Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 172: Video Reactions

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Starboy by The Weeknd>

...

"An audition?" Von repeated, still rubbing the back of his neck as his brain tried to comprehend all that have taken place. "For a movie?"

Emily didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her tablet before making a few swipes and giving it to him.

"Before we talk about the movie, you need to see exactly what you did while you were asleep," Emily said with a proud, almost disbelieving smile on her face.

Von took the tablet. The screen was open to the InkTube app, paused right on the Far Away music video.

Von’s eyes immediately dropped to the view count below the title.

He blinked hard, convinced his vision was still blurry. He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

320,415,890 Views • 3 weeks ago

"Three hundred and twenty million?" Von gasped, his voice cracking slightly.

"Yup! It surpassed Coming Home and You’re Gonna Come Home yesterday," Emily nodded, crossing her arms. "It is the fourth fastest-growing music video in InkTube’s history, and it’s been sitting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. But Von... it’s not just the numbers. Scroll down. Look at the reactions."

Von scrolled down to the comment section. It was an absolute warzone of emotions.

[saddboyFan: I’ve been locked in my apartment alone for two months. Watching him tear his hair out and scream at the TV made me cry so much because he got exactly what I’m feeling right now. 😢]

[@MusicNewsOfficial: The way he flinched when he touched the puddle. Give him an Oscar right now. I don’t care that it’s a music video! 🤷]

"It gets crazier," Emily said, leaning over and swiping the screen to open the X app. "It completely broke out of the music industry bubble. Look at who tweeted about you last week."

Von looked at the screen. It was a tweet from an Oscar-winning Hollywood veteran.

[@RealArthurMankins: Damnn, who’s this guy @VonVarley. Give him a script already! 😮‍💨]

Von was so impressed that he wanted to watch the music video for himself at that moment.

"It wasn’t just actors praising you," Emily continued in excitement. "Psychology channels on InkTube have been making hour-long breakdown videos on your performance. They are praising how medically accurate your depiction of Adult Separation Anxiety and Touch Starvation was. And coupled with the healing aspects of the song which was confirmed, Aura had to attend to the press to clear a lot of deductions up."

Von let out a slow breath, handing the tablet back to her.

He had done it. The [Immersion] skill had nearly killed him, but it had worked exactly as the System promised. The last part worried him a bit, but he’ll continue to play clueless for now.

"Which brings me to Leviathan," Emily said, her tone suddenly shifting from excited to highly stressed.

She opened her email app and pulled up a message with a bold red flag on it.

"Leviathan saw the video. Everyone in Hollywood saw it," Emily explained, sitting back on the edge of the bed. "He bought the film rights to the Perfect Ruins trilogy. And because of your acting in the music video, Leviathan personally requested you to come down for a chemistry read for the Male Lead."

Von remembered when he had mentioned his acting dreams to Leviathan back in the Thiscord call, it was such a surprise Leviathan was taking it serious now.

"That’s incredible," Von said, a confident smile forming on his newly refined face. "So when do we start? Do they send me a script?" Despite not entering in the industry yet, he was more than excited to get into a new project.

"That’s the problem," Emily sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He initially sent me this email three days ago. He told me we had until the end of the week to decide. But Leviathan sent me a text message when I woke up to drink water this morning. They moved the deadline up."

"To when?"

"Tomorrow," Emily said flatly.

Von frowned. "Tomorrow?"

"Yes," Emily nodded, looking frustrated. "Marcus was extremely strict on the phone. They are shooting the movie inside a strict H-19 lockdown bubble at the Grand Beverly Hotel in Los Angeles. To even enter the audition room, you have to undergo a mandatory three-day isolation and testing period inside the hotel."

Emily pointed at the email. "Marcus said if you want to try out for the movie, you have to be present at the Grand Beverly Hotel by tomorrow afternoon. If you aren’t there, they are giving the role to Sammy Howkins."

"Sammy Howkins?" Von raised an eyebrow. He knew the name. Everyone did. Sammy was a massive A-list young actor who had just starred in a billion-dollar sci-fi movie. Even in his past life, Von had enjoyed some of his films.

"Yes. An actual A-list actor," Emily said, her voice filled with worry. She looked down at the clear IV tube taped to Von’s arm.

"Von, you just woke up from a twenty-two-day coma... You haven’t even walked yet."

She reached out, gently placing her hand over his.

"I know this is a massive opportunity. But I was just about to call Leviathan and reject the offer right before you woke up. I can’t let you fly across the country and lock yourself in when your health is this fragile. It’s too dangerous. Are you really still interested?"

Von looked down at her hand covering his. He remembered the heavy panic he felt whenever she left the room. But right now, his mind was more than clear.

He was far from being fragile anymore. He even felt renewed and it would be stupid to let this opportunity waste!+.

Von slowly pulled his hand away from hers. With a completely straight face, he grabbed the medical tape securing the IV to his forearm and ripped it off in one swift motion.

"Von!" Emily gasped, reaching out to stop him.

He casually pulled the small needle out of his vein, pressing his thumb against the tiny drop of blood before looking up at her at with a smirk.

"You see! I’m perfectly fine don’t worry about me... I’ll release the two songs I made tonight, and tomorrow I’ll be there with them. Easy."