Chapter 39: Turning Up the Heat

Ethan walked into his apartment, tossing his keys onto the counter before flopping onto the worn-out couch. His phone was already in his hand, fingers moving instinctively as he opened the streaming app.

Mia was live.

He exhaled, letting the tension of the night drain away as her familiar voice filled the room.

"Alright, guys! Let's see who's hanging out tonight—oh, we've got some regulars! And… oh my god, wait—is that—?"

A smirk tugged at Ethan's lips.

She had seen his name.

FleetingFable.

The chat immediately lit up.

"NO WAY FABLE IS BACK??"

"THE LEGEND HIMSELF!"

"Shit's about to get crazy, boys."

"Mia's about to make BANK."

Mia's reaction was instant—her eyes widened, and she leaned closer to the camera, grinning.

"Dude, where have you BEEN? You disappeared for like a month! You have no idea how much chat's been talking about you!"

Ethan chuckled, stretching his arms behind his head.

[FleetingFable: Just felt like showing up tonight. Hope I didn't miss anything interesting.]

"Miss anything? Bro, the last time you were here, you shut up that one idiot by dropping twenty grand in gifts! Chat still talks about it! You've got fans, man!"

Ethan smirked.

That had been a fun night.

Some loudmouth in chat had been running his mouth, saying Mia was overrated and didn't deserve high-tier supporters. Ethan had shut him up instantly—dropping $20,000 worth of gifts in under two minutes.

The dude had disappeared after that.

And now? Maybe it was time to stir the pot again.

Ethan tapped his screen, scrolling through the high-tier gifts.

Virtual Super Car - $1,000 each.

Perfect.

He selected ten and hit send.

The reaction was immediate.

A massive animation filled the screen—ten sleek supercars, one after another, roaring across with VROOM VROOM sound effects shaking the stream.

[FleetingFable has gifted 10 Virtual Super Cars - $10,000 total]

The chat exploded.

"HOLYYYY WTF!!!!"

"BRO JUST DROPPED 10K LIKE IT'S NOTHING!!"

"FLEETINGFABLE IS UNHINGED AHAHAHA"

"Mia just ascended to a new tax bracket."

Mia clutched her head.

"No. No way. TEN?! Fable, are you SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?" She burst into laughter, shaking her head in disbelief. "Dude, I don't even know what to say! You guys—tonight is insane!"

Ethan leaned back, watching the chaos unfold.

This was why he liked being FleetingFable.

No one—not even Mia—knew who he really was.

Ethan sipped his water, watching the chat explode with reactions.

The thrill of dropping ten grand was amusing, but he wasn't expecting anyone to step up. Most people on the platform were all talk—until real money got involved.

Then, a new message popped up on the screen.

[YoungMasterK has gifted 20 Virtual Super Cars - $20,000 total]

The chat lost its mind.

"NO WAY! WHO TF IS THIS??"

"DID YOUNGMASTERK JUST DROP TWICE WHAT FABLE DID?!"

"BRO, IT'S A SHOWDOWN WTF"

"RICH PEOPLE FIGHTING—SOMEONE GRAB POPCORN."

Mia gasped, covering her mouth.

"Wait, wait, wait! YoungMasterK?! You're from Brooklyn, right? This is insane!" She leaned in, eyes wide with excitement. "Guys, is this real? Are we actually witnessing a flex battle live?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

YoungMasterK, huh?

So this guy thought he could flex on him? Cute.

He didn't even hesitate.

Scrolling through the gift options, he went straight to the top-tier items.

Virtual Spaceship – $10,000 each.

Most people didn't even glance at these.

He selected five.

Then, with a smirk, he hit send.

The entire screen lit up in a cinematic explosion of visuals—five massive spaceships roaring across the screen, glowing in neon hues as they blasted through space. The sound effects were insane, a deep BOOM BOOM BOOM shaking the entire stream as a special animation played out.

[FleetingFable has gifted 5 Virtual Spaceships - $50,000 total]

The chat went nuclear.

"HOLYYYYYYY WTF WTF WTF!!!!"

"NAHHH BRO JUST DROPPED 50K LIKE IT'S CHUMP CHANGE!!!"

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL—WE ARE IN A FULL-BLOWN WAR!"

"YOUNGMASTERK GOT PUT IN HIS PLACE AHAHAHAHA"

"FLEETINGFABLE JUST ENDED HIM."

Mia screamed.

"No. No freaking WAY. FABLE, ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Ethan chuckled, watching the chaos unfold.

Then, another message appeared.

[YoungMasterK: …]

Silence.

The guy didn't send another gift.

The chat caught on immediately.

"OH HE WENT QUIET LMAO"

"BATTLE OVER. FLEETINGFABLE WINS."

"YOUNGMASTERK THOUGHT HE WAS HIM."

"BRO POKED A BEAR AND GOT MAULED."

Ethan smirked.

That's what I thought.

Mia was still freaking out.

"Dude. DUDE. I—I don't even have words. That was $50,000. Fable, you—do you even care about money?!"

Ethan stretched, leaning back lazily.

[FleetingFable: Not really.]

The chat exploded again.

"WHAT KIND OF MONSTER IS THIS GUY???"

"BRO SAID 'NOT REALLY' AFTER DROPPING 50K LMFAO"

"ACTUAL RICH PEOPLE MOVE DIFFERENTLY."

"YOUNGMASTERK GOT HUMBLED IN REAL TIME."

Mia laughed, shaking her head. "You are UNREAL. I swear, I owe you dinner at this point."

Ethan smirked.

[FleetingFable: I'll hold you to that.]

And just like that, the night had gotten a whole lot more interesting.