With those words, the world around him started to disintegrate and when he looked down, his body too was crumbling like pixels being deleted.
This was a surreal experience for him, and he still doesn't know if this is just a dream or a hallucination. But he'll trust the words that girl told him, that she was giving him a massive opportunity.
Seconds later, his vision turned black, and then moments after, replaced by a new surroundings. The first thing he saw was the ceiling with a fan mounted on it, blowing air down at his face. He turned his eyes to the right and saw frantic medical frontliners tending wounds and injuries of the other patients.'
Could it be that they are passengers from his bus? He tried looking at the other patients but the doctors and nurses were blocking the way.
"Doc, we have a conscious one here!" one of the nurses called out and the doctor.
A male doctor in his fifties approached him and checked his vitals.
"Is he the conductor?"
"It appears so doc in his uniform," the nurse confirmed.
The doctor checked his vitals.
"It appears that his vitals are fine. We'll monitor if there is other development. For the meantime, let's focus on the other patients. Some were critical."
"Very well doc," the nurse said before leaving Andrew's side.
Andrew sighed that he was fine and it appeared that the weird circumstances earlier was just a dream—
[Black Tech System is now Online! You can now use the features of the system.]
[Missions will be provided to you soon.]
[Check out your inventory for the welcoming bonus]
Three floating holographic interfaces appeared before his eyes. And despite it being visually apparent with its glowing textures, the doctors or the nurses couldn't seem to see it hovering mid-air.
So he was the only one who could see the system interface?
He tried interacting with it by trying to touch it but the moment his fingers reached the interface, it went right through.
"So I can't touch it huh?" Andrew muttered under his breath. So everything was real. The girl and everything.
Now, what about that welcoming bonus? He thought of the word 'inventory' and the inventory tab of the system appeared.
[You have one welcome chest available for unlocking!]
A message appeared upon opening the inventory. And there it was, in one of the cells of the inventory, a glowing chest.
[Would you like to open the chest?]
[Yes/No]
Of course who wouldn't want to?
The curiosity got the better of him and so he chose yes.
[Congratulations: You have received 100,000$ and was now deposited to your account! Go settle your debts, buy a house, start a new life. Because from this moment forward, everything in your life will change! You are going to be the richest and smartest man on the planet.]
"Eh?" Andrew read the message in his mind and was shocked.
Is the system pranking him or something? Giving him a copious amount of money? Like is it even possible?
Just as he was trying to comprehend it, a familiar voice rang out in the emergency room.
"Andrew! Andrew!"
Her voice cut through the noise in the emergency room.
He turned his head. His neck felt stiff, heavy. At the edge of his vision, he saw her pushing past a nurse, one hand clutching her bag to her chest, the other gripping the rail of a stretcher for balance.
His mother looked smaller than he remembered.
Her hair was pulled back in a hurry. Her blouse was wrinkled. One sandal didn't quite match the other. Her eyes were red, unfocused, scanning bed after bed until they landed on him.
"Andrew–"
She stopped short when she saw him awake.
Andrew tried to sit up. A sharp ache ran through his side and he stopped. "Ma," he said, his voice rough.
She was at his side in an instant. Her hands hovered over him, not quite touching, like she was afraid he would disappear if she did.
"Don't move," she said quickly. "Please. Don't move."
"I'm okay," he said. It came out weaker than he wanted. "I think."
Her hand finally landed on his arm. It was warm. Real.
She laughed once, a broken sound, then wiped her face with the back of her hand. "They said the conductor was unconscious. They wouldn't let me see you. I thought—"
She didn't finish.
Andrew swallowed. "I'm here."
She nodded, again and again, like she was convincing herself. "You scared me," she said. "You really scared me."
A nurse stepped closer. "Ma'am, he's stable for now. Please try to stay calm."
"Yes. Yes," his mother said, nodding at the nurse, then looking back at Andrew. "I came as soon as I heard. I borrowed fare. Your brother is with the neighbor. Your sister—she wanted to come but—"
"It's fine," Andrew said. "I'm fine."
She studied his face, like she was checking for cracks. Then she sat down on the plastic chair beside his bed, her knees shaking slightly as she did.
"Don't worry my son, I'll look for someone that can lend us some money to get out of the hospital. You must recover okay?"
"But mom, we are already drowning in debt, and how about your dialysis treatment?"
"It's fine," she said. "I don't care."
Andrew stared at her. "Ma, you can't say that. You still have to—"
"Andrew," she cut in, voice low. "Listen to me."
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. Her hands were rough, fingertips stained faintly from sewing and cleaning. She kept them clasped tight like she was holding herself together.
"You are alive," she said. "That's what matters."
Andrew swallowed. The pain in his ribs pulsed with each breath. "But the bills—"
"I'll handle it," she said again, and this time it wasn't comfort. It was stubbornness. "I'll go to your tita. I'll go to the neighbor. I'll go to the barangay. I'll talk to the social worker. I'll sign anything. Just—recover."
Then he realized something, since this is an accident caused by a truck, then their bill shouldn't be on them, it should be on the responsible party.
"I don't think we'll have to pay for hospital bills, ma. We are covered by the company of the driver of the truck. You don't have to borrow money."
"Really?"
"Yeah I just realized it. For now, I'll take a rest here, don't worry too much about me ma, I'm doing really well. I'll spend a few days here in the hospital."
"I'll look over the papers," she said, still not convinced. "I don't want them tricking us. Hospitals are fast when it comes to money."
Andrew nodded. "Okay. Ask the nurse where the billing office is. Tell them it's a vehicular accident, that there's a police report. They'll have a process."
His mother stood up slowly, like her legs didn't trust the floor. "I'll ask," she said. "Stay there. Don't do anything."
"I won't," Andrew replied.
She walked toward the nurse's station, weaving around a stretcher that came in with a man holding his side. Andrew watched her go until the crowd swallowed her.
He turned his eyes back to the ceiling.
What a life. First he got into an accident, now he has a system that he still couldn't believe. Not to mention the money. Well, the only way to confirm that is by checking his bank account at the nearest ATM. But that would be impossible as all patients are guarded.
"I guess I'll have to wait then."