Chapter 85
That day just flew by. Next morning, Ray woke up already in a shitty mood. Super early, his phone was blowing up with WhatsApp notifications from Sonya. Messages kept flooding in, one after another, telling him to stay safe, ride the virality wave but don’t catch star syndrome.
Her advice was actually solid. But Ray’s ego got triggered. He felt like he already knew how to handle all this shit. Still, just to keep the "building a relationship" vibe going, he just hit her with a quick "yeah" in the chat.
That afternoon, Ray was chilling on the couch in his apartment when a new DM popped up from Asmoldking. He opened it and immediately muttered,
"Fuck... they moved the podcast to today?"
Ray swallowed hard and replied fast. "Isn’t that too soon?"
Asmoldking hit him back right away. Apologized for the last-minute change ’cause a bunch of sponsors suddenly jumped in. He promised Ray’s pay was gonna be way bigger than what they originally talked about. The podcast was gonna be stacked with sponsors and livestreamed too.
"Topic’s pretty chill though," Asmoldking wrote. "Just talking about supernatural stuff and your ability to sense it. Get ready, ’cause two female influencers are joining in to keep the vibes alive."
Ray frowned. "Girls? I don’t remember that being in the original plan."
Before he could even type the question, Asmoldking DM’d again.
"This is just for views and sponsors, bro. You cool with it? They’re only there to boost the energy so the podcast doesn’t feel stiff."
Ray just stared at the screen, heart all twisted up. After yesterday dealing with Christy’s creepy dark side that gave him chills, now he had to go live with two random female influencers he’d never even met?
But the money was fat. That’s the only reason he didn’t straight-up say no.
He still hadn’t replied, but he already knew — today was gonna be another long-ass day.
Ray typed a short reply.
"Alright then."
Asmoldking replied instantly.
"Someone’s picking you up later. Be ready around 7 PM. Don’t be late, sponsors are waiting."
Ray checked the time on his phone. Still afternoon. He had way too much time and was already bored out of his fucking mind. His no-life routine was starting to make him sick. So he decided to just go outside for a walk. Threw on a mask even though it was blazing hot — at least he could see some people instead of rotting in his room all day.
He left the apartment and walked casually down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, eyes straight ahead. While walking, he opened the system in his head. Today’s daily mission was simple: change how people greet each other. Ray didn’t wanna overthink it. He just activated Global Alter with a light target.
"People greet by waving with four fingers."
Alter activated globally.
Ray kept walking and observing. A few meters ahead, some dude on the phone suddenly raised his hand and waved four fingers at his friend crossing the street. His friend waved back the exact same way — no thumb, no index finger. Two girls who normally shook hands just waved four fingers at each other while giggling. Even the security guard in front of the minimarket joined in — raised his hand and waved four fingers at a passing Gojek driver.
Ray smirked behind his mask.
"Too easy," he muttered.
He didn’t feel guilty. It was just a daily mission. Not dangerous. Didn’t hurt anybody. Just swapped out a pointless greeting habit. Ray kept walking, enjoying the hot wind hitting his mask. For the first time since the Christy shit, he felt a little lighter. At least he could burn off some energy before tonight’s podcast with two female influencers he’d never met.
He walked further, hands still in his pockets, occasionally watching people around him now greeting each other with four fingers. Simple as hell.
After a while Ray got tired. The heat made sweat stick to his mask. He looked for shade and finally sat in a park under a big shady tree. The breeze felt good, let him breathe for a second. He pulled out his phone, opened the app, and immediately saw a new DM from Asmoldking.
Asmoldking wrote:
"If you wanna check out the two girls joining tonight, here’s their @s."
Ray got curious. He clicked the two accounts. Soon as he opened them, he swallowed hard.
"Damn... both of them are straight baddies. Thicc asses, and mad hot photos too."
Ray grinned to himself and thought, "Whoa... I could fuck both of them, hahaha..."
But before he could keep fantasizing, his eyes caught a trending hashtag on his timeline. He opened it and saw a post from @Lovetwoanimal. The girl was posting a video of herself growing plants with her bare hands in a small garden. She went on and on saying God gave her a gift to save animals from becoming human food. Said God told her to practice every day so she could grow enough plants later and humans wouldn’t need to kill animals for food anymore.
Ray chuckled and shook his head.
"God? Man, shut the fuck up."
He knew exactly what this was — some core system power from that junk slot machine he’d used before. Not a gift from God, just some random hack system from who knows where.
When he scrolled to the comments, someone wrote "this is AI." Ray thought, "Yeah, could be AI."
But when he scrolled further, shit got actually insane. People who liked the hashtag #animalisfriend started popping up everywhere. They were dead serious, treating @Lovetwoanimal like some new prophet sent by God to save cows from getting turned into burgers, save innocent chicken eggs, and all that shit. Some were saying this was the start of a whole new movement. Others already making long threads about "God’s vision through this girl."
Ray burst out laughing so hard his shoulders shook. He kept shaking his head while laughing.
"Why the fuck do people always come up with the weirdest ideologies..."
He kept scrolling, glancing at people walking by in the park now greeting each other with the new four-finger wave — all because of the Global Alter he activated earlier. This world really was getting crazier every single day. Some people had actual system powers and got mistaken for prophets. Others just followed some online ideology and immediately started a little cult.
Ray took a deep breath, still grinning behind his mask. Ray was still chilling in the park, scrolling and half-smirking at how stupid people were getting with that fake prophet shit, when his phone buzzed with a WhatsApp from Karl.
"Ray, where you at?"
Ray blinked. Karl? He typed back quick.
"At the park."
Karl replied almost instantly.
"Share location."
Ray sighed but sent it anyway. A few minutes later, he saw Karl walking up from the path, looking straight-up depressed — shoulders slumped, face all gloomy like someone just told him his dog died.
"Yo , Ray!"
Ray sat up a little. "Yo, what’s with the face? You good?"
Karl dropped down on the bench next to him, rubbed his face with both hands, and let out a long breath.
"Bro... a lot of people refunded their tickets for the comedy club. The one I was supposed to do stand-up at this weekend."
Ray frowned. "Why? What happened?"
Karl looked at him, kinda bitter but also lost.
"Maybe ’cause of you, man. Everything’s viral right now. I dunno. I’m confused as fuck. I was really tryna take this career serious, y’know? Finally getting some traction and now this shit happens."
Ray stayed quiet for a second. He actually felt bad. Karl was one of the few people who genuinely gave a shit about him — even if the dude was on roids and acted like a clown half the time. Most people only hit Ray up when they wanted something. Karl? He actually checked in.
Ray scratched the back of his neck under the mask.
"Damn... that sucks, bro. Look, how ’bout we stream together later? I’ll bring you on. That way you get some shine too. Might help fix the ticket thing."
Karl’s head snapped up so fast Ray thought he got whiplash.
"For real?"
Ray nodded, calm as ever.
"Yeah, for real. I’ll promote you on the stream. We’ll cook something up."
Karl just stared at him for a second, like he couldn’t believe it. Then a small, tired smile cracked on his face.
"Shit... thanks, man. That actually means a lot."
Ray leaned back on the bench, still watching him. That’s when it hit him — Karl had recognized him earlier even though he was wearing a mask and trying to stay lowkey. Dude walked straight up like it was nothing.
Ray glanced at him sideways.
"By the way... how the fuck did you even know it was me back there? I got the mask on and everything."
Karl shrugged, still looking a little down but lighter now.
"Bro, I’ve known you too long. Mask or not, I can tell it’s you from how you walk. Plus you always got that same dumb stare everytime."
Ray let out a short laugh behind the mask.
"Fair enough."
He looked out at the park again, people still waving with four fingers like it was normal now.
"Anyway, don’t stress too much about the tickets. We’ll figure it out."
Karl nodded, finally looking a little less miserable.
"Appreciate it, Ray. For real."
Ray just gave him a small nod back, then checked the time on his phone.