The only world where Raj existed was the one painted in pixels on his cracked monitor. In the real world, he was a zero. A ghost haunting the dusty storeroom of his own home, a space filled with discarded furniture and the lingering smell of mothballs. At fifteen, his world had shrunk to these four walls, a thin, lumpy mattress, and the constant, gnawing ache of hunger in his belly.
His parents, owners of a sprawling jewelry and real estate empire, saw him not as a son, but as a curse. A prophecy delivered at his birth by a strange old man had sealed his fate: "This boy will be the downfall of your house." And so, they had treated him as such. While they lived in luxury, he survived on scraps. While they were praised in high society, he was locked away, the family's dirty little secret.
Tonight, the hunger was particularly sharp. His fingers, thin and bony, flew across a second-hand keyboard, chasing freelance coding gigs for pennies just to survive. Suddenly, the screen flickered violently. Code dissolved into a bright, white light, and a single, sleek black box appeared in the center.
[ Welcome, Host. The Infinity System has been activated. ]
Raj blinked, rubbing his tired eyes. A virus? A prank? He moved his mouse to close the window, but his hand froze. Something about the clean, sharp text felt… real. He cautiously clicked 'Accept'.
The world around him dissolved for a second, replaced by a translucent blue screen that hovered in the air before his eyes.
— Infinity System —
Name: Raj
Level: 1
Status: Neglected, Malnourished
Daily Check-in: [Click to Complete]
His heart hammered against his ribs. This wasn't on his computer screen; it was in his vision. Trembling, he reached out and mentally 'clicked' the check-in button.
[ Daily Check-in Complete. ]
[ Congratulations, Host. Your first check-in has triggered a Beginner's Luck Reward. ]
[ Reward Received: ₹1,00,000 (One Lakh Indian Rupees) ]
[ Bonus Reward: Skill - Absolute Comprehension (Passive) ]
A notification from his long-dormant banking app pinged on his phone. He snatched it up, his hands shaking so hard he almost dropped it.
'Your account has been credited with ₹1,00,000.00.'
It was real. The money was real.
A wave of giddiness and disbelief washed over him. But then, another notification from the System appeared on the blue screen.
[ Skill: Absolute Comprehension (Passive) - Allows the host to instantly understand any concept, language, or technology observed. ]
He looked at the complex code on his monitor, a project that would have taken him a week to decipher. Suddenly, it made perfect sense. Every line, every function, every potential error was laid bare in his mind, as simple as reading a children's book.
This was more than money. This was power.
The first thing he did wasn't to celebrate. It was to satisfy the most basic, primal need he had. He snuck out of the house, his movements quiet as a cat, and walked to the nearest 24/7 restaurant. He ordered everything he had ever dreamed of eating—biryani, butter chicken, kebabs, a sizzling brownie with ice cream. He ate until he was full for the first time in years.
With a full stomach and a clear head, he walked into a brightly lit electronics store. "I want your best phone," he said, his voice hoarse from disuse. He paid in cash, the crisp notes a foreign feeling in his hands.
Walking back towards the house that was never a home, a cold resolve settled in his heart. He wasn't going back into that storeroom. He wasn't going to be their zero anymore. He would sleep on a park bench if he had to.
Tomorrow, he would check in again. And the day after that. This system was his escape.
And his weapon. The prophecy was right. He would be the downfall of their house. He was going to make them pay for every skipped meal, every cold night, every ounce of pain they had inflicted upon him.
For the first time in his life, Raj smiled. It was not a happy smile. It was the smile of a predator that had just found its claws.