisingly, the newly printed public tickets were completely sold out just the next day.

Most of the audience was simply coming to hate-watch the movie, but a sold out venue was still a massive victory.

That was good news for all of them, Von especially. But what he didn’t expect was that these four extra days were about to be the worst days he had ever experienced.

It quickly reminded him of his New York days, when he went from show to show with barely any break.

Emily and the production team had basically filled almost every free hour he had with an interview of some sort.

Von finally got to experience what Chloe was experiencing on the red carpet, but his schedule was ten times worse.

"Von, many book fans believe you are only doing this for the paycheck. What do you have to say to them?" one reporter asked him early Tuesday morning.

A few hours later, another host shoved a microphone in his face. "Are you worried that a poor acting performance will permanently ruin your pristine music career?"

It was a really stressful and annoying experience. He had to answer many repetitive questions and bear a large amount of rage-baits from journalists who just wanted him to say something arrogant.

By the third day, Von was completely drained. He came back to his hotel room around 8 PM after another grueling press run.

He threw his jacket onto the couch and let out a heavy sigh, feeling like he wasn’t even living the glamorous life of a star anymore.

"I guess this is the price to pay for a better premiere," Von muttered to himself.

He entered the bathroom, stripped off his clothes, and stepped into the shower to wash the stress of the day off his body.

After putting on some comfortable casual clothes, he pulled out his phone and texted Zack and Emily, telling them to meet him down at the hotel’s private lounge to grab some drinks and relax.

***

The private lounge was quiet, dimly lit, and mostly empty. Emily was sitting on a high stool near the bar, sipping a colourful cocktail while typing away on her MyPad.

A few feet away, Von and Zack were playing snooker on a large green pool table. Spending quality time with them was one of the very few moments keeping Von sane during this hectic period.

Von lined up his shot and easily sank a red ball into the corner pocket. As he stood back up, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Emily.

"Blood Money... Have they had their premiere yet? I haven’t had time to hear about it on the news," Von asked.

Emily stopped typing on her tablet and looked up. "No, they haven’t. It’s tomorrow. The movie will start showing around 6:30 PM."

"Six-thirty..." Von repeated aloud. He leaned against the pool table with an expectant look. "Will I be free by that time?"

"Unfortunately, no," Emily said with a sigh. "You have to meet with the hosts of The Evening Scoop from 7 to 8. It’s very important for reaching the older demographic and securing last-minute goodwill before our own premiere."

Von rolled his eyes at Emily’s words. "Of course it’s very important... Seriously, I’m tired of all these interviews. I actually wanted to see the movie for myself so I’ll know what our chances are."

He wasn’t lying. He genuinely wanted to see what the enemy was cooking. He also wanted to use the System to check their [Movie Score], which was basically a culmination of the scene scores, plus other factors like editing and soundtrack.

Von’s plan was to compare it to Perfect Ruins when it finally premiered so he knew exactly where he stood.

Emily gave him a sympathetic look. "I’m sorry, Von. I would have canceled it in advance if I knew you really wanted to see their movie. You do deserve a break, and your premiere is just a day from now. But at this point, I can’t cancel it. The network would throw a fit, and they could easily spin it into a bad PR story about you being a diva right before our movie drops."

Von held his snooker cue for a few seconds, tapping it lightly against the ground before nodding.

"It’s fine... I understand," Von said. "I’ll just see the reviews then."

He stopped and decided to ask one more thing. "Will you and Zack be seeing it too?"

Emily kept quiet for a second, but Zack grinned from behind Von and teased him. "Yes, of course. We won’t miss it for anything. We have all the time in our hands."

Emily immediately rolled her eyes at Zack’s words and tried to deny it.

"He’s lying! I don’t know about him, but I’ve been very busy too," Emily defended herself quickly. "I’m the one booking all your interviews and negotiating the deals! I just have to attend the premiere tomorrow to assess our competition. It’s strictly business. I’ll tell you all about the movie when we’re back."

Von laughed out loud at Emily’s slightly panicked reaction.

"I told you it’s fine," Von smiled, chalking the tip of his cue stick. "I’m not a child to get angry that you guys get to see the premiere and I don’t. I’ll just do my interviews tomorrow."

Zack chuckled and leaned against the edge of the table. "Great mentality, man. That’s exactly why you’re the boss."

Von simply took his cue stick and bent over the table to play his next shot. Meanwhile, a mischievous, hidden smile formed on his face.

Of course he wasn’t going to miss the chance to see the premiere for himself. He was definitely going to the Roy Thomson Hall tomorrow to see Sammy Howkins and Julian West on the big screen.

As for the evening interviews... He was just going to disturb a certain lazy cat he had.