Chapter 73: Chapter 73
Ray was still standing there in front of his apartment door, shut tight. His right hand stayed glued to the knob while his brain spun like crazy. Christy... that shy girl who could barely manage an awkward smile suddenly knew all about his past as a gym janitor. Not just knew—talked like they’d been shooting the shit for hours. But Ray remembered clear as day, their longest interaction was maybe sixty seconds in the elevator while he was blackout drunk.
"What the hell is this..." he muttered. A nasty feeling sat heavy in his chest. Like something was shifting around him, something he couldn’t see straight yet. But he didn’t have time to sit there thinking. Phone already said 7:30 PM. That HARDCORE Daily Mission was waiting.
Ray sucked in a deep breath, shook his head once, grabbed the small bag he’d left ready on the couch. Tripod, power bank, earphones—all double-checked. He stepped out, locked up, and fired up the rideshare app.
"To The Glass House, downtown," he said short once the driver took the order.
Didn’t take long before a black cab rolled up. Driver was some old dude, maybe sixty, neat white hair, friendly smile. Ray hopped in the back, bag on his lap.
Whole ride he stayed quiet. Window half down, night air hitting his face. Mind drifting.
"Maybe it’s time I just bought a damn car..." he thought. "Tired of waiting on rideshares every time I wanna go somewhere. Especially this late. Gets old real quick."
The idea of having his own ride—not anything flashy, just something chill he could take anywhere—started sounding real nice. But that was later. Right now, focus on the mission.
Cab stopped in front of The Glass House. Fancy spot with huge glass walls floor to ceiling. From outside you could see everything inside: warm lights, clean tables, waiters in black-and-white uniforms hustling around.
Ray paid, got out, walked in. Grabbed a table right by the glass wall, facing out. Perfect spot. Ordered a quick bite—medium steak and water—then ate slow while scoping the place. People inside looked normal. No Alter signs yet.
Finished eating, paid up, stood. Walked chill toward the men’s room in the corner. Door shut and locked, he pulled out his phone and opened the system app.
Blue interface lit up.
[Alter Building – Available]
Max duration right now: 30 minutes
Ray smirked. "Nice. Means whatever I show on stream can run a full 30. Plenty of time to stir up some real chaos."
Fingers flew over the input:
[Professional greeting gesture for welcoming and greeting guests is slapping them across the face]
Read it once. Hit [CONFIRM]
[Ding!]
[300 Alter points consumed.]
[Duration: 30 minutes]
Ray didn’t wait. Bolted out of the bathroom, cut through the dining area fast, and dipped out of the restaurant without looking back. Soon as the automatic glass doors closed behind him, he stopped on the sidewalk and pulled his phone back out.
First thing—opened X.
@Justrayyyyy;
"Just finished eating at The Glass House downtown. Head’s kinda spinning... same weird symptoms as that mall thing yesterday. Anyone else feeling it? This shit’s wild."
Posted.
Ray glanced back through the big clear glass wall.
Inside, the Alter was already rolling.
A waitress walked up to a new table. Fresh customers stood to greet her. She smiled friendly... then her hand came up and *
SMACK! cracked across the guy’s left cheek, solid hit. The sound carried straight outside.
But the crazy part? The dude just chuckled and nodded like he’d gotten a warm hug instead. Waitress beamed like she nailed the perfect greeting. Next table over, another waiter did the exact same thing to a seated customer. Slap. Smile. Zero anger. Zero shock. Like face-slapping was just the normal-ass way to say hi.
Ray swallowed. "Holy shit..."
Fingers flew on X again.
"Going live with this right now. Y’all gotta see what’s happening. Twitch: twitch.tv/raylifealive"
Link out.
No time wasted—Ray opened Twitch, set the little tripod on the sidewalk, hit GO LIVE. Camera pointed straight through the glass into the restaurant.
"Yo guys... y’all seeing this?" Voice calm but that excited edge was leaking through. "I’m posted up outside The Glass House. Just ate and bounced. But look inside."
Tilted the cam for a better shot.
Inside it was straight-up slap city. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. Waiters greeting new customers with full face slaps. Even when taking orders, people got popped. But everybody smiling ear to ear. Some customers straight-up laughed after getting smacked, then went right back to eating like it was nothing. That same waitress even softly rubbed the dude’s cheek she just nailed, like making sure the "greeting" landed okay.
Chat exploded.
[What the fuck is this??]
[They’re smiling??]
[Is this a prank or real??]
[Bro the waiter just slapped a customer and both laughed]
[This is the mall thing again??]
Ray checked the viewer count.
612 viewers.
"Six hundred already? Damn..." he muttered, half in shock. "Didn’t expect it to pop off that fast."
Kept talking to the camera, voice low but clear.
"Watch close. New people walk in... waiter slaps ’em in the face right away. But nobody gets pissed. They smile. Waiters smile too. Like getting your face smacked is the polite way to say hello around here."
Ray glanced sideways. Young couple—a dude and a chick—about to walk in. Stopped at the glass door, staring at the madness inside, looking confused as hell.
Ray fake-stepped closer, raised his voice so they could hear.
"Yo, bro, sis... some weird phenomenon going down in there. Might wanna hold off. Could be dangerous."
The guy turned, brows all scrunched. "Huh? What phenomenon?"
Ray just gave a thin smile and pointed through the glass.
"See for yourself."
Both looked where he pointed.
Inside, a male waiter approached a table by the window. Lady who just sat down smiled polite. Waiter nodded respectful... then SMACK! his hand landed dead on her right cheek. Loud as hell. But she just giggled, rubbed it quick, then ordered like normal. Waiter grinned big, proud of a job well done.
The girl from the couple slapped a hand over her mouth. "What... what even is that?!"
Her boyfriend shook his head slow, face pale. "Is... is that normal to them? They’re all smiling..."
Ray nodded at the camera, voice dropping.
"Exactly. They think it’s totally normal. Face slap as a greeting = polite. Their pride doesn’t even feel disrespected. That’s what makes it terrifying."
Chat blew up even harder.
[600 viewers already??]
[This is insane]
[Ray you’re actually showing this live??]
[How is no one calling the police??]
[They think getting slapped is polite??]
Ray stared straight at the camera, dark eyes catching the streetlight.
"This is another one of those supernatural phenomena, guys... straight-up dangerous..."
Glanced back at the restaurant one more time.
Through that crystal-clear glass wall, SMACK after SMACK kept ringing out. And every single person in there—waiters and customers alike—kept smiling like this was just how the world was supposed to be.
Ray kept the camera rolling, still half-turned toward the couple while pretending to be all concerned for their safety. The guy looked older than Ray first thought—maybe mid-forties, salt-and-pepper hair, built like he didn’t take shit from anybody. His face was already twisting with annoyance as he stared through the glass at the nonstop SMACK sounds and smiling faces inside.
"Yo, seriously, don’t go in," Ray said again, voice raised just enough for them to hear but still casual. "This shit’s getting worse by the second. Trust me."
The older guy finally noticed the tripod and the phone pointed at the restaurant. His eyes narrowed.
"You... you live streaming this right now?"
Ray blinked, playing dumb for half a second before nodding. "Yeah. People need to see what’s happening. It’s dangerous in there."
The second the word "yeah" left his mouth, the guy snapped.
"Live streaming?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" he barked, stepping closer. "You setting all this up for views, huh? Stupid-ass kid. I already know how you young punks are—anything for clout, right? How much you paying them in there to slap each other like clowns? Fifty bucks? A hundred? Bet you got a whole crew on payroll just so you can go viral again."
Ray raised both hands, still holding the phone steady on the tripod. "Whoa, whoa—swear on everything, man, I’m not staging shit. This is real. Same as the mall yesterday. I just happened to be here when it started."
But it was too late. A few people passing by had already stopped to watch the commotion. Then more. A small crowd started forming on the sidewalk, some pulling out their own phones, others just staring between Ray, the restaurant, and the older guy who was still heated.
"Yo, this dude’s faking the whole thing for likes," someone muttered loud enough.
"Bet he paid the waiters too. Classic clout-chaser move."
"Ray? Wait... that’s the Ray guy, right?"
Another voice cut through, firmer. "Nah, hold up. I saw the mall one. This ain’t staged. That’s a real supernatural phenomenon happening in there. Look at their faces—they actually think slapping is normal. Nobody fakes that shit this good."
Inside the restaurant, another SMACK! rang out clear through the glass. A new customer just got greeted the "proper" way. Everyone kept smiling.
Meanwhile, the Twitch chat was starting to split.
[This looks fake as hell ngl]
[Ray paying actors?]
[Bro the slaps sound real tho]
[How convenient he’s always at the spot when it happens]
[Idk man... this one feels staged for views]
[Wait if it’s real why’s he not going inside to show closer??]
The older guy wasn’t done. He pointed straight at Ray’s camera.
"Alright then, hotshot. If you’re so sure this ain’t fake, let me check. Film me. Right here. I’m walking up to that door and I’m gonna see for myself. You scared or what?"
Ray hesitated, then shook his head quick. "I’m not going inside, man. No way. I’ll film from the terrace limit—right here at the entrance. That’s it. I ain’t stepping foot past that door."
The guy stared at him for a long second, then gave a short, pissed-off nod.
"Fine. Whatever. Just don’t cut the stream. I wanna see if you’re really full of shit or not."
He started moving toward the glass doors.
Ray had no choice but to follow, adjusting the tripod angle so the camera stayed on the man while still catching the chaos inside. The crowd behind them was growing, phones out, whispers getting louder.
And the chat kept scrolling.
[He’s actually letting the guy test it??]
[This about to get messy]
[Ray looking nervous asf rn]
[If this is staged the old dude’s about to expose him live]
[Supernatural or not... this is entertaining as hell]
The older guy reached the entrance, hand on the door handle, about to push it open while Ray kept the camera locked on him from just outside the threshold.
"Alright," the man said, voice low and tense. "Let’s see how real this shit actually is."
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