Chapter 66: Chapter 66
Ray opened his mouth, ready to let the words fly off the tip of his tongue.
But his voice caught in his throat.
His brain, already scrambled from the sudden upgrade, started screaming at him.
’Viral. I’m already fucking viral. If I lose my shit right here, go off on this girl, and someone records it... that’s gonna be bad. Real bad. It’ll blow up again. This time not as "the man who can feel weird vibes," but as some asshole dude screaming at a girl in front of his apartment door. My rep’s fucked. Streaming’s dead. Everyone’s gonna judge the shit out of me forever.’
Ray clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ground together. His right hand, already balled into a tight fist, slowly loosened. His fingers were shaking. Anger, sadness, and straight-up confusion slammed into each other inside his skull like waves crashing. His head felt like it was burning up, like some wires were short-circuiting in his brain.
Julia was still standing right in front of him, face flushed red, mouth moving nonstop. But her voice sounded distant, like it was coming from underwater.
Ray sucked in a shaky breath, voice coming out hoarse and forced.
"Julia..." he said quietly, almost like he was ordering himself to stay calm. "I’m really fucking dizzy right now. Seriously. Let’s just talk tomorrow. I can’t do this right now."
Julia’s eyes went wide. "Ray, don’t you fucking dare—"
He didn’t wait for her to finish.
With shaky but determined steps, he pushed forward, his shoulder slamming into her hard enough to make her stumble back half a step. Key already in his right hand. He jammed it into the lock, twisted it rough and fast, then shoved the door open wide.
The second he was inside, he yanked the door shut behind him and locked it with a loud *click*.
"Ray!!" Julia started pounding on the door from outside, voice getting louder. "Open the fucking door! Don’t you dare run away like this! Ray!!"
Ray leaned back against the door, back pressed tight to the cold wood. His breathing was heavy and all over the place. The gift box from Sonya slipped out of his left hand and hit the floor with a dull thud.
His head started spinning like crazy.
Everything around him felt tilted. The hallway light that was usually dim now felt like it was stabbing straight into his eyes. Julia’s banging on the door sounded like a hammer smashing against his eardrums. His chest felt tight as hell. One second he wanted to rip the door open and scream at her until his voice gave out. The next second he just wanted to sit on the floor and cry for no damn reason.
"Shit... this is really bad..." he muttered, voice barely above a whisper.
His legs felt weak. He didn’t even bother turning off the lights. Didn’t take off his shoes. Didn’t put the gift box on the table. His body just stumbled toward the bed at the far end of the room.
The second his knees hit the edge of the mattress, he collapsed.
His face smashed into the messy pillow. The hoodie he’d been wearing since that afternoon was still stuck to his skin. His dirty sneakers were still on his feet. His right hand hung off the side of the bed, fingers half-curled into a fist.
The dizziness wasn’t going anywhere. It was getting worse. Like some invisible hand was squeezing his brain from the inside. But he didn’t have the energy left to fight it.
His eyes shut.
His breathing, which had been all ragged and fast, slowly started to even out. His body, which had been wound tight from holding back his anger, finally went slack. Julia’s knocking could still be heard faintly from outside, but it got more and more distant, more muffled, until it disappeared completely.
In the darkness swallowing him, a faint system window flickered in front of his closed eyes.
[Upgrade Process: 71%]
[Emotional Dampener: Active]
[Host is in an unstable condition. The system will temporarily disable consciousness...]
Ray didn’t see it.
He was already out cold, face half-buried in the pillow, still fully dressed, gift box from Sonya just lying on the floor near the door.
That night, for the first time since the system got into his head, Ray didn’t feel any hype at all.
Just darkness.
And silence.
Ray woke up the next morning with his head still feeling like a brick. The morning sunlight sneaking through the gap in the curtains was straight-up blinding. His throat was bone-dry, like he had a mouthful of sand. He dragged himself up and stumbled over to the water dispenser, poured a glass, and chugged it in one go. The water was cold and kinda refreshing, but he was still thirsty as hell. He poured another and sipped it slower this time.
After downing two glasses, he finally noticed something felt... off.
His head... felt ridiculously light.
Not just "not dizzy" anymore — it was like this heavy-ass weight that had been crushing his brain last night had completely vanished. He felt relieved, kinda empty, and weirdly... calm. Not regular calm either. More like something had been straight-up cleaned out of his head.
Right then, a system window popped up in front of his eyes.
[Upgrade Complete]
[Emotional Dampener: Permanently Active]
[All side effects from the upgrade process have been resolved.]
Ray stared at it for a few seconds, then muttered, voice still raspy from sleep, "For real? No more weird side effects or anything?"
The system answered in its usual cold tone.
[None. All processes are stable. Host will no longer experience any unstable symptoms.]
Ray let out a long breath. He suddenly felt gross and sweaty. The hoodie he’d been wearing since yesterday afternoon was stuck to his skin and felt nasty. Without even thinking, he yanked it off and tossed it on the bed. Now he was just in a slightly damp undershirt.
His eyes drifted to the floor near the door.
Sonya’s gift box.
He remembered — he’d just dropped it there last night. Ray walked over, picked up the small box, and sat on the edge of his bed. His fingers undid the kinda wrinkled ribbon and lifted the lid.
Inside was a watch.
Nothing fancy. Not some big-name brand or anything expensive. Just a simple watch with a black leather strap and a clean dial. But Ray smiled a little. There was this warm feeling in his chest. Sonya picked this out for him. Even if it wasn’t pricey, it still felt special.
He slipped it onto his left wrist, moved his arm around a bit, then sighed again.
"Damn, good thing the effects didn’t kick in again during the date..." he mumbled to himself.
The system immediately replied.
[The upgrade effects have been active since the process began. Including when Host was at the café with Sonya.]
Ray’s eyebrows shot up.
"Huh?"
But the system didn’t say anything else. The window just disappeared like the conversation never happened.
Ray sat there quietly for a moment, staring at the watch on his wrist. There was this uneasy feeling sitting in his chest, but he decided to ignore it for now. His head still felt light, and he really needed a shower.
He stood up, stretched, and headed to the bathroom. Warm water poured over his head and shoulders. He just stood there under the shower for a while, letting it wash away all the sweat and gross feeling from yesterday. After he got out, he threw on a clean t-shirt and some shorts, then sat down in the chair by the window and opened the system app to knock out his daily missions.
He’d barely sat down when his phone, which had been sitting on the table, started buzzing.
WhatsApp.
Ray grabbed it. One message from an unsaved number.
[Ray... so, have you thought about my birthday yet?]
He read it twice.
He typed back:
[Who is this?]
A few seconds later, a reply came.
[Christy...]
Ray stared at the name. Christy. He remembered her. The girl he’d talked to for like five minutes while doing that Hardcore mission.
Another message popped up right after.
[Ah... yeah, maybe you forgot you gave me your number yourself lol]
Ray swallowed. His thumb just hovered over the screen. He knew Christy was lying through her teeth. He remembered everything crystal clear. He never gave that girl his number. Not once.
He set the phone down on his lap and stared at the new watch on his wrist without really seeing it.
"This chick..." he muttered quietly.
"Something’s definitely off with her..."
He was still staring at the watch on his wrist, thinking about Christy’s weird message, when the apartment unit bell suddenly rang loud from the door.
He swallowed hard.
"Fuck, not again...."
Ray didn’t move at first. He just sat there, staring at the door like it personally offended him. The bell rang again, longer this time. Whoever it was, they weren’t going away.
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