Chapter 16: A Strangers Kindness
The PK battle still had a few minutes left on the clock.
Nathan confirmed his coin purchase and the familiar notification of the system appeared.
[Spent: $1,500,000]
[Rebate (2×): $3,000,000]
[System Balance: $13,008,000]
His lips curved upward. Even if the System hadn’t given him a rebate he would have gifted Catherine anyway.
While he was buying coins, the stream had moved on and the chat had already reached its conclusions.
[@Realest_Hater12: Guess he ran out of money 😂]
[@Tabi_footstoolno3: Bro folded after one challenge.]
[@AverageViewer56: Imagine spending two grand just to lose.]
[@money_beast: That’s what I thought. Some nobody isn’t beating my queen. 👑🖤]
Tabitha smiled into the camera, and gave a small satisfied shrug. "I suppose Sir Platinum wanted to make a memorable first impression."
She rested her chin on one hand. "Too bad my fans are just so amazing."
Laughter rolled through the chat.
Catherine, on the other hand, kept glancing toward the username that had gifted her earlier. Her fingers were locked together.
"Did... did they spend that much just because of me?"
Nathan returned and ignored the comments. He opened the gift menu and hovered his thumb over the galaxy icon.
A slow breath left him. Then his thumb hit the screen.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×3]
The first animation exploded across Catherine’s side, and the PK bar adjusted slightly in her favor. The chat went quiet for a moment before exploding.
[Okay he’s back]
[I never doubted vro😭😭]
[Liar smh😒]
TAP! TAP!...
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×5]
Tabitha’s smile faded slightly. Her eyes glanced at Catherine’s side of the screen every time a galaxy animation appeared.
She caught herself. "Sir Platinum," she said with a sweet voice. "Are you sure you’re gifting the right person?"
She tapped the camera affectionately. "I’m over here."
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×8]
"Thank you so much, Sir," Catherine whispered.
Tabitha’s composure cracked further. "Giving this much to someone with barely any audience seems like a waste, don’t you think?"
Nathan almost laughed. Some people never changed.
The chat split down the middle.
[@richgirl_detector56: LMAO Catherine definitely invited her rich boyfriend😅.]
[@SingleForever99: This whole thing is staged.]
[@givePowerstones00: Bro’s gonna wake up regretting this tomorrow.]
Nathan shook his head, while his thumb kept moving.
The stream soon descended into total chaos. The comments that were once moving too fast to read, slowed down as most viewers watched galaxy notifications.
The PK bar that was fully on Tabitha’s side a moment ago was now shifting towards the center.
Then Money Beast finally reacted.
[User : money beast has gifted a Galaxy ×13]
The galaxies lit up Tabitha’s side in rapid succession, and the bar moved back her way.
The smug smile returned to her face. "There he is. I was wondering when my regulars would wake up."
[@Tabi_footstool: THAT’S MY GOAT!!]
[@QueenTabi4Life: Defend the queen!!]
[@AuraFarmer77: Aura for aura.]
[@dickroderr33: That’s more like it. Stay in your lane, clout chaser. 👑]
Nathan’s eyes narrowed and he performed a sequence of taps.
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×15]
The bar shot forward again. Money Beast answered almost instantly.
[User: money beast has gifted a Galaxy ×16]
More viewers piled into the stream to witness the spectacle.
[@AuraFarmer77: Okay now they just aura farming with the bag]
[Suckuna56: The strongest gifter in history vs the strongest gifter of tonight.]
[PleaseGibPowerStones: I’m recording this shit.]
Other viewers joined in the challenge on Tabitha’s end.
[User: QueenGuardian has gifted a Galaxy ×5]
[User: BlackRoseVIP89 has gifted a Galaxy ×8]
[User: OP gooner has gifted a Galaxy x5]
Tabitha playfully covered her mouth with her hands. "Aww. My community is so sweet."
Her chuckle echoed as she looked into the camera. "I don’t think you can win against all of them, Sir Platinum."
Nathan set the phone down for a moment and flexed his right fingers while tapping with the left.
Then he resumed as fast as both fingers could move.
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×20]
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×35]
Catherine’s hands flew to her mouth. She shook her head. "This is so much Sir. You’ve already done enough."
Another galaxy exploded. She bowed toward the camera, voice cracking. "Thank you... This is a lot. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you."
Nathan smiled. "And you’ll never have to."
[User: money beast has gifted a Galaxy ×10]
[@QueenTabi4Life: KEEP PUSHING!! DON’T LET HER WIN!!]
A handful of other viewers scrambled to help, but they could only do so much.
Meanwhile Nathan was still going.
[Galaxy ×50]
[Galaxy x70]
The entire stream seemed to freeze under the weight of it. Even Tabitha was silent.
Her confident smile that had been on her face during the beginning of the stream had disappeared like the bald kid with arrow tattoos.
The PK bar slammed against Catherine’s edge and stayed there. Nothing Tabitha’s viewers threw at it moved it again.
The timer was counting down at secs.
[47...46...45...44...]
Nathan didn’t ease off. If anything, he sped up.
[Galaxy ×69]
[Galaxy ×77]
[Galaxy ×101 ]
Tabitha forced a smile, though it was obviously unnatural. "Sir Platinum, I have to admit you’re probably the most generous viewer I’ve ever met."
Her voice had discovered a new level of sweetness. "I’d love to get to know you after the stream. Maybe in DMs?"
Catherine looked between the camera and the scrolling chat. "Sir Platinum..."
She lowered her head.
"If it’s alright... I’d like to send you a message after the stream too."
The chat exploded.
[@Tabi_footstool23: don’t give in mummy 😭😭]
[@IshowMeat#: It should have be meeee!!]
[@QueenCollector: Two girls asking to DM bro. Is this rizz?]
[@AuraFarmer77: no it’s aura. Sir Platinum and I are just built that way🗿👀]
[@SensibleSimp100: Gold digger behavior smh]
[@User69ishawt: @SensibleSimp100 I can’t even blame them. If someone dropped that much I’d be sliding on something other than their DMs]
[@Tabi_footstool23: @User69ishawt that’s disgusting]
Nathan typed a single line and sent it.
[Catherine can DM me. I don’t know about the other person]
The chat echoed.
[@AuraFarmer77: Fahhhhh🤣🤣🤣]
[@GoTalkToHer: He picked Catherine 😭]
[@QueenCollector: Bro rejected TABI live💀]
[@KendickLameher21: serves her right. I used to pray for times like these😏]
[@SensibleSimp100: That’s gotta hurt.]
Tabitha’s smile faded as she read the response and the comments that followed.
The PK countdown hit zero. A banner burst gold across Catherine’s half of the screen.
[ ✮⋆˙VICTORY˙⋆✮ ]
Catherine stared at it, taking a moment to process it. "I... won?"
She’d walked into this PK with little to no expectations and won.
Not because of luck or audience but because one stranger had taken it upon themselves.
Her head lowered. "Thank you... thank you so much." Her voice was cracking. "I don’t know what to say."
Nathan finally lowered his phone and flexed his aching fingers. He let out a slow breath and let his shoulders drop.
His phone was already buzzing with follower notifications. One of them was Catherine’s account.
She sent a message alongside.
[Hi Sir. Thank you so much for the gifts.]
He smiled softly but before he could reply, another text bubble popped up.
[This might sound strange, but did you mean to send those gifts?]
[It’s a lot of money. If this was an accident or if you’re using someone else’s account]
[Please tell me. I’ll contact support immediately.]
Nathan let out a quiet laugh. She was being cautious. He couldn’t blame her. His current state was a good reminder of what happened if one wasn’t careful.
[Every gift was intentional. Don’t worry about it.]
The three dots appeared instantly, like she’d already been typing.
[Could I see some ID?]
[I don’t want you getting into trouble because of me.]
Nathan arched an eyebrow at the screen, thought it over, and typed back.
[If it’ll put your mind at ease, I’ll send a picture later. I don’t have my ID on me right now.]
●●●
[Thank you. That would make me feel a lot better.]
Nathan sent back a thumbs-up and locked the phone.
—-
Across the city...
Catherine hadn’t moved from her chair. The victory banner had faded from her screen minutes ago but her notifications were still piling up.
New followers, messages and even calls from others.
[Congrats!]
[Definitely staged.]
[Rich boyfriend confirmed?]
[Who even IS Sir Platinum?]
She ignored all of it and opened his profile again.
There was no picture, post or even a bio. The following consisted of random accounts but they had one thing in common.
They were small creators like herself.
She scrolled back to his last message. If he sent his ID and it all checked out. Then she was going to do something for him.
A slow breath escaped her. Various thoughts for the money crossed her mind but there were only two things she needed to spend it on.
Her father’s treatment. And a lawyer willing to reopen her brother’s case.
Her eyes drifted to the account profile once more and she clasped her hands together.
Please don’t be a mistake.
—-
Back inside Stone River, Nathan unlocked his phone one more time and studied the nearly empty profile page staring back at him.
A new account had just spent a million dollars on one small streamer tonight.
Sadly only half of those would go to Catherine when the platform was done taking its share.
But there were other problems. People would soon ask questions.
Some would accuse Catherine of staging it. Others would assume Sir Platinum was her secret boyfriend.
Nathan frowned. That wasn’t what he wanted.
He mused on the issue. If Sir Platinum only showed up for Catherine, it would confirm people’s suspicions
But... if Sir Platinum showed up everywhere.
He leaned back against the wall with a smile. There had to be lots of creators out there who could use a little support.
And for the first time in his life, he had enough money to help.
The golden screen of the system appeared, reflecting on his face.
Nathan groaned.
This is going to be a long night.