Sinner System

Chapter 593: Podcast Interview (Part 1)

"Looks like we’re the first to arrive, huh?" I remarked, as Aria and I walked into the waiting room and took a seat.

"Yeah, Cleo says she’s on the way, she should be here in a few minutes," Replied Aria, glancing at her I-Watch display.

"Cool. Gotta say, I was relieved to hear that this isn’t going to be a regular press conference. Actually, calling it a press conference is pretty inaccurate," I responded, before checking the time.

Still about half an hour left, looks like we’re in for a bit of a wait here.

Today’s the 25th of January, 2171, the date of the supposed press conference that all of us survivors of the Final Dungeon were asked to attend.

But, as it turned out, it isn’t a press conference. And we only found out last night. We weren’t exactly tricked, more like a last minute change.

There’s this super popular rock band in the current era, called Eaten 2 Extinction, and they have a podcast, which happens to be the most popular podcast at present.

The lead singer of the band will be the one asking us questions, instead of reporters and journalists clamoring away.

Which is definitely a relief, reporters are a serious pain in the ass, and it’s bound be a hell of a lot easier to talk to one person instead of a whole crowd of them.

This is turning out to be a whole production though, they’ve literally built a set for the podcast, and there’s a whole production crew. Seems excessive for a podcast, if you ask me.

Well, I’m not exactly an expert, I’ve never actually watched a single episode of any podcast across either of my lives, the concept just never piqued my interest.

I mean, if I’m going to watch something that’s potentially a couple of hours long, I’d rather just watch a movie or binge a bunch of episodes of an anime or show.

On another note, the lead singer of this band who’s going to interview us, his name is Benioz Oliviera...and he happens to be Beatriz Oliviera’s younger brother.

She was a sort of honorary member of the band, and would occasionally perform with them whenever she had some free time from Hunting.

So, yeah, there’s that added layer.

"Oh, hey, guys. Good to see you."

Aria and I glanced up as the door opened, Ciel stepping in with a smile, giving us a nod.

Huh. I figured she’d still be down in the dumps, understandably so, of course. And well, she isn’t exactly back to her normal self, her smile looks half-hearted, her shoulders are slumped and she’s dragging her feet. It also looks like she’s lost a bit of weight.

But, if nothing else, her eyes don’t look as lifeless as they did before. It looks like she’s been trying to pick herself up and move forward, I can’t imagine how hard it must be.

"Hey, Ciel, good to see you too," Aria greeted her with a smile.

"Yeah, good to see you, we’ve been worried," I added, as she walked over and sat down.

"I bet...sorry to make you guys worry. But, you don’t need to be concerned about me, really. I’ll be okay," She replied with an assuring smile, a determined gleam in her eyes.

"Glad to hear it. If there’s anything we can do to help, just let us know," Responded Aria with a thumbs up.

"Mhm, don’t hesitate to reach out," I nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys, I appreciate that."

The door then opened again, Cleo poking her head in before stepping inside and shutting the door behind her.

"Um, hey, everyone. Oh, uh, I guess not everyone yet," She remarked, stretching her arms up as she made her way towards one of the chairs and sat down.

Looks like she’s getting more comfortable around Ciel, wonder if it’ll be the same with Jaden too? Huh, actually...

"So, uh...you think you’ll be alright out there? You’ll be speaking to a total stranger, after all," I pointed out.

"I-I know that...it’s okay though. Since I won’t be alone, I think I should be able to just about hold myself together," She stated, clenching her fists and taking a deep breath.

"That’s good, and we’ll be there to help you if-...," Aria began, before trailing off a loud, muffled thud echoed out from the other side of the door, followed by a grunt.

A few seconds passed as we stared at the door in bemusement, before it opened, Jaden stepping in with a sheepish smile.

"Yo, how’s it going, guys?" He greeted us, as he shut the door behind him.

"Uh, you okay? It sounded like you had a pretty bad fall out there," I responded, as he strolled in and took a seat.

Okay, he doesn’t look all that steady on his new legs, guess he must still be getting used to them.

"Oh, you guys heard that? Yeah, I just woke up a short while ago, was still half-asleep and couldn’t catch myself in time. But I’m all good, I’ve been hit by way worse," He replied with a grin.

Hm, is it just me, or does his attitude seem a bit forced? This is how he usually is, but...normally, it feels more natural. Right now, it feels more like he’s trying too hard to seem like his normal self.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit-...," Began Aria.

"Huh, nice, looks like I got here just in time, not long before we’re on air. By the way, this podcast is being livestreamed, right? I don’t really know much about podcasts, but I guess I always assumed they were pre-recorded," He remarked, cutting Aria off.

Okay, guess he doesn’t want to talk about it.

"Um, that’s usually the case, but livestreams aren’t unheard of," Cleo informed him.

"Huh, cool. Guess we’ll have to be careful of what we say," He laughed in response.

Yeah, he’s definitely trying too hard...

The five of us then glanced up as a knock echoed out from the door, before it opened, a member of the production crew stepping inside.

"Hi, everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. We’re almost ready to begin the podcast. Follow me, we’ll get you all set up so that we’re ready to start rolling right away."

Alright, here we go. I’m feeling kinda nervous...