Chapter 77: Chapter 77
Ray finally breathed a sigh of relief when his cab pulled up right outside his apartment building. Dragging his feet, feeling absolutely wrecked, he trudged up to his unit. The second the door clicked shut and locked, Ray tossed his jacket into a random corner.
He stumbled over to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge, and chugged half of it down. Bam! The icy shock took the edge off his splitting headache. Ray then flopped into the plush gaming chair in front of his PC. He leaned his head back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Even though the system had just dropped that incredibly tempting Solo Alter feature, Ray knew he had to slam the brakes right now.
"I gotta be extra careful," he muttered under his breath.
Federal agents weren’t players he could just sleep on. The fact that they’d already stepped in meant his every move was gonna be watched like a hawk from afar. They weren’t about to just let someone involved in a nationwide phenomenon walk away—especially since Ray was a viral live streamer who claimed he could "sense" the anomalies. One wrong move, and it’s game over.
Bzzzt... Bzzzt...
Ray’s train of thought shattered as his phone violently buzzed on the desk. A WhatsApp notification. The moment he saw the sender—an unknown number with an agency logo as the profile pic—his heart skipped a beat.
> Federal Agent:
> "Ray. Go live right now. Clarify to your viewers that the feds and the police are not detaining or harming you. Do it now."
Ray furrowed his brow. "Holy shit, they’re keeping tabs on me in real-time," he cursed, annoyed.
Curious about what was blowing up online, Ray opened X on his phone. Sure enough, the trending topics page was absolutely exploding.
> #Trending
> 1. #FreeRay — 125K posts
> 2. Federal Agents — 80K posts
> 3. Restaurant Incident — 50K posts
He clicked the hashtag and found clips of him being escorted into a massive black fed truck earlier that afternoon. Netizens were already running wild with theories, thinking Ray had been kidnapped or silenced by the government.
"Ugh... what a pain in the ass," Ray whispered lazily.
Like it or not, just to keep the agents off his back and play the cooperative card, Ray fired up his PC and hit *Go Live*. Within seconds, thousands of viewers flooded his stream.
"Hey everyone, evening," Ray said, putting on a tired, just-woke-up face. "Just popping on real quick for a clarification. I’m totally fine, guys. No need to start any petitions or weird hashtags. The cops and the agents from earlier just brought me in for questioning as an eyewitness. They didn’t do anything to me, they were actually super chill."
Ray let out a small yawn in front of the camera, giving an Oscar-worthy performance.
"Also, about that weird anomaly at the restaurant earlier... pretty sure it’s over now. I’m back at my apartment, totally safe and sound. I’m honestly exhausted today, so I’m gonna hit the sack."
Suddenly, his stream overlay went wild.
[100 Users Subscribed Simultaneously!]
Chat: "Bro!!! If you feel any more weird anomalies, you gotta go live instantly!!! We need valid info from you!"
>
Ray chuckled softly, reading the mass spam from his new subs. "Alright, alright, for sure. If I get another ’hunch’ or any weird headaches, I’ll try my best to go live right away. Thanks for the subs, guys. I gotta dip now, bye."
Click. Stream ended.
Ray leaned back again, closing his eyes to enjoy the precious silence of his apartment. But that peace lasted less than two minutes. His phone blared loudly again. This time, an incoming call.
The screen read: Mia (Gym Owner)
Ray sighed, swiped green, and put the phone to his ear. "Hey Mia? What’s up this late?"
The sexy, mature, MILF-vibe voice of his go-to gym’s owner came through in an anxious, confused whisper.
"Ray! Have you seen the news? Wait, actually, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. Ray, I swear to God, I got hit by a ghost that squirted cum! Me and my mom got hit right after you left the gym!"
Ray raised an eyebrow, holding back a laugh. "A ghost??"
"Yes! It’s exactly like the stories Sonya and Lena told!"
Hearing that, Ray bit his lower lip as hard as he could. His shoulders shook violently from holding back an absolute explosion of laughter.
"Are you sure?," Ray said, his voice trembling as he fought the giggles.
"Positive, Ray! It’s so sticky! Ugh, whatever, I just wanted to vent to you about it. I got total chills and I honestly didn’t know who else to talk to who actually gets this weird paranormal stuff. Anyway, go get some rest, I heard you got picked up by officials earlier."
"Yeah. Just about to sleep, actually. Today was a lot. Thanks for the heads-up," Ray replied.
"Alright, bye Ray."
Beep.
The moment the call cut, Ray tossed his phone onto the bed and burst into silent, breathless laughter. His life was getting more and more absurd since the system leveled up, but hey—at least tonight, he could catch some Z’s before figuring out his next move to outsmart the feds.
Ray got up from his chair and headed to the bathroom. He turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face a bunch of times, trying to clear his cluttered head.
Staring at his reflection in the wet mirror, Ray froze. His life had literally done a **180**. Before all this, he was just a broke, desperate, random dude with a drained bank account and zero future. Now? He was famous, going viral everywhere, and rolling in cash. Honestly, looking at the massive sub spike from last night’s impromptu stream, Ray realized he didn’t even need to grind the Common Sense Alter System just to make a buck anymore. His streaming revenue alone was more than enough to live large.
But the fame and money came with a whole new set of headaches.
"Federal agents..." Ray muttered, wiping his face with a towel.
They definitely had eyes and ears everywhere. Ray suddenly felt on edge in his own apartment. *’What if this place is bugged? What if my phone is cloned? Or what if there are hidden cameras?’* The thoughts started fueling a major overthinking spiral. Feeling his paranoia get out of hand, Ray shook his head violently. "Man, I just need to sleep. If I keep looping on this, I’m gonna lose my mind."
He crashed onto the bed, pulled up the blanket, and forced his eyes shut until exhaustion finally knocked him out.
The next morning, the morning sun broke through the gaps in the blinds. Ray woke up with a massive yawn, stretching out his muscles, which still felt a bit stiff. He casually strolled into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, then brewed a hot cup of coffee to enjoy while chilling out.
Ring... Ring..
The apartment doorbell shattered the morning silence. Ray furrowed his brow. "Who the hell is it this early?"he thought, annoyed.
His mind immediately jumped to a few annoying possibilities.
’Is it Julia? That annoying tan-skinned thot? Or maybe Christy, that lowkey freak, shy girl who somehow got my digits?’
With lazy steps, Ray opened the door. Turns out, his guesses were dead wrong. It was Karl standing there.
Without even being asked in, Karl barged right into Ray’s apartment, looking totally hyped. "Dude, crazy! You’ve literally gone mainstream now! You’re famous as hell, it’s wild!" Karl looked over at Ray, who was still holding his coffee mug. "If you want my advice, you honestly need to pack up and move to a new apartment ASAP, Ray."
Ray knit his brows, confused. "Bro, why would I move? I’m already super cozy here."
"Because people are actively hunting you down, dumbass!" Karl blurted out, frustrated. "You have no idea. Before I even came up to this floor, I crossed paths with some people in the lobby whispering and talking about where you live. It looked like they were trying to figure out which unit you’re in. Fans or reporters, I don’t know, but this place is definitely compromised."
Ray was a bit taken aback. "Holy shit, my address leaked that fast?" he thought. He cleared his throat, trying to pivot the conversation. "Anyway, what brings you here so early?"
Karl plonked himself down on the couch. "Oh right, so I wanted to tell you. Yesterday when I was at the gym, I ran into this totally bizarre girl. She was like, completely spaced out but wouldn’t shut up. She claimed she knew ’something’ about the secret of the world."
Karl chuckled, giving Ray an amused look. "And the funniest part? She dropped your name! She said Ray is some weirdo who can feel power generated by a slot machine!"
Thump.
Ray’s heart felt like it skipped a beat. His body instantly froze, but he fought like hell to keep his face completely deadpan.
Karl burst into loud laughter. "So wild, right? Hahaha! Like, power from a slot machine? Does she think life is an RPG or something with power-ups from slots? That crazy chick is totally trippin’."
While Karl laughed, Ray stayed frozen for a few seconds. His skin went cold. The *Common Sense Altering System* he currently had was indeed something he mysteriously got after playing a weird slot machine he found on the street back when he was totally hit rock bottom. How the hell did that girl at the gym know?!
Ray swallowed hard, then quickly forced a loud laugh to mask his absolute shock. "Hahaha! Man, that’s crazy. A slot machine? Where would that even come from? That girl probably played too much online gambling and fried her brain!"
"Right? That’s why I was laughing my ass off," Karl said, pulling out his phone which had suddenly started buzzing. The moment he read the text on his screen, Karl’s face went sour and annoyed.
"Damn, bro!" Karl cursed. "I was down to hang out with you today, but... I gotta go handle my uncle’s cafe. Such a buzzkill, totally ruins my schedule."
Ray, who still needed time to process the new info, secretly breathed a sigh of relief that Karl had to bounce. "Alright, just go handle your business. Family stuff comes first, we can always hang out tonight anyway."
"Bet, I’m out. Think about my advice on moving apartments!" Karl shouted as he walked out the door.
The moment the apartment door clicked shut and locked again, the fake smile on Ray’s face completely vanished. His expression turned dead serious and tense. He walked to the middle of the room and whispered in a demanding tone.
"System. Answer me. So... I’m not the only one who got a system in this world?"
A transparent blue holographic text immediately materialized before his eyes, accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice inside his head.
[Correct. Within that mysterious slot machine, there are still many other system cores besides the ’Common Sense Altering System’ obtained by the host.]
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