Three tall chicks were already standing right in front of Ray in the narrow convenience store aisle. Athletic bodies, broad shoulders, thick thighs, and those basketball jerseys hugging them just tight enough to show off strong but still sexy curves. The one in front — tall ponytail girl — grinned wide with a mischievous glint in her eyes and just started yapping with zero small talk.

"Want Claire’s IG?"

Ray, who was fake-reading a water bottle label, snapped his head up. "Huh?"

The three of them immediately side-eyed each other, then closed in around him in that cramped aisle. Their voices dropped to low whispers, but Ray could still hear every word.

"Don’t let Claire’s resting bitch face scare you," ponytail girl whispered with a smirk. "She’s actually super shy. Her face is just scary as hell. Once you get to know her, she’s even more of a shy mess than most girls."

Ray’s ears went hot. His heart started hammering. ’What the fuck is happening right now? What are they even talking about? Why does this feel like they’re dropping hints?’

Then, from behind the trio, came a sharp "Ahem."

Claire stood at the end of the aisle, arms crossed over her broad chest, her usual cold resting bitch face looking even frostier. But those ears that turned a little red when Ray grabbed her ass earlier? Now they were straight-up burning.

Ray’s brain short-circuited.

He took a quick step back, holding up the water bottle like a shield.

"Ah... sorry. I was just gonna pay for this. ’Scuse me."

Ray speed-walked to the cashier, paid for his mineral water without another word, and stepped out into the night. air was cool against his skin. He walked toward his apartment at a chill pace, cold bottle in his right hand.

The whole way home, this dumb little smile kept creeping onto his face without permission.

It felt... good.

He could smile to himself walking home at night without his brain spiraling into worst-case scenarios.

Right as he got to his apartment door and was about to stick the key in, a transparent blue panel popped up in front of his face.

[ MISSION COMPLETE ]

[ Reward received ]

[ Level Up! ]

[ Congrats! Your level has increased to Level 6 ]

Ray just stood there for a second, then let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.

"Level 6... Not bad for one night."

He stepped inside, shut the door, and flopped straight onto the couch, water bottle still in hand. His chest felt lighter than it had in a long time.

And for some reason, Claire’s stern face with those bright red ears wouldn’t stop replaying in his head.

Ray was still sprawled on the couch, cold mineral water bottle in his right hand. His chest felt light, but his brain suddenly jumped to something else.

"Shit... that’s right," he muttered, sitting up a little. "I still haven’t touched my potato PC at all."

The monitor was still in its box in the corner of the room, the CPU just sitting in a pile on the floor, cables never even unpacked since he moved into this apartment. This whole time he’d only been using his phone.

He grabbed the phone he’d left on the small table, opened his banking app. His eyes widened a bit when he saw the balance. Still a lot in there.

Ray just smirked.

"Fuck it."

He opened the online shop app right away and typed "gaming streaming PC pre-built." Scrolled fast, went straight to the well-known stores with solid reviews. Didn’t overthink it. Just picked one with good specs.

The price made him pause for like two seconds... but whatever. He didn’t give a shit anymore.

Checkout. Paid instantly. Done.

He didn’t close the app. Instead he kept scrolling. Now he was looking for livestreaming cameras. Opened a new tab, searched "4K webcam streaming" and "mirrorless camera for live streaming." Started comparing reviews, checking which ones were good for showing face clearly (’cause if he was gonna game or talk on stream, people needed to actually see him), which had fast autofocus, which came with ring light bundles. Some were pricey, some were straight-up expensive for the pro stuff.

He browsed slowly, every now and then smiling to himself.

"Guess from now on... I can actually take streaming seriously," he mumbled.

His right hand was still holding the water bottle, which had already gone a little warm. But his chest felt even lighter. Tonight really was different. He actually met a girl with a killer body, got a level up, his balance was looking fat, and now he was out here buying an expensive pre-built PC plus a proper camera for streaming.

"Tonight’s been crazy lucky. Got to cop feels on three different chicks’ asses hahaha..."

He kept scrolling through cameras, checking specs and reading reviews from people who already used them for streaming. His mind was still half stuck on Claire’s resting bitch face and those bright red ears.

----

It was getting late.

Lisa was lying on the big king-sized bed. Her husband was already dead asleep beside her, back turned to her, breathing slow and steady. The room was dim, only a weak glow from the bedside lamp.

Lisa had her back to him. Her smooth back faced the man she’d been married to for years. But her mind was nowhere near him.

Her face was flushed. Even her ears felt hot.

Ray.

That young guy wouldn’t leave her head. The new tenant she’d just rented the unit.

She remembered their first meeting. Ray came alone to check out the apartment. He was cute, polite, and really good at buttering her up. Every time she explained the facilities, he’d smile and say nice shit — told her the place was comfortable, the view was good, location was perfect, even threw in a "Ma’am, you’re pretty too, perfect landlord for a place this nice." Lisa had chuckled back then, feeling flattered.

But in reality... none of that ever happened. Ray had just fucked her.

Lisa frowned a little ’Where the hell did I put his money?’ she thought, remembering he paid cash.

Her mind quickly drifted again though. She remembered Ray’s arms catching her when she slipped. She remembered how fucking horny she got in that moment. Those arms... tense, veiny, and for some reason they made heat shoot straight down between her legs.

After Ray left, Lisa was so fucking confused.

She somehow ended up in the shower cleaning herself up... and still felt kinda horny.

----

Back to Ray, who was already lying on his bed.

"Damn... I can actually start chasing my dreams now, huh," he muttered softly while shaking his head in the dark.

He was having trouble falling asleep because his brain wouldn’t stop racing about how his first stream was even gonna go.

Eventually, after hours of his mind refusing to shut up, Ray finally passed out. His body was sprawled messily across the bed, one arm hanging off the side.

---

The next morning, Ray woke up feeling unusually fresh. His body felt light, his head was clear. He sat up on the couch, rubbed his eyes for a second, then stood up and pulled the curtains wide open.

Morning light poured in.

He stood in front of the window, looking around his entire apartment.

Usually, mornings here greeted him with a rundown, shitty vibe — peeling wall paint, dirty floors, minimal and ugly furniture.

Ray just stood there for a moment, then smiled a little.

Suddenly—

TING TONG

The doorbell rang.

Ray immediately turned his head. "Who the hell is coming this early in the morning?"

He walked slowly to the door, still half-asleep. He leaned in and looked through the peephole.

And froze.

"The fuck...?"

Standing outside was a girl he immediately recognized. Tight clothes, heavy makeup, tan skin, and a massive pair of tits.

"Shit... why the fuck is this whore showing up here?" Ray muttered quietly, his voice a mix of confusion and annoyance.

Ray let out a long sigh behind the door. The doorbell kept ringing nonstop, like the girl outside wasn’t planning to stop anytime soon. Eventually he gave in and opened it.

Still half-asleep and annoyed, Ray pulled the door open.

Standing there was Julia — the same girl he’d seen through the peephole. Tight clothes, heavy makeup, tan skin, and her big tits practically spilling out of her top. She looked seriously pissed.

Ray didn’t bother with small talk.

"What’s up, Julia?"

Julia’s eyes narrowed right away. She put her hands on her hips.

"What the hell did you say to Kevin?" she snapped.

Ray frowned, genuinely confused.

"Huh?"

Julia stepped closer, her voice rising.

"Don’t play dumb with me! Kevin texted me last night saying he wants to break up. Out of nowhere! What did you tell him that made him suddenly grow a pair and dump me?!"

Ray stayed quiet for a second. He *had* talked to Kevin last night while the guy was drunk, but he only listened. He didn’t push him to break up with Julia.

Julia’s face was red, breathing hard from how angry she was.

Ray just stood in the doorway holding the door handle, looking completely lost.

But in his head, he thought:

’Good choice, Kevin.’

He had to stop himself from laughing. Part of him actually felt bad for Kevin... but also kind of respected him for finally growing a spine and breaking up with her. Especially since the last time Ray saw him drunk, he was acting like a total simp.

Julia was still standing there, glaring at him.

"Well? Answer me, Ray! What did you say to him?"

Ray finally opened his mouth.