°༺{PROLOGUE}༻°
Oakhaven was a city that never slept, but tonight, to Rowie Aleka, it felt like a very loud graveyard.
Rowie leaned his back against the damp brick wall of a narrow alleyway directly behind The Velvet. The scent of rotting trash mingled with the expensive, cloying perfumes wafting from the club's exhaust vents—a cocktail of nausea that suited his mood perfectly. In his hand, a bottle of warm, cheap beer was his only remaining companion.
"Bad boy? Give me a break," Rowie muttered, spitting onto the asphalt.
The local tabloids loved to call him the 'High-Class Rebel' because of his symmetrical features and that natural, defiant edge to his stride. But the reality? He was a man with zero connections in a city fueled exclusively by bloodlines and bank accounts. He was handsome, sure, but in Oakhaven, beauty without power was just a commodity—something to be consumed and discarded.
Earlier that evening, he'd been fired from his gig as a club promoter. His crime? Refusing to 'entertain' a billionaire widow who thought she could buy him like a decorative trinket. Now, he didn't even have enough scratch to cover the rent on his dilapidated apartment come morning.
"Loneliness comes with a hell of a price tag, Rowie," he whispered to himself, draining the last of the bitter dregs.
The moment the bottle went empty, a flash of electric blue light scorched his retinas. It was sharp, sudden, as if someone had fired a high-intensity laser directly into his pupils.
"Gah! Damn it!" Rowie cursed, squeezing his eyes shut against the sting.
But the light didn't fade. Instead, it coalesced into rows of text floating against the darkness of his eyelids.
༺ Highest Authority Initialization Process Starting... ༻
『 Good evening, Rowie Aleka. It seems your life has reached a rather pathetic nadir. Care to change that? 』
Rowie bolted upright. He threw his eyes open, scanning left and right. Nothing. Only a stray cat sat nearby, watching him with judgmental curiosity.
"Who's there? Hey! I'm not in the mood for jokes!" he shouted. His voice echoed flatly against the alley walls.
Instead of a human voice, a transparent panel—far more complex and shimmering with a painfully luxurious aesthetic—materialized in the air before him.
" Luxury Contract System Activated "
" User: Rowie Aleka | Level: 1 "
" Contract Coins: 10,000 "
" Unlocked Features: Luxury Procurement — Relationship Contracts — Absolute Dominance "
『 Stop shouting like a lunatic, Sir. I am inside your head. And the coins above? That is your starting balance. Spend them wisely... or don't. I truly don't care. 』
Rowie froze. He rubbed his eyes until they burned, even delivering a sharp slap to his own cheek. The sting was real, but the panel remained, hovering with silent elegance.
"Ten thousand coins?" Rowie let out a hollow laugh. "What is this? A hidden camera prank? Or have I finally lost my mind to malnutrition?"
He reached out to touch the panel. His fingers passed through the light, but the interface reacted. Suddenly, a catalog cascaded downward. These weren't everyday items.
" Luxury Procurement List - Level 1 "
* Sky-Tower Penthouse Unit: 5,000 Coins
* Nero-Veneno Sportscar: 3,000 Coins
* Instant Charisma (Permanent Buff): 1,000 Coins
Rowie laughed again, this time with a hint of hysteria. "Hahaha! Fine. If this is a dream, let's go out in a blaze of glory. Buy... buy it all!"
⫷ Transaction Confirmed ⫸
⫷ Asset Transfer In Progress... ⫸
『 Remaining Balance: 1,000 Coins. Congratulations, Sir. You are now the legal owner of the most expensive properties in the city. Please check your right pocket. 』
Rowie reached into the pocket of his battered leather jacket. His heart hammered against his ribs so hard he thought it might shatter bone. His fingers brushed against something cold, hard, and... heavy.
He pulled them out.
A titanium smart-key engraved with the Sky-Tower logo glinted under the flickering streetlight. Tucked beneath it was another fob—this one bearing the golden emblem of a charging bull.
"My... God..." Rowie's breath hitched.
This wasn't an illusion. The weight was real. The cold bite of the metal was real. Even the scent of new Italian leather that suddenly filled the stale alley air was real. The impossible had happened in the span of a heartbeat. His gutter-life had been razed to the ground and rebuilt by a mystery.
"Absolute Dominance..." Rowie read the feature name aloud, his voice now laced with a budding, dangerous hunger.
He'd spent his life being looked down upon. He was the 'bad boy' who played on the fringes. But now? He had the instruments to bring the world to its knees.
『 Sir, don't just admire the keys. Someone is heading your way. A potential target for your first contract. Would you like to test the [Relationship Contract] feature? 』
Rowie looked up. At the mouth of the alley, a woman appeared, walking with frantic, hurried steps. She wore a formal designer dress worth more than his life, but her hair was disheveled, and her face was as pale as a ghost's.
Rowie recognized her instantly. Everyone knew her. She was Elena Vane, the CEO of Vane Logistics—famed for being cold, arrogant, and utterly untouchable. They said she could end a man's career with a snap of her fingers.
But through Rowie's eyes, a system notification flared above her head.
" Target Detected: Elena Vane "
" Status: Desperate / On the Brink of Bankruptcy "
" Contract Difficulty: B (Cost: 1,000 Coins) "
Rowie smirked. He tucked his new keys into his pocket, straightened the collar of his jacket, and stepped out from the shadows. His presence felt different now—sharper, heavier, more commanding.
"You look like you're in need of a lifeline, Madam CEO," Rowie said, his voice dropping to a smooth, confident baritone that stopped Elena dead in her tracks.
Elena stared at him, her sharp eyes momentarily wavering. "Who are you? Get out of my way!"
Rowie didn't budge. He raised his right hand, and in his vision, a digital golden scroll unfurled in the air, waiting for a signature.
"Me?" Rowie whispered, leaning in. "I'm the man who's going to buy you."
༺ Eye Contact Established༻
༺Activate Contract? ༻
Rowie stared deep into Elena's eyes, his finger hovering over the 'Yes' button on a panel only he could see.
•————————oOo————————•
°© Rahmat Ry 2026~All rights reserved°