After feeling that he understood enough, he opened Chrome and began asking the system inside his mind.
"System, what should I do?" Kael whispered inwardly.
[ You can go to the Mt. Gokss website to create your wallet. ]
"Hah.. I completely forgot. No bank account, no identity, even making a deposit is impossible." Kael rubbed his face slowly, only now realizing how complicated it was to start from zero.
[ Host, that obstacle can be resolved. The system has access to utilize your mother's identity and bank account. ]
"Amazing! You really are reliable, system. Just do it." Kael thought, the corner of his lips lifting slightly, clearly satisfied with the solution.
Kael knew this would not harm his mother. He would still use his own money for the deposit; his mother's identity would only be used for administrative access.
He had also understood one thing from the beginning.
No matter what, this system would never endanger him, let alone the people around him.
With that belief, Kael felt at ease.
Kael opened the Mt. Gokss site and began registering an account. When he reached the identity verification stage, the process was instantly skipped, the system had already filled it in using his mother's data.
After the registration was complete, Kael returned to the deposit menu, ready to proceed to the next step.
"I forgot, I also have to go to the ATM using Mom's card to deposit, but how am I supposed to do that? What excuse should I use?" Kael muttered inwardly, finding himself more confused by trivial matters than by his grand plan.
[ Host, do not worry about anything. The system can handle everything. ]
Hearing that, Kael felt pleased instead. With the system, everything seemed much easier.
"In that case, I still have the chicken-shaped savings box at home. Use all of it as the deposit," he muttered in his mind, smiling faintly.
[ Understood, Host. ]
...
At Kael's rented house.
A woman in her mid-thirties, Kael's mother, Kamila Azrifa. Her face was still beautiful, though fine lines at the corners of her eyes showed how often she was worn down by exhaustion and the pressures of life.
She was sitting on the bed, staring at the little girl in front of her who looked on the verge of tears.
"Mama, I accidentally dropped Brother's chicken savings box. But why does it feel so light?"
A six-year-old girl held a yellow plastic chicken-shaped savings box. She shook it gently, her face full of confusion. It should have felt heavy, yet there was almost no weight in her hands.
Kamila fell silent for a moment, thinking her daughter was exaggerating. She soothed the little girl and took the savings box from her hands.
The moment she held it, Kamila felt the strangeness herself.
Light.
Too light.
The fine wrinkles on her face deepened.
Hesitantly, she peeked through the small slot where money was inserted. She tilted the box and shook it again.
But there was no sound of coins.
No rustling of banknotes.
Empty.
Kamila froze. Her mind went blank for a moment before filling with confusion.
How could the money disappear?
That savings box had never been opened. Never moved. She was absolutely certain. Her hand gripped the plastic chicken tighter, as if hoping the money would suddenly reappear.
Her chest felt tight.
What troubled her more than the money was Kael.
How was she supposed to explain this?
Kael was always careful. Always calculating every rupiah. That savings box was the result of his hard work, money he had set aside little by little. Kamila knew how important it was to him.
She looked at the little girl in front of her, then forced a thin smile.
"It's okay, sweetie," she said softly, even though her heart was far from calm. "Let Mama check it again, yeah..."
But inside her mind, the question kept spinning.
What actually happened?
And how would she explain this to Kael later?
...
"Wow, this is my savings from several years. I didn't expect it to be this much. But as far as I remember, I already gave all this money to my mother to pay the rent for a whole year."
Kael muttered inwardly.
[ Deposit to address 1KxA******BvS6JH successful. ]
[ Deposit amount: 1,353,200 IDR ]
[ Equivalent value: ±508.7 BTC ]
[ Status: Waiting for network confirmation… ]
[ Confirmation 1/6 reached. ]
[ Confirmation 6/6 reached. ]
[ Asset available and ready to use. ]
Kael was astonished and murmured inwardly, "So advanced… this is my savings from several years."
"I can't believe I own this much BTC. I'm actually trembling."
"But as far as I remember, this money should have all been given to my mother to pay the yearly rent."
A sense of unease slipped into his chest.
There was discomfort, as if he was touching something that should not yet be used.
But Kael quickly calmed himself.
Technically, this was like using "hot money," money that was supposed to be used for essential needs in the near future.
But wasn't this also for the future?
Besides, he wasn't taking it for pleasure.
He was only moving it temporarily, circulating it, hoping to return it in a much larger amount.
"Calm down."
"I know what I'm doing," He thought.
With his resolve steadily strengthening, Kael did not realize that he himself was slowly beginning to change.
When the billing time had forty minutes remaining, his fried noodles arrived, complete with a warm bottled tea freshly prepared.
While waiting, Kael opened the browser and began searching for things that would appear in the future, companies that did not yet exist in 2010 but would become giants by 2025.
Xiaomai, for example. A small electronics company in China that would later become one of the world's technology giants.
He also noted Cesla, an electric car manufacturer that was still experimental now, but whose autonomous vehicles and clean energy would dominate the global market in the future.
Kael added Amazon, which already existed but would reach an unmatched scale in logistics; and BitDance, still a small startup at the moment, which would dominate digital entertainment and social media with an app called Shortvid.
Each name he recalled made his heart beat faster. All of it was still far beyond the reach of people in the present, and Kael could see it before anyone else.
Quickly, he began forming small strategies in his mind. "If I have capital at this time…" Kael muttered, his eyes shining. "All these opportunities can be used to accumulate unimaginable wealth."
On the other hand, his hunger and the warmth of the fried noodles pulled him back to reality. Even if a vast future awaited him, for now, it was better to enjoy this delicious egg fried instant noodle.
"Mamma mia delicious…" Kael said as he enjoyed his meal. Arya beside him was also eating, smiling.
They chatted while eating, like two old friends.
When the billing time reached ten minutes remaining, Kael put his bag back on and turned to Arya. "See you again, thanks for helping earlier, by the way. Hope we meet again," he said with a faint smile.
Arya replied with a light nod and a smile. "No problem my guy. We're friends now."
Kael took out eight thousand rupiah from his pocket and handed it to the internet café attendant. "Alright, thank you." he muttered softly.
That money was what Kael had earned through hard work. Usually, he set it aside for savings and daily allowance. Now, he still had about five thousand rupiah left.
Normally, he was very frugal and rarely spent much, but today he did not mind. He knew that much greater money would come soon, and he would no longer need to hold himself back.
He left and walked home through a shortcut, with a public cemetery on both sides. It was still two in the afternoon, and Kael did not feel afraid at all. Besides, he was already used to it.
When he was young, he often played here with his friends. Sometimes they collected jasmine flowers growing around the graves to sell to people visiting, who wanted to decorate their family members' resting places.
As he looked around, his eyes landed on a group of people dressed in black, gathered beside a grave.
When Kael looked at the grave, he realized that someone had just been buried. The soil was still fresh, and several people were scattering flowers on top.
But Kael's attention shifted when he noticed a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties standing there. She was dressed differently and simply stood still, staring at the grave. He could see damage on her face, but Kael dismissed it as a hallucination due to the distance.
Kael stared longer, occasionally glancing at the road, and eventually something inside him told him that this was not a real human.
Suddenly, the figure lifted her head and seemed to glare sharply at Kael with her fish-like eyes.
Kael immediately turned forward, pretending to walk casually. "F*ck."
On the surface he tried to stay calm, but his heart was in panic. He kept repeating no in his mind.
"Hell no, I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything," he said inwardly.
Within Kael's mind, he realized that he could visualize the figure without looking directly at it. Like a toy figure, viewable from any angle.
He refocused his mind while walking. The figure's body was covered in wounds, bruises and gashes exposing bone, with maggots and pus oozing from them.
The back of her scalp was partially open, the skin still attached but sagging, so that from behind, her pale brain was visible.
Kael felt nauseous and held his breath, but he knew he had to get used to the disgust, the nausea, and the fear. Because someday, he would often encounter beings like this, or ones far more terrifying and revolting.
[ Past before the spirit's death detected. Would you like to view it? ]
Kael stopped in his tracks, startled. He could even see a spirit's past?
Curious, he answered yes.