Spirit_Alphabet
patreon
Chapter 10: Rising Followers
🕑 Added 2025-07-13 09:31:24 +0000 UTCThe next morning, Owen awoke to the screaming protest of his body. Every single muscle joined in, sending signals of pain to his brain as if to say, 'Please, don't move!'
But he had Alex's work to do, so he forced his stiff and aching body out of bed with great difficulty. Fortunately, Nova's recovery potion was astonishingly effective; otherwise, he wouldn't have even been able to turn over today.
Owen staggered into the kitchen to make coffee and found Clara already making breakfast. He greeted her as usual, "Morning~ Clara."
"Morning to you too, Owen. You don't look very refreshed today, do you?" Clara turned to look at him with concern.
Owen could only chuckle softly. "Haha~ Don't you worry, Clara… I'm just a little sore. It'll be gone in a few days. Building muscle is hard work, but it's worth it."
Clara looked at Owen with admiration. "You're amazing for being able to do that. I've tried telling Damian to exercise, but he just doesn't care. He's still just drinking beer until his stomach has turned into a beer belly!" When talking about Damian, Clara could only sigh and vent to Owen.
“Sigh~ And he's been eating even more heavily lately because of stress… I really wish he would take a page out of your book."
Owen nodded in agreement but still defended his friend slightly. "I agree, Clara, he should start exercising. But the stress from the debt leaves him with no mood to take care of himself, you know… I can only hope he'll overcome it in the future."
Hearing that, Clara gave Owen a warm nod. "He's very lucky to have a good friend like you, Owen. I also hope he'll overcome it someday..."
After a light breakfast and coffee, Owen immediately drove off to work on Alex's assignment. He began to secretly investigate his new target, observing and comparing the information in the document with what he saw.
Time passed quickly. A week went by…
Owen had completely reorganized his schedule. He went to the gym for basic physical training with Nova on alternate days, alternating with quickly finishing up his work for Alex.
In Alex's office, Owen handed the target's file to Alex, who was waiting. Alex took it and checked it thoroughly. When he finished reading, he couldn't help but nod with satisfaction, causing Owen, who was waiting anxiously, to let out a sigh of relief.
"You worked well and quickly this time, Owen. Most of the important information matches what I know," Alex praised him after putting the document down. "So how's training with Nova? Has she kicked you out yet?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, his tone more casual now.
Hearing Nova's name, Owen couldn't help but shiver. The memory of the hellish pain was still fresh. He simply told Alex the truth, "I've been accepted by her, and I'm undergoing her brutal training. I'm barely surviving each day..."
When Alex heard that, his eyes widened slightly in disbelief. "You... were accepted by her? Is that... even possible?" Alex asked with a frown, uncertain.
Seeing Alex's reaction, Owen narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't understand why Alex was so incredulous. "If you doubt my word, you can just call her to confirm. You know her personally, don't you?" Owen shrugged.
This left Alex stunned for a moment before he told the truth. "I don't know her that personally, Owen. I know her because I'm the governor of this city, so no Awakened can escape my notice. Especially an S-rank Awakened like her."
Alex continued to explain, "I've hired her to clear a few dimensional gates before, so I have some connection with her. As for her personal life, I don't know much. I just know that she opened a martial arts gym and that no one has ever been accepted by her in the past 5 years. And you're the first one to do it. Plus, you're not even an Awakened, just an ordinary person. To be honest, I'm very impressed. I might have to re-evaluate you, Owen."
Hearing that, Owen's eyes went even wider than Alex's had earlier. His brain rapidly processed Alex's words... especially that one key phrase.
"Huh? What did you say? She's... an S-rank Awakened?"
Alex couldn't help but burst out laughing at Owen's utterly shocked expression. "Hahaha~ You're going to make me die of laughter, Owen. Nova accepted you, but you didn't even know she's the only S-rank Awakened in this city? Every day you train with her, you never once questioned her strength? Didn't even ask? And she didn't think to tell you either? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life! Hahahaha!"
Alex laughed for a long time before waving his hand to dismiss Owen.
"....."
Owen, still dazed by the new information, walked out of Alex's office like a soulless zombie. The image of Nova lifting the 10-ton barbell replayed over and over in his head. Now everything made sense... and she was many times more terrifying than he had ever imagined.
…
When the weekend arrived, Owen spent his free time at the park with Jessica as planned, to deepen their relationship. The warm morning sun and relaxing atmosphere made their conversation exceptionally smooth. They began to grow closer, feeling comfortable enough to ask each other personal questions.
"I see... So you didn't open the coffee shop because you particularly liked it, but because it was an inheritance from your late father. I'm sorry for your loss, Jessica..." Owen said, comforting her with genuine sympathy.
"Don't feel bad for asking, Owen," Jessica replied with a faint smile that held a hidden strength. "I've made my peace with it and moved on a long time ago. He was a good person, and my only family. He was just unlucky enough to be sucked into a dimensional gate... Now it's your turn. Tell me about your family~" she said in a casual tone, showing just how strong-willed she was.
"That's just like you, Jessica. So strong! Even after going through something so terrible," Owen said with admiration. "As for me, there's not much to tell. I don't have a family because I'm an orphan. I love games and streamers, so I worked to save up for my first computer and then started my own small stream. The income wasn't much, but it was enough to get by."
He paused for a moment, as if reminiscing about a major turning point in his life. "Until one day, when I was out buying food at a convenience store, I happened to see someone being mugged at knifepoint in an alley. I don't know what possessed me at that moment, but I decided to help the man. I grabbed a brick from the pavement and threw it straight at the mugger's head, knocking him out cold in one hit."
Owen's eyes sparkled as he recalled the feeling. "That was the first time in my life I felt proud, playing the hero and helping someone. And the person I saved was none other than Damian, this city's famous CEO. He thanked me by inviting me to his house for a meal, and after he learned I didn't have a permanent place to live, he offered me a room for rent in his house at a very cheap price. I've been living with Damian and Clara ever since."
Jessica looked at Owen with a changed expression, full of understanding and admiration. After the two spent some more time talking and sharing stories from their past, they went their separate ways. But the bond between them had clearly grown stronger.
…
When the new week began, Owen went back to work at Jessica's coffee shop, having told her in advance that he would only work half-days. As a result, she had no choice but to hire an additional employee for the afternoon shift.
In the new, carefully crafted schedule Owen had just created, he had allocated his time for all his activities and jobs with maximum efficiency, so as not to feel overly tired or chaotic.
His daily schedule looked something like this:
- Morning to Noon (4 hours): He would work with Jessica at the coffee shop, making coffee and serving customers as usual.
- Afternoon to Evening (4 hours): After finishing work at the shop, he would drive straight to Nova's gym for physical training.
Thanks to, or perhaps cursed by, Nova's strange recovery potion that she forced him to drink after every session, Owen's body had now adapted to her brutal training without needing a full day of recovery like the previous week. So, he had to train with her every afternoon except on weekends.
- Evening (1 hour): After training, he would drive to pick up Clara from the flower shop to go home together.
- Evening to Night (4 hours): After dropping Clara off at home, he would go out to continue his investigation work for Alex until nightfall.
- Night to Midnight (1-2 hours): Upon returning home, he would stream games for an hour or two to greet his followers and keep his channel from going too quiet.
- Midnight to 1 AM (1 hour): He would sneak into Clara's closet to shoot content for OnlyStar.
That was his rough daily schedule. Of course, it wasn't always set in stone. He could adjust and be flexible according to the situation each day. Some days, he had to take leave from Jessica's work to do Alex's work, as it was information that could only be investigated in the morning. His life was now packed with various missions and responsibilities, but Owen was ready to face it all for his own goals.
After a week of adjusting to his new schedule, Owen finally had time to recline comfortably on the sofa in the living room. He picked up his phone and opened the OnlyStar app to check on the progress of Clara's account.
The OnlyStar subscription system was divided into 3 tiers:
…..
"Follower" - $1 per month subscription fee
"Subscriber" - $10 per month subscription fee
"Fan Club" - $100 per month subscription fee
…..
Currently, Clara's account had 11,000 Followers, 3,000 Subscribers, and nearly 100 Fan Club members. Owen could quickly calculate her income. It meant that this month, she could potentially make up to $51,000, before taxes and other app fees were deducted.
Seeing that number, Owen couldn't help but grin widely with delight. It seemed his and Clara's hard work was paying off better than expected. He could roughly guess why the number of followers had suddenly increased so much in just one month. It was undoubtedly thanks to Clara's latest photo set in her sexy lingerie.
And when Owen scrolled down to the comments, they confirmed his theory.
…..
[Follower A: Oh my god! Are those real? I thought they were Mount Fuji.]
[Follower B: Argh! Her milky white breasts are shining into my eyes!]
[Follower C: Take it off, please! And I'll subscribe as a fan club member!]
[Follower D: A definite 'yes' from me~]
…..
Owen laughed at the comments, but his smile began to fade when he opened his personal email. There were numerous collaboration requests for Clara from other OnlyStar content creators, both male and female. There were invitations to do sexy photoshoots together, shoot short videos, and even a fair number of crude offers to shoot pornographic clips together.
Owen's feeling of joy vanished instantly, replaced by a smoldering anger of unknown origin. He deleted those emails into the trash without a second thought.
'No one gets to do that with Clara except me!'
Owen could only scream internally. This intense feeling of possessiveness surprised him. The sweet taste of success from moments ago was now tainted with the bitter flavor of jealousy. He would become stronger so that no one could ever take her away from him…
—-------
