"This! This is real… no scam, but r-real money," he repeated, convincing himself as his face lit up with excitement.
Growl…
While exhilarating with joy, his stomach growled after a cold shower.
He hadn't eaten anything since morning, frugally learning to skip his meals to save food while the groceries were running out.
He went to the kitchen and found two cup noodles sitting on a small shelf.
He grabbed one, but soon a thought surfaced in his mind. Should I go out and eat something good?
"No, I don't know when the system will issue its next task, so I should save money for the future," he mumbled and prepared the instant noodles, slurping it down to the last bits.
After his hunger resided, though not full, he felt quite satisfied.
With a full stomach—or it should be said half—he walked towards his bed and sat down, opened his laptop, and began searching for any jobs that were hiring immediately.
The laptop he was using was won in a university event. Other than surfing the internet, it couldn't do anything.
It was a cheap, low-end laptop; nonetheless, he was still grateful since it helped him with menial tasks.
He switched on the laptop, and its brand animation began that read Orion Core.
Then another system message chimed in just above his laptop's screen.
But instead of getting happy, a frown appeared on his face when he looked at the penalty.
Though it receded just as quickly, changing into a wide grin when he looked at the reward.
| Task #02: [100 pushups, 100 Pull-ups, 100 squats.]
| Penalty: [PP size reduction!]
↳ Reward: [$30,000 + Nutritious Lunch (Grilled Chicken Quinoa Bowl) awaits you.]
"$30,000? That's like more than a year's of my salary" he mumbled and added.
"100 pushups? Heck, I could even do 1,000 for that much money," he declared, his voice laced with determination.
He carefully placed his laptop on the bed and got down on the floor for pushups.
The system's panel followed his trajectory, and soon, the task window blurred, transitioning into a counter.
[Pushups] — 0/100
[Squats] — 0/100
[Pull-up] — 0/100
Damn, it's quite strict to even show me a counter, he thought and began his task.
[Pushups] — 1/100
After some minutes of completing…
[Pushups] — 30/100
30 pushups, he began getting tired as each push was harder than the last.
[Pushups] — 60/100
And when he had completed around 60, his muscles began aching.
"Huff… huff… this is harder than it looks," he gasped for air.
Completing 60 was in itself a miracle. Since he always chose to walk, his stamina was above average.
However, the problem was he never exercised, mainly due to time constraints or being too tired to bother.
Nonetheless, being young had its advantages as he finally pushed through, completing the 1st task.
Completely drenched in sweat, he removed his worn-out t-shirt as it was getting hotter.
He looked at the 2nd task and exhaled a long sigh. Then…
Reward: $30,000
[Pushups] — 100/100 → Completed
[Squats] — 0/100
[Pull-up] — 0/100
Looking at the reward, his eyes burned with motivation… and after a few minutes with plenty of breaks, the 2nd task was also completed.
A bright, satisfied smile etched on his face. For some reason, he felt good, as if each drop of sweat carried away the negativity weighing him down.
Then, after some more huffing and puffing at much more intervals, he finally completed all 3 tasks.
Ding!
| Task #02: [100 Push-ups, 100 Pull-ups, 100 Squats.]
| Task #02: [Completed Successfully!]
[You did it. Progress may be slow, but quitting won't speed it up.]
↳ Reward: [$30,000 + A nutritious meal awaits you.]
The system's panel chimed in like usual. But there was no one to look at it—not even Augustus—as he had already passed out after completing his task.
One could see a small satisfied smile lingering on his lips.
30 minutes later…
He opened his eyes in a dazed manner, and the moment his eyes locked onto the status panel, his brows shot up.
↳ Reward: $30,000 + A nutritious meal awaits you.
He hurriedly stood up with excitement, unaware that his muscles screamed with agony for even the slightest movement.
Realizing this, he stiffly walked towards his phone on the bed. Eyes flickering with excitement, he opened the bank's notification that had already arrived 30 minutes ago.
| Avail. Bal: $34,977.87
And there it was—real fucking $34,977.87 Dollars!
As he read the message, the excitement in him grew even further. Bubbling up like lava, he threw his fist in the air excitedly as if he had won the world.
"Yes!... ouw ouch."
Calm down, buddy, he first thought, then, How the fuck should I calm down? retorted his own thoughts.
He again checked the bank's message, and it was still there. He couldn't contain his happiness.
However, looking at the numbers, his wide smile faded into a small one when the landlord's image surfaced in his mind, then three more people's.
He had 4 rents, many bills, and even debts that he had reluctantly taken for a living.
Deciding it was better to pay the rent, he opened ZentlyPay, a cash app, and searched for Jacob, his landlord's name.
Jacob was a kind guy. Even with 4 rents due, he understood Augustus' situation and didn't force him much, though he was scolded now and then, which he respectfully listened to, putting his head down.
Send Jacob: $4,000
He typed in the amount and entered his passcode, then pressed Send.
Ti..ding. Payment successful.
When the money was successfully sent, he searched for few more names and sent them money.
| Sent Tom: $5,000 (Note: Debt)
| Sent Harry: $6,000 (Note: Debt)
| Sent Mom: $3,000 (I got a bonus)
| Paid Bills: $2,700
The first thing he did was clear all of his debts. "Phew, the headaches are gone," he exhaled with a light smile and checked the balance.
| Avail. Bal: $14,277.87
"Damn, money does move really fast," he sighed.
Although he could have sent more money to his mother, that would raise too many questions for him, and $3,000 was more than enough for where they were living.
Ding!
[Task #03: Smile and greet 3 strangers and get a compliment.]
[Penalty: Underwear goes missing.]
↳ [Reward: $10,000 + Mood Boost.]
His eyes twinkled with delight as a new task appeared before him. "No way!… I thought missions were rare, but I've already gotten around $35,000," he paused.
"And on top of that, just some simple greetings and a compliment gets me $10,000?… That's insane....Now I'm looking forward to this." he said with a dazzling smile