Arthur sat in his tiny apartment, which now felt like a monk's cell inside a golden cathedral. He was wearing a shirt with a frayed collar, staring at the number on his screen. One hundred and ninety-two billion.
"Every business I build creates value," Arthur whispered to the shadows. "So, I will stop building. I will start destroying. I will go after the one thing that has no value: Bad Debt."
The Plan: "The Great Erasure"
Arthur summoned Captain Li and Lin Xia. He looked like a man possessed.
"We are going to buy debt," Arthur announced. "Not good debt. I want the most toxic, unrecoverable, 'dead' debts in the world. Medical debts of the bankrupt, student loans of the unemployed, predatory payday loans. We will buy them for pennies on the dollar, and then—instead of collecting them—we will burn the records."
"Sir," Captain Li stammered, "That is... that is direct loss. You are spending billions to buy paper that you will then destroy. There is no return. There is no infrastructure. There is no way for this to make money."
"Exactly!" Arthur cheered. "And to manage this, I want to hire 50,000 'Debt Counselors.' Their only job is to call people and tell them, 'You owe nothing. Have a nice day.' We will pay these employees six-figure salaries and give them offices in the most expensive skyscrapers in the world."
Point of View: Captain Li (The Liberator)
Li looked at the lists of names—millions of people drowning in interest.
The Young Master is not a businessman, Li thought, his heart pounding. He is a Great Liberator. He is using his billions to break the invisible chains of the modern world. He wants to see what a human being can achieve when the shadow of debt is lifted from their shoulders. He told me to 'waste' money because he knows that a person's freedom is worth more than any bank balance.
Point of View: Lin Xia (The Silent Guardian)
Lin Xia watched as the first million "Debt Cleared" notices were sent out. The world went silent for a moment, and then the explosion of gratitude began.
Arthur, you are trying to delete your wealth, she mused, but you are accidentally buying the most valuable resource in history: Universal Gratitude. And a world that is grateful... is a world that wants to give back.
The "Failure" of the Debt Erasure
Six months into the project, Arthur was ready to celebrate his bankruptcy. He had spent billions buying debt and millions on salaries. He waited for the "System Depleted" notification.
[Ding!]
[Project: The Great Erasure]
Status: GLOBAL ECONOMIC STIMULUS.
The "Flaw": By clearing the debt of 50 million people, Arthur accidentally triggered the greatest consumer spending boom in history. The economy surged.
The "Accident": The 50 million people, out of pure gratitude, formed the "Chen Volunteer Corps." They began using their newly free time to fix infrastructure, plant trees, and innovate for free. The "Gratitude Economy" created a new currency that replaced the old one.
Outcome: The value of the "Chen Brand" is now estimated at ¥500,000,000,000.
Penalty: Next Project Capital: ¥384,000,000,000. Arthur's Salary: ¥5,000.
Q