The afternoon sun poured through the dusty windowpanes of the little store, casting long, lazy shadows across the shelves lined with dull, faintly glowing eggs.
Some pulsed gently with inner warmth, others sat motionless like rocks pretending to be more.
Behind the counter sat Lin Fang, elbows on the table, chin resting in his palms.
His hair was slightly messy, and a line of fatigue traced the edges of his eyes.
On the cracked screen hovering beside him floated the same notification he'd seen every day for the past seven years:
Beginner Mission: Sell 1000 Monster Eggs
Progress: 963 / 1000
Lin Fang stared at the numbers as if sheer willpower could make them change.
Nothing did obviously.
With a soft sigh, he let his head fall to the counter, the wood cold against his forehead. The holographic panel blinked idly, unsympathetic.
Seven years.
Seven. Damn. Years.
He had received the system exactly seven years ago on his seventeenth birthday, when everything had fallen apart. The system had come like a godsend.
It gave him a goal, a path, and a purpose. It also gave him exactly 1000 eggs to sell, promising greater rewards and unlocked features upon mission completion. That was it. No free pass, no secret cheat codes. Just the eggs, and a system as stubborn as a bureaucrat.
Back then, each egg had cost 500 credits.
Now, with inflation, rising demand, and the weird idea that monster pets were a luxury item, each egg was tagged at a solid 1000 credits.
The system wouldn't let him go a single credit lower.
No discounts, no under-the-table deals. He had tried it all. Every time he tried to bundle or lower the price, System Error: Mission Violation.
Every. Damn. Time.
And now? After all these years?
He still had 37 eggs left.
Lin Fang groaned and rolled his head sideways on the counter. The store was silent.
A broken fan above him creaked in a tired rhythm, swinging slightly but doing little to push the heat out.
Outside, the street was quiet, save for the distant honking of a delivery van.
"I'm cursed," he muttered. "No grades. No family. No money. No customers. And no luck."
He slapped the counter once, half-heartedly, as if hoping it would give him a miracle. Instead, the door creaked open.
Ding.
The chime was soft, mechanical. But to Lin Fang, it sounded like the trumpet of heaven.
He shot up in his seat, trying to tame his hair and straighten his shirt in one motion.
In walked a middle-aged man, sharply dressed in a dark suit, his eyes hidden behind a pair of reflective glasses. He moved with quiet confidence, like someone used to being listened to.
"Good afternoon, sir!" Lin Fang said, beaming with the desperate energy of someone drowning in debt. "Welcome to Monster Hatch! We sell the finest monster eggs this side of the district."
The man didn't respond immediately. He scanned the shelves, taking in the modest layout, the slightly worn floors, and the faint smell of incense and dust. Then he nodded, stepping forward with businesslike precision.
"Hello, my name is Chen Yu. I represent the Eastern Sun Group," the man said. His voice was low and calm. "We're interested in acquiring this property."
Lin Fang blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"We're purchasing a number of buildings on this block. The group is planning to build a flagship supermarket in this area. Your store is part of the plan."
"I'm not selling," Lin Fang replied quickly, on instinct. Then, more gently: "This place… is all I have."
Chen Yu didn't argue. He simply raised one hand and tapped the air.
A new screen blinked to life between them, displaying Lin Fang's bank details in terrifying clarity. Negative balances. Overdue interest. Rent deferrals. Power bill extensions. Even the late fees from the city's merchant license authority.
Lin Fang stared, his throat tightening.
"The offer," Chen Yu continued, "is 1,150,000 credits. It was an additional amount on top of clearing your debts. That includes your student loan and your housing mortgage."
Lin Fang hesitated. "That would mean… I will lose this house too."
The man nodded.
"Yes. But you walk away clean. You can start fresh with the money you will earn from this transaction. Start a new business. Buy into a franchise. Or simply rest. You've been running this place alone for a long time, and quite frankly, you are very bad at running this business."
Lin Fang couldn't speak. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Chen Yu looked around once more. "You're selling monster eggs for 7 years now."
"That's not—" Lin Fang started, but he didn't finish.
Because the man was right.
He had nothing else. No degree. No family to fall back on. No way to pay rent beyond this month.
Chen Yu closed the screen and straightened his cuffs. "Think about it. I'll return in two days."
He turned around to walked out. The door had barely creaked open when Lin Fang's voice called out behind the suited man.
"Wait!"
Chen Yu paused, his polished shoe half-raised above the threshold. He turned his head slightly, raising a brow beneath those sharp glasses. "Yes?"
Lin Fang stepped around the counter, a little breathless. His heart raced, not from excitement, but from something else—some flickering sense of intuition. A feeling that told him not yet.
"I've thought about your offer," he said, "and… I won't argue the price. 1,150,000 credits. That's fine."
Chen Yu raised both brows now, interested. "Then…?"
"I have conditions."
The man stepped back into the store, folding his arms. "Go on."
"Before I sign anything, you'll need to buy everything in the store. Separately. On paper. Like a receipt."
Chen Yu smirked, his gaze sweeping lazily over the neatly arranged shelves, the corner cabinet, and the faintly humming refrigeration unit in the back.
"There's hardly anything here."
"I'll print you the list," Lin Fang replied, already heading to the ancient terminal built into the counter.
It took a minute or two. The printer sputtered a few times before coming to life, the paper curling out with a mechanical whirr.
Lin Fang handed it over. "Thirty-seven monster eggs. Priced at 1,000 credits each. And roughly three hundred and fifty kilograms of pet feed and other accessories. Add it all up, it's 81,542 credits."
Chen Yu took the receipt, eyes scanning quickly. His brow furrowed slightly—just slightly.
"Expensive eggs," he muttered. "But fine. You're not haggling, and we need this property. I assume you'll prepare to sign the transfer contract?"
"I will. Just one more thing." Lin Fang's voice was firmer now. "I need a month before the handover. I need to find a new house, right?"
Chen Yu nodded, almost impressed. "Very well. You have one month. I'll process this now."
The man tapped a sleek tablet from his pocket and made a few quick gestures. His eyes flicked as lines of code and authorization passed. The transaction was executed like a machine signing away parts of its own circuitry.
A soft beep.
"Payment complete," Chen Yu said. "The items are now company assets. Good doing business."
Lin Fang gave a small, thankful bow. "Thanks for doing business. Now, if you please wait, I will go ahead and fetch the documents."
"Alright!"
At the same time, a sudden ring echoed, not through the store, but inside Lin Fang's skull.
A notification. Familiar, cold, system-like.
Ding! Mission Completed.
[Beginner Mission: Sell 1000 Monster Eggs – COMPLETE.]
[Click to receive your reward.]
The panel shimmered into existence before him, holographic, translucent blue, hovering inches from his face. Lin Fang stared at it.
Not intending to seem like a creep or a weird fellow, he didn't click the holographic screen in front of this stranger, and instead he turned and walked toward the staircase in the back, the creaky steps leading to the first floor where he lives.
Upstairs, sunlight filtered through a half-open window, brushing against worn shelves and a tiny bed rolled with faded sheets. Lin Fang reached into a drawer and pulled out the folder, taking out the house deed.
Once it was in his hands, he finally tapped Receive Reward.
Instantly, a blinding light engulfed him, white and pure, cutting through everything. The room disappeared in that instant, as if space and time folded away.
System Upgrade: Initiating…