Chapter 103
Ray leaned his back against the headboard, the dim city night light slipping in through the half-open curtains. Outside, the sky kept exploding—red, green, gold, switching nonstop. The Global Alter was working perfectly. Everyone who originally planned to set an alarm was unconsciously walking out to their balconies or the streets to light fireworks instead.
Ray stared at the window for a long while, eyes half-closed.
That freedom he felt when the System first activated... it was completely gone now. It all started with the Federal agents installing CCTV in his apartment without permission. Then Milady suddenly showing up and giving orders like he was her personal circus animal. And the worst part? Him going viral everywhere. Everyone knew his face because he himself pretended he could "sense" those weird phenomena, when it was actually just his own Common Sense Altering System doing the work.
He was the one who created the chaos. And now that chaos was eating him alive.
Ray grabbed his phone from the nightstand, unlocked it, and opened social media.
His notifications looked like a war zone.
Hundreds of posts tagging him.
"Ray when’s the next Live??"
"Bro why didn’t you warn people at the mall earlier😭"
"Did Ray’s ability disappear? How the hell did that crazy shit go down at the mall and he didn’t post a single thing"
"Videos from the mall are blowing up... Ray you good?"
Someone posted another clip from the mall incident—exactly when everyone started groping each other like perverts and nobody felt weird about it. The comments underneath were pure chaos. People asking if his ability was gone, if the "weird phenomena" had left him, or if he was just a one-hit wonder who got lucky once.
Ray stared at the screen for a full three seconds... then let out a dry little chuckle.
"These people are starting to get really annoying," he muttered quietly.
They actually thought he was some street oracle who had to give free warnings to the whole city every time something weird happened. Like he owed them something.
He opened his own account, typed a short post, and hit send without overthinking it.
**Ray:**
Not feeling good today. Just opened socials now. Resting for a bit. Don’t wait for a Live.
Simple. Clean. Zero explanation.
He didn’t wait for replies. Instead he kept scrolling, letting the algorithm feed him whatever was trending under the "Ability Users" tag.
Hime Nature’s account was super active. Several posts in the last hour. One of them showed her standing in an empty field, barefoot, palms pressed to the ground. Within seconds thick green plants grew, carrying ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, even a small bunch of bananas. The caption was soft, almost shy:
"If people are hungry... at least the ground can still give something."
Thousands of likes. Comments calling her a saint, an angel, the only pure one left in the middle of all the chaos.
A few posts later, another account. A middle-aged guy in a fire-resistant jacket standing in front of a half-burned apartment building. Flames were still licking the upper floors, but every time a tongue of fire tried to escape, the guy just raised his hand and the fire curved away like it was scared. He’d already saved three people. The video was captioned:
"Fire Controller – saving lives while the government just collects taxes."
Ray watched both videos in silence.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
’They probably get watched more than me,’ he thought. ’Federal agents are breathing down their necks 24/7. At least those two are still useful in the public’s eyes. Me? Just the guy who made the whole city light fireworks.’
He glanced around the room. Soft bed. Half-empty glass of water. The faint red light from the hidden camera he still hadn’t found. Silence that didn’t feel silent at all.
This place didn’t feel like home anymore.
It felt like a glass box.
Ray sat up straighter, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.
"...Looks like I gotta bounce from this place."
Fireworks outside kept exploding, painting the walls with short flashes. Ray didn’t smile. He just grabbed his phone again and started checking the balance in his backup account, already calculating how much money he could move without leaving a trail.
The city was still celebrating the "set an alarm" method he’d forced on them.
Meanwhile he was already planning how to get out of this messy situation.
Ray was still sitting on the edge of the bed, fingers scrolling his phone, when a WhatsApp notification popped up.
**Karl:**
Tomorrow I’m doing stand-up at the usual spot. You promised a video call for the show, don’t flake.
Ray stared at the message for a few seconds, then let out a long breath. His fingers typed a short reply.
**Ray:**
Yeah yeah. I’ll call later.
He tossed the phone aside and leaned against the wall. His mood was getting messier. Last night he almost faked sleep because he was exhausted, now he was getting hit with another promise. Inside his head, the only thing he could think about was one thing: he just wanted to disappear.
Back when the System first activated, he was so fucking happy. He could fuck any girl’s mouth he wanted. He could make that annoying coworker kneel and beg to get his face slapped by a cock. Everything felt free, wild, and good. Now? Every single move he made was being watched. CCTV in the apartment, Federal agents, Milady suddenly showing up, going viral everywhere, plus people constantly tagging him asking for a Live.
Too many obstacles.
But on the other side, the horny part of Ray still refused to lose to life.
He stared at the ceiling, lips moving slowly.
’Not enough yet. I’m not satisfied living in this world. There’s still so many pussies I haven’t fucked. Especially the urge to fuck those sexy influencers... hasn’t happened at all.’
He stood up, walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face. Water dripped from his chin. He stared at his own reflection in the mirror—eyes still red from exhaustion, but something inside was lighting up again.
"I’m still here," he muttered quietly. "And I’m not done yet."
He wiped his face with a towel, breathing a little more steady. Right then he remembered something.
He used to say that every time a global phenomenon happened, he always felt extremely sleepy. If he stayed fully awake tonight, the Federal agents who were definitely watching from the CCTV might get suspicious.
So he had to fake it.
Ray walked out of the bathroom with deliberately unsteady steps. Eyes half-closed, body swaying. He almost bumped into the table, then dropped onto the bed with a slightly exaggerated motion.
The mattress creaked softly.
He lay on his side, eyes closed, breathing made slow. Behind his closed eyelids, his lips curved up into a thin smile.
’I’m gonna turn this world into my personal paradise...’
Outside, fireworks still exploded every now and then. Inside, the hidden camera recorded a man who looked like he’d already fallen into a deep sleep because of the "global phenomenon."
----
Ray opened his eyes slowly.
Soft morning light slipped through the curtains. His body felt light. No aches, no headache, not even the heavy drowsiness that usually stuck around after a Global Alter. He had slept really well. Better than he expected.
He sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbed his eyes, then grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
The screen lit up. News notifications already filled the home page.
Strange headlines greeted him right away.
"Millions of City Residents Lit Fireworks Last Night — No One Remembers Doing It"
"Another Global Phenomenon? CCTV Shows People Flooding Balconies and Streets"
"Last Night’s Fireworks Weren’t a Festival — Everyone Acted Outside Their Own Will"
Ray scrolled with his thumb. Local CCTV videos started popping up on his timeline. Footage from different corners of the city: people walking out of their houses with blank faces, lighting firecrackers and fireworks on balconies, in yards, even on the side of the road. Some still in pajamas. Some carrying little kids. Some standing on rooftops. All of it done with zero expression, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Even weirder: the next morning, not a single person remembered doing any of it.
Public comments were already blowing up.
"I actually lit fireworks last night? Don’t remember shit..."
"My home CCTV shows me walking out to the balcony at 10. I thought I was dreaming."
Ray stared at the screen with a flat face. His Global Alter had worked too perfectly.
He scrolled further.
This time the news was different from usual.
Not just reports of the incident. This time there was an interview.
The video thumbnail showed Hime Nature’s gentle face, standing in the middle of a small garden with lush green plants behind her. Hair loose, expression calm but serious. The caption underneath read:
Hime Nature: "This Evil Ability Cannot Be Allowed. I Will Track It Down."
Ray tapped the video.
The interview started. Hime spoke in a soft voice, almost like she was talking to the plants instead of the camera.
"Last night... the ground told me something," she said. "Millions of people moved against their own will. That’s not a blessing. That’s force. I don’t know who did it, but the power left traces in the air and in the soil. Those traces are still fresh."
The reporter asked, "Can you find the person responsible?"
Hime nodded slowly. Her eyes looked straight into the camera.
"Soon. Nature never forgets. Roots remember footsteps. The wind remembers breath. I’m learning to read those traces. Whoever forced millions of souls to move last night... I will find them."