Chương 396: Chapter 379

The first part of the interview was a simple twenty-question session. They covered everything from his first days in the game to his earliest quests, favorite monsters, and spells. Basically, the same questions any moderately famous player got asked, no matter the game. Mariann leaned back in her chair, arching her back a little as a drone flew closer, and let out a small sigh.

"Well, how about this, Solar? What's your favorite spell?" she asked, glancing at the small, almost paper-thin tablet in her hand that had replaced the cue cards he always saw in interviews like this.

"You're, after all, a famous mage, so a lot of people have been wondering!" Sam smirked. He knew it didn't matter what spell he mentioned. Countless people would descend on it like a ravenous horde, trying to dissect its secrets to figure out the reason for his strength. For a moment, he contemplated naming some off-the-wall, stupid spell, but then people would know he was joking.

"Well, Mariann," he began, "I do like a lot of spells, but perhaps one of my favorites is the humble light spell."

"The light spell?" she asked, blinking in surprise. Sam even saw several people behind the drones and cameras look at him in surprise. Sam nodded.

"Exactly. It may be basic and simple, but it is easy to learn even in a tutorial town and has countless applications."

"Wow, well, I didn't expect that answer!" Mariann said, then turned excitedly toward the cameras.

"Well, there you are, our dear viewers, an enlightening answer!" she declared with a giggle. Sam chuckled in appreciation at the pun. Mariann turned back to him with a smirk.

"How about the next question?"

"Yes?"

"What's your favorite item?" The interview continued, with Sam providing sometimes nonsensical, sometimes cryptic answers, interspersed with outright lies while occasionally telling the truth just for shits and giggles. He was certain that a lot of people watching were building character profiles based on his answers. Why wouldn't they? Most gamers, when put in front of cameras, couldn't help but brag. It was a rare gamer who actually had PR training.

It would take a while, but Magic Unbound would alter this part of the gaming experience too. It was one of the first games that had enveloped a large section of the planet's population, so it also altered how people handled it. People would appear on gaming TV shows and interviews, trying to manipulate gamers and the public just as corporations and political entities did. He felt a little bad about being one of the first to spark this change, but all was fair in war and love. At least that's what he told himself.

They went over some of the clips that had gone viral about him. Some fights, mostly the ones where Lucky was present. The fight with the gigantic spider beneath the mountain. Several videos Lucy had edited and released for PR or recruitment purposes. All in all, by the time the first hour of the interview ended, he was mentally tired, and even Mariann, with her seemingly inexhaustible energy, seemed to be longing for a break.

Which, Sam hoped, would come soon, as the journalist sitting in the armchair next to her had seemingly decided that she would laugh at everything he said. No matter how dry or banal, she cackled, laughed, giggled, and made whatever other noises of amusement she could. Finally, his silent cry for help was answered. Mariann turned toward the drones and smiled.

"Well, dear viewers, it appears we've reached the halfway point of our interview. We're going to have a small hydration break and return with more questions for Solar! Our first question will be about Roserun, so don't go anywhere!" The moment the last word left her lips, the cameras cut off, the red lights died down, and the two of them let out a sigh as they collapsed into their seats.

"Damn… that was tiring…" Mariann moaned as she tossed the thin tablet onto the ground beside her. Being in the game, the item merely bounced a few times without breaking. An assistant instantly rushed over to pick it up. Sam nodded.

"I didn't expect it to tire me out this much…" Mariann chuckled. The laughter was very different from the one Sam had been listening to for the last hour. It was actually sincere.

"Everybody thinks it's just sitting there and talking…"

"Well, that's me told…" Sam said with a weak chuckle. They fell silent for a moment, both of them resting as the room buzzed around them. Finally, he spoke in a low voice.

"Hey, Mariann…" She looked up, curious.

"Yeah?"

"If it's not too much of a bother, could you cut out all the fake giggling and laughter? It's a bit… cringe."

"Cringe?" she replied, laughter dancing in her voice and eyes.

"What are you, fifty?"

"Despite my vocabulary, my point still stands," he answered, rolling his eyes. Mariann looked back at him with a smirk, leaning toward him.

"I thought men liked it when we laughed at their jokes." Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think I ever said anything funny." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The two of them eyed each other for a moment before the journalist leaned back and nodded.

"Fine. My bad… usually people enjoy it when I do that," she explained, motioning toward her body.

"I have the cognitive ability to pay attention without you needing to jingle something shiny in front of me," he said flatly, trying not to laugh. Mariann rolled her eyes.

"Mama giveth, and I shaketh. Can't blame the girl, can you?"

"I suppose I can't…"

"Welcome back!" Mariann called out, beaming toward the cameras. Her outfit had changed, and she was now wearing the same clothes she had on during her coverage of Roserun's destruction: short shorts, mountain shoes, a shirt tied beneath her breasts with a jacket over it, her hair in pigtails, and sunglasses resting on top of her head. Sam was still in his armor, and Lucky had migrated to the middle of the area, contentedly either playing with a chew toy or napping, finding the entire affair incredibly boring.

He looked calm on the outside, but inside, he was excited. The first part of the interview had been routine, little more than empty air. Now, he would finally be able to begin his plan. Judging by how Mariann was practically vibrating in her seat, she was just as eager. Not wanting to make an enemy of an up-and-coming journalist, he had decided to involve her in it. Well, at least in this part of the plan.

He had told her that his goal with the interview was to make sure people were aware there could be repercussions. Proving she was cool, Mariann had merely shrugged and told him that just meant higher ratings and more money for her, so if he planned to do something like this again, he should make sure to use her. Sam appreciated the candor. Still, he had made her sign a forest's worth of NDAs. Just because he liked her didn't mean he trusted her. She was a journalist, after all.

"Once again, this is Mariann, your source for everything neat and great!" she continued, still beaming.

"And once again, we're here in the studio, continuing our interview with our famous – or infamous, if you ask certain people – player, Solar himself!" She pointed at Sam. He inclined his head but said nothing. Mariann didn't mind and continued her patter.

"And now, the question that has been driving everyone crazy: Whatever happened in Roserun?" A screen appeared between them, showing Roserun from a distance. Mariann's smile, if possible, widened even further.

"And just to make sure everyone is entertained, today we're going to see the event from a brand-new perspective! Even I haven't seen it yet, so this is going to be exciting!" she declared. When they had been organizing the interview and first mentioned the exclusive footage, Mariann had almost gotten on her knees, begging for the privilege of showing it first on her program. It had made their lives a bit easier...

As the screen began to show a top-down view of the once peaceful town surrounded by the Blood Army, Mariann turned toward Sam.

"Solar, what made you create this?"

"Well, Mariann, it's simple. I've come to acknowledge that certain segments of the player base won't accept what I accomplished," he said, trying to stay neutral. He couldn't exactly say that hundreds of people were having daily meltdowns trying to prove he had cheated.

"So I thought, why not prevent all that chaos? The result was this video." Mariann's eyes twinkled.

"Phenomenal! And as I understand it, this isn't even the full thing, right?" Sam nodded.

"Correct. The complete recording would have been too long and too boring to release." He turned toward the cameras and winked.

"Plus, it contains a few secrets I'm not ready to share." Mariann giggled.

"Naturally! Everyone needs their little secrets."

"Thank you," Sam replied with a smile.

"So, we employed some very talented editors to cut it into an action-packed half hour that everybody could enjoy."

"Boy, am I glad you did!" Mariann exclaimed.

"How about we start?" The room darkened, the screen between them becoming the only light source. Sam knew the livestream had switched over to the recording so the viewers wouldn't have to watch the projected image through the studio cameras. On the screen, the scene shifted, and Mariann and everyone else in the room watched with bated breath as Sam stepped in front of the recording drone with Roserun behind him.

"What's up, people! This is me, Solar, and I'm here to show you my crib!" A heavy guitar riff blared as Sam swaggered across the screen and dramatically swept his hand toward the town.

"And today I'm going to show you the behind-the-scenes process of how I built my new swimming pool. Make sure to stay tuned for the ending." The finger guns looked particularly stupid in hindsight. Then the recording zoomed out, and the music swelled. The room was silent. Even Mariann had lost all her peppy energy as she stared open-mouthed at Sam. The rest of the people behind the cameras, all of them players in Magic Unbound, also stared as if they couldn't believe what they had just seen.

Sam just sat in his armchair with Lucky's head in his lap, smirking at the cameras while running his fingers through Lucky's fur. The credits rolled on the screen, and the lights came back up. Mariann still sat there, blinking as she tried to process what she had seen. The editors – the same people who handled Liz's stuff – had worked wonders with all the footage he had recorded. The video mostly followed him as he infiltrated Roserun.

Occasionally it cut away to show other perspectives from the countless drones that had recorded the city: the explosions, the movement of the crowds, and, at the end, the detonation, gloriously displayed in full high definition from twelve different angles, including one from underwater. Every time the video would have shown him carving runes, it cut away, instead showing him inserting the boxes, carefully ensuring they didn't reveal the secrets behind the rune circles and the Sunburst devices.

But his "glorious infiltration"? That was shown in full, accompanied by upbeat music as he strolled through the city with a ladder slung over his shoulder.

'I can't wait to see the reactions…' he thought. Breaking the silence, Mariann cleared her throat.

"W-wow. I mean, that was… certainly interesting."

"Thank you." Mariann sent him a look that was equal parts wonder and sheer opportunism. She now knew he was a bona fide golden goose in every sense of the word.

"Solar… I currently lack the words to describe what I have just witnessed, but I'm sure our experts will be happy to analyze it!" By the end of the sentence, her previous energy had started to return. She cleared her throat again.

"So. I have a few questions."

"I assumed so," Sam replied with a smile. Mariann's eyes gleamed.

"Let's start with the devices themselves. People have been speculating that you've used anything from forbidden magic to demons. But to my eyes, it looked like a simple magitech device." Sam nodded.

"Pretty much. It was built by one of our talented crafters, then I worked my magic on it before using it," he said, wiggling his fingers theatrically. Mariann listened, then asked another question.

"Fascinating. What about the initial entry? I saw those underwater mines. They looked… terrifying." Sam smirked, leaned forward, and began talking, weaving a tale of daring and skullduggery while carefully omitting the most important information. Mariann listened and kept pressing, moving through the entire video, trying to tease out more. At the end of the second hour, they took another break, where Mariann and her producer practically begged Sam for an additional hour as the views were through the roof.

Sam sent a few messages and acquiesced. He had done what he had planned. All eyes were on him and his video.

'I hope Tim and the others are having fun…', he mused as he walked around a little. It was a digital space, but even then, he still felt the need to stretch his legs. A few minutes later, one of the awed production assistants came up to him, telling him it was time to continue. He nodded and began walking back toward the stage.