Chapter 80
Ray was still chuckling softly, shaking his head. Those batshit crazy posts from unhinged people were seriously addictive. Another account wrote a whole-ass rant about how "the negative energy in this city comes from restaurants that still serve meat from innocent animals." Ray giggled to himself, fingers scrolling on autopilot. Time was flying by. One insane post after another. Some people were even linking it to some kind of warning for the lost sheep out there.
He didn’t even realize how many hours he’d been sitting on the bed. When he finally looked up and checked the time on his phone, it was already late afternoon. The sky outside the window was starting to turn orange.
Ray just sat there for a second. The laughter from before vanished instantly. His chest felt hollow. He had a nice apartment now, stacks of cash from yesterday’s livestream, his name blowing up everywhere, and this insane power that could twist human common sense however the fuck he wanted. But... now what? What else was there to do? Life felt way too easy and way too empty at the same time.
His thoughts started drifting somewhere darker.
That new Solo Alter feature that just unlocked... he still hadn’t tried it. Unlike Global Alter that fucked with all of humanity at once, Solo Alter felt more personal. More... targeted. Ray smirked a little. Perverted ideas started creeping in one by one. He opened his DMs again. Bunch of female influencers sliding in offering collabs. One of them was stupidly hot, killer body, always posting gym pics and OOTD. But her bio straight-up said "taken 💕" and she posted with her boyfriend all the time.
Ray felt his cock starting to get hard slowly inside his pants.
"Man... for some reason the fantasy of dicking down a pussy that’s already taken just makes me even harder," he muttered under his breath, voice hoarse. The mental image of her naked underneath him while her boyfriend just watched from the doorway—or didn’t even know—made his blood rush straight down. Maybe Solo Alter could make her "forget" about her boyfriend for a bit... or hell, make the boyfriend himself push his girl to "collab" with Ray. The idea was way too fucked up, but that only made it hotter.
Ray was getting bored as hell just sitting in the apartment. Even though it was comfortable and actually decent now, he needed to get out. Needed air. Needed a distraction. Needed... to test shit.
"Fuck it, I’m heading out," he decided. "Throw on a mask. Who knows, maybe I’ll find something to brag about to Asmoldking later."
He grabbed a thick black mask from the drawer, threw on a dark hoodie, and stepped out. The weather outside was bright as hell and scorching. Sunlight felt like it was slapping the exposed skin on his neck. The mask made breathing kinda stuffy, but he still walked casually down the sidewalk. People passed by, most of them glued to their phones. Nobody had clocked his face yet.
Ray walked slow, thinking. Maybe tomorrow or the day after he could start testing Solo Alter out in the wild. Nothing big like Global Alter—just small, personal stuff. The fun kind. While walking he opened the DM with that influencer chick again. Her profile pic popped up. Ray pictured her at home right now, boyfriend gaming in the other room, while Ray could just...
His cock got even harder. Ray grinned behind the mask.
After walking a bit and still feeling bored out of his mind, he made a decision. "Screw it, might as well hit the movies. Watch some random film so my brain stops cooking up weird shit."
He pulled out his phone, opened the ride app, and set the destination to the nearest mall with a cinema. Driver matching... a second later the notification popped.
The car pulled up. Ray got in the back without saying much. He took off the mask and hoodie ’cause it was getting stuffy.
"Ray?" a friendly girl’s voice came from the front seat. "That you? Whoa, look who I picked up... famous guy and everything."
Ray looked up. In the rearview mirror he saw Cindy’s face—the landlord’s daughter. The same girl who drove him home after he checked out this apartment. Friendly, big smile, hair tied back simple. Because of the heat she was just wearing a plain white short-sleeve tee and jeans.
"Oh... Cindy," Ray answered flatly. "You working huh..."
"Yeah, picking up some side orders," Cindy said casually while driving. "You heading to the mall? Gonna catch a movie?"
Ray just went "mm" softly. But his eyes wouldn’t stop scanning. Cindy’s skin was smooth and pale, her arms clean and soft-looking from the short sleeves. Shoulders looked toned, tits not huge but sitting perfect in that white tee. Little bit of sweat on her neck from the heat earlier. Ray’s throat went dry.
Back then... he used to be into Cindy. Almost fell for her. She was chill, no weird shit, always smilin. Ray remembered how close those feelings got. But his already fucked-up head shut it down fast. Killed it before it could grow. Now he could only stare at her body from behind and feel his cock still half-hard from the earlier fantasy.
Cindy drove relaxed, making light small talk through the mirror every now and then. Ray only gave short answers. In the freezing AC, his mind was all over the place. Influencer chick in his DMs... Cindy sitting right in front of him... Solo Alter still sitting there untouched... everything mixing together.
He had no clue what the fuck he was supposed to do with his life today. Too many options.
Ray got out of the car in front of the mall entrance. Still hot as hell outside, afternoon sun not going anywhere. He immediately pulled off the hoodie and stuffed it in the small bag he brought. Mask stayed on. No point taking risks.
"Here we go..." he pulling out his phone.
Cindy sent the amount through the app. Ray transferred it and threw in a small tip to keep it moving. He snuck one last look at her smooth white arms before the door closed. His cock, still half-hard from the influencer fantasy, hadn’t fully calmed down yet. But he played it cool and walked straight into the mall.
Cinema was on the second floor. Ray rode the escalator with his hands in his pockets. Mall was packed, but the mask kept most people from noticing him. He stopped in front of the big screen showing showtimes.
His eyes scanned the list.
The superhero movies he usually liked... almost all of them were changed. Some kept the same titles but now the main characters were chicks. Some stories got completely rewritten into empowerment bullshit. One action movie turned the hot guy lead into a tattooed muscular girl. A bunch had extra toxic family drama, gender shit, and all kinds of agendas that made Ray instantly nauseous.
"What the hell is this..." he muttered behind the mask. "I just wanna watch people get their faces kicked in, not sit through ideology every five minutes."
He scrolled more. Family dramas that always ended with "forgive your toxic parents," war movies that shoved in way too much preachy anti-war messaging until the characters turned cringe.
Ray finally picked the most normal-looking war movie. World War II, focused on actual battles, not much side drama. Showtime in twenty minutes. Good enough.
He bought the ticket from the machine, grabbed a small popcorn and cola so he wouldn’t look weird, then headed into the theater.
Movie was whatever. Shooting, explosions, blood, screaming. Ray sat in the back row by himself. Every now and then he thought about Sonya, about Cindy, about the influencer in his DMs. But mostly he just wanted his brain to shut the fuck up for a bit. The war movie did a decent job of keeping the perverted thoughts away for two hours.
When the credits started rolling, Ray dipped early before the lights came on full.
He walked casually through the mall corridor that was starting to empty out. Just wanted to head home. Call another ride or take the MRT. Suddenly his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Name on screen: Sonya.
Ray paused for a second before answering.
"Ray?" Sonya’s voice came through, sounding kinda worried. "Where are you? Why didn’t you text me? I saw you’re still going viral everywhere, I got so worried. You okay?"
Ray let out a quiet sigh behind the mask. He just remembered... he was technically "dating" Sonya. At least that’s what she thought. Ray himself only really wanted her body. But it was already too late. Sonya thought they were serious.
"Yeah," he answered flat. "I’m good. Just stepped out for a bit."
"Do you feel safe though? Everyone’s talking about you. Feds might even be watching. You gotta be careful, Ray. I’m worried..."
"Yeah," Ray said again, voice flat and tired. "Safe."
Sonya kept going on about the news, about people asking her questions ’cause they knew she was close to him. Ray only hit her with "mm" and "yeah" every now and then. He wasn’t in the mood to talk. Head still full of the war movie, the dirty fantasies, and the weird emptiness of having everything but still feeling like shit.
Call was still going. Ray kept walking down the half-empty corridor, one hand holding the phone to his ear, the other in his pocket. Thoughts drifting. Sonya still yapping in his ear.
Then his shoulder slammed into something hard and tall.
Ray stumbled back a step, almost falling. Phone nearly flew out of his hand. He looked up.
The girl was tall. Way taller than him. Big frame, broad shoulders, but still clearly had a woman’s shape. Long straight black hair. Her face... looked familiar. Ray had seen it somewhere before.
She looked down at him. Their eyes met.
Ray froze.
"E... eh.."