American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 374 The Allure of Journalism

"Sister Saltana? You got here so quickly?"

"That's fast? You've been out of contact for two hours already!"

Two hours?

Roy felt that it had only been half an hour since he made the call.

However, it is quite normal to misjudge time when in the realm of evil spirits. Evil spirits like to confuse time to make the living feel fear and despair, thus making it easier to kill them.

After the evil spirit space was dispelled, FEAR quickly entered the scene to take control of the situation and rescued the students from the mental hospital.

After investigation, it was found that only the three unfortunate girls who played the ghost nurses lost their lives, and only one boy had his eyes stitched up.

You could say this guy was lucky; Roy found him before the female nurse ghost killed him.

The initiation test for the Ouroboros Brotherhood ended so hastily, while an even bigger media storm was brewing.

Most UCLA students watched the first half of the initiation test live. Although the second half was missed due to electronic interference from the evil spirit space, everyone still guessed that something had gone wrong.

Despite the FEA's best efforts to suppress the news, the incident still spread through the internet.

Fortunately, most of the new students and actors who participated in the initiation test were actually unaware of what had happened. Only a handful of people, including Roy, Shawdy, Harry, and the two unfortunate new students, knew the truth.

So FEA successfully blocked the information about the evil spirit, only saying that a psychopathic killer was hiding in the mental hospital.

However, the news that someone died during the UCLA fraternity initiation test could not be kept secret in the end.

And who knows which scoundrel leaked Roy's participation in the membership test, which caused a media uproar.

The next day, Sunday, a news article titled "Newly crowned Olympic champion dies after taking fraternity initiation test" was released, and the public outcry was instantly ignited.

Yes, this is the captivating moment of journalism!

Roy doesn't like giving interviews, which has led to dissatisfaction among many media outlets, resulting in various dubious news stories.

This infuriated Jennifer and Nydred. One had her studio send a lawyer's letter to those unscrupulous media outlets, while the other engaged in a heated online battle with the trolls.

Because Roy is handsome and has a large number of female fans, he also has quite a few haters.

These haters are now launching a massive online attack on Roy, sparking a massive online war.

Now a large number of reporters have appeared outside UCLA, ready to catch Roy and make a big fuss.

However, Roy had already put on Nidi's black-rimmed glasses and left UCLA through the main entrance; it was Sunday and he didn't need to attend classes.

As for Jennifer and Nydia, they left UCLA in batches and finally met up at Madison's house in Beverly Hills. Otherwise, a group of beautiful women gathered together would have been quite conspicuous.

Inside the villa, almost all of Roy's women in Los Angeles were present.

Jennifer, Neely, Ashley, Saltana, Keller, Meryl... even Claire, for reasons unknown, followed along.

The women were all used to it; Claire would eventually become one of the sisters.

Elizabeth, being averse to crowds, didn't appear at the villa with Elresa. If the Demon Queen were to show up, the atmosphere would likely be extremely awkward.

"Who exactly leaked this information?"

Mary looked at Roy curiously.

“I’ve already asked Harry. He asked the fraternity members, the freshmen, and the students who participated in the performance. They all said they hadn’t revealed that I was involved in the initiation test. In fact, many of them didn’t even know that I was an Olympic champion.”

Although being an Olympic champion is a prestigious title, not everyone watches boxing matches. Many people have only occasionally glimpsed Roy's picture in newspapers or on television and thought he looked familiar.

There aren't many people who actually know Roy's true identity.

Upon hearing this, Jennifer frowned.

"So the focus is on the students who watched the live stream? That would make the screening process extremely difficult!"

At least 20,000 UCLA students watched the live stream of the Ouroboros initiation test, making it virtually impossible to identify the person among them who leaked the information to the media.

Saltana shook her head.

"And we can't rule out whether those freshmen and actors lied! But Roy, the person who leaked this information is clearly trying to frame you. Have you made any enemies at school?"

Roy had only been at UCLA for a little over a week, hadn't attended many classes, and hadn't even gotten to know all his classmates. How could he possibly have any enemies?

Well, it's a good thing Roy's tutor is Elizabeth, otherwise he would definitely have failed this year.

However, Elizabeth wouldn't help for free. The Demon Queen's gift already came with a price tag, and Roy would definitely have to repay her with his body later.

"If we're talking about grudges, it's probably only that kid from the Phoenix Society!"

Roy recounted what happened on Friday when he and Shawdy went to the Phoenix Club.

"Roy, this kid is indeed quite suspicious, but the most important thing right now is to suppress the news."

At this moment, Keller spoke.

As the only journalist present, Keller's words were quite important.

Roy will also listen to Keller's opinion on this matter.

"Keller, do you have any ideas?"

“After I saw that news during the day, I rushed to write an article to clarify things for you, but the newspaper owner rejected it. Afterwards, I asked my colleagues at other newspapers and found that all of them seemed to have received the same message: they couldn't accept any articles to clarify things for you. Roy, it's obvious that someone is targeting you.”

Keller's words made Roy frown deeply.

If that's the case, then it's going to be a bit troublesome.

But the person who can do this must have considerable power behind them, and Roy is now even more suspicious that it's that kid from the Phoenix Society who's behind it all.

The Phoenix Club members are mostly descendants of old money; they wield considerable influence in the traditional media industry, and could easily smear Roy's reputation with a simple call.

"Keller, is there no way to solve this?"

Three men can make a tiger, and many voices can melt metal; Roy didn't want to be pointed at and gossiped about at school in the future.

"The best way is to suppress this news with a more sensational story! Roy's news is mostly based on rumors, with no substantial content and it can't stand scrutiny. At this point, as long as a more explosive news story comes out, the problem can be solved quickly."

Roy looked thoughtful. This method is actually quite common. Many times, when you suddenly see a certain celebrity or company facing a public relations crisis, negative news about other celebrities or companies will immediately appear in the public opinion field.

By muddying the waters, they can divert public attention and minimize their own public opinion risks.

"That's a great idea! Keller, do you have any big news to share?"

Upon hearing this, Keller gave a wry smile.

"That's the problem right now. I don't happen to have any big news stories that can help divert attention."

Nidi looked worried.

"Are we just going to let the media slander Roy like this? Can't we let the lawyers sue these unscrupulous media outlets?"

Mei Li, the only law student present, shook her head.

“Those newspapers are very cunning; they use ambiguous language to hint at Roy’s identity. Not only is it time-consuming and laborious to prosecute, but there’s also a chance of losing. It costs a lot of money, and in the end, it only benefits those lawyers!”

Since the future lawyer had said so, Nidi had nothing more to say.

At this moment, Claire, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

"Could we get the FEA to endorse it? If the FEA can't do it, the police station will do!" Keller quickly suggested.

"Absolutely not! The public has very low trust in the federal government. If the police department doesn't endorse it, it's fine, but if they do, some people will start to believe the media's lies!"

Roy was speechless. This wouldn't work, that wouldn't work, and in the end, it seemed like he couldn't do anything at all.

Just then, Roy's phone vibrated, seemingly indicating that he had received a text message.

Roy picked up his phone and glanced at it, only to find that it was a text message from an unknown number. At first, he thought it was just a spam message, but after a closer look, he realized it wasn't.

Roy Black, I can help you handle this media storm. If you want to resolve this issue, come to XX Bar at 6 PM tonight. —Marianne Megan
It was a text message from that female reporter, Marian Megan, who even claimed she could help me resolve the media storm?

Roy's expression turned strange.

The others noticed Roy's expression and were curious about the contents of the text message.

"Roy, is something the matter?"

Without hesitation, Roy showed the text message to the women.

"Do you think we can trust this woman's words?"

Jennifer, Nydy, Meryl, and Claire all had rather strange expressions; these four knew about Marian's relentless pursuit of Roy.

"This guy still hasn't given up?"

Saltana and Keller were both curious as to why the others reacted this way.

"Is there something wrong with this Marian Megan?"

Saltana asked the question immediately, and Jennifer recounted what had happened before.

After listening, Keller chuckled.

“I know the Marian Megan you’re talking about. She was originally an anchorwoman for KABC-TV, but the station went bankrupt because of the Greed King scandal, right? Marian was lucky she didn’t die and moved to ABC News.”

This female anchor doesn't have a good reputation in the industry because she doesn't follow the rules. However, she is indeed good at producing news, otherwise she would have been fired by ABC long ago.

"Keller, do you mean we can trust her?"

Keller's face held an ambiguous expression.

"What I mean is, you can go and meet her, but be careful, this woman might try something funny."

Roy nodded.

"I understand. I'll keep the appointment tonight. Who wants to come with me?"

Saltana was the first to refuse.

"I can't. I still have to keep an eye on the work at the mental hospital. There are still quite a few ghosts in the mental hospital that want to be contained by FEA."

Besides the female nurse ghost and the doctor, there are other ghosts in the mental hospital, such as the beautiful female ghost who underwent ice pick therapy that Roy and Shawdy discovered.

Although these ghosts are not aggressive, FEA will definitely contain them now that they have been discovered, to prevent any future problems.

Keller also said she couldn't go, as she had to go back to finish her manuscript.

Roy looked at the five female college students on the scene. College students shouldn't have anything to do on the weekend, right?
Nidi chuckled awkwardly.

"Hehe, I made plans with Ashley to go to a gaming event tonight!"

Jennifer shook her head as well.

"Tonight is my sorority induction test, so I can't go."

Roy looked at the two female seniors with hopeful eyes. Claire definitely couldn't go; she had to return to the Shadow Hunters' base that night to receive guidance from Elise. So, that left only Merry.

Fortunately, Mary did not disappoint Roy.

"Roy, let me go with you tonight. I don't have anything else to do, and I can be your legal advisor."

Roy breathed a sigh of relief. The reason he brought a woman along was because Keller said that Marianne was ruthless and it would be safer to bring a woman along.

"By the way, Roy! After studying with Teacher Elise for a while, I've mastered a special ability. Would you like to see it?"

Claire suddenly looked at Roy with excitement, her expression like that of a child who had learned something new at school and was coming home to show off to her parents.

"Oh? What kind of ability is it?"

Roy didn't think too much about it, assuming that Claire had mastered some new techniques for using Holy Light.

"Can any of you lend me something?"

"Is a cell phone okay?"

Niddy, who was sitting next to Claire, handed her her phone.

"of course can!"

Claire took out a blank card and placed it on the table, then put Nidi's phone on top of it.

Then, everyone saw Claire swipe her hand across the phone, and Nidi's phone disappeared, while a phone icon appeared on the blank card.

"Oh my god!"

Everyone was very surprised; the ability to turn the three-dimensional world into the two-dimensional world was truly amazing.

Roy quickly realized the purpose of Claire's ability.

"Is it still possible to take the item out of the card?"

"Definitely!"

Claire placed her hand on the card, and the phone popped out of it the next second.

Niddy picked up her phone and looked at it over and over, clearly still somewhat incredulous.

"This, this is truly amazing!"

"Claire, if you seal something in a card, can someone else take it out?"

Upon hearing this, Claire frowned.

“Theoretically, it should be possible. Shadow Hunters possess a set of rune technology that allows them to lend someone’s power to another person through runes. The energy consumed in taking something from a card is actually not much. As long as I leave a rune mark on someone, they can use it.”

"Claire, let's try this phone then."

A few minutes later, Claire used her own blood to draw the Holy Grail symbol on Nidi's arm, and then successfully got Nidi to take the phone out of the card.

This was excellent news for Roy, who was worried about transferring some equipment and items he no longer needed to others. With this card, the problem would be solved.

For example, with the executioner's knife, Roy has an inventory that allows him to carry it with him, but Jennifer can't always have it on her person.

Therefore, Roy has not yet handed the executioner's knife to Jennifer.

Roy couldn't resist hugging Claire and kissing her.

"Claire, you've been a huge help to me!"

Let me post a picture of Nidi.
(End of this chapter)