Chapter 102 - 102: Interrogating Internet Celebrity
The figure completely silenced the atmosphere.
"She changed clothes so quickly, and is that her new mask?" Lavendina asked herself with an awkward smile.
"Why are you so quiet?... Umm, I don't know why I feel like someone else is there. Is there someone else there, Ms. Lavendina?" Gabrela asked, confused.
"Yes... my friend has arrived" Lavendina replied with an awkward expression.
Lavendina release the cloth covering Gabrela's eyes. Gabrela slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Lavendina, then the front of the room's interior—which looked like a research room, but she hadn't seen the back of the room.
When she looked toward the door, her eyes widened. The cheerful smile and emotion that had been on her face seemed to freeze in an instant.
The masked woman stood silently in the doorway. She didn't move, didn't speak. But somehow, her presence felt far more oppressive than the cool air that gently flowed through the room. Gabrela's heart was pounding and goosebumps were all over her, making her scream.
"W-WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!? IS SHE HUMAN OR A MONSTER!?—A MONSTER! I'M SURE SHE'S A MONSTER!!!" Gabrela screamed in panic.
Panic made Gabrela fall backward.
"KYAA!..."
Her head hit the floor, and she grunted in pain.
"Ouch..."
"PFFT!... AHAHAHAHAHA~!!! LOOK, SHE CALLED YOU A MONSTER. THAT'S A GOOD CALL FOR YOU WHO ALWAYS DO BAD THINGS TO ME!" Lavendina burst out laughing.
As Lavendina laughed, Gabrela—her body trembling, expression terrified, and tear-streaked—crawled toward the door.
"THUMP!"
Lia punched Lavendina in the stomach with her right fist.
"UGH!"
Lavendina immediately fell to the ground, holding her stomach. Lia walked over to Gabrela and grabbed the sides of his chair, making her panic even more.
"NO NO!—I don't want to be eaten by her! Help me—HELP ME, MS. LAVENDINA!!!" Gabrela shouted.
Lia straightened the chair and crouched down.
"CHILL LITTLE SWEET... I WON'T HURT YOU IF YOU TELL THE TRUTH!"
Lia's voice was heavy and cold, like a tomboy's.
"S-seriously?" Gabrela asked, sobbing.
Lia took a tissue from her right pants pocket and wiped Gabrela's tears.
"YES," Lia replied.
Gabrela still looked hesitant, but she had no choice but to surrender for the sake of her life.
"O-okay" Gabrela said.
Lia nodded her head, then stood up, threw the tissue toward Lavendina, who was still lying in pain, and walked to one of the metal chairs around the room. Lia placed the chair 3 meters in front of Gabrela. He sat down and began to speak.
"ARE YOU CALM NOW?" Lia asked.
Gabrela nodded.
"GOOD, I'VE SEEN ALL OF YOUR TRACKS IN THE RECORDS GIVEN TO ME—FROM YOUR ARRIVAL TO SCHOOL TO YOUR TRANSACTION WITH KAZORA," Lia said.
"FIRST QUESTION, WHERE DID YOU GET THE PILLS?" Lia asked.
"I got them on social media—"
From the right pocket of her jacket, Lia suddenly pulled out a kerambit, still covered by its sheath. The sheath was a mix of blue, purple, and cyan.
Gabrela's eyes widened.
"W-what do you want to do!?" Gabrela asked with an awkward smile and a panicked tone.
Lia inserted her left index finger into the karambit's finger ring and spun it. She stared at the spinning karambit as she said.
"IN THE SHEATH IS A BLADE THAT'S BEEN COVERED WITH POISON THAT CAN PEEL YOUR SKIN. SO, IF YOU'RE LYING, I'LL PAINT IT ON YOUR LOVED SKIN~" Lia replied casually.
Gabrela's expression immediately panicked, and goosebumps broke out.
"I-I WON'T LIE!" Gabrela shouted.
Lia looked at Gabrela.
"GREAT... PLEASE CONTINUE THE STORY," Lia said.
"O-okay... I got the item from someone on Facebook," Gabrela said.
"SO... DID YOU MEET IN REAL LIFE OR DID THE PERSON SEND IT TO YOUR HOUSE?" Lia asked.
"I met in real life" Gabrela replied.
"Did you meet he because you wanted to buy that item? Or was there another reason?" Lia asked.
"I helped he sell the item," Gabrela replied.
"SELL? ARE YOU A RESELLER, ENDORSEMENT, PRODUCT SEEDING, PR PACKAGE, OR SPONSORSHIPPER?" Lia asked.
"I-I helped promote it and got paid," Gabrela replied.
"ENDORSEMENT, HUH..." Lia mumbled.
"HOW MUCH WAS THE PROMISED PAYMENT TO YOU?" Lia asked.
"10 million rupiah—for one product" Gabrela replied.
"WOW... FANTASTIC~" Lia said in awe.
"HOW MUCH ARE YOU SELLING IT FOR?" Lia asked.
"2 million rupiah" Gabrela replied.
Lia stopped playing with her kerambit.
"WHAT'S?! YOU GET PAID 10 MILLION BUT THE SELLING PRICE IS 2 MILLION? WERE YOU NOT SUSPICIOUS ABOUT THAT?" Lia asked.
"N-no, at that time I was just thinking about the payment I would receive..." Gabrela replied.
"Wow~, very fitting for a black marketeer," Lia thought to herself.
"HOW MUCH PRODUCTS DID YOU RECEIVE?" Lia asked.
"Two products. Each one contained four pills" Gabrela replied.
"WILL THE PAYMENT BE IN CASH OR TRANSFER?" Lia asked.
"Buyer can pay both. If buyer pay cash, I have to send the money to the seller via bank transfer" Gabrela replied.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST RUN WHEN THE BUYER PAY YOU IN CASH?" Lia asked.
"Impossible... because they know about me" Gabrela replied.
"OHH~... OKAY, NEXT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT PILLS YOU'RE PROMOTING?" Lia asked.
"A-At first, I thought the person was selling a legitimate fitness supplement," Gabrela replied.
"DID THE PERSON OFFER YOU FIRST, OR WERE YOU THE ONE WHO OFFERED YOURSELF FOR THE ENDORSEMENT?" asked Lia.
"When I finished my Streaming, he messaged me first" replied Gabrela.
"The chat consisted of him telling me about the benefits, drawbacks, and how to take the pills," Gabrela continued.
"OK, THEN YOU TRYED THEM ON YOUR BOYFRIEND, RIGHT?" asked Lia.
Gabrela looked away.
"Uh-uh, umm... t-that..." Gabrela said nervously.
"HMM? WHY ARE YOU SUDDENLY SO NERVOUS?" Lia asked.
"Last month—she broke up with her boyfriend because he was just exploiting her money, and now she's still single," Lavendina replied, standing casually behind Lia.
Gabrela was immediately stunned.
"HOO~, SO YOU WERE LYING, THAT MEANS—" Lia said.
Lia started spinning her karambit again.
"W-WAIT A MINUTE! I-I HAVE A REASON FOR THAT!" Gabrela shouted in panic.
"OK, TRY TO EXPLAIN!" Lia said.
"T-THAT'S MY MARKETING STRATEGY!" Gabrela replied frantically.
"HEE~ I SEE..." Lia said.
Gabrela tensed, her eyes fixed on the spinning karambit, and she swallowed hard. Lia stopped playing with hers.
"OKAY, DID YOU NOT FEEL SUSPICIOUS WHEN YOU RECEIVED THAT ITEM?" Lia asked.
Gabrela breathed a sigh of relief, then lowered her head and answered.
"No... Like I said before—because of the big fee..." Gabrela replied in a low, regretful voice.
There was silence for a few minutes, as Lavendina and Lia felt sorry for her.
"SIGH... YOU'RE STILL YOUNG, YOU ALREADY HAVE SO MANY FOLLOWERS ON VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA, WHY WERE YOU NOT ALERT? WHERE ARE YOUR MANAGERS OR TEAM? THEY SHOULD HANDLE THAT," Lia said.
Gabrela could only apologize.
"S-sorry... They're gone," Gabrela replied regretfully.
Lia remained silent, staring intently at Gabrela behind her mask. She felt she had asked enough.
"LAVENDINA, IS EVERYTHING SHE SAID TRUE?" Lia asked.
"Umm, just a moment," Lavendina replied.
With her right hand, she began to take a phone from her right pants pocket. Lavendina turned it on.
"Hmm... Some of what she said was true, but there were some lies she was hiding" Lavendina replied.
Gabrela was shocked to hear this. She lifted her head and looked at Lavendina. Her eyes immediately widened, unable to believe what Lavendina was holding.
"T-That's!?—" Gabrela asked in a panic.
"Yup, it's your phone~" Lavendina replied with a smile.
The atmosphere immediately fell silent. Gabrela's heart raced, and he swallowed hard.
"Glug!"
"H-hmph! Y-you think you can unlock my lockscreen?" Gabrela asked with an awkward smile.
Lavendina smiled, turned off the phone, and then plugged an OTG cable into Gabrela's phone. The OTG was black, 10cm long and 6cm wide. At the top were three small green LED lights, which, when lit, indicated the device was working. In the middle were four small buttons: red, blue, black, and white. Below these buttons were the words: red (Lockscreen), blue (Camera), black (Reset Command), and white (Factory Reset). Each button pressed would automatically wake the phone from sleep mode. While at the bottom, three small red LEDs lit up to indicate the device was stopped.
Lavendina pressed the red button on the OTG cable. Gabrela's phone turned on, and a program quickly made an emergency call to *666#. The call went through, but only repeated beeps were heard.
"W-what are you doing!?" Gabrela asked, panicked.
"Just watch it~" Lavendina replied.
It only took two minutes for the device to bypass the security system, unlocking the phone and revealing the home screen. Gabrela's eyes widened.
"Ta-da~" Lavendina said with a sweet smile.
Gabrela was in shock—her eyes widened, her mouth opened in a terrified sound, and her body stiffened.
~To be continued~