Up ahead on the pristine beach, several girls in bikinis were playing an energetic game of beach volleyball, their movements drawing admiring glances from everyone nearby. Farther out on the sparkling water, a sleek, luxurious yacht sped past dramatically, its powerful engines kicking up huge waves that went toward the shore. He didn't know what a yacht was, but it instantly made him want one.
Yachts, beauties, pristine beaches, when had the sheltered, chubby Rowan ever witnessed a scene like this in his entire life? Those boldly dressed bikini girls with their dynamic, athletic figures practically blinded him with their beauty, while that yacht struck directly at his deepest materialistic interests. He couldn't help imagining himself owning one just like it, sailing smoothly across Saintheart Lake with several gorgeous beauties lounging onboard, living the high life
Too bad he didn't have a single bill in his virtual pocket right now, which brought him crashing back to his disappointing reality. Still, now that he had a goal in mind, Rowan urgently needed to make money, and quickly.
Liberty City's gameplay systems were extremely sophisticated, even allowing entry into virtually every building throughout the sprawling metropolis. If you desperately wanted money, you could even work an honest job rather than resorting to crime, though the very concept seemed almost absurd to someone who'd never worked a day in his privileged life.
But working? That seemed... beneath him somehow. Impossible to consider seriously. How much could an ordinary job possibly pay anyway?
"Hello, are you hiring here?" Rowan asked hesitantly at a service counter, his voice betraying his complete inexperience.
Dreams were grand and glorious, but reality proved considerably harsher. After wandering around aimlessly for ages without finding any easy money-making opportunities, he finally noticed a colorful recruitment poster plastered on a roadside shop's window that immediately caught his desperate attention.
Now Hiring Riders - monthly Salary: One Million!
On the poster, a muscular centaur gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up gesture, his smile impossibly wide and encouraging. Seeing such a tempting advertisement with an absolutely astronomical salary figure, Rowan decisively chose this position as the starting point of his road to inevitable riches.
"We've been desperately short-handed lately, so you're coming at the perfect time!" the centaur boss exclaimed enthusiastically.
Ding!
[Employment Successful]
His assigned job: deliver food or packaged goods to customers throughout the city within strict time limits. A bright yellow safety vest materialized on his avatar, marking him officially as a delivery worker. This job actually felt pretty interesting; he'd never heard of such a profession existing before, since Lunaria definitely didn't have anything remotely like it, and besides, his wealthy family had never required him to work anyway, making this an entirely brand-new experience.
They even provided him with a small electric scooter for transportation, which seemed generous. Following the centaur boss's detailed instructions, he opened his mobile phone and examined the interface carefully. On Liberty City's comprehensive virtual map, the system was simple: yellow markers indicated pickup locations while pink markers showed delivery destinations. The workflow was straightforward: pick up goods at yellow markers, deliver to pink markers, and receive the payment. Simple enough for anyone to understand.
This was practically easy money, he thought confidently. Time to get to work and start building his fortune.
Humming cheerfully to himself as he climbed onto his scooter, Rowan felt genuinely optimistic. As soon as he accepted his first task confidently, a countdown timer suddenly appeared prominently on his screen; there was a strict time limit! He rode steadily toward the pickup point, quickly discovering that the scooter was exponentially easier to control than a full car, though considerably slower, which meant fewer catastrophic crashes. Since there appeared to be plenty of time remaining, he wasn't particularly hurried, taking the opportunity to enjoy the vibrant scenery.
He arrived at a roadside pickup location marked clearly on his map, a pizza shop with an inviting storefront. He'd never seen this particular type of food before in real life, but it looked absolutely delicious through the window, making his mouth water slightly. Unfortunately, the food wasn't ready yet when he arrived.
"Wait two minutes, almost done!" the harried cook called out.
Rowan waited patiently enough at first; two minutes seemed acceptable and reasonable. Then the cook called out again: "Wait two more minutes, almost ready!"
Hmm? Rowan's confidence wavered slightly.
"One more minute!" the cook promised.
Huh? The timer was ticking down rapidly now.
"Why are you rushing me so much? I said it's almost ready!" the cook snapped irritably when Rowan tried to hurry him.
Rowan froze in disbelief as the timer continued its relentless countdown, and he finally panicked completely, almost shouting frustrated curses at the incompetent cook. After repeated urgent pleading, the food finally emerged from the kitchen, and he rushed frantically toward the delivery point marked on his map, ignoring all red lights recklessly the entire way, barely managing to deliver it before the timer expired completely.
Ding!
[Cash +15]
That little?! Rowan's face fell dramatically. That was way too little money for all that stress! Actually, it wasn't unreasonably low. Alto had intentionally adjusted the payment rates carefully for proper gameplay balance and progression, but Rowan didn't know that and felt genuinely cheated.
Still, he kept working anyway, reasoning that once he got faster and more efficient, the money would accumulate quicker, and he'd simultaneously learn the city map layout better. His next order went considerably smoother, picked up a package efficiently, and delivered it successfully without drama.
[Cash +10]
Even less than before. Whatever, he'd continue grinding. "Whew…" While happily delivering his third order and feeling increasingly confident, a werewolf police officer suddenly whistled sharply at him and gestured firmly to stop immediately.
"Stop right there!"
"No helmet violation. Fine: 25 cash!"
[Traffic Violation Detected. Cash -25]
Rowan instantly overheated, his face flushing red; that was literally the money he'd JUST painstakingly earned over multiple deliveries! Back to zero in an instant. The pain almost broke him, but life had to go on regardless. Lesson learned the hard way, he thought.
He grabbed the safety helmet from the front basket where it had been sitting unused and put it on properly this time, securing the strap. Now he was completely foolproof and law-abiding. He continued his deliveries with renewed determination.
After several more successful runs without incident, his confidence gradually returned, and he became perhaps a little arrogant and careless. Then he discovered what seemed like a brilliant exploit in the system: you could actually accept multiple orders simultaneously! Two or three deliveries in a single efficient route! This represented massive time savings and exponentially better potential for earning money!
He mentally praised his own superior intelligence and business acumen. At this accelerated rate, becoming rich was absolutely inevitable! He immediately accepted two orders at once, feeling like a genius.
Time immediately became uncomfortably tight. He quickly collected both packages from their respective locations and rushed off toward the delivery points. He reached a rundown residential building and checked his phone, second-floor delivery. He parked the scooter hastily and hurried upstairs, the wooden stairs creaking ominously under his weight.
The apartment door opened slowly, revealing a massive, intimidating orc wearing nothing but a stained tank top, his muscular frame filling the entire doorway. Rowan broke into immediate cold sweat, genuinely frightened, but luckily, the orc simply grabbed the package wordlessly and slammed the door shut aggressively.
Delivery complete. Rowan exhaled in relief and ran downstairs rapidly toward his second destination, checking the timer anxiously. Time was almost up. He reached his parked scooter quickly and looked into the basket for the second package....
But the package was gone.
"..." Rowan stared in disbelief.
"Where's my stuff?! My giant package?!" he shouted at nobody in particular.
Ding!
[Delivery Failed. Lost Goods. Penalty Fine Applied.] [Cash -100]
"I... what the- are you KIDDING me?!" Rowan sputtered incoherently, his face turning purple. "I'm done! Big cities are way too hard and cruel! I'm going back to my peaceful Stardew Valley where life makes sense, waaah…"