Chapter 65: Chapter 65
Ray stared at the woman with his brows all furrowed. His phone was still up high, camera light blasting, straight-up recording her face with zero chill. The whole table next to them went dead quiet. A couple of the couples who were side-eyeing Ray’s beat-up hoodie and faded white sneakers earlier were now straight-up staring longer. Some were whispering to their dates.
"Nah," Ray said, voice flat but clear. "I don’t feel shit."
The woman let out this long-ass sigh, shoulders dropping like someone just took a backpack full of bricks off her. Her eyes, which were full of straight panic mixed with excitement, now looked straight-up relieved.
"Thank god..." she muttered, barely loud enough to hear. She lowered her phone a little but her finger was still on the record button. "Sorry, Ray. I didn’t mean to bug you like that. I was lowkey panicking by myself. I watched your stream yesterday so I got worried you showed up here ’cause you were feeling some weird vibes again. Sorry for recording without asking. But... can I keep the video? Just for an update, that’s all."
Ray scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, whatever. Just kill the camera now."
"Got it, sorry again." She quickly hit stop, gave a little bow, then backed up two steps. "Good night. Hope your dinner’s good."
The second she stepped away, the whispers in the restaurant got way louder. Not the quiet shady ones from before — now some were louder, nosier, you could even hear them clear from two tables over.
"Is that actually Ray?"
"The viral guy from yesterday? The one from that podcast with Asmoldking?"
"Damn, he looks regular as hell. But... lowkey creepy though."
"Like some kind of medium or whatever. ’Cause he can feel weird shit before it happens..."
One middle-aged dude at the window table wasn’t even bothering to whisper anymore. He just said it loud while nodding his chin at Ray.
"Ray’s like some kinda psychic, right? Or an online shaman or some shit?"
A few people let out nervous little laughs. Phones started coming up again, this time from farther away. Some recording sneaky, some bold as hell. The fancy restaurant vibe was slowly turning into low-key chaos. Even the waiter walking by paused for a second, side-eyeing his coworker like he had no idea what to do.
Sonya set her fork and knife down real calm. She narrowed her eyes, scanned the room, then looked back at Ray. That thin smile came back — the same one from the car earlier, but this time it had a little edge to it.
"Looks like we’re the main show now," she said quietly, voice still low and sweet. "Wanna switch tables? Or just dip?"
Ray shook his head slow. Weirdly, his chest felt lighter than before. The stares that used to be full of judgment — "kid dating an older chick," "his drip is whack," "basic-ass face" — had flipped. Not shady anymore. Not looking down on him. Now it was straight curiosity... even a little fear. All ’cause he went viral. Just from that viral clout, the same people who were treating him like trash were now whispering about "psychics" and "supernatural" shit.
Ray was lowkey vibing with it.
"Nah, we good," he said, sounding more chill than he expected. "Let’s just eat. Let ’em talk their shit."
Sonya raised an eyebrow like she was lowkey surprised he was this calm. She reached across the table, her fingers brushing the back of his hand for a second before pulling back.
"If you say so..." She picked up her wine glass, took a sip, then looked at him over the rim. "But if anybody comes over again, I got it. You just focus on eating. And... tell me more about your streaming later."
Ray nodded. He grabbed his fork, stabbed some pasta that had already gone cold, and shoved it in his mouth. Tasted pretty average, but for some reason he could actually enjoy it this time. The whispers around their table kept going — some dropping "Lumina Restaurant" and "Ray streamer," others going "Maybe ask for his contact?" — but Ray just tuned it out.
Sonya went back to cutting her steak all elegant. Every now and then she’d glance at him, and this time her look wasn’t cold like in the car. There was this faint warmth, even though Ray knew behind it was some weird fetish that could pop off any second without him even noticing.
’I thought he hated being the center of attention,’ Sonya thought while watching Ray chew his pasta like he didn’t give a damn about the stares anymore. ’Turns out you give him a little spotlight and he forgets the whole world.’
Ray had no clue what she was thinking.
Their date kept going.
While the whispers kept spreading through the whole restaurant, Ray and Sonya stayed right there in their corner by the window. Sonya would ask about streaming every now and then — how he got started, how long he usually goes live, what games he plays. Ray answered chill, even joked he was "just testing it out at first." Sonya listened with that same thin smile, nodding sometimes, and every so often her hand would brush his arm on the table — light little touches that made Ray feel warm in his chest.
Outside, the night was getting later and later. Inside, the crystal chandeliers were still twinkling, the piano was still playing soft, and the smell of steak and truffle was still floating around. But the whole vibe had completely flipped.
Ray wasn’t expecting that date night to go so damn smooth.
After the chaos at the restaurant died down a bit, their conversation actually started flowing pretty good. Sonya kept grilling him about the streaming shit — how many hours a day he was gonna stream, what kinda supernatural topics he’d be covering. Ray kept it chill, even joked that he was "just tryna test it out first, ain’t even thought about setting up some complicated schedule yet." Sonya listened with that little smirk of hers, nodding here and there, and every so often her hand would brush against his arm on the table. That light touch made his chest feel all warm.
When the night finally wrapped up, Sonya drove him back to his apartment. In the car, right before he got out, she reached into the backseat and handed him a small gift box wrapped up all neat.
Ray glanced at it, confused. "What’s this?"
"Just a lil something," Sonya said with her usual thin smile. "Open it later when you’re in your room."
Ray nodded slow. "Aight... thanks."
He stepped out of the car feeling pretty damn good.
Ray walked casual toward his apartment building, gift box in hand, a small smile still stuck on his face.
But after just a few steps, his head suddenly started spinning. There was this weird tingling feeling deep in his skull, like little electric zaps shooting through his brain. His mood flipped hard — from happy to straight-up pissed for no reason. Ray stopped dead in the middle of the path, brows furrowed deep.
’What the hell was this...?’
Out of nowhere, a system window popped up right in front of his eyes.
[Upgrade process effect]
His forehead got crazy hot, like it was overheating bad. Ray rubbed his temples rough.
"Fuck... why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?!" he muttered angrily.
[System core has been inside the Host’s head since the start.]
Ray went quiet for a second. His mind flashed back to the first night he got the system, right in front of that slot machine.
"Ah... no wonder..."
He kept walking, went into the building, hit the elevator. But the mood swings were getting worse. One second he wanted to punch the elevator wall till his hand bled. Next thing his chest got all tight like he was about to cry over some dumb shit. Everything felt too loud, too sharp, way too much. His head kept zapping, emotions swinging all over the damn place.
When the elevator stopped at his floor and the doors opened, Ray stepped out with shaky steps. He made it to his unit... and froze.
Standing right there in front of his apartment door, arms crossed, was Julia. That brown-skinned chick he used to hook up with back in the day. The one who always dragged drama everywhere she went.
"Fuck... not now," Ray hissed low, voice already shaking from the emotional chaos.
Julia clocked him immediately. Eyes narrowed, then she marched straight up with quick steps, face full of rage.
"Explain this shit to me, Ray! What the fuck did you say to Kevin, huh?! He quit the band and started therapy and all that? You definitely gave him some weird ass advice, didn’t you?! Now he’s dodging me like I got the plague!"
Ray’s head was pounding hard. The upgrade was still boiling his brain. Anger, sadness, confusion — all crashing in at once with zero control. His fists clenched tight at his sides, nails digging into his palms till it hurt. He tried — really fucking tried — to hold his shit together so he wouldn’t explode.
"Listen here, bitch...."
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