The golden screen was bright and smug like a cosmic middle finger.
[First Quest: Spend 100 Billion Dollars in 12 Hours!]
[Penalty for Failure: Organ Harvesting! The system will also deactivate and all the transactions will be reversed!]
And then, there was a loud chime.
DING!
[You have received 100 Billion Dollars! Go and crash the economy!]
Selene's heart thumped once. Hard.
Not because she was confused out of her wits.
But because she was two seconds away from being captured by people who thought family meeting and hospital kidnapping were same thing. And the only weapon she had… was money.
And a vending machine six feet away.
Selene took a deep breath and then exhaled, 'Focus, Selene, focus! You have money. Money solves everything. Even murder… probably.'
'Wait, but how do I know for sure this money is real?'
'For all I know, I might really be insane—'
Ding!
[Current World's Payment Infrastructure Analyzed!]
[New Update Installed!]
Selene's phone vibrated violently.
She instinctively opened it and saw the screen flash gold before a new app materialized on her home screen—its logo was a grinning emoji with dollar eyes.
[Congratulations, host! The InstaPay app has been successfully installed on your device! You can now make all payments directly through InstaPay. It will function just like the world's existing payment apps but with superior, billionaire-grade efficiency!]
Adrian folded his hands and scowled, "Selene, you're just standing there like a weirdo! Just return to the ward. There's nothing you can do."
Selene ignored him and went to the vending machine with narrowed eyes.
Guard one grumbled into his walkie-talkie, "Subject is approaching vending machine."
Guard two mumbled in a sad voice, "I had a cousin. Cried over broken GitGat once."
The nurse checked the security document on her tablet and shook her head, "As long as the patient doesn't assault the vending machine, it's fine."
Beep!
A small digital receipt popped up in Selene's phone as she bought a pack of tomato-flavored chips.
Transaction Completed!
Four hundred and nine, nine dollars deducted!
For a second, Selene just stood there, bag of chips dangling from her hand, face completely expressionless. Then she smiled, slowly, creepily, like a villain in a kids' cartoon.
Adrian took one look at her smile and threw up his hands in exasperation. "She's gone," he huffed, "She's absolutely gone. Someone sedate her before she—"
He didn't get to finish.
Selene turned on her heel, marched to her ward room, slammed the door so violently that dust would have rained from the ceiling tiles if it were not a VIP hospital, and shouted:
"Nap time!"
The corridor was completely silent.
Adrian stood frozen.
Then, he looked at the nurse with wide eyes, "Why the hell does Selene have her phone?"
Selene slumped on the hospital bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin as she silently stared at the ceiling and wondered, 'How do I have so much money all of a sudden? Isn't that illegal???'
Her expression became more and more confused.
Seeing her do nothing but stare at the ceiling, a system window popped up.
Ding!
[Mandatory Hourly Spending Requirement Activated!]
[The player must spend Eight Billion Dollars Every Hour!]
[Failure to complete the requirement will result in Penalty Zone!]
Selene stared at the floating golden text curiously, "It can't be that hard."
A slow, almost giddy feeling crept into her heart as she opened the InstaPay app. She had been drowning in debt. Student loans. Missed rents. Credit card bills. One thing after another kept going wrong, and she never had her account balance in the positive.
Now, with a hopeful smile, Selene instantly paid all her debts!
Ding!
'Transaction Complete! Two Hundred Dollars Paid for Student Loans!'
Ding!
'Two Million Dollars Paid to Loan Sharks!'
Ding!
'Five thousand dollars paid to the Landlord!'
Ding!
'Ten thousand dollars paid to We Care Credit Card Services!'
[Ding! 2 Star Coins Received!]
All the transactions were instantly completed. Some of the debt collectors even called Selene to confirm if it was she who repaid those loans! Some threatened to call the police if she had given them any money acquired through shady means.
The moment Selene had spent ten million dollars, she received another system notification.
Ding!
[Safe Transaction Limited Exceeded! Activating InstaPay Phantom Mode!]
[All your transactions before midnight will be anonymous!]
Ding!
[Asset Shop Unlocked! Would you like to explore the shop?]
[Yes? No? Maybe?]
Selene tapped on yes, and the golden screen shimmered, showing a long list of categories:
Real Estate
Transportation
Luxury Goods You Definitely Don't Need
Selene let out a small laugh, cracked her knuckles and went straight to work! First, it was a penthouse. High up. Bulletproof windows. Private elevator. A massive underground bunker and even a shark lake.
Ding!
Transaction Completed
Five Million Dollars have been deducted!
Next, it was Mariah.
Her nanny deserved more than the moldy, small house she lived in. Selene bought a small fortress that looked out of fairytales for seven million.
Selene kept swiping. Buying new things for their houses and more. Furniture. Security systems. A massive collection of overpriced silk robes.
Buying it all was addictively easy—dangerously easy.
Ding!
[Hourly Requirement Completed! Timer Reset!
[Continue spending 8.3 Billion Dollars every hour to avoid Penalty Zone!]
After ten more seconds, Selene's brow creased.
The more she scrolled through the Asset Store, the stranger she felt. After a certain point, the listings were… bizarre.
A diamond-studded goat farm in Swaggerland.
A floating sush restaurant with very real teleportation gates.
A 'time-travel-themed' spa that cost more than half a small country's GDP.
Selene stared blankly, "This is it? You expect me to spend my way out of death by buying… sushi boats and alpacas?"
The system responded instantly.
[Player is encouraged to think realistically. You can not buy everything online like this.]
Selene sighed dramatically and threw up her hands, "Well I can not go outside! How else do you think I would be able to buy anything?"
Right then, another golden pop-up appeared with a excited soundtrack and confetti.
[Player Profile Opened!]
[Congratulations! First Skill Selection Available!]
[Choose wisely. Or stupidly. However you would like your life to be.]
Selene blinked as a full RPG-style character sheet unfolded:
Player: Selene Sinclair
Level: 1 (Certified Disaster)
Title: Involuntary Billionaire
Current Balance: $91,980,000,000
Skills: None
Buffs: None
Achievements: (1) "Didn't Die Immediately"
[Skill Selection Unlocked: Pick ANY Skill You Want!]
[Warning: Some skills may come with unexpected side effects.]
Selene widened her eyes, "Any skill I want? Anything?"
The system responded with a holographic "YES!".
"Well… then," Selene said with a smirk, "I want a Master of Disguice skill so that I can easily slip away from this hospital and change my disguice whenever, wherever I want!"
Another confetti shower exploded.
[Skill Granted: Master of Disguise!]
[Effect: Become unrecognizable for 5 minutes.]
[Cooldown: One Month.]
Selene rolled her eyes in disappointment. But since there was no time to be wasted, Selene strode towards the cupboard where her old clothes—faded blue jeans, a loose white shirt, and beaten sneakers—were stuffed inside a plastic bag.
Changing in record time, she immediately activated the skill.
[Master of Disguise Skill Activated!]
[Due to low level, you have been granted a random appearance!]
Instantly, Selene's face, posture, her clothes, and even her vibe changed.
Now, she looked like a tired, overworked medical intern who was on printer jam away from homicide.
When Selene stepped outside, there were only two guards involved in a heated discussion with the nurse. The moment she closed the door behind her, all three of them snapped their heads in her direction.
One of the guards glared, "Who are you?"
Selene ignored him and calmly walked away. None of them bothered to interrogate her since she was in hospital clothes.
The nurse sighed, "When did we hire another gremlin?"
Selene swiftly entered the elevator and checked her disguise.
[Skill Timer: Three Minutes Left!]
She wasted no time hurrying out of the elevator as soon as the gates opened. A few of the nurses even scrambled away from her path, while some cursed her, most thought there must be some sort of medical emergancy.
Selene got inside the nearest cab one second before her disguise vanished.
The driver froze.
Ding!
[Master of Disguise Skill Deactivated!]
[+5 Sneaky Points Awarded!]
The driver turned back and stared in shock. Selene stared back. Both of them blinked, and then, slowly, as if not sure of his own words, the driver mumbled, "You're not the one who got into my car…!"
Selene smiled innocently, "Who else would it be?"
The driver had no answer.
"Crystal Avenue, please," Selene added.
The driver reluctantly returned his attention to the road like nothing had happened. Selene let out a breath and leaned back in the seat.
The city raced past the window like a dream she didn't believe in anymore.
The system screen floated lazily in front of her, cheerful in its threat:
[Hourly Spending Requirement: 53 Minutes Remaining.]
[Target: $8,333,333,333.33]
[Amount Spent: $0]
[Complete the requirement in time to avoid the Penalty Zone!]
Selene muttered under her breath, "Yeah, yeah, golden corporate overlord. I'm working on it… by the way, what is this Penalty Zone?"
[All Penalties are conducted in Penalty Zone!]
The system answered helpfully.
Selene frowned, feeling too tired to interact further. Her eyes returned to the golden numbers—an insane amount of money she thought she would never see again in her life. But now, it was so close to being entirely hers.
Her hands itched to spend.
Her heart itched to scream.
Instead, she pulled up her contacts and hit the call button for Mariah.
It rang once. Twice.
"Selene?" The voice that answered was furious, heavy.
Selene smiled, a real one this time. Small. Bitter. Alive.
Mariah did not like the lack of response, she snapped urgently, "Where the hell are you? That bastard fiance refused to tell me anything! All kinds of rumors are spreading around, and your kittens are shitting everywhere in my house!"
Selene sighed and mumbled, "Well, I will come there to get the kittens soon. Don't worry."
Her eyes drifted back to the golden screen.
The timer was ticking every second.
What if she fails to complete the hourly requirement?
Mariah grumbled some curses under her breath and responded, "That witch Bianca had already convinced everyone you are crazy. If you don't get your ass out of this city right now, they are gonna shove you into mental ward before the day ends."
Selene blinked.
She was sure Bianca would do that, but then again, she had ninety billion dollars in her bank account. Should that not be enough to defeat Bianca? Even if only for 12 hours…?
Mariah kept talking, fierce and fast, "Run, kid. Rob some McDuckers, take fake passport, hell, take some taco truck and drive out of the city. Just get the hell out of this place!"
Selene let out a heavy sigh.
And then, she smiled slowly. Dangerously.
"I am not running this time, nanny."
The timer continued to tick like a slow bomb.
Selene watched her reflection twist in the glass—sleepy eyes, a battered shirt, and her lips dry from all the nervous biting. She looked like a broke, exhausted raccoon of a human.
But now, she grinned anyway.
"I'm gonna be so rich," Selene whispered, "Even my funeral will have a five-star Yelk rating."
Mariah was silent for a long, long time.
And then, she muttered in a dejected voice, "Goddam, you stupid girl. I will come meet you in the asylum. Don't die. Asylums are not that bad!"
And then, the line cut.