That day was straight-up boring as hell for Ray.
From morning till night, all he could do was pace back and forth in that stuffy, gross apartment. The system still wouldn’t open no matter what he tried.
The mental image of that spoon Sonya had been rubbing all over her thick, wet folds kept flashing in his head and made him wanna puke. He rushed to the sink and chugged more tap water, but the taste still wouldn’t go away.
"I gotta get outta here tomorrow," he muttered under his breath. "Can’t take this shit anymore."
---
The next morning, Ray woke up at eight-thirty. He grabbed his phone right away and called the apartment owner he’d bookmarked yesterday.
"Hello, good morning, ma’am. This is Ray. I messaged you yesterday about the small studio. Is it still available? I was hoping I could come take a look today."
The owner’s voice came through warm and friendly.
"Oh yes, it’s still available. That’s no problem. You can come by this afternoon at three. I’ll be waiting at the place. Just bring your ID."
Ray smiled. "Got it. Thank you so much, ma’am!"
He hung up, took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Finally, a way out. But it was only ten in the morning. Still way too long until three.
He didn’t want to wait around in the apartment.
What if Sonya suddenly showed up again and started cooking something, then tried feeding him with that disgusting spoon? The thought alone made his mouth go dry. He could still feel the texture and smell from yesterday stuck on his tongue.
"Screw it, I’m going out," he decided.
Ray took a quick shower, threw on his most comfortable oversized t-shirt and shorts, grabbed his wallet, phone, and earphones. He locked the door twice for good measure, then stepped out without looking back.
The air outside was kinda hot, but it still felt way better than inside. He walked to a small food stall nearby, ate slowly while scrolling on his phone. After that, he headed to the park where he’d first unlocked the Alter Building feature. There was a big tree, some shady concrete benches, and it wasn’t too crowded in the middle of the day.
Ray sat at the edge of a bench, legs crossed, phone in hand. He played an idle game for a bit, then opened TikTok and just scrolled mindlessly. Every now and then he glanced up—kids kicking a ball around on the small field, some aunties chatting on another bench. Everyone else’s life looked so peaceful.
But Ray’s head was anything but peaceful.
Suddenly, he remembered.
The system.
He paused, closed the apps on his phone, and pressed the floating fingerprint icon that had been hovering in front of him without him even noticing.
In an instant, a transparent blue screen appeared in front of his eyes.
Ray tapped on Daily Quest.
Three big columns popped up side by side.
Available Mission Tiers:
[Simple]
[Medium]
[Hardcore]
Ray held his breath. His eyes went straight to the Hardcore column.
He remembered clearly from the last quest—if he picked Hardcore and actually cleared it, the EXP would be massive. Enough to jump him straight to a much higher level.
But...
Ray scratched his head roughly. His finger hovered over the Hardcore option, but he couldn’t bring himself to tap it.
"If I pick Hardcore... I could jump straight to level 10. But the mission’s probably gonna be brutal. Kinda terrifying, honestly..."
He sat there on the park bench, lost in thought. People walked by, kids laughed in the distance, but Ray could only stare at the blue screen floating in front of him—something only he could see.
His index finger trembled slightly in the air.
"Today... which one should I even pick..."
He was still stuck. Still scared. But the temptation of hitting level 10 was way too strong.
In the end, he let out a small sigh and tapped on [Medium]
---
[Ding!]
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
[Daily Mission — Medium]
Objective:
Alter the payment system in a transaction. The host must apply common sense at least once during the alter duration.
Reward:
• +50 EXP
• +50 Alter Points
Time Limit: 24 Hours
Failure:
The host’s Alter Points will be deducted by 67%.
---
Ray nearly had a heart attack the second he read the failure penalty.
"Hell nah... 67%? That’s actually fucking huge," he muttered, scratching his head. "If I fail this, my Alter Points are gonna get fucked."
He sat there in silence for a moment, thinking hard. Then his eyes suddenly lit up.
Wait.
A transaction, right?
Ray immediately looked around near the bench and spotted two small pebbles. He picked them up and held them in his palm.
"These two little rocks... should be enough to count as a ’transaction,’ right?" he grinned. "Sounds stupid as hell, but technically it still counts... hahaha."
He quickly shoved the pebbles into his jacket pocket. He already had a rough plan in his head. He just needed to wait for the right moment to activate the alter.
Ray decided to stay in the park until afternoon.
---
Around 1 p.m., his phone suddenly vibrated.
Sonya.
He stared at the screen for a second before answering.
"Hello?"
"Ray? Where are you? I haven’t seen you since this morning," Sonya’s voice sounded a little worried.
Ray answered casually, "Oh, I’m staying at my friend’s place in the next city. Had something urgent come up."
There was a short pause.
"...Oh. I see..." Sonya replied, her tone noticeably flatter. "Alright then. Be careful over there."
"Yeah, thanks."
The call ended.
Ray let out a long breath and leaned back against the bench.
"Damn, that was close," he muttered.
He stayed in the park until it was finally time to head to the apartment viewing.
---
When Ray arrived at the apartment building, he’d already prepared the "common sense" command he wanted to use through the Alter Building feature earlier, just in case things got too chaotic. The two pebbles were safely in his jacket pocket. All he had to do was press confirm when the time was right.
He called the owner to let her know he’d arrived.
A moment later, a woman came out to greet him.
She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties. Curvy body, smooth skin, hair tied neatly behind her back. She was wearing a simple blouse that hugged her chest and hips a little too well.
Ray swallowed hard the second he saw her.
Shit...
His brain short-circuited for a second.
The woman tilted her head and smiled warmly.
"You must be Ray, right? I’m Lisa. Come on in."
Ray quickly fixed his face and forced a polite smile.
"Ah yes, ma’am. Sorry I’m a bit late. Thank you for letting me see the place."
Lisa turned around and started walking toward the unit.
Ray followed behind her, but his mind was already racing.
’Fuck... I’m probably gonna have to retype everything,’ he thought, swallowing again. His eyes kept drifting down to Lisa’s thick ass as she walked in front of him.