They say Naples was made for lovers.
But all he ever did was survive in it.
The city coughed smog into a morning sky already stained with yesterday's soot. Sunlight broke through gaps in rusted roofs like guilt slipping through a priest's fingers. Below, in the belly of the old city, Kairo moved like someone who'd already lost the day.
He was twenty-two years old. His ribs peeked out from under a threadbare shirt, his jeans were stained with grease and regret, and the soles of his shoes had long stopped pretending they had tread. He didn't walk so much as drift, half-human, half-shadow, across cracked sidewalks and beneath flaking murals that preached revolution to no one.
The slums weren't kind, and Kai had learned to stop expecting kindness from them.
He woke up at dawn, if you could call it that, on a stained mattress with no springs and too much history. His first job was garbage collection at the port. He wore gloves with holes in the fingers and listened to seagulls scream like they were mourning something the world forgot. When the shift ended, he slipped away to a bakery in Quartieri Spagnoli, where he lifted three loaves while distracting the old owner with broken Italian and a well-timed cough.
He didn't consider it stealing. Not really. Not when the alternative was starvation.
Not when he knew the old man padded his shelves with expired bread and thought nobody noticed.
By noon, Kai was scrubbing dishes at a third-rate pizzeria owned by a man who paid in coins and curses. By six, he was unloading crates in a mechanic's back alley, and by midnight, he was back in his flat, where the walls sweated mold and the window didn't open all the way.
He didn't sleep much. He just exists between hours, letting time pass through him like wind through cracks.
Every month, on the 13th, he checked his mail.
It wasn't a ritual it was a reckoning.
The rusted mailbox hung on his crooked door like a dying limb. Inside were the usual suspects:
– A bill from Enel that he couldn't pay.
– A health department notice warning about lead in the pipes.
– And three envelopes stamped with the same soul-killing phrase:
"We regret to inform you..."
Kairo tossed them onto the floor. The rejection letters no longer stung. He didn't even read them now. He knew the cadence by heart: "After careful consideration... not selected at this time... best wishes in your future endeavors."
His fingers paused on the fourth envelope.
It didn't look like the others.
Glossy. Silver-lined edges.
No return address. Just one line embossed across the center in a strange serif font:
"You've Been Selected – System Access Request Approved."
He stared at it.
Was it a scam? A phishing attempt? Another insult from the universe disguised as hope?
Kairo scoffed and tossed it onto the table along with the rest.
He spent the rest of the night trying to cook soup with half a tomato and some rice that smelled like dust. At 3 AM, as rain kissed the broken windowpanes and hunger chewed the edge of his patience, he sat on the floor, surrounded by discarded mail, and reached for the silver envelope.
"What's the worst that could happen?" he muttered, peeling it open.
Inside:
A thin sheet of paper with metallic ink.
A QR code.
And a message:
"Welcome to The System. You have been approved as a Silver-Tier Licensed Operator.
Activate your onboarding session using the code below.
Warning: Activation is permanent."
Kai laughed. It was dry and bitter.
"Right. Because magic software picks broke nobodies from Napoli's gutters. Sure."
But something tugged at him.
Maybe it was the hunger. Maybe the silence. Maybe it was the echo of every job he'd lost, every opportunity that crumbled before it began. Maybe it was just the kind of night where anything felt possible—if only to stop feeling like nothing ever would.
He picked up his phone, opened the camera, and after almost eternity, he scanned the code.
[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
Kai blinked.
His phone screen went black.
The apartment lights flickered twice.
A low hum filled the room, like a subwoofer breathing beneath his floorboards.
Then:
[SYSTEM INTERFACE LOADED]
[NAME: Kairo De Luca – USER ID #88271]
[TIER: SILVER – LICENSE GRANTED]
[BEGINNING ONBOARDING SEQUENCE…]
He stared.
"This… has to be a joke."
Yet he couldn't look away. The screen shifted, transforming into a holographic projection right in front of him—a floating window with clear fonts and digital icons he could interact with by moving his hand through the air.
He reached out. Hesitantly.
A window expanded.
INITIAL PACKAGE UNLOCKED
10 Free Attribute Points
Personal Skill Library: Business, Cooking, Programming, Combat, Trade
Bonus: 1x Functional Farm (Realm)
Bonus: $250,000.00 USD Business Capital
System Account: Activated
Kai's breath hitched.
"$250k?"
A farm realm? Was that a game? VR?
He tapped on the "Farmland" tab. The system pulsed once. Then again.
Would you like to visit your Farmland Realm?
[Y/N]
His heart thudded. Sweat clung to his brow.
This couldn't be real.
And yet… what if it was?
He pressed [Y].
Everything went white.
Like blinking through fog, his senses returned slowly.
He was standing in a field. Not a virtual one—this was real. He could feel the wind. Smell fresh soil. Hear birds, cows, and rustling leaves.
Endless rows of crops stretched before him: wheat, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, lemons, and more. Off to one side, a glass-roofed greenhouse. To the other, a fenced area with livestock—chickens, cows, goats, even pigs.
A panel floated in front of him:
Welcome to Your Farmland Realm.
Produce grown here can be harvested and exported to the Real World.
Nutritional Value: Enhanced
Growth Rate: 3x Faster
Maintenance: Autonomous
Status: Operational
Kai walked forward and grabbed a tomato. It was still warm from the sun. He bit into it.
His mouth exploded with flavor, sweet, acidic, and fresher than anything he'd ever tasted. Not even the markets in Vomero had produce this ripe. Not even close.
He blinked hard.
"This... this is insane."
Back in his apartment, the lights stopped flickering. The screen on his phone displayed his System Wallet:
$250,000.00.
Confirmed. Transfer pending into a crypto-sheltered banking shell tied to a dummy business entity.
He staggered back, sat on the edge of his bed, and stared at the floor.
His world hadn't changed in years.
And now, in one hour, everything had changed.
But he wasn't stupid.
No one gave out this kind of power for free. Not even a "system."
[NEW MISSION: OPEN A BUSINESS WITHIN 7 DAYS]
Objective: Earn €500 revenue in one week using system assets.
Reward: Variable – Based on creativity, impact, and net gain.
Failure: Penalty – Tier demotion, asset seizure.
Kai read the mission twice. Then again.
A business. Revenue. He had food. He had money. And he had… options?
He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and laced his fingers together.
"Alright, you bastard," he whispered to the System, "let's see how far this scam goes."
And if it wasn't a scam?
Well, then maybe, just maybe, he was done surviving.
Maybe now, it was time to start building.