Chapter 62: Chapter 62
Ray stopped dead in his tracks, eyebrows instantly furrowing. He spun around and saw the cute girl from yesterday standing there. Her face looked kinda pale, and she was gripping her phone like it was about to fall out of her hands. She was staring at him with this weird mix of nervous and desperate energy.
"What’s up?" Ray asked flat, voice calm even though his brain was already on high alert.
The girl opened her mouth, but her voice came out all choked. "It’s... this weird phenomenon... i-it..." She stammered, cheeks turning red all the way to her ears. "Basically... I... I don’t even know anymore..."
Ray’s frown got deeper. "Weird phenomenon? Oh, you watched that Asmoldking livestream yesterday, huh?"
She nodded super fast, looking relieved that he caught on quick. But her eyes were still restless as hell. She took a deep breath, voice dropping lower and shaky.
"Yesterday... yesterday you were really gonna hang out with me for my birthday, right? I... I just wanted to double-check. ’Cause... I’m so freaking confused."
Ray went quiet for a second. His brain was spinning fast. ’Shit, this alternate memory thing went way off the rails. Feels like yesterday we just copped a quick feel on each other’s asses, and now it’s suddenly about her birthday?’
The girl was getting more worked up. Her fingers kept twisting the hem of her shirt, body kinda trembling. "They say... everyone’s memories got all screwed up from yesterday. Some remember, some don’t. Me... I checked the CCTV this morning." Her voice got smaller, all embarrassed. "There’s footage. We... we were straight up groping each other’s asses yesterday."
Ray got it immediately. That was the phenomenon he created with his system. Side effect was totally messing with people’s memories ’cause of the alternate shit.
"For real?" Ray raised an eyebrow, face staying neutral. "I don’t remember the details either. Yesterday, far as I recall, we just chatted for a minute then bounced."
She nodded slow, but her eyes were still confused. "Yeah... that’s how I remember it too. But... I remember you asking about my birthday. You said you’d hang with me. That’s what’s got me all messed up."
Ray was getting a headache. ’What the hell is this? The system’s effects went way too far this time.’ But he just nodded slow, pretending to be confused too.
"I’ll think about it," he said casual, even though inside he was already planning how to handle this mess.
The girl went quiet for a bit, then looked down all shy. Ray decided to throw in a light joke to ease the tension.
"We haven’t even been introduced yet, huh? I’m Ray."
She snapped her head up. Eyes widened a little, but a shy little smile crept on her lips.
"I know your name’s Ray," she said soft. "In my memory from yesterday, you introduced yourself first." She took a breath, cheeks getting even redder. "Oh yeah... I’m Christy."
The last part came out in this tiny, super shy voice, like a kid finally admitting their real name for the first time.
Ray stared at her. Brain spinning again. ’Christy. Okay... hmm, something feels off here...’ he thought.
He scratched the back of his neck slow, trying to stay cool on the outside.
"Christy," he repeated quiet. "Alright. So... what else did you wanna talk about?"
Christy bit her lower lip. Eyes darted left and right, checking nobody in the lobby was watching. Voice dropped even lower.
"I... I just wanted to make sure. ’Cause I really don’t remember the details from yesterday. But when I saw the CCTV footage... I was shocked. We... we actually did that. And I don’t remember any of it."
She looked at Ray with this mix of embarrassment and a little fear. "You... you don’t remember either, right?"
Ray nodded slow, face neutral. "Nah, not really."
But inside he was smirking like a bastard. ’Of course I remember how soft, firm, and warm your ass felt.’
Christy let out a relieved sigh, but she was still on edge. "So... about hanging out for my birthday... was that actually real? Or just... just ’cause of the phenomenon yesterday?" She looked down a bit. "So... does that mean you won’t hang out? Since it was just... just a messed up memory..."
Ray stayed quiet for a moment. He could’ve just dodged it. But seeing this girl standing there with that hopeful, shy face, plus her memories all jacked up because of what he did... for some reason he felt kinda responsible.
Ray’s masculine side — which was positive but thin as toilet paper — got a little nudge to take some responsibility for Christy’s screwed up memories.
He let out a slow breath.
"I’ll think about it... if I got some free time, I’ll hit you up." Ray frowned a bit. "Wait... when is it?"
"Next week," Christy answered soft.
She nodded real quick, like she was scared he might change his mind if she pushed it. "Ahem... Okay... okay. Thanks. I... I’ll be waiting."
She took a step back, still gripping her phone tight. Before walking off, she glanced at Ray one last time.
"Ray... I’m Christy. Don’t forget, okay."
Then she turned and hurried toward the elevator, back all tense, ears red down to her neck.
Ray stood there watching her back until the elevator doors shut. He let out a long sigh, then shook his head slow.
"This phenomenon... is getting way out of hand," he muttered.
Meanwhile, Christy, who was already walking away, grinned wide. ’Sorry, I just wanted to have a friend...’ she thought to herself.
----
Ray stepped out of the apartment lobby with a casual stride, hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets. Christy had already taken the elevator up, and he wasn’t in any rush to chase after her. His stomach had been growling since morning. "Better grab some food first," he muttered.
He ate at his usual spot.
Nobody there had a clue that the guy who just went viral again was casually eating in their place. Everyone was still yapping about his butt-grabbing video, last night’s Asmoldking livestream, and all the wild comments about that "weird phenomenon" that supposedly made people dizzy, sleepy, and forget shit. Ray just smirked thinly. ’Damn, they’re all swallowing this whole.’
He ate quick, paid, then walked back to the apartment. Weather was kinda humid, but he didn’t care. Once he got to his room, he tossed his hoodie onto the couch and flopped onto the bed. Room was quiet. Lights dim. His phone was blowing up with notifs, DMs, mentions, and people asking, "When’s your first live, Ray?"
Ray scratched his head roughly. "This is so fucking boring," he complained. "I’m already viral as hell, should just go all in, but... the streaming has to be about supernatural stuff. Shit, I blurted that out way too impulsively yesterday."
He regretted it like crazy. Asmoldking asked about his socials and he just randomly said "streaming about supernatural or horror games." Now he had to stick to his own words. If he didn’t, people would say he was just faking it for clout.
Then something else hit him. "Shit... got that date with Sonya again at 6 PM." Ray let out a long sigh. Sonya had already planned everything and he couldn’t say no. "Today too?"
Another memory popped up. Daily mission.
He still hadn’t picked one for today. But he remembered the rule: during the duration feature upgrades, daily missions get paused automatically. "Better just upgrade the duration," he decided. "I already got a ton of Alter Points stacked up anyway."
Ray sat up straight and opened the system with his mind. A bluish-purple screen appeared right in front of his eyes. He scrolled over to the Global Alter and Alter Building sections. There was a new notification blinking softly:
[Global Alter and Alter Building duration can now be upgraded]
Ray smirked. "Alright, let’s do this."
He chose to upgrade the Alter Building duration.
[Upgrade Duration]
[Enter Alter Points you want to use....]
[Confirm]
Ray dumped in 300 Alter Points. The system started loading right away.
Progress: 0%
He waited a bit. Progress wasn’t moving at all. "Damn... this is taking forever," he grumbled, annoyed. "No wonder they pause daily missions during upgrades. Otherwise people would go insane waiting for progress this slow."
He closed the system with his thoughts. The blue screen disappeared. Room went quiet again.
Ray was just about to flop back down when his phone rang. He guessed right away. "Gotta be Sonya again," he said while grabbing the phone from the table. Unknown number. Ray frowned but picked up anyway.
"Hello?"
A guy’s voice he recognized came through.
Ray went quiet for a second, eyebrows rising higher. "Kevin?"
Kevin’s voice came through loud and excited on the other end. "Ray! Bro, you’re famous as hell now, right? The livestream last night blew the fuck up! Everyone’s talking about it!"
Ray’s brain immediately went on high alert. ’This motherfucker definitely....’
He didn’t waste time with small talk. "Where the hell did you even get my number from?"
Kevin answered like it was no big deal. "From Karl."
Ray paused, eyebrows shooting up. "Huh? You know Karl?"
"Yeah, man," Kevin said, sounding confused why Ray was surprised. "Karl’s my cousin."
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