Rocky's life changed drastically after the interview aired on national TV.
He was branded as a 'Rebel' and became a polarizing figure wherever he went.
At school, he was given hell by his fellow classmates whose dream was to become a climber one day.
For them, who were indoctrinated as a child to be thankful towards climbers, Rocky's views were blasphemous and hence they relentlessly harassed him for it.
His desk was stuffed with dog-shit, his water bottle had piss inside of it instead of water and some more rowdy fellows even went as far as to spit on him as he walked through the halls.
'Ungrateful cunt'
'Attention seeking whore'
'Dickless bitch'
These were some of the insults that the men of his class hurled at him, with even Adam and Taylor receiving the short end of the stick for being friends with him.
The women he rejected now scoffed at him, spreading nasty rumors about his personality that were simply not true.
His reputation which was untouchable just a few days ago, became unsalvageable now, as he became the center of hatred and conspiracies.
Some wondered if Rocky had sold his conscience and had joined the Agents Of Olympus to betray his own sister.
Some found the fact that he was not celebrating new years at his own home and was at his friends to be a convenient excuse.
Nonetheless, despite all the hatred, and all the taunting, Rocky kept his calm.
One recess, he just went to the school playground and bent the side iron pole of the volleyball net with his bare hands as although he did not scream at anyone in the school, nor did he threaten or physically hurt anyone, with the entire school watching, he bent iron like it was rubber, leaving everyone scrambling in fear.
Rocky had not even entered the tower yet and hence, he should technically not have the strength of a climber, however, after consuming the five body strengthening potions that the system had given Rocky as reward for completing the interview, Rocky's innate strength had increased by leaps and bounds as he became capable enough of bending iron with his bare hands.
This event sent shockwaves across the school as from that point onwards Rocky became the lion of the Savannah that the herbivores scrambled upon seeing.
As they mocked him from afar, however, no-one dared to come close to him or spit on his face anymore as they feared for their life.
Thankfully, all this drama only occured after Rocky had received his no objection certificate from the schools principal, as she absolutely lost it after Rocky bent the volleyball pole.
Fined 2000$ and suspended for a week, the principal really wished she could rescind Rocky's no objection certificate at this point, however, unfortunately she could not do it.
From the second she submitted it, she had lost her hold over Rocky, as once submitted the application could not be rescinded.
She, just like most students, was a blind believer in the magnanimity and grandeur of the climbers and believed that questioning their morales was a crime.
She had hence turned a blind eye to all the bullying that Rocky was facing as deep down she believed that Rocky deserved it, however, when the tables turned she immediately went ahead and suspended Rocky.
However, the bullying at school was nothing compared to the bullying online as Rocky had become public enemy number one.
Religious figures from the Church Of Gemini, the patron god of the True Elites guild, declared Rocky to be a blasphemous traitor demanding for there to be a heretical inquisition to question his intentions, however, with Rocky not yet being a part of the Climber Association and being just a normal citizen, they had no jurisdiction over him.
Rocky's life turned into a whirlpool of chaos and all of it just went to show how flawed the current human society was as a whole.
Accusing the morals of climbers, who were no different from mortal men gripped with desires, ambitions and vices was declared to be blasphemy, the concept of free speech did not seem to apply to them and Rocky found this entire situation to be completely bullshit.
Although he had not wished to place himself in the middle of this shit-storm, now that he found himself within it, he had no regrets.
**********
( Meanwhile Karna )
Using Rocky's interview as an excuse, Karna launched a desperate internal probe into Riva's team to check whether or not it had a traitor.
He provided different information about the investigation to different members and tried to bait out the traitor by spreading false rumors that he had gained evidence that someone within the guild had indeed betrayed Riva.
For a week, he played the game of cat and mouse with Riva's team members, placing a tail on all of them and monitoring their every activity as eventually he received the news that Joe had managed to shrug off his tail and was missing since last morning.
A search of his apartment suggested that he had left in a hurry with clothes and valuables thrown hastily across the room as he only took the things most valuable to him while discarding everything else.
Him fleeing was the irrefutable proof that he was indeed involved with Riva's disappearance and the fact that he was Riva's scout for the night, responsible for her safety when she was kidnapped, made Karna even more sure of his hypothesis.
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/// A/N - My apologies, I'm feeling under the weather and am unable to provide the bonus chapters scheduled for today.
I will surely give them once I feel a bit better.///