Chapter 128 (Fixed)

Ini terjemahan pakai bahasa Inggris slang/casual US (dengan vibe narasi cerita urban/gaming yang santai tapi dapet slang-nya):

Ray shut off his phone, screen still burning hot. He leaned back in his chair, letting out a long sigh as he stretched his brain, which felt straight-up fried after pulling off a full-on Oscar-worthy performance in front of tens of thousands of viewers.

Milady opened the door. Her footsteps were completely silent, yet her presence always made the room feel way too cramped. She tossed a small towel straight at Ray’s face.

"Go take a shower. Your face smells like straight sweat," Milady said, sharp as a tack. "Or you tryna keep wanking off in my chair? It’s literally broad daylight, Ray. Don’t be gross."

Ray, catching the towel on instinct, instantly glared at her. "Who the hell’s tryna wank, bro?! I’m just beat from stressing over the stream’s script!"

"You had that horny face on earlier. Just reminding you," Milady shot back, cold and shameless.

Ray could only take a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. He knew damn well that Milady had to act like a cynical bitch just to suppress her horny-ass alter ego, Prilly.

After chucking the towel back onto the desk, Ray yelled out, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We better talk about our next move. That stream was just to buy time and grab some quick cash. What’s the plan now?"

In the living room. After Ray finished showering.

Milady sat on the opposite couch, elegantly crossing her long legs. Her hands were busy tapping away on a transparent tablet. "No crazy plans. This week, you’re just focusing on leveling up. Don’t you dare skip your daily missions again."

"You ain’t my mom, stop bossing me around..." Ray muttered under his breath.

"Hmmm... If I were your mother, I’d have popped myself when you turned five!" Milady cut him off sharply, her eyes boring into him. "Don’t let Hime or Angelo catch up to you. If those three ever realize you got a similar—or even more dangerous—system, you won’t just get doxxed, Ray. You’re gonna get hunted down. Get it?"

Ray went quiet. Just hearing the names Hime and Angelo always made his throat go dry.

"Yeah, got it," Ray finally replied.

"Good," Milady snapped. She suddenly stood up. "I’m starving. You wanna eat or what?"

"Yeah, I’m down. Haven’t eaten a thing since this morning," Ray nodded. "Alright, let’s go."

Ray stood up, fixed his jacket, and grabbed a thick black mask from the table. Before stepping out, he pulled it on tight, covering his nose and chin completely.

"On god, it’s so damn hot having to hide my face everywhere," Ray grumbled, tapping his mask. "I ain’t even famous, nor am I a wanted criminal, but I’m living like a terrorist on the run."

"Then stop being an idiot," Milady replied deadpan, walking out ahead of him.

Ray rubbed his chest again. Patience, Ray, patience.

Turns out, the spot Milady picked was nowhere near fancy. They just walked a bit to a fast-food joint with a red-and-yellow logo right on the main street. The place was pretty dead since it was past lunchtime. Ray ordered a fried chicken combo with a soda, then slid into a dark corner booth so he could drop his mask a bit without people staring.

Just as Ray was cutting into his chicken with a fork, Milady, sitting across from him, tapped the table with her fingernail.

"Today, you’re picking the Hard daily mission," Milady said out of nowhere.

Ray instantly choked on his own spit. "Huh?! Hard? Hell nah! You crazy? The risk is way too high, man! You know damn well my main perk, Alter Building, is completely out of commission right now!"

"And why’s that?" Milady mocked.

"Because it takes 300 Alter Points! My points are running crazy low right now, nowhere near enough to activate that broken-ass feature," Ray replied, keeping his voice down so the other customers wouldn’t hear.

Milady shook her head. Her expression shifted to pure disbelief, like she’d just heard the wackest joke in the world.

"You still got Solo Alter, dumbass!" Milady casually said while chewing on a fry.

Ray blinked a few times. "Huh? Solo Alter?"

Milady let out a long sigh, then called him out cold, "Did you... seriously forget a feature in your own damn system?"

Ray scratched the back of his head—even though it didn’t itch—putting on his best innocent face. "Well... I kinda forgot, yeah. I mean, I rarely check the details anyway..."

Smack!

Milady facepalmed real hard. The sound was loud enough to make the cashier upfront glance over for a second.

"Man... how does a top-tier system end up with a complete idiot like you?" Milady muttered in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Listen to me, Ray. I’m a hundred percent sure today’s Hard mission can easily be cleared using just Solo Alter—even if you haven’t upgraded its duration at all."

Ray leaned forward, confused by her confidence. "How are you so sure? You can’t even see my mission’s description box in detail, right?"

Milady looked at Ray like he was a terminal brain-rot victim whose brain had completely melted from scrolling social media all day.

"I can’t see your box," Milady said slowly, emphasizing every word like she was explaining basic math to a toddler. "But basic logic says the system would never give a daily mission its user can’t actually complete. If your Alter Building feature is still locked, that means the system’s objective was designed to be cleared with the tools you got right now. And your only available tool is that Solo Alter."

Ray’s eyes widened slightly. The dots suddenly connected in his head.

"Shit, that makes sense..." Ray muttered, realizing his own stupidity. "The system scales the difficulty based on the user’s current capacity, not their max potential..."

"Look at you, big brain," Milady threw in some bite-sized sarcasm. "Finally using your head for once. So, right after we eat, open your system panel. Pick the Hard one, clear it with Solo Alter, and farm those EXP and points. I’m not carrying your dead weight anymore."

Ray winced slightly, but internally, he had to agree. As mean as Milady’s words were, her takes were always spot-on. Ray went back to eating his chicken while picturing the upcoming daily mission—and how Solo Alter was gonna help him farm points without drawing any public attention.

Once they wrapped up eating, Milady dragged Ray to a rundown park near their suburban neighborhood. The place was practically a hotspot for junkies, with shady figures slouched on benches or aimlessly pacing around under the flickering streetlights.

Milady gestured toward the crowd with a subtle nod, her voice dropping to a low, mocking tone.

"Look right there. There’s your daily mission fuel, dumbass," Milady sneered, crossing her arms. "Out here, everyone’s already out of their minds. Nobody’s gonna bat an eye at whatever weird shit you pull off."

Ray looked around and shuddered, unable to hide his absolute disgust. "On god, this whole park looks like a damn Walking Dead audition," he grumbled under his breath, watching a dude nearby twitching out and tripping over his own shoes. "Everyone here is booted off their minds on drugs. It’s straight-up Zombie Central, man."

Before Ray could finish his complaining session, Milady’s foot made hard contact with his rear end, sending him stumbling forward.

"Less yapping, more grinding. Move your ass, Ray," Milady barked softly, giving him a glare that could kill.

Ray rubbed his butt, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh. Realizing he wasn’t getting out of this, he took a deep breath, tapped the empty air in front of him, and booted up his System panel. Without looking back, he locked in the Hard difficulty daily quest.

A glowing blue holographic window popped up, displaying his objective:

[DAILY MISSION: HARD]

Objective: Alter the target’s common sense regarding their self-respect.

Condition: Initiate conversation and maintain interaction with the target for at least 7 minutes using [Solo Alter].

--

Ray slammed his hand against his forehead, letting out a muffled groan. Seven whole minutes? In a park packed with unpredictable, tweaked-out junkies? With his current [Solo Alter] timer, keeping a coherent conversation about "self-respect" with someone who couldn’t even stand straight was a straight-up nightmare scenario.

"God damn!" Ray cursed under his breath, staring at the glowing panel like it had just insulted his entire lineage.