Chapter 59: Chapter 59
Ray squinted as he read that long-ass comment, face all scrunched up. His eyes narrowed when he hit the last line:
"This is what happens when your city bans love between two men, mocks a pair of women who fall in love by calling them abnormal, and refuses to approve same-sex marriage... Congrats, God just sent y’all a warning."
He let out a low chuckle, pure sarcasm dripping in the dimly lit room.
"Man, there’s always some people who gotta twist every damn thing to make it about their own shit."
Ray laughed harder. He scrolled down and opened the replies. And yup — the community was losing their fucking minds. Dozens of new replies popping up every minute. They were treating Ray’s viral video like straight-up proof that God was riding with them. The chaos at Mall Central Square was getting called a "divine warning," "a sign from above," even "punishment for the city that rejects gay love."
"This video ain’t no coincidence! God used some regular dude to send the warning!"
"God’s defending us through this. Wake the hell up, the city government’s gone way too far!"
Ray just shook his head, still laughing. He knew the real truth. None of that chaos came from God. Not fate. Not some holy warning. It was all him. Ray straight-up fucking with people’s common sense at the mall using his Alter system. All so he could level up, farm Alter Points, and eventually unlock even crazier shit — Solo Alter, Targeting Alter, whatever came next.
All for Ray’s own ambition. Not for any community. Not for God. Not for anybody. Just Ray, thirsty as hell for power and that sweet viral high.
"Humans are real creative when it comes to spinning meaning out of chaos they don’t understand," he muttered, rubbing his face. "They build whole-ass stories out of the trash I throw at ’em."
He kept scrolling. There were pissed-off replies too — people telling that community to stop milking the situation for their political agenda. Some said the video was just a skit, others called it deepfake. But none of that mattered. The engagement was fucking insane. Views already in the tens of thousands and climbing fast. Thousands of comments. Shares and reposts blowing up.
Ray smiled, satisfied. This video was popping off exactly how he wanted.
He went back to the DM from @Asmoldking. Podcast tomorrow night at 9. Zoom link dropping in the afternoon. Ray sat up straight in bed, heart hammering — not from nerves, but straight-up overexcited.
"Podcast with Asmoldking... bro’s verified with 487K followers. This ain’t small-time anymore."
He got up and started pacing his tiny apartment, mind already racing ahead.
"Tomorrow I gotta keep it chill but mysterious. Get ’em hooked. Drop a couple hints about ’something bigger’ without leaking the Alter system. Let people think this is some weird supernatural shit happening in the world."
Then his grin turned sly. His hand drifted down before he caught himself and took a long breath.
"Probably smartest to just play it like it’s some supernatural phenomenon or whatever..."
Ray shook his head with a quiet laugh. Blood was pumping hard, but he reined it in. Podcast first. Build the platform. Then go full throttle after.
He checked the system notification one last time before crashing.
[Upgrade Duration unlocked]
[Every minute of active upgrade costs 10 Alter Points. Max duration depends on total Alter Points the Host uses.]
[Can only be used once per week. During upgrade, Host can’t access the system for 24 hours and is exempt from daily missions.]
"Not yet," he muttered. "Save that for when I need way bigger chaos. Right now it’s podcast time."
He killed the lights and flopped back on the bed, phone still in his hand. Scrolled comments a little longer. Views kept climbing. Fresh comments rolling in — supporters, haters, drama-starters, meme-makers.
"Getting famous is mad easy, huh hahahah."
Tomorrow night... he’d be on a big-ass podcast.
And after that, everything was about to change.
Ray closed his eyes, still grinning.
His dreams were full of camera lights, donation pings going off, and visions of beautiful women who one day would submit to him without him having to force a damn thing — ’cause he could just alter their common sense for the sake of his hard cock.
----
The next day, Ray’s brand new PC and camera finally showed up. As soon as the delivery guy dropped the boxes at his door, Ray dragged them inside himself. It was still afternoon, but he was already hella excited and couldn’t chill. He ripped the boxes open, plugged in every cable, set the PC up on the desk he cleaned earlier, and started installing all the drivers and software he needed. He mounted the new camera on a small tripod right in front of his chair so his face would look clean on the Zoom later. He also plugged in the ring light he bought yesterday and kept adjusting the angle like five times.
Ray sat down for a second, breathing kinda fast. Tonight’s podcast was actually making him nervous and pumped at the same time.
He opened the system and checked today’s daily mission. Thank god it was stupid easy.
[Daily Mission: Change the way people around you say thank you. No extra conditions.]
Ray grinned. "That’s it? Easy as hell."
He didn’t feel like overthinking some complicated plan. He just used Alter Building on that small food stall he ate at yesterday. He changed the whole concept of "thank you" into a quick little twerk. Short, clean, nothing too crazy.
That afternoon Ray went out to grab food. At the stall he clicked confirm on the alter. When the cashier took his money and said "thank you," her hips suddenly did a little twerk — just twice. Ray, waiting for his order, grinned to himself. At the table next to him, some girl thanking her friend immediately followed up with a small twerk too. Even the guy at another register giving change did a quick hip shake.
Ray just shook his head, smiling like an idiot. Kinda funny. Tiny bit of chaos that nobody would ever figure out where it came from.
He ate fast and didn’t hang around. Once he was done, he headed straight back to his apartment. The second the door shut behind him, a system notification popped up.
[Daily Mission Complete]
[+10 EXP, +10 Alter Point]
Ray immediately checked his DMs. The Zoom link from @Asmoldking was already sitting there. "9 PM tonight. Don’t be late, bro."
He was about to reply when his phone suddenly rang. Name on the screen: Sonya.
Ray paused for a second. She probably wanted to talk about his video blowing up. Or maybe all the unhinged comments going around.
He picked up.
"Hello?"
Sonya’s voice came through, casual but clear.
"Our date tomorrow is still on, right? Even though you’re going viral right now?"
Ray’s eyes went wide.
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