Chapter 411 Hmm? You want to be a star? Then you better act like one!
"Explode? Do you mean to say that in literal terms?"
"Of course not." Alex replied as he quickly rebuked Professor Frances’ question. "When I said explode, I meant that I want you two to explode in popularity."
historical
"What?"
"You two will be viral sensations. That’s what I want to say." Alex muttered as he avoided Alina’s pointed stare. "With the way that you two looked, I am sure that you can pull this off easily."
"A viral sensation? Are you talking about making a disease? How can that equate to popularity?" Professor Frances asked back as she tilted her head in confusion. With the way that she appeared right now, this gesture served to only make her appear cute. "Won’t we just be blacklisted more if we did that?’
"...Oh right, I was the only one who researched about this world for the last 3 hours. That means that you have no idea on what I am talking about." Alex said as he let out a sigh. "Dolly, when I said that I want you to be a viral sensation, what I really meant is that I want you and Natalia to do an entertaining act that will make you online celebrities."
"Online celebrities? What are those?" The professor shot back as she appeared to be irritated by Alex’s tone. "Oh and let me tell this to you already. I don’t like the sound of that ’online celebrities’ at all..."
"Listen here Dolly. This world that we are in right now is already under the Rule of Emperor Litch, which means that this world has benefitted a lot, especially in technological areas." Alex started to say as he hissed at the professor.
"However, because of the sheer distance that this world had with Emperor Litch’s Undying Empire, the technology and the way of living in this world is still a few decades behind compared to the Undying Empire." Alex continued to say as he looked around him furtively. "But even with that, this world had already reached the state where a structure like the internet exists."
"..."
" With internet already prevalent in this world, the existence of online stars and celebrities are also on the rise here. In fact, after I used my Esper Power earlier to slightly hack this world’s internet, I saw that the most popular people here were actually the online stars." As he reached this point, Alex looked back at the professor again, this time with an excited smile on his face.
"Dolly, the online celebrities in this world were so famous that they get a lot of privileges here. They can go to the places where no one can go, and they can access things that are usually not meant for others to see." Alex said as he pointed his finger to the numerous billboards, which all displayed what looked like to be some famous online celebrities.
"..."
"Now imagine what would happen if you two will becomes famous online stars." Alex slowly uttered as he stared at the billboard with excitement. "Not only will you get to be acquainted with numerous famous people, you will also be able to approach tightly-secured items and places without any problems at all! At that point, we don’t have to risk tripping up any possible security measures that Emperor Lich placed everywhere. You can just use your statuses as online celebrities to get what we need to obtain!"
"So by becoming an attention whore, we will be able to access items meant for privileged people? Hmph, that just sounds like a typical mission for you." Professor Frances replied as she let out a snort.
The professor then continued snorting as her glare at Alex deepened. "Alexander, are you sure that this plan will succeed? I mean, I am not saying that I agree to it yet, but you must know that even if we are powerful, that does not equate to us having the ability to become quickly famous. There’s just no guarantee that we will be famous enough for your plans to work."
"Yes, I agree with what Professor Frances is saying. We cannot just do it easily." Alina added as she quickly nodded her head. She appeared to be appalled by what Alex suggested right now, and she was doing her best to make her point heard. "I mean, what should the three of us do in order to become famous online stars? Can we even do something notable?"
"Of course we can do something notable." Alex replied as he stared at Alina and Professor Frances. "Just wait for it for a few more seconds, and your opportunity will arrive. Oh, and I have to clarify something first. Actually , it will be only you two that will be online stars...."
"What?"
"Even though I am also craving for attention, I do not want to be put in the spotlight that much. I can’t afford to be spoiled by it, you know." Alex replied with a smile, as he appeared to be enjoying the now clear distress on Alina and Professor Frances’ face. "After my research about the status of this world, I already have an idea on what I should do next. It will be related to covert operations, something that will not work well with being an online star. So as hard as this is for me to say, you two will have to be online stars by yourselves!"
"Oi Alex! I am a f**king mad scientist! Being an attention whore is not my forte, so please don’t make me become an online star!" Professor Frances shouted out from her tiny body. "Do you think that I have talent to become one? Hell no! My expertise lies on butchering and mutating living beings! For me to please a lot of disgusting people is something that I cannot just f**king do!"
"..."
"Alex, you know that I am not a people person. Making me an online star... will be difficult for me." Alina said in a tone that was much more subdued compared to Professor Frances’. "I am only good at fighting and eating, so I think your plan will be not good. So please, just think of a different plan!"
"Oh, you two don’t have to worry about anything. In this world, nobody cares if you are socially inept or not. As long as what you do are entertaining, then you will be set for stardom already." Alex replied calmly as he brushed off the complaints of the two. "So even if you two sucked at interacting with people, that is fine since you have the talents that can make up for it!"
"But Alex, your plan is still too-"
"Oi Alex, don’t think that you can just make me-"
"Okay time’s up. I have to go now." Alex suddenly said as he gave Alina and Professor Frances a mock salute. He then started walking away from them, with his walking pace happening at a much higher rate compared to the two. "Go and enjoy what will happen to you two next. This is your once-in-a lifetime opportunity to get famous, so don’t let go of it!"
Alex then disappeared quickly amongst the crowd, leaving Alina and Professor Frances standing on their place with their mouths wide open.
"Oi Alina.... Do you have any idea on what could happen to us now?" Professor Frances asked in a low tone as she glared at the place where Alex has disappeared. "That damned lover of yours did not even tell us more before he left! How reliable of him!"
"Prof- Dolly, I am not sure, although from what Alex was hinting to us, something should be happening on us right now that will force us to become online celebrities." Alina replied as she ignored the professor’s complaints about Alex. "As for what is that event, I have no clue at all."
"Ugh, that damned guy! Out of all the things that he wants us to do, he wants us to be online celebrities? Blergh, just the thought of that is enough to make me sick!"
"I know, Dolly. I know that discomfort that you are in. But since we are here already, why don’t we just do the best that we can do? It’s not like you can do something better than this. You can still remember about your contributions at the Immortal’s World, right?"
"Alina, don’t you dare to make me remember about that place. That s**ty world is even worse than my own world! Ugh.... I really hate all of this!"
"...I wish I can also hate everything like you. That feeling must be nice..."
"No, Alina. This feeling is not nice."
"...Really?’
"Yes. So don’t be like me."
"..."
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"Tsk, I already showed that devil my evidence, and he still does not dare to show himself here? What a sleazy bastard!" Delia venomously said as she used her fork to spear the tender piece of meat presented on her plate.
The meat presented no resistance against Delia’s fork, allowing the spearwoman to fully enjoy the tender meat along with its luscious juices.
"That guy must be laughing at me right now... Hmph, if he does not come here for another hour, I will really start looking for him!" Delia continued to say as she ate her steak. "Just because he left his place does not mean that he can evade my observation! Hmph, just you wait, Alex. Once my patience have run out, I will be running after you next!"
"Sis, I think you should calm down. That guy must be cautious of you, so for him to be late is acceptable." The one who said these words was the Spiritualist Tong’er. Her petite body was sitting on the chair beside Delia, and she was also enjoying her own plate of steak. "In my opinion, that guy will come here before your time limit arrives...."
"Heh, I wish that prediction of yours will be correct. If not, then that Alex will just have to blame himself for not coming here." Delia mumbled as she gestured the waiter to bring her more steak. "Oi waiter! I want more of this steak! Bring me more of i-"
"Boom!"
Sounds of sudden explosion filled the whole area, sending everyone inside the restaurant into a panicked state. Everyone began rushing towards the exit doors in a frantic pace, creating a chaotic situation.
The only ones who were calm from this explosion was Delia and her companions. All of them continued to eat their steak calmly, with them not showing any reactions even when a stampede was happening right in front of their eyes.
"That explosion happened around a kilometer away from here, right?" Delia mumbled as she snatched the nearby plates of steak that were left uneaten. "Hmm... basing from the sound and the shockwaves that went here, that explosion is around the medium scale. Tsk, the people who made those explosions are pretty bold to do something like that. They must be crazy."
"Or maybe, the ones who did that explosion were Ray and his allies..." Tong’er said as she tried to add more steak on Milo’s plate. "You know that that man is an explosion fighter. For him to perform this crazy stunt is typical of him."
"That can be true, but there’s also a chance that it was Alex who did that explosion." Delia replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe he wanted to make his meeting with us more special, thus the existence of that explosion."
"..Sis, I think that not even that Alex will do something like this. What would he even gain from creating an explosion?"
"I don’t know. That man is just as insane as Ray and Malthus, although he was doing a good job of hiding his insanity." Delia mumbled as he gobbled 3 full-sized steaks inside her mouth. "Maybe he just did an explosion because he liked it...."
"Oh my, that’s pretty harsh thing for you to say." Out of nowhere, the man that Delia and Tong’er were talking about suddenly appeared behind them, uttering the previous words in a calm tone. "First, I am not an insane person, and second, I am not a sadist who likes to torture people with explosions. Sigh... now you’re making me regret this meeting more."
"So you have come, Alex." Delia said in an even tone, as she did her best to hide the fact that she was almost surprised by Alex’s sudden appearance. "Did you come here to just insult me, or are you here regarding my offer to you? Don’t waste my time spouting any more crap! Just tell me why you are here already!"
"..."