Welcome to my new novel everybody it's a system + Regression+ Revenge+ business
Vibe story
Hope you guys enjoy it.
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The rain in Capital City didn't wash things clean, it only turned the grime into a slick, suffocating sludge.
Alex Reed sat on the edge of a rusted fire escape, the freezing water soaking through his hoodie.
His fingers, once capable of drafting blueprints that defined the city's skyline, were now trembling, not just from the cold, but also from the tremors of a neurological decay he couldn't afford to treat.
At twenty-eight, Alex was a ghost.
Three years ago, he was the lead architect for the Reed Consortium, the youngest prodigy the country had ever seen.
Today, he was a disgrace ,a man whose name was synonymous with the "Great Bridge Collapse" that had claimed forty lives.
The world believed he was a drunk who took shortcuts.
Only Alex knew the truth: his elder brother, Julian, had swapped the high-grade steel orders for cheap alloy to pocket the difference, then planted the evidence in Alex's office.
Click.
The sound of a heavy metal door opening behind him made Alex stiffen.
He didn't turn around.
He knew the scent of that expensive, wood-fired cologne.
"You always did like the heights, Alex," a smooth, cultured voice said.
"Even when you were at the bottom, you'd look up at the stars.
It's a pity you never looked at the ground beneath your feet."
Alex finally turned.
Julian Reed stood there, shielded by a massive black umbrella held by a silent, stone-faced bodyguard.
Julian looked perfect, a three-piece charcoal suit, a diamond tie clip, and a smile that held no warmth.
"What do you want, Julian?" Alex's voice was a dry rasp.
"You took the company.
You took my inheritance.
You even took the girl.
There's nothing left to bleed out of me."
Julian stepped closer, his polished leather shoes crunching on the grit of the rooftop. "You see, that's the problem with geniuses. You're messy.
You're a loose end.
And lately, some nosy investigator from the National Safety Board has been digging into the old invoices from the bridge project."
Alex's heart hammered against his ribs. "Is that why you're here? To ask me to lie again?"
"No," Julian sighed, looking genuinely disappointed. "I'm here because dead men don't testify."
The bodyguard stepped forward.
Alex tried to stand, but his weakened legs buckled.
The tremors in his hands flared.
In a world of predators, he was a deer with broken legs.
"Do you know what today is, Alex?" Julian asked, checking his gold Patek Philippe watch.
"It's the anniversary of the day Mom and Dad died in that accident.
I thought it would be poetic if the Reed line ended on the same date.
A tragedy of incompetence and depression."
"You... you had a hand in their accident too?" Alex gasped, his eyes widening.
Julian leaned in, whispering so the rain almost drowned him out.
"They were going to leave the majority share to you, the creative heart.
I couldn't have that.
I'm the businessman.
I'm the one who knows how to make the Reed name mean money."
The bodyguard grabbed Alex by the collar of his soaked hoodie, lifting him effortlessly. Alex struggled, his weak punches landing uselessly against the man's muscular frame. Below them, thirty stories down, the traffic of Capital City moved like glowing veins of amber and red.
"Goodbye, little brother," Julian said, turning away. "I'll give you a beautiful funeral. Closed casket, of course."
The bodyguard didn't hesitate.
With a brutal shove, Alex was sent backward, over the railing.
For a second, there was no sound.
Only the feeling of weightlessness.
As Alex plummeted, the city lights blurred into long, golden streaks.
Rage...pure, incandescent heat erased the cold of the rain.
If there is a God, he thought, if there is a Devil... let me go back.
Give me one chance to tear it all down.
I'll give my soul.
I'll give everything.
The ground rushed up to meet him.
Total darkness swallowed his vision.
[CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE...]
[SOUL FREQUENCY DETECTED...]
[MATCHING HOST... COMPATIBILITY 100%]
[REVERSING TEMPORAL FLOW...]
Ding!
[Welcome, User 456
The Omni-Industry System is now online.]
Alex's eyes snapped open.
He wasn't cold.
He wasn't falling.
He was sitting on a plush, velvet chair.
The air smelled of expensive bourbon and old money.
In front of him, a massive mahogany desk shimmered under the warm glow of a crystal chandelier.
"Alex? Are you even listening? Or has that artistic brain of yours finally checked out?"
Alex looked up.
His breath hitched.
Sitting across from him was Julian.
But he looked younger, sharper, yet less guarded.
And next to Julian was their father, Thomas Reed, alive and well, frowning at a stack of legal documents.
Alex's hand flew to his chest.
His heart was beating steadily.
No tremors.
No weakness.
He looked down at his hands, they were steady, the skin clear and healthy.
A translucent blue screen floated in the center of his vision, invisible to the others.
[Current Date: May 14th, 2021]
[Status: The Discarded Heir]
[Mission: Prevent the inheritance trap in the next 10 minutes.]
[Reward: 100 Influence Points & First-Step Starter Pack.]
Alex realized with a jolt of adrenaline: This was the day.
The day he signed away his management rights to Julian for the sake of the family's stability.
The day his downfall began.
Thomas Reed tapped his fountain pen against the mahogany desk, the sound echoing like a ticking clock in the silence of the study.
"Alex," he said, his voice heavy with paternal disappointment.
"Julian has shown me the projections.
You're a brilliant architect, son, but your department is bleeding money on innovation and safety overruns.
We need to consolidate.
Sign these papers, and you can focus entirely on the designs while Julian handles the business side.
It's for the good of the Reed name."
In his previous life, Alex had felt a pang of guilt.
He had loved his father and trusted his brother.
He had picked up the pen and signed, thinking he was being a team player.
Now, Alex looked at the blue screen hovering in front of him.
[Mission: Prevent the inheritance trap ]
[Time Remaining: 08:42]
He looked at Julian.
His brother was leaning back, an expression of practiced concern on his face. But Alex saw it now, the slight twitch at the corner of Julian's mouth, the predatory stillness in his eyes.
Julian wasn't trying to save the company; he was trying to amputate Alex from the family tree before their father's will was finalized.
"The business side?" Alex asked, his voice steady, devoid of the tremor that had haunted him for years.
"You mean the side where you've been diverting the R&D budget into offshore accounts to make my department look like a failure?"asked Alex to Julian.
The room went ice-cold. Thomas Reed froze.
Julian's mask slipped for a fraction of a second, his eyes widening in genuine shock.
"Alex, what on earth are you talking about?" Julian laughed, though the sound was brittle.
"The stress must be getting to you.
You're rambling."
"Am I?" Alex stood up.
He felt a strange surge of power,not magic, but the absolute clarity of someone who knew exactly how the future was written. "Check the S-4 sub-ledger for the Skyline Project, Father.
Specifically the steel procurement orders. Julian has been using a shell company called Apex Logistics to overcharge us by thirty percent and pocketing the difference."
"That's a lie!" Julian snapped, standing up so quickly his chair scraped harshly against the floor.
"Father, he's clearly having some sort of breakdown.
This is exactly why he isn't fit for management!"
Thomas Reed looked between his two sons. He was a man of logic and numbers.
"Julian, sit down.
Alex... those are very specific accusations. How could you possibly know about a sub-ledger you don't even have access to?"
Ding!
[Skill Unlocked: Mental Calculation (Basic)]
[Effect: Your brain can now process data 5x faster than a normal human.
Memory recall is enhanced.]
Alex didn't blink.
He reached across the desk, grabbed a notepad and a pen, and began scribbling a string of numbers, bank account routing codes and transaction dates he had memorized during his three years of hellish poverty, when he had obsessed over how Julian had ruined him.
"Check these," Alex said, sliding the paper toward his father.
"If I'm wrong, I'll not only sign those papers, I'll leave the country and never ask for a cent of the inheritance.
But if I'm right... Julian is the one who needs to be removed from the board."
Thomas Reed looked at the numbers.
He was a veteran of the industry; he knew what a Swiss routing code looked like.
His face paled.
He picked up the desk phone to call his personal auditor.
Julian's face went from pale to a sickly, mottled red.
He lunged for the paper, but Alex stepped in his way, his new System-enhanced reflexes making Julian look like he was moving in slow motion.
Alex caught Julian's wrist with a grip like a steel vice.
"The business side is over, Julian," Alex whispered, leaning close so only his brother could hear.
"I know about the bridge.
I know about the accident you're planning for Mom and Dad next year.
And I promise you....you will never see a dime of this empire."
Julian's eyes filled with a primal, naked terror.
He didn't understand how his weak little brother had suddenly become a monster.
[Mission Accomplished!]
[Reward Issued: 100 Influence Points (IP)]
[Starter Pack Opened: You have received {Passive Skill: Investor's Eye and 1x Lucky Gacha Ticket ]
The door to the study opened, and their mother, Eleanor Reed, walked in, looking confused by the tension.
"Is everything alright in here? I thought we were going to dinner."
Alex let go of Julian's wrist.
He turned to his mother, and for the first time in years, a genuine, tearful smile broke across his face.
He walked over and hugged her.....a hug so tight she gasped in surprise.
"Everything is fine, Mom," Alex said, his voice thick with emotion.
"In fact, everything is going to be perfect."
Thomas Reed put the phone down.
His gaze on Julian was no longer one of affection, it was the look of a man who had just discovered a viper in his bed.
"Julian. Go to your room.
Do not leave.
We will have a very different conversation once the auditor calls me back."
"Father, listen....."
"Out!" Thomas roared.
As Julian slunk out of the room, looking like a whipped dog, Alex felt a hum of energy in his chest.
The blue screen updated.
[New Quest: Build the Foundation.]
[Objective: Acquire your first independent asset outside of the Reed Consortium.]
[Time Limit: 72 Hours.]
[Penalty for Failure: System Uninstallation.]
Alex checked his Status in his mind.
> Host: Alex Reed
> Level: 1
> IP: 100
> Assets: $250,000 (Personal Savings)
> Skills: Mental Calculation (Basic), Investor's Eye (Passive)
The Investor's Eye flickered to life.
Suddenly, as he looked around the room, certain objects began to glow with a faint light.
A painting on the wall had a green aura
(Value: Appreciating)
A vase on the mantle had a gray aura
(Value: Stagnant)
But then, he looked out the window at the city.
Far in the distance, a derelict industrial district, the Old Docks was glowing with an intense, blinding gold.
In 2021, the Old Docks were a wasteland. No one wanted them.
But Alex knew that in 2023, the government would announce a multi-billion dollar tech-hub initiative for that exact location.
He had the knowledge.
He had the System.
And now, he had the cold, hard ambition of a man who had already died once.
"Alex?" his father asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"How did you... how did you find out about Julian?"
Alex turned back to his father, his eyes shining with a frighteningly sharp light.
"Let's just say I had a very vivid dream about where we were all headed, Father.
And I've decided to change the ending."
He walked toward the door, his mind already calculating the first move of his new life.
He had several chapters of a story to write, story of his life which is going to build, story of a emperor and he wasn't going to waste a single one.
"I'm going out, Dad.
I have some land to buy."
As he stepped out of the mansion and into the warm May evening, the System chimed one last time for the day.
[Host has taken the first step toward Global Hegemony.]
[The world is recalculating...]
Alex Reed looked up at the stars.
The rain was gone.
The tremors were gone.
The Discarded Heir was dead.
The King was just getting started.
AN:-
Well that's it , the first chapter is finished
How did you like that ?
This is the story of Alex reeds global domination.
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