In the hospital hallways, a man with a disheveled appearance stands facing the window. His face is haggard and dark circles are clearly visible in both eyes.
Alex's eyes are focused on the water droplets on the window. His lips are pressed tightly together, but his mind is as noisy as a broken record. Alex can't stop thinking about his daughter-Bianca-who is sick, as well as the problems that have hit him hard.His property company had gone bankrupt. There is nothing left. Alex's savings had also been used up to pay off debts and he is still unemployed.Alex let out a long sigh for the umpteenth time, then he sits down on the waiting chair. He looks at Bianca lying limp in the hospital bed, then at his wife's family members who stare at him sarcastically.Ever since Alex's company went bankrupt and he no longer had a high income, his wife's family always blamed him. It seemed as if Alex was the source of his problems, even though he had worked hard to save his property company.Especially, his wife-Jasmine Sans. She didn't stop complaining in the past week, and even started shouting at Alex as a useless unemployed person.It is not easy to find a job in this small town. New Hampshire doesn't have many jobs related to his skill set, despite his competence. Someone recommended Alex to go to Texas, but he doesn't have enough money to go there."Oh my God. How is it now? What about Bianca's medical bills?" Jasmine chuckled, almost shouting. She stomped her pointed heels on the tile floor, then looked at her husband in exasperation. "How about now? Who will pay for Bianca's medical bills? You have nothing left and you're taking her to this expensive hospital!"Alex opens his mouth to speak, but his mother-in-law interrupts sharply, "When your company went bankrupt, you should have looked for a job immediately. See what's happening now? Bianca is sick and you don't have the money to pay for it," Mrs. Anne said with an exasperated hiss.The 48-year-old stares at her son-in-law reluctantly, as if Alex is a disgusting piece of shit.Alex takes a deep breath to calm the anger that is slowly rising in his heart. He had had his fill of all sorts of insults, but his mother-in-law always had a stock phrase to step on his pride."Mom, I've been trying to find a job, but…""What did you try to find a job?" Now it was his father-in-law's turn to criticize. Mr. Victor Sans snorted and continued cursing, "What efforts? If so, where are the results? It's been a week since Jasmine complained that you didn't give her a penny. Are you going to feed my children and grandchildren rocks? Is that it?"Jasmine nods her head in agreement with her father's words."What good are you as a husband? You're just torturing my daughter and granddaughter."Alex sighs wearily. " Dad, please understand. Even though my situation is difficult, I will still be responsible. I won't let Jasmine and Bianca suffer. They have always lived in luxury and now please understand that I...""Enough!" Mr. Victor swung his hand in the air, cutting off Alex's sentence in annoyance. The corners of his lips pulled into a dismissive grin. "Your daughter is already in the hospital and you're just sitting here. Do you think money will fall from the sky on its own?""Dad, what do you expect from him? His company has gone bankrupt and he has nothing left." John Sans who is Alex's brother-in-law chimed in with a scornful expression.Alex clenched his hands together angrily. He wants to hit his brother-in-law who always interfered with his life, but if he does that, everyone will hate him even more."I won't abandon Jasmine or Bianca. I will get the money to pay for my daughter's medical bills," Alex said solemnly. However, his words seemed to be taken for granted.Jasmine rolls her eyes lazily, clearly not believing her unemployed husband's words. She prefers to stare boredly at her nails, then straightens her blonde hair.Alex turns to stare at his two in-laws who sneer in disbelief. They were glancing at Alex with pursed lips, the dismissive gaze not fading in the slightest.Not only the in-laws, John Sans shook his head and pretended to make a concerned face.Alex rubbed his face in frustration. No one believed in him anymore, not even his own wife. Is everything really judged by money? Do they only see how much he has?When he was rich and wealthy, everyone adored him. There was always a twinkle in their eye and a smile on their lips. Their words were sweeter than honey.However, when his world is turned upside down and he is down, everyone instantly hates him. Considering him trash or dirt that needed to be removed immediately.Maybe Alex could put up with the insults of others, but his wife already seemed fed up with him."It's called bad luck. Already broke, Bianca is sick too. Maybe you're the bearer of that bad luck," his mother-in-law said in a low, contemptuous voice.Alex couldn't take the insults anymore. He stood up from his chair and looked at his family with his face flushed with annoyance."I told you, I can pay for Bianca's medical bills! Don't you understand?! I just need time!" Alex's loud voice overpowered the falling rain. Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the man, staring in surprise.But a second later, dismissive smiles appeared on their lips. Jasmine laughed and shook her head, as if Alex was cracking an outrageously funny joke."Wow, did you hear that?" Mrs. Anne clapped her hands excitedly and looked at her son-in-law with an amused smile. "He said he is going to get money? Seriously! That's amazing!"Alex's face grew redder at the insult, not to mention the scornful laughter that followed."I'm not joking. Tonight, I'm going to get $500. You'll see," Alex said in a stiff voice. Anger was at its peak and he didn't want to be insulted again.But again, no one believes him.Mrs. Anne came forward and jabbed Alex roughly in the shoulder with her index finger. "Don't dream, and just prove it! Get the money tonight, if you're really not a poor man!"Alex is silent. His eyes looked one by one at his wife's family members who were staring with condescending smiles. They clearly don't believe that Alex would earn $500 overnight.Even Alex himself was just bragging with his words. He didn't know where to get the money, but he agreed to his mother-in-law's request simply because he didn't want to be insulted again.If Alex didn't succeed, then Ms. Anne would surely trample his pride to the ground. Now, he feels that in the eyes of the Sans, Alex is nothing more than street dust that can be brushed aside at any time.Alex is too overwhelmed with emotion to think and speak immediately. Now, he is at a loss as to where to borrow money.Ms. Anne raises one eyebrow with an annoying lopsided smile. "I'll wait here and take a look at the bills in person. But by the way, where are you going to get the money? Don't tell me by stealing? Oops! Sorry.""Hey, Alex. We don't want to get involved with the police!" John half shouted to stir things up
Alex knows that Jasmine often acts badly towards him or says things that make him sad when his company goes bankrupt, but he assumes that it's just his wife's frustration.He thinks that Jasmine is probably just angry for a moment because all the luxuries he once gave her have disappeared in an instant. They are struggling to live and Jasmine can't afford to squander her money anymore.She is always getting treatments to enhance her beauty and appearance, but after Alex went bankrupt, Jasmine never went to the salon again.Alex always tries to give Jasmine money, even if it's just a little bit every day. But apparently, Jasmine isn't satisfied with that 'little' money at all.Of all the worst possibilities he could think of, he never thought that Jasmine would cheat on him. And to make matters worse, on the same day, she threw the divorce lawsuit in his face.Tonight, Alex seems to be made aware of Jasmine's bad behavior.Is he really that pathetic? Everyone hates him because of his p
Alex is surprised by the voice that reaches his ears.$1,000,005 must be spend in seven days? What does he have to do to spend that much money?The voice came back, it seems to warn Alex before disappearing with the wind.Alex stands up from the bench and squints to observe the surroundings of the dimly lit hospital garden. As far as the eye can see, he doesn't see anyone. But that voice... it sounded like it was whispering right in the back of his head.Overcome with curiosity, Alex dares to check every corner. But nothing, he only finds an owl perched on one of the trees.Was it only a sound? Or maybe it was his hallucination?Alex feels like he's dreaming. Especially with $1.000.005 and a strange system suddenly appearing on his phone.It is completely crazy, but there is no denying that Alex is excited.Alex put his phone in his pants pocket and back to the hospital to pay for his daughter's medical bills. A smile on his lips, he almost jumps when he steps into Bianca's ward.The
The next morning, Alex decides to go to Sans' house.The Sans family lives in the Gambriell housing estate, which is for the middle class. Alex gets out of the luxury car he just bought this morning, then stares at the two-story house in front of him. He deliberately not changing his clothes to see how the wealth-crazed family would react.He begins to imagine the insults they will hurl. And once through the door, it just so happened that the Sans family members did not even know he there. Alex is greeted by cursing from his brother-in-law."Oh look, who's here? The useless unemployed!" Shouted John who was standing not far from the entrance. "After pretending to be rich at the hospital, you still dare to come back here?"Jasmine approaches Alex who is standing still in his place. The woman's face was contorted with hatred and her lips formed a sardonic smile. "Why are you back here? You said we were getting a divorce, but you still come to this house? Don't you have any shame?" She a
After pressing the panel with the command to proceed to the next level, a small light appeared and a loud click sounded once. The panel quickly disappeared, and a new, much wider panel appeared.Alex notices a rectangular panel hovering in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere. It is dominated by a faintly glowing blue light. An inscription slowly appeared there.There is a prompt to fill in his full identity. Starting from name, date of birth, parents' names, full address, family members, blood type, and other things related to Alex's life."Fill in everything to advance to the next level! You'll get more rewards!"The adult male voice came back. The tone is cheerful, but there is still a command there.Alex is silent for a moment, debating whether or not to fill in his full identity. Although the word 'reward' is tempting, he doesn't want to make the wrong move. He knows that this is the system that sent the million dollars to his account, but there's no denying that there's a feel
Alex is dumbfounded after finishing reading his first task on the panel screen.He should go to the Sans' house and give them $100? Isn't that too good?Alex disliked the first task, but he had already joined. Then, as per the rules, he had to complete whatever the task, even if he doesn't like it.Maybe this is one of the challenges for him, seeing how he hates the Sans family. Letting out a long sigh, Alex stretches his stiff body and gets up from the sofa. His dark irises surveyed his luxurious home for a moment. It is much more luxurious than his old home.Alex's eyes shifted to the expensive antique chandelier hanging from the ceiling, then grinned slightly. He is no longer a useless unemployed man with only $5 in his wallet.He now had half the money in his account, minus the money he is going to give to Sans' family. But after this task was completed, he would definitely get a much more valuable reward.Alex locks his door and walks to his car. He starts the engine and drives
The dim blue-lit panel displayed the commands for Alex's next task.'TASK 2. PLEASE GO TO THE SHOWROOM AND BUY A LAMBORGHINI CAR'. Before going to the car showroom, Alex searches for info on the latest Lamborghini first. He then cashes out the money in his account and puts it all into a medium-sized suitcase. He had $700,000 dollars to buy a new car."I'm coming soon, Dear Lamborghini," Alex said as he jumped up from his chair. He was happy to complete this task.Alex drives his car to the city center, where the best showroom is located. He parks his car far enough away from the main parking lot because he doesn't want to be conspicuous, then pulls his suitcase towards the main door of the showroom.But as soon as he stepped through the door, the two showroom employees stared at him with furrowed brows. The tall male employee openly scrutinized Alex's appearance. His face frowning in dislike, he frowned in disgust when their gazes met for a few seconds.What the hell is this employee
Alex stares at Jasmine who is still glaring at him, it seems that Jasmine is not seeing the panel that appears in front of Alex, and Alex realizes that the panel is only visible to him.Even though this task had come out of an emergency, Alex is sure that he had to complete it immediately. Emergency task is probably much more challenging than regular task, because they come unexpectedly, with a very short time frame.Alex quickly takes out his wallet and pulls out his $20. Jasmine stares in confusion when Alex raises his hand and throws the $20 into her face.Alex wants to laugh at the sight of Jasmine's face turning into an overcooked crab boil.The woman growled angrily, feeling deeply humiliated by her ex-husband's treatment."How dare you!" Jasmine shouted in annoyance.Alex gives an unconcerned look and casually walks past Jasmine when the notification that his task has been completed is heard. He walks into Bianca's room, while Jasmine punches the empty air with extreme annoyanc
Alex ran down the hospital hallway in a hurry. Sweat poured down his face and neck. His expression was one of panic and anxiety. He was still in the office when Alex's trusted doctor called to say that Lucia was in labor.There had been a traffic jam on the road, but luckily Alex was able to get out quickly. He rushed down the hospital hallway to the room he was told about.Lucia was in labor.He repeated the words in his head and his heart began to pound loudly.Having just turned the corner, Alex could already hear the sound of a baby crying from the open door of the room. He ran inside and saw the doctor begin to transfer the baby into Lucia's arms.Lucia turned around with her cheeks already wet with tears. "Alex, our child... our child was born safely."Alex couldn't help but cry when he heard that, especially when his eyes fell on the baby's tiny body.Lucia was right about her guess. Their first child was a girl. Alex thought she was just guessing, but she really meant what she
A cold breeze blew in carrying the falling snowflakes, lightly brushing the side of Alex's face.A pinch of hair that Alex had neatly combed back, again fell across his forehead. Alex sighed and smoothed it back down. Lucia was right, Alex should have worn a spray to keep his hairstyle from changing.This afternoon, Alex received an official invitation from the system world. He was to be crowned the system's human master and the ceremony was to take place at seven o'clock.Alex told Lucia that he had to attend an important event. Lucia didn't ask many questions and asked Alex to be careful.Alex was honestly at a loss to tell Lucia about the world of systems. How he got there and participated in 100 levels of the game, how he earned a lot of money for his hard work, how he fought monsters...He felt conflicted about telling her.Alex could probably brush everything off as if nothing had happened, but he felt he had to tell Lucia. After the invitation, he knew that the knot tying him t
This morning, Alex and Lucia were finally able to go to the doctor without a hitch.Lucia had been vomiting since she woke up, so a worried Alex didn't want to delay the examination any longer.Alex felt that his suspicions about Lucia being pregnant were correct. Lucia herself felt the same way, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. They had been hopeful since the beginning of their marriage, so Lucia didn't want to end up disappointed.They both stepped into the examination room, but suddenly, Lucia stopped walking and squeezed the cuff of her husband's shirt."Lucia, what's wrong?""I'm scared." Lucia bit her lip as she glanced into the examination room. "What if the results are disappointing?"Alex sighed and rubbed his wife's shoulders. "Honey, everything will be fine. Whatever the answer is, I'll accept it. The most important thing now is your health. We need to know what happened to you. Even if you're not pregnant, I won't be angry," Alex whispered, trying to calm Lucia
Alex's battle axe hit the monster in the head.The axe stuck in the center, injuring both eyes of the monster which were now covered in blood.That made the monster's movements chaotic, it kept moving its tail blindly, no longer knowing where its enemy was.This was Alex's chance to leave.Alex quickly ran to his car, ignoring the pain in his hands. He circled around the monster's body and moved into the tunnel. Alex cheered inwardly, then sped up his car at high speed.In the rearview mirror, he saw the monster moving back into the tunnel, blocking the newly arrived participants with their oil-splattered cars.Alex didn't know how to describe his happiness when the finish line came into view. The spectators cheered excitedly at Alex's arrival from behind the tunnel, given that none of the participants had appeared so far."YES, THIS IS IT! FINALLY SOMEONE EMERGES FROM THE TUNNEL AFTER PASSING THE CHALLENGE AT THE RED DOT!""ALEX! GO! GO!"Alex rolled down the window and waved to his
Was the race attended by all the system world's inhabitants?Alex arrived at a large field filled with system humans. In the eastern part of the field, there were cars lined up with the race participants. Then at the edge of the field, there was a giant poster that read: "SYSTEM WORLD ANNUAL COMPETITION!"The three winners of the previous race were posted at the bottom of the poster. The race was said to be held every 10 years and could only be participated in by players who were in the 50s and above.That's why Alex was asked to join by his supervisor.Alex stepped closer and a system panel floating in the air instantly displayed his face."Participant number 20: Alexander Gates has arrived!" The voice echoed around the field.Alex could only raise his hand in greeting as his fans went crazy. They were all restrained behind iron fences. Even so, they excitedly continued to chant his name."ALEX! ALEX! YOU'RE THE BEST!"Alex didn't expect his fans to increase fivefold after defeating
They peeked again and now saw Alex's interaction with the lawyer.The two seemed very close, and the man even tapped Alex on the shoulder once in a while."So... Alex hasn't been lying all this time? How could this be... I thought it was all just because of Angelo's power, but apparently..." Bastian ran out of words to explain. He dropped his backpack and rubbed his face repeatedly, almost feeling crazy.Lecia and Tonny were speechless as all the strange things that had been happening were finally solved. As if their eyes were all opened, the lawyer's arrival completely stunned them."Yes Sir, the process of accounting for all your assets will be completed in a few days. We will donate a portion of your wealth to the schools and courses where your late daughter studied."The lawyer's voice sounded closer. Tonny peeked back and apparently, he had already started walking out with Alex.They hurriedly stepped back and took a spot some distance away from the door."I'll call you when ever
Bastian sat limply on his couch. His eyes were glued to his cell phone lying on the table."Let's call him," Vinna said with an annoyed look. She had been waiting since earlier, but Bastian hadn't done it.They were already in debt and the bank officials would be back in the afternoon. If they don't get a loan soon, their house will be seized as collateral."Come on Bastian! Are you waiting for us to get beat up by the banker's assistant?"Bastian let out a harsh sigh and finally reached for his cell phone. "Yes, yes, please be quiet. My head hurts."Vinna sighed and looked at her husband. They were already tired of being charged by the bank, so the only person who could save them was Lucia.Vinna honestly didn't want to ask Lucia for help, but what could she do? Once they were out of debt, he wouldn't want to grovel before Lucia again.Bastian puts the phone to his ear, waiting for Lucia to answer. The ticking of the clock fills the silence in the room, while Vinna waits tensely in h
'You're the best dad.You bought me dolls, and pretty houses, and princess clothes, and all the things I wanted.Anyway, Daddy is the best daddy in the world.I love you, Bianca. I want you to be happy. Mommy Lucia and you should live happily.When I'm gone, don't throw all my clothes away. You have to keep them and my dolls and things.I love you. Please don't cry when I'm gone. Dad, don't be sad and keep smiling.I love you.This letter is especially for you. I love you forever.Love from Bianca:Alexander Gates' beloved daughter.This was the 100th time Alex opened the letter and read it again for the umpteenth time.Two weeks had passed since Bianca's death, but Alex's heart was still filled with sadness.Alex just stayed at home without doing much. He couldn't think of anything, while Lucia patiently kept encouraging him.Alex looked at the letter as well as Bianca's mini version of the Iridium necklace. He now realized what Bianca had meant.Lucia arrived with hot tea, as well a
Towards midnight, Bianca's condition suddenly worsened. Alex, who had been waiting on one of the sofas, rushed to the bed in a panic.The doctor checked her condition quickly, while Bianca tried to pass a roll of paper to Alex.The letter she had written.More tears fell down the boy's cheeks as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Bianca seemed to be having trouble breathing, and the light in her eyes was fading."Bianca! Bianca!" Lucia anxiously cried out the child's name, her tears falling at Bianca's feet.Alex couldn't describe how he felt right now. He was terrified at the thought of what was going to happen. Cold sweat ran down his body. His legs were shaking so badly that he couldn't even stand up. He clung to the edge of the bed as Bianca tried to speak through her labored breathing."Daddy promised to... take care of his health... and you too, mommy..."Alex shook his head and tried to calm Bianca down. The child's breathing seemed to be getting weaker. Alex stood rigid with a f