Free Web NovelChapter 26: The Person Behind The Screen
Kai didn’t end the stream.
He knew he should.
Every rational part of his brain had been screaming at him to end it for hours.
Call the police.
Turn everything off.
Sleep for twelve years.
Maybe move to another country.
Instead, he sat in front of his monitors while one hundred and forty thousand people watched him slowly descend into whatever this night had become.
The apartment felt different now.
Not because anything had changed.
Because Kai had.
The fear wasn’t sharp anymore.
It had settled into something heavier.
A constant pressure sitting behind his ribs.
Like his body had simply accepted that tonight was insane and adjusted accordingly.
His phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
It buzzed again.
Ignored.
Again.
Still ignored.
The fourth vibration finally broke him.
"Whoever invented notifications should be arrested."
The chat instantly woke up.
BurntToastWizard:
HE RETURNS
ChairViolence:
BRO IS STILL ALIVE
TaxFraudEnjoyer:
UNFORTUNATELY FOR US
Kai snorted despite himself.
The sound surprised him.
A few hours ago he would’ve killed for normalcy.
Now random idiots in chat somehow counted.
That was probably unhealthy.
Actually, it was definitely unhealthy.
His entire career was built on unhealthy relationships with strangers.
A realization that became less fun the longer he thought about it.
"Kai."
Luna’s voice drifted through his headset.
Soft.
Careful.
Like she could tell exactly where his thoughts were heading.
"Yeah?"
"You haven’t said anything for five minutes."
Kai glanced at the Discord call. freēwebnovel.com
Her icon remained lit.
Present.
Waiting.
Always waiting.
It was becoming dangerously easy to expect her to be there.
"I’m thinking."
"That usually ends badly."
He barked out a laugh.
A real one.
The kind that escaped before permission was granted.
The chat immediately clipped it.
Of course they did.
ClipGoblin94:
HE LAUGHED
CertifiedParasocial:
SOMEONE SAVE THAT
Kai hated them.
Mostly.
A little.
Not really.
The problem was that they were annoying in exactly the same way friends were annoying.
Which raised several alarming questions he wasn’t emotionally prepared to unpack.
His gaze drifted toward the apartment.
The television remained off.
The hallway remained empty.
The bedroom door remained closed.
No more footsteps.
No more ringing phones.
No more shadows.
The silence should have felt comforting.
Instead it felt temporary.
Like the night was resting.
Not ending.
His phone buzzed again.
This time it wasn’t an unknown number.
Discord.
A direct message.
Kai frowned.
"Uh."
Luna immediately responded.
"What?"
"I got a DM."
The typing indicator appeared beside her name instantly.
"From who?"
"Some account called..."
He squinted.
"...MoonlightGarden?"
Silence.
Long enough to notice.
"Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"Don’t open it."
His eyebrows rose.
"That wasn’t suspicious."
"I know."
"That was incredibly suspicious."
"I know."
The honesty somehow made it worse.
Chat caught the exchange immediately.
DumpsterWizard:
OH NO
PeepeeCollector9000:
THAT IS A LUNA ALT
MicrowaveBandit:
100% LUNA ALT
Kai stared at the message request.
Then at Discord.
Then at Luna.
Or at least the little glowing icon representing Luna.
His brain was beginning to forget there wasn’t an actual person sitting beside him.
That realization bothered him more than it should have.
Because if she had been sitting beside him...
he would’ve felt safer.
The thought arrived uninvited.
And stayed.
His stomach twisted.
God.
That was bad.
Really bad.
Luna noticed his silence.
She always noticed.
"Kai?"
"Yeah."
"What are you thinking?"
The question should’ve been harmless.
Instead it landed directly on the thought he was trying to avoid.
He rubbed his face.
"I’m thinking this is probably the weirdest relationship I’ve ever had."
The call went quiet.
The chat exploded.
CertifiedParasocial:
OH MY GOD
GoblinLawyer:
HE SAID RELATIONSHIP
TaxFraudEnjoyer:
CLIP IT
CLIP IT NOW
Kai instantly regretted speaking.
Luna laughed.
A small laugh.
Warm.
Embarrassed.
Dangerously cute.
The kind that made his heart do deeply unprofessional things.
"We’re not dating."
"No kidding."
"You sound disappointed."
"I sound exhausted."
"That’s fair."
The smile refused to leave his face.
Which was incredibly annoying.
Because this entire situation should have been terrifying.
Instead part of him was focused on the fact that Luna sounded happy.
His phone buzzed.
Again.
This time everybody heard it.
The room fell quiet.
Kai looked down.
Unknown number.
Of course.
The universe had remembered the plot.
He opened the message.
A photograph loaded.
The image was blurry.
Taken at night.
A city street.
Traffic lights.
Rain-stained pavement.
Nothing unusual.
Then he noticed the reflection in a store window.
A man standing across the street.
Holding a phone.
Watching.
The caption beneath the photo made his stomach drop.
you’re getting harder to reach
The apartment felt colder.
The chat slowed.
Luna didn’t speak.
Not immediately.
Kai zoomed in.
The image quality was terrible.
The figure was mostly silhouette.
A hoodie.
Dark clothes.
Nothing identifiable.
Just another ghost hiding behind a screen.
Just another stranger.
Except this one knew him.
His phone vibrated again.
Second message.
Different number.
don’t answer unknown calls
Kai frowned.
Then a third arrived.
stop helping him
His pulse quickened.
The familiar feeling returned.
The feeling that invisible people were arguing around him.
Using him.
Watching him.
Fighting over him.
Like he wasn’t a person.
Like he was content.
A trend.
A puzzle.
A prize.
He hated it.
The worst part?
A small piece of him didn’t hate it enough.
Because attention was attention.
Even terrifying attention.
And realizing that made him feel sick.
"Kai."
Luna’s voice had changed.
Still gentle.
But quieter.
More serious.
"What?"
"Can I ask you something?"
He leaned back.
"Sure."
A pause.
Not nervous.
Careful.
Then:
"If this all stopped tomorrow..."
She hesitated.
"...would you miss it?"
The question hit harder than the stalkers.
Harder than the texts.
Harder than the photos.
Because he knew exactly what she meant.
Not the fear.
Not the danger.
The attention.
The viewers.
The obsession.
The feeling of mattering.
The apartment suddenly felt very small.
The monitors illuminated his face.
The chat rolled endlessly.
One hundred and forty thousand people waiting for answers.
And somehow the only opinion he cared about belonged to a girl he’d never met.
Kai swallowed.
Then laughed quietly.
The sound carried no humor.
"That’s a horrible question."
"I know."
Silence settled between them.
Comfortable.
Painful.
Honest.
Finally, he spoke.
"Yeah."
His voice came out softer than intended.
"Yeah, I’d probably miss some of it."
The confession hung in the air.
Nobody mocked him.
Not chat.
Not Luna.
Nobody.
Because everyone understood.
Luna’s answer came a few seconds later.
Gentle.
Almost sad.
"I think that’s what scares me."
Kai frowned.
"What is?"
Another pause.
Then:
"That one day you won’t know the difference between people who care about you..."
Her voice softened. freeweɓnøvel.com
"...and people who just want your attention."
The words settled heavily inside his chest.
And before he could answer—
a new donation alert flashed across the stream.
The room lit up.
The donor name appeared.
Not Derek.
Not Luna.
Not anyone Kai recognized.
Just a brand-new account.
FirstTimeViewer donated $500,000
The entire chat froze.
Kai froze.
Even Luna went silent.
Then the message appeared beneath the donation.
Look outside.
Kai’s stomach dropped.
Because at that exact moment—
someone knocked on the apartment window.
From the outside.
Twenty-three floors above the ground.
