Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Throughout Ave's life, he never ate beef or pork. At most, he would have chicken head stew or discarded chicken wings from the butchers that were not sell well.
Also, he never had his own room.
Ave slept with his old and blind grandmother. Every day, Ave had to change his grandma's diaper using old cloth and wash the soiled cloth diaper with water before heading to school.
Ave never changed his school uniform either. He only had one black bag with various stitches all around, and who knows how many times the zipper broke, he just replaced it with safety pins to keep it closed.
However, Ave never complained. He thought it was normal in New Orleans. In this dystopian country, poverty was a common thing, and almost 75% of New Orleans' population were poor, with a high crime rate.
The gap between the poor and the rich was huge, from everyday clothes to shopping places, to their residential living areas. New Orleans truly classified and differentiated their citizens based on money and class. It was not uncommon for Ave and other kids from poor neighborhoods to get beaten by the rich people for accidentally passing in front of them on the street.
The police in New Orleans turned a blind eye when such incidents occurred. They were all silenced with money.
Money, money, and money. In this broken land, money was most crucial factor.
As long as someone had a lot of money, you could buy fame and climb into the elite group, becoming the most respected class in New Orleans. Even the president could not do anything once this elite group spoke using their golds and coins.
With money, someone could control this country with just their fingertips.
"Huff, I wanna make some cash."
Ave sighed quietly, feeling his way along the dark cave wall he had managed to enter to escape the pit where he fell. The hologram map in front of Ave showed this cave was not a dead end and had a pretty long route, though Ave was not quite sure where he would end up later.
"If only I could find money quickly."
[Host's request accepted. Searching for a skill with the effect of earning money quickly.]
"Huh? Wait a minute... why are you suddenly like that?"
[Skill found. Unlocking the new skill 'Coin Master' driven by the host's strong desire for money. Coin Master has several sub-skills.]
[Determining sub-skills according to the host's request.]
"Hey, are you kidding?" Ave stood frozen in place, surprised to hear the strange voice processing strange things he could not comprehend just because Ave wanted them.
[Sub-skill found. Unlocking the sub-skill from 'Coin Master' called 'Treasure Magnet.']
[Treasure Magnet is a sub-skill that allows the host to use a radar to find valuable items around the host—such as gold, diamonds, and money.]
[Treasure Magnet successfully obtained. Does the host want to activate the sub-skill?]
"No, no, no!" Ave quickly answered, shaking his head in refusal. If he could use the radar to find valuable items, it meant his neighbor's jewelry and money would also be on the radar. He would become a thief! He did not want to be a thief and end up in jail!
[Answer: Treasure Magnet sub-skill is limited to unowned treasures, ranging from valuable plants, rare animals, to raw diamonds in the ground. Possessions of others will automatically be excluded from the host's radar.]
"Huff—thought you were really gonna turn me into a thief," Ave sighed in relief when he knew this skill was safe to use in this crime-filled world. He could end up in jail, and all the wealth he had gathered might be seized by the government just like that. Just thinking about it made Ave's heart ache.
The young man nodded. "Activate the skill."
[Host request is being processed.]
[Subskill Treasure Magnet has been activated.]
Ngiing—
Ngiiiiing—
Ave winced, closing both ears when the shrill sound rang in them, almost making the young man's head explode. Despite the painful noise, Ave could see another hologram next to the map, a radar with a clockwise-spinning needle analyzing the area.
Beep.
Beep. Beep.
Shortly after, Ave could see several red dots appearing on the radar in various sizes, ranging from small dots to quite large circles that took up almost a quarter of the radar size.
Wait, if small dots indicate treasure there, then what does the big circle mean? Is Ave going to find a cave filled with gold and diamonds?
The young man quickly wiped off the saliva that accidentally came out of his mouth and swallowed it, feeling this was really beyond his mind.
"Should I go there?" Ave asked himself. He then compared the location of the large circle on the radar and matched it with the cave map. The large circle was located in the northeast side of the path Ave was passing through.
The man nodded with determination. "I'll peek at the red circle and find out what's there, then come back to the main path. Don't worry, Ave, you'll surely make it back successfully."
Money does make someone go crazy, indeed.
Ave quickened his steps, not a bit afraid of the darkness ahead. Even though the cave was really dark, Ave could still see quite well. His childhood was spent walking through the city's sewers, collecting leftover food from restaurants or malls that accidentally fell into the drains. Darkness and cold air had been Ave's companions for a long time.
As the young man walked, he came across some small spots and didn't miss any of them. Some of these spots were rare herbal plants that could be sold for a good price at the drugstore. Ave plucked the plants one by one and stuffed them into his school blazer, which he used as a temporary storage bag
He could wash the dirty blazer, but those rare medicinal plants could not be easily found again.
"Hehehe, I've probably earned about $200 for these two kilos of medicinal leaves. One kilo of medicinal plants is often valued at around $100, as long as they're in good condition with roots intact and leaves not wilting, as it affects the quality of the medicine produced."
Ave patted the blazer containing the medicinal plants with a wide, never-fading smile on his face. He would definitely come here often to hunt for money.
"Oh, right, I have to go to that big circle place." Almost allured by those valuable medicinal plants, Ave almost forgot his main goal.
"Hmmm, if I really find a cave with a mountain of treasure, this blazer won't be enough to hold them all. What should I do? Should I come back here periodically to take them bit by bit?" Ave muttered to himself, as if the big red circle on the radar was truly a warehouse of treasures filled with gold and diamonds.
"Hey there, do you have a storage space or something I can use temporarily to carry my stuff?" Ave asked the hologram, remembering Fraser's story about fantasy novel heroes storing their cool weapons in a virtual storage space and being able to grab them anytime.
[Answer: The host has an inventory area for storing important items. Press the chest icon below the profile to open the inventory feature. Currently, the inventory capacity is limited to 25 items, and identical items count as one item.]
Ave listened carefully to the notification explanation and immediately opened the chest icon as instructed by the voice.
Sure enough, a page with empty small boxes appeared in front of Ave.
"Oh, so I can store my things here? How do I activate it? Do I just say 'store this' just like that? Wow—!"
The young man was once again surprised when his valuable medicinal plants were suddenly sucked into the holographic page and entered one of the empty boxes, marked with the image of the plant and the quantity that went in.
[Ebon Etherea Root x99]
"Wow... again, wow." Ave covered his mouth with an amazed expression, seeing how efficient this virtual inventory was. No wonder Fraser—shit, Ave had to stop saying that name.
The young man shook his head slightly, cleaned his school blazer, put it back on and walked to the right path. He headed towards the small path that led to the location of the big red circle.
Ave's face lit up with joy. He was truly ready to become a sudden millionaire.
He would leave the slums, buy the best house in New Orleans, and make his grandmother happy in her old age without worrying about money.
Of course, Ave would also prove that he could defeat Claude—the bastard who ruined his life.
A small grin appeared on the young man's face.
"Money, come to your Daddy."
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
Rise With Underdog System 04. Golden Pool
"Sigh … is still far away?" Ave pouted a bit as he kept following the floating holographic map in front of him towards the big circle, but he had not reached it yet. The narrow path was getting even narrower, so Ave had to tilt his body to squeeze through the gaps.However, all of Ave's questions were answered when he saw a tiny bright light at the end of this narrow path. The young man blinked his hopeful shining eyes and quickened his pace."Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold," Ave repeated continuously as if he were chanting a spell to make sure he found a mountain of gold behind that light.Just a little more, and Ave would arrive there. He did not even care how many times he bumped into rocks on the cave wall because he was too focused on getting there quickly."Gold—!"The young man was about to leap forward before he hurriedly grabbed onto one of the rocks, and then stepped back with a terrified yet amazed expression. Ave's eyes widened.Right below Ave was a pool filled with thousan
Rise With Underdog System 05. Come Back Home
"I've told you many times, I don't want to give you anything anymore! You dirty beggar!"A half-old man with a tall figure glared fiercely at a hunched elderly woman standing in front of his shop. The old woman wore a worn-out pink dress and both of her shoes had holes in various places."P-please, Sir. Tomorrow, my grandson will have an exam, and I want to give him bone soup to keep him motivated to study—""I don't care if your grandson has an exam or not. Old lady, just go away from my store! Your terrible appearance is scaring away my customers!" scolded the meat shop owner. He wore a blood-stained apron, and underneath it, his belly bulged due to his stingy and calculating nature."B-but...""Tch, go away!" Running out of patience, the meat shop owner stepped out of the store and pushed the old woman hard."Ahhh!"The old woman fell onto the street and winced in pain as her entire aged body ached. The shop owner then spat to the side."Go away and never come back here!" The butch
Rise With Underdog System 06. Elite Class
"Welcome home, Lady Rosalind."A tall and lean butler bowed after opening the car door and greeted a beautiful girl who was stepping out of the car with a calm expression, there was almost no expression on her face."Is Father home?" the girl asked coldly."The Master is busy at the president's office. He'll be back when dinner time comes."Upon hearing the butler's answer, the girl showed no reaction and walked up the stairs to her house. Although called a house, her place looked more like a giant mansion with Greek architecture and a touch of futuristic style, adapting to the surroundings in their Apocalypse world—in which Earth had been destroyed by the emergence of monsters, and the surviving human groups built a new civilization by adapting to a world full of monsters and dangerous territories."How was your day at school, Lady Rosalind?" The male butler took Rosalind's blazer and walked beside her.Rosalind sighed. "You're so noisy, Armand. I don't want to be bothered today."Ar
Rise With Underdog System 07. New Face, New Life
"He's quite handsome too."Ave had been in the bathroom for quite a while, staring at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror—or Elias's face, the guy whose face was duplicated and turned into Ave's new face. Luckily, Ave's grandma was blind, otherwise, she would have had a heart attack seeing her grandson's face change like that.The young man then turned on the tap at the sink and washed his face using soap—he was too poor to buy special face soap, so he used regular soap for both shampooing and washing his everyday clothes.Ave rinsed his face with water until it was clean before drying it with a towel and gazing again at his new face in the mirror.Again and again, Ave was amazed by this new face.He thought he would get a plain face or even worse, a face older than his own.Ave’s new face is much smaller than his old face. His hair is still the same black color, but Ave's black pupils have now changed to a golden color like a marble. Moreover, his chin looks slimmer, making Ave
Rise With Underdog System 08. Averson Blythe
"So, you are … Avery Blythe's distant cousin?"A middle-aged man with glasses stared at Ave suspiciously, examining the young man's registration file. The man's glasses were almost slipping off his long, crooked nose as he continued to scrutinize Ave’s figure from top to bottom. Well, everything did feel so sudden, Ave admitted to himself. Luckily, having been an assistant and frequently visiting the teacher's room, he understood a little about how the school's registration process works.Facing the young man was Dotoevsky Swerzen, commonly known as Mr. Swerzen, the Economics and Business teacher at Neogen High School and the person in charge of sorting through the students applying to the school. One could imagine how stingy and calculating the balding man in front of Ave was.However, Ave was not worried because he already had an answer to this problem."Yes, Mr. Swerzen. We come from the same grandma, but my family lived in Rivera and only recently decided to return to New Orleans
Rise With Underdog System 09. Old Class, Old Friend
"Knock. Knock."Without waiting for a response from inside the room, Mr. Swenzer quickly opened the door and stepped in. Outside the door, Ave could see Mrs. Lenora, the local history teacher, standing and explaining the material as usual when Mr. Swenzer entered and whispered something in Lenora's ear. This made her turn towards the door, locking eyes with Ave.Mrs. Lenora widened her eyes for a moment before nodding briefly. It seemed like Mr. Swenzer had also informed her that Avery was resigning and giving up his achievement scholarship. Mrs. Lenora was one of the few honest teachers at Neogen High School and liked Ave – in an educational context, because Ave always got perfect grades and excelled in mastering subjects."You can come in now," said Mr. Swenzer as the balding man came out again. "If you have any problems, you can come directly to my room, don't be afraid, understand?"Tap. Tap.Mr. Swenzer gave Ave a quick pat on the should
Rise With Underdog System 10. A Sign of Enemies
"Hey, hey, are you really the distant cousin of that dork—I mean Avery?" The first lesson had ended, and break time had arrived. Ave was sitting on a bench when a group of girls from the class approached him, trying to interrogate him and simultaneously capture the attention of the handsome new student in their class. Ave closed his book, put it in his bag, and responded with a tone that seemed annoyed. "If it's true, then what?" The girls were immediately surprised by Ave's sour expression and shook their heads quickly. "Ah, that's not what I meant. We're just a little curious...." "Really, we're just wondering why Avery never told us he had a cousin as handsome as you, right?" "Yeah, yeah, that's right." "You should have joined this school from the beginning." "True... you'd be famous in no time." Ave let out a short laugh and stared sharply at the four fox-wicked girls. He had been in the same class with them for a year, and he knew all too well their hypocritical nature. N
Rise With Underdog System 11. The Power Within
At Neogen High School, there are two kinds of classes provided for their students: the regular one and the special class. Of course, there were some differences between those two classes. The regular class was a class with common school subjects like math, language, or art subjects that were also being taught at other common schools. However, what made Neogen so special was its special class. In this class, students with talents were being trained and developed according to each of their talents.Their unique talents led to their future careers.Students with combat talents might become rangers and fight monsters on the war zone, meanwhile, students with supporting talents like healing, mapping, or strategy become a support role for the students with combat talents.Yeah, even in Neogen, a student’s social status was determined by their talent. Sometimes a student with combat talents felt so superior to other students because teachers considered them the best and strongest talent. It
Latest Chapter
- Rise With Underdog System
11. The Power Within
At Neogen High School, there are two kinds of classes provided for their students: the regular one and the special class. Of course, there were some differences between those two classes. The regular class was a class with common school subjects like math, language, or art subjects that were also being taught at other common schools. However, what made Neogen so special was its special class. In this class, students with talents were being trained and developed according to each of their talents.Their unique talents led to their future careers.Students with combat talents might become rangers and fight monsters on the war zone, meanwhile, students with supporting talents like healing, mapping, or strategy become a support role for the students with combat talents.Yeah, even in Neogen, a student’s social status was determined by their talent. Sometimes a student with combat talents felt so superior to other students because teachers considered them the best and strongest talent. It
- Rise With Underdog System
10. A Sign of Enemies
"Hey, hey, are you really the distant cousin of that dork—I mean Avery?" The first lesson had ended, and break time had arrived. Ave was sitting on a bench when a group of girls from the class approached him, trying to interrogate him and simultaneously capture the attention of the handsome new student in their class. Ave closed his book, put it in his bag, and responded with a tone that seemed annoyed. "If it's true, then what?" The girls were immediately surprised by Ave's sour expression and shook their heads quickly. "Ah, that's not what I meant. We're just a little curious...." "Really, we're just wondering why Avery never told us he had a cousin as handsome as you, right?" "Yeah, yeah, that's right." "You should have joined this school from the beginning." "True... you'd be famous in no time." Ave let out a short laugh and stared sharply at the four fox-wicked girls. He had been in the same class with them for a year, and he knew all too well their hypocritical nature. N
- Rise With Underdog System
09. Old Class, Old Friend
"Knock. Knock."Without waiting for a response from inside the room, Mr. Swenzer quickly opened the door and stepped in. Outside the door, Ave could see Mrs. Lenora, the local history teacher, standing and explaining the material as usual when Mr. Swenzer entered and whispered something in Lenora's ear. This made her turn towards the door, locking eyes with Ave.Mrs. Lenora widened her eyes for a moment before nodding briefly. It seemed like Mr. Swenzer had also informed her that Avery was resigning and giving up his achievement scholarship. Mrs. Lenora was one of the few honest teachers at Neogen High School and liked Ave – in an educational context, because Ave always got perfect grades and excelled in mastering subjects."You can come in now," said Mr. Swenzer as the balding man came out again. "If you have any problems, you can come directly to my room, don't be afraid, understand?"Tap. Tap.Mr. Swenzer gave Ave a quick pat on the should
- Rise With Underdog System
08. Averson Blythe
"So, you are … Avery Blythe's distant cousin?"A middle-aged man with glasses stared at Ave suspiciously, examining the young man's registration file. The man's glasses were almost slipping off his long, crooked nose as he continued to scrutinize Ave’s figure from top to bottom. Well, everything did feel so sudden, Ave admitted to himself. Luckily, having been an assistant and frequently visiting the teacher's room, he understood a little about how the school's registration process works.Facing the young man was Dotoevsky Swerzen, commonly known as Mr. Swerzen, the Economics and Business teacher at Neogen High School and the person in charge of sorting through the students applying to the school. One could imagine how stingy and calculating the balding man in front of Ave was.However, Ave was not worried because he already had an answer to this problem."Yes, Mr. Swerzen. We come from the same grandma, but my family lived in Rivera and only recently decided to return to New Orleans
- Rise With Underdog System
07. New Face, New Life
"He's quite handsome too."Ave had been in the bathroom for quite a while, staring at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror—or Elias's face, the guy whose face was duplicated and turned into Ave's new face. Luckily, Ave's grandma was blind, otherwise, she would have had a heart attack seeing her grandson's face change like that.The young man then turned on the tap at the sink and washed his face using soap—he was too poor to buy special face soap, so he used regular soap for both shampooing and washing his everyday clothes.Ave rinsed his face with water until it was clean before drying it with a towel and gazing again at his new face in the mirror.Again and again, Ave was amazed by this new face.He thought he would get a plain face or even worse, a face older than his own.Ave’s new face is much smaller than his old face. His hair is still the same black color, but Ave's black pupils have now changed to a golden color like a marble. Moreover, his chin looks slimmer, making Ave
- Rise With Underdog System
06. Elite Class
"Welcome home, Lady Rosalind."A tall and lean butler bowed after opening the car door and greeted a beautiful girl who was stepping out of the car with a calm expression, there was almost no expression on her face."Is Father home?" the girl asked coldly."The Master is busy at the president's office. He'll be back when dinner time comes."Upon hearing the butler's answer, the girl showed no reaction and walked up the stairs to her house. Although called a house, her place looked more like a giant mansion with Greek architecture and a touch of futuristic style, adapting to the surroundings in their Apocalypse world—in which Earth had been destroyed by the emergence of monsters, and the surviving human groups built a new civilization by adapting to a world full of monsters and dangerous territories."How was your day at school, Lady Rosalind?" The male butler took Rosalind's blazer and walked beside her.Rosalind sighed. "You're so noisy, Armand. I don't want to be bothered today."Ar
- Rise With Underdog System
05. Come Back Home
"I've told you many times, I don't want to give you anything anymore! You dirty beggar!"A half-old man with a tall figure glared fiercely at a hunched elderly woman standing in front of his shop. The old woman wore a worn-out pink dress and both of her shoes had holes in various places."P-please, Sir. Tomorrow, my grandson will have an exam, and I want to give him bone soup to keep him motivated to study—""I don't care if your grandson has an exam or not. Old lady, just go away from my store! Your terrible appearance is scaring away my customers!" scolded the meat shop owner. He wore a blood-stained apron, and underneath it, his belly bulged due to his stingy and calculating nature."B-but...""Tch, go away!" Running out of patience, the meat shop owner stepped out of the store and pushed the old woman hard."Ahhh!"The old woman fell onto the street and winced in pain as her entire aged body ached. The shop owner then spat to the side."Go away and never come back here!" The butch
- Rise With Underdog System
04. Golden Pool
"Sigh … is still far away?" Ave pouted a bit as he kept following the floating holographic map in front of him towards the big circle, but he had not reached it yet. The narrow path was getting even narrower, so Ave had to tilt his body to squeeze through the gaps.However, all of Ave's questions were answered when he saw a tiny bright light at the end of this narrow path. The young man blinked his hopeful shining eyes and quickened his pace."Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold," Ave repeated continuously as if he were chanting a spell to make sure he found a mountain of gold behind that light.Just a little more, and Ave would arrive there. He did not even care how many times he bumped into rocks on the cave wall because he was too focused on getting there quickly."Gold—!"The young man was about to leap forward before he hurriedly grabbed onto one of the rocks, and then stepped back with a terrified yet amazed expression. Ave's eyes widened.Right below Ave was a pool filled with thousan
- Rise With Underdog System
03. Dark Cave
Throughout Ave's life, he never ate beef or pork. At most, he would have chicken head stew or discarded chicken wings from the butchers that were not sell well.Also, he never had his own room.Ave slept with his old and blind grandmother. Every day, Ave had to change his grandma's diaper using old cloth and wash the soiled cloth diaper with water before heading to school.Ave never changed his school uniform either. He only had one black bag with various stitches all around, and who knows how many times the zipper broke, he just replaced it with safety pins to keep it closed.However, Ave never complained. He thought it was normal in New Orleans. In this dystopian country, poverty was a common thing, and almost 75% of New Orleans' population were poor, with a high crime rate.The gap between the poor and the rich was huge, from everyday clothes to shopping places, to their residential living areas. New Orleans truly classified and differentiated their citizens based on money and clas
