Chapter 90
Ray was still sitting in his chair, face blank like always. But inside his head, curses kept spinning nonstop.
’Fucking bald bastard...’
Asmoldking glanced over at him again with that wide-ass grin that made Ray wanna kick the table. But before the host could open his mouth, Ray spoke up first. Voice calm, but this time more firm.
"I don’t wanna take sides with anyone," he said while staring at the screen. "Besides, I can’t control what other people want. Everyone’s got their own choices. Wanna eat meat, wanna go vegan, believe whatever the hell... that’s their business. I’m just looking at it like a regular human who has to survive."
Hime stayed quiet. Sasha and Luna too. Even the chat that was going crazy earlier suddenly slowed down, like they were digesting Ray’s words.
"Ray... you’re choosing to stay neutral in the middle of the truth," Hime muttered softly, voice full of disappointment.
Sasha snorted. "Neutral? Or just scared to take risks?"
Luna chimed in cold, "Or maybe he’s just a spectator who doesn’t wanna get his hands dirty."
Ray didn’t answer. He’d already said what he wanted to say. Period.
The debate kept raging. Hime stuck to her guns, Sasha and Luna fired back with arguments about economy, culture, and hypocrisy. Chat kept exploding. But Ray had already checked out. He just sat there quiet, occasionally nodding a little or shrugging.
A whole hour passed like that.
Until suddenly...
The monitor in front of Asmoldking started flickering. The streaming platform logo popped up with big red text:
ERROR: Server overload. Traffic exceeded limit.
Chat went full chaos.
"SERVER DOWN?!"
"NO WAY, BROKE THE RECORD AND CRASHED?!"
"12 MILLION VIEWERS IN ONE HOUR DAMN"
"THIS PODCAST JUST BROKE THE INTERNET"
Asmoldking laughed like a maniac while slamming the table. "WE JUST BROKE THE FUCKING RECORD, BABY!"
But the official podcast ended right there. Stream died completely.
---
Backstage.
Small room behind the studio. Just two chairs, a coffee table, and some dim neon lights. Asmoldking sat leaning back, legs crossed, still grinning wide. Ray sat across from him, arms folded over his chest.
Asmoldking spoke first.
"You’re crazy too, Ray," he said while shaking his head, but the grin stayed. "You went with my flow earlier. Chat exploded from start to finish. You just stayed quiet the whole time, then when I dragged you in, you hit ’em hard with that rat argument. Insane."
Ray stared at him for a second. Then let out a small laugh. But this time it sounded sarcastic.
"Yeah... you’re that kind-hearted bald guy who cares so much about the truth. That’s why you love making people attack each other to keep things hype. Classic."
Asmoldking burst out laughing hard. His voice echoed in the small room.
"Hahahaha! Ray’s actually funny! You rarely clap back like that. Usually you just stay quiet while hiding your annoyance behind that blank face."
Their laughter filled the room for a bit. But slowly, Asmoldking’s smile faded. He leaned forward, voice dropping more serious.
"Ray... I wanna be real with you."
Ray raised an eyebrow, waiting.
"I’ve got a strong feeling about that weird phenomenon that’s going viral. It’s not just some coincidence. Feels like... some kind of mind control. Or mass hypnosis. Done with a transmitter device. Certain waves that can change how people think all at once. You saw it, right? People suddenly switching up their behavior with no warning signs before. Too clean to be called ’coincidence’."
Ray stayed quiet. In his heart, he knew exactly what was happening. It was all because of the Common Sense Altering System inside him. The system that could change the "common sense" of a ton of people on a huge scale. But he pretended to think hard about it, then nodded slowly.
"Yeah, that tracks," he said quietly. "Maybe this weird phenomenon works with some kind of wave that messes with the human brain? But... how the hell is that possible? Tech that advanced... who’s even got that?"
Asmoldking stared at him for a long time. Eyes sparkling with curiosity he couldn’t hide.
"You really think that? Whoa... you’re my most trusted guest, Ray. Rare for someone to immediately catch my line of thinking. Most people just say ’whoa that’s weird’ or ’conspiracy.’ You... you’re different."
They talked for a bit about the world. About the weird phenomena popping up more often in different cities. About the government getting uneasy but not being able to do shit. About the media chasing sensations. About regular people who could only feel confused and scared.
Then Asmoldking let out a long sigh. He scratched his bald head, looking a bit awkward.
"Uh... sorry about earlier. I really do like riling people up to make the show heated. That’s how I get views. But honestly... I want money. Sponsors, contracts, ads, it all needs the numbers. And you want that too, right? Money and fame?"
Ray stayed quiet for a moment. Face still blank, but his brain was working fast.
He wasn’t naive. Even though he’d been pissed about getting dragged into the debate earlier, he understood. This world wasn’t ancient times anymore. Everything ran on money. Money was the most valuable resource right now. Without money, people struggled to eat. Without money, big dreams stayed just fantasies. Without money, even the truth could be bought or sold.
Ray finally nodded a little.
"Everyone needs money to survive. I get it. No need to apologize."
Asmoldking smiled in relief. A real smile, not the host smile he usually wore on camera.
"Good. We’re on the same page. Let’s keep working together next time, yeah? I promise... next time I won’t rile you up too much. Unless... you wanna go all out yourself."
Ray stood up, straightening his jacket. He glanced at Asmoldking who was still sitting.
"We’ll see," he replied shortly.
As Ray walked out of the backstage room, Asmoldking was still smiling behind him.
Ray just let out a long sigh in the quiet corridor.
’The kind-hearted bald guy who cares about the truth... hah.’
He knew. Everyone in this world had their own interests. Including himself.
And with the Common Sense Altering System he had... someday, maybe he could change the "common sense" of people like Asmoldking with a solo alter for his own gain.
But for now... he just wanted to go home and sleep. And remember his tough old life that felt more peaceful than this.
Ray got driven home after leaving the studio. That night drive felt long and quiet, streetlights just streaking past the window. When he finally pulled up to his tiny apartment on the edge of town, he walked in, shrugged off his jacket that was still kinda damp from sweat, and headed straight to the bathroom. His face felt hot and gross, probably from the studio lights or that argument earlier that was still looping in his head. He cranked the faucet and splashed cold water on his face over and over, soaking his messy hair. His breathing was heavy at first, but after a couple minutes he started to chill out. He sat on the edge of the bed, yanked his phone out of his pocket, and opened the X app.
The screen blew up with notifications. Clips from tonight’s podcast were already everywhere. Ray scrolled slow, letting out a little laugh when he saw himself just sitting there, calmly but firmly clapping back at Asmoldking. Some clips zoomed in on his deadpan face, others slapped on the caption "Ray the Neutral King." He laughed again, voice low and sarcastic. "So now I’m just content for everybody to watch, huh," he muttered.
But the laugh died quick when he saw another video trending hard. Title: "Dude Controls Fire Live on TV!" Ray tapped it without thinking. Video started playing. Some guy in his thirties, messy hair, kinda pale but with this weird spark in his eyes. He was on some local news interview. Host asked about that weird phenomenon going around a few cities, making people act all fucked up. The guy answered all confident, "It’s definitely demons. Demons are trying to tempt humans." Ray just stared. That answer was basically the same shit Hime said on the podcast.
He paused it for a second, then started talking to himself in the empty room. "Hah... his answer’s exactly like Hime’s. Blaming demons, no difference. Neither of them even mentions the system or that busted slot machine thing. They really wanna be seen as actual saints or some shit."
He hit play again. The fire guy kept going, saying he didn’t even notice the weird stuff happening around him. Ray paused it again, longer this time. His voice got a little louder as he kept talking to himself. "He doesn’t even realize it either... means he’s affected too. Means him and Hime are still way below my level, ahhahahha...."
Ray stood up and started pacing in front of the couch, phone still in his hand. He scrolled down to the comments. The section was exploding. Half the people calling the guy fake, clout-chasing, or straight-up a demon pretending to be some prophet. The other half were defending him like crazy, saying it’s just like the old prophets who got tested, fighting demons is part of his trial, and he’s gonna win in the end.
Ray sat back down, breathing kinda heavy after talking to himself so long. He was still gripping his phone, comments still pouring in.
"Well, they can argue all they want... As long as the owner of this system is still low level, I’m still stronger than all of them with just typing... Hahah..." Ray laughed.
Then, out of nowhere, with zero sound from outside, a girl’s voice rang out clear inside his head.
"So you think so?"
His eyes went wide.