He Called Me Ugly Until I Turned Off The Filter Chapter 03
Click.
The stream froze.
My Wi-Fi dropped.
A notification flashed across my phone:
PAYMENT PAST DUE. SERVICE SUSPENDED.
I opened my provider’s app. Balance due: $18.50.
I paid it, switched to cellular, and waited for the connection to stabilize.
By the time I got back to the stream, my viewer count had ballooned past a hundred thousand.
Ethan was doubled over laughing.
“See? Told you she wouldn’t do it.”
Tara looked convincingly worried.
“Oh no — she didn’t kill her Wi-Fi on purpose, did she? Hon, it’s okay. Ugly is ugly. You just have to learn to love yourself.”
Chat was a wall of laughter: LMAO chickening out mid-dare. Hides behind her sick grandma, still won’t do it, disgusting.
“My Wi-Fi got cut off,” I said flatly.
Ethan laughed harder.
“Willow, you’ve always got an excuse, huh? Back then it was ‘I’m shy.’ Now it’s ‘my Wi-Fi got cut off.'”
He lifted his chin.
“Fine. One more chance. You brave enough for a Charm Challenge?”
“You lose — filter off, thirty seconds.”
“I lose — I’ll shave my head, live, and drop another twenty Waves on you.”
Tara chimed in, syrupy sweet.
“Don’t worry, hon. If I lose, I’ll turn mine off too. Not that I’m running much of a filter to begin with.”
She popped open her beauty panel for the camera.
Smoothing — 20.
Slim face — 10.
Eye size — 15.
Numbers spotless. Chat swooned over her natural look and jabbed at the filter goblin who cranks it to 100 and still looks like that.
I stared at the challenge invitation. Started to decline.
Then a payment reminder from Queens Community pinged on my phone:
PAST-DUE BALANCE. Please log in to your patient portal to review your bill.
I closed my eyes. Tapped Accept.
Three rounds. Round one: audience vote. Round two: beauty Q&A. Round three: talent showcase.
The second it started, gifts rained down on Tara’s side. Ethan’s fans, her fans, rubberneckers — all of them padding her count.
Mine trickled in. The occasional tiny heart.
Tara laughed. “Oh sweetie, feel free to vote for her too, don’t feel bad for me. Her count’s so low, she’ll get her feelings hurt.”
Ethan lounged back. “Tara, you’re too soft on her. Let her lose. We all want to meet the IRL swamp creature.”
My knuckles turned white in my sleeves.
Ten seconds left. Nine. Eight.
The whole screen went black.
A gold-and-black wave crashed across the battle arena. A system chime rang through both streams.
⟢ @V_Ashford has sent Golden Wave × 100 ⟣
The counter flipped. I was suddenly ahead by a landslide.
Dead silence.
Ethan’s grin froze. Tara’s mouth fell open.
Chat became one long scream of exclamation points.
V???