At 10 a.m., near Lumina City University, the 7-Eleven Convenience Store was just beginning its daily bustle.
"Good day, 7-Eleven," a brusque voice demanded over the phone. "I need two boxes of Durex condoms and a couple of tissue packs. And hurry up, deliver to room 302 at the Hilton Hotels!"
Evan Smith shook his head in resignation as he hung up the phone. The audacity of the youth these days—cavorting in broad daylight and not even having the foresight to prepare.
Evan promptly gathered the items and set off for the Hilton Hotels, just two streets away.
Upon reaching room 302, he knocked and the door swiftly opened to reveal a man adorned in a robe, sporting slippers and gold-rimmed glasses, and a conspicuous set of buck teeth.
The man opened the door grumbling, "Damn, half an hour for a pack of condoms. You nearly ruined my big moment, you blasted delivery guy!"
Acclimated to all manner of customer complaints from a month of part-time work at the convenience store, Evan replied with a forced smile, "My apologies, sir! I'll ensure faster delivery next time."
"Quite impressive, sir, asking for two boxes of condoms. Preparing for a marathon battle into the morning, are we?" Evan knew well that flattery about one's virility was a small price to pay to avoid complaints and wage deductions.
"Hmph! At least you're eloquent. Now scram!" Anthony, basking in the undeserved praise, arrogantly reached for his wallet to pay Evan.
As Evan was secretly relieved to have averted another customer dissatisfaction, his gaze inadvertently swept past the man and into the room.
A figure emerged from the bathroom, strikingly familiar, yet his mind instantly dismissed the ludicrous thought.
"Darling, have the condoms arrived? These delivery services are getting sloppier by the minute—it's been half an hour!"
Frozen, Evan recognized that voice. The familiar silhouette, now clad in a bathrobe, was none other than his girlfriend, Alyssa Ramos!
"Alyssa?" he uttered in disbelief, his mind still reeling.
Alyssa, mid-stroke through her hair, turned and her eyes met Evan's. Her heart skipped as she instinctively stepped back, her thoughts buzzing into chaos.
Anthony, about to hand over the payment, ceased moving, realizing his girlfriend knew the delivery boy.
Alyssa's panicked look said it all to Evan.
"Bastard, you dare touch my girl..." Rage surged within him, and he was about to charge at the man.
"Stop!" Alyssa positioned herself in front of Evan. After a brief panic, she regained composure. There was no point in hiding now that Evan had caught them; it was time to lay the cards on the table.
"Fuck, you little shit, you dare insult me?" However, Anthony, now aware of the situation, stepped around Alyssa and aimed a kick at Evan's abdomen.
"Damn it, ruining my mood, you worthless cur!" As he rained down blows on the fallen Evan, who was curled up on the floor, clutching his head, immobilized by the pain in his belly.
"Stop it!" Anthony had been beating Evan for a full five minutes before Alyssa finally spoke up to halt the assault.
Alyssa Ramos's voice pierced the air as she shouted at Evan, "Evan, let's break up!"
"Break up?" Evan was stunned, his eyes widening in disbelief even as he lay curled on the floor. "Alyssa, we've been together for over a year, and now you're telling me you want to break up?"
"Yes, break up!"
Alyssa's gaze was unflinching as she faced Evan. "Surprised? Our dinners always at street stalls, the cheapest makeup you buy for me, and look at you—in clothes not worth more than twenty dollars. Every time I walk beside you, people snicker at me. Did you know that?"
"I don't want this life. With my prospects, I should never have settled for a poor nobody like you. I was too naive in my freshman year to fall for a pauper like you!" Alyssa's words were laced with bitter resentment.
Wrapping her arm around the man beside her, she addressed Evan with a provocative sneer, "This is my boyfriend—Anthony Taylor! Starting now, I, Alyssa Ramos, have nothing to do with you. Stay away from me in the future!"
"So you're Alyssa's pathetic ex-boyfriend!" Anthony Taylor looked at Evan with a taunting smile, taking the plastic bag from Evan's hand and shaking the box of Durex inside. He chuckled and said to Evan, "Delivering Durex to your ex-girlfriend's man, that's something else, brother. You've got quite the magnanimity, haha!"
"Aren't you leaving yet?" Alyssa spat at Evan in anger.
"Why should he? He wants to watch you get screwed by me. Let's give him a live show right in front of his eyes," Anthony sneered coldly at Evan.
Watching the coupling before him, Evan's heart sank. Slowly, he turned and walked away from the room, step by step.
"Brother, you're not taking the money? Hey, that's generous of you. A girlfriend and free condoms thrown in!" Anthony watched Evan's desolate retreat with a sense of satisfaction and closed the door.
As he stepped outside, rain began to fall from the night sky.
The cold rain soaked Evan Smith completely, but it also cleared his mind. Alyssa was after money, after all. He should be glad to lose such a materialistic woman. Why should he be sad?
"Ring ring..."
The urgent ringtone from his phone pocket snapped him back to reality. It was his boss from the 7-Eleven Convenience Store.
"Hello! Boss!" Evan, not wanting to delay, answered the call hastily.
"Damn it, Evan, you had the audacity to hit a customer and got us a complaint all the way to the headquarters. I got a scolding because of you. You're fired!"
The dial tone signaled the end of the call.
Fired? He had hit a customer? When he had been the one taking the blows? Why was the world so unjust?
Before Evan could wallow further, his phone rang again.
Seeing it was his landlady's number, he could guess what she would say.
"Evan, it's almost the end of the month. Pay up the full rent, or get out."
Evan Smith returned to his cramped rental room, less than ten square meters in size, in a daze.The day’s events seemed surreal, a nightmare where misfortune had solely targeted him. He stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes void of hope.Alyssa Ramos was a chapter best closed; their relationship had been teetering on the edge of a breakup for a while. Good riddance to such a materialistic woman!Yet, he couldn’t ignore the calls from the 7-Eleven Convenience Store and his landlady. Without a job or money for rent, he faced more than just homelessness; it was also about his living expenses for the next semester.Evan had intended to work over the summer to ease his family’s financial burden. His parents had already borrowed a significant sum to send him to university, and he couldn’t bear to add to their worries.Unfortunately, with the dormitories undergoing renovations during the summer, staying on campus wasn't an option, forcing him to rent this tiny room.A job necessitated a ro
"Hello, Host. The Super Rich System is divided into four parts. The first part is the Task System, where your funds are unlimited but can only be used to complete tasks and cannot be diverted! There will be rewards upon task completion.""The second part is the Daily System, which adds $100 to the Host's discretionary funds every second. As the Host's level increases, the Super Rich System will provide more money per second, such as $200 at level two.""The third part is the Superpower Market, which can only be purchased with Super Rich Coins. The market includes the Invisibility Technique, Iron Man suits, X-ray Vision, and more.""The fourth part is the Fortune Wheel, which can only be played with Super Rich Coins. Every 50 Super Rich Coins allows one spin.""The Host is currently at the lowest rank of 'Tycoon Apprentice.' To reach the second rank of 'Tycoon Employee,' you must spend 10 billion dollars."After the Super Rich System finished its introduction, Evan's mind conjured an i
Evan glanced briefly at the display case and inquired of the saleswoman. Unfamiliar with luxury watches and preferring candor over pretense that might end in embarrassment, he asked outright.Startled but maintaining professional composure, the saleswoman quickly pointed to a timepiece in the center of the display, its platinum gleam catching the light."The pièce de résistance here is the Richard Mille RM63-02 wristwatch.""An automatic winding movement, mechanical by hand...""The strap is genuine crocodile leather..."She fluently recited a long list of detailed specifications.Regrettably for her, these were far from Evan's concerns.He raised his hand to halt her spiel, his lips curling into a faint, dismissive smile. "I am only interested in the price."The saleswoman swallowed hard, daring not to utter another word, and declared the price, "Nine million eight hundred thousand dollars!""$9.8 million?!" Alyssa Ramos and the buck-toothed man behind Evan nearly fainted upon hearin
No sooner had Evan uttered "Charge it!" than the sales associate produced the card reader. However, she harbored a flicker of doubt: The young man was undeniably handsome, yet his attire was nothing more than street market fare. Could he truly afford the $9.8 million?Her skepticism was swiftly shattered by Evan's serene smile and a nod that put her at ease, signaling all was well to proceed with the transaction."Is he actually going ahead with it?""Yes, for $9.8 million, no less. He looks like he can cover it. I've heard that young master Taylor isn't exactly reputable. Maybe he's the one slandering this chap!""A tycoon in disguise, who would have thought? Handsome and wealthy, buying a watch that even Taylor can't afford, and for $9.8 million!"Whispers flitted through the crowd, reaching the ears of Alyssa Ramos and Anthony Taylor, furrowing their brows. Could this be a hidden magnate, nonchalantly affording a $9.8 million tag?Remorse tinged Alyssa's heart. Why hadn't she seen
Stepping out of the mall, Alyssa Ramos quickly caught up to me, her voice soft and coquettish. "Evan, let's make up. It was my fault before; please don't be mad. Forgive my little mistake, I know I was wrong."I scoffed and pushed her away with force, shaking my arm as if to rid it of something filthy. "You, get lost. From now on, you're out of my league!"As I walked away from Alyssa, the System's voice echoed in my head: "Congratulations, Host. Mission accomplished. No reward."I was speechless. No reward, and yet it congratulates me?At that moment, my phone rang. It was Bella, my sister. "Bro, are you there? I need your help with something!"Bella Smith, only a year younger than I, was a beauty with legs for days and a heart of gold. A freshman at Elysia Film and Television University, she had been named one of the "Campus Four Beauties" right at the start, attracting countless admirers."What's up? You're not asking me to pretend to be your boyfriend again, are you?" I adored my
His words landed like a boulder in a pond, rippling through the chat."Who's this guy with such a big mouth, claiming to support her stream alone? Don't leave yet, guys. Let's see how he plans to hold up this stream by himself!""Heh, YouTube's full of these blowhards. Big guy, enough talk. Let's see some rockets before you say another word.""If he can actually support Ava's stream all by himself, I'll eat my hat live!"“…”Evan couldn't help but smirk at the absurdity of the trolls. Today, he'd show them what true wealth looked like.After linking his bank card, he typed with a sly grin, "Well then, let's start with ninety-nine Super Rockets for a bit of fanfare, shall we?"On YouClub, the Super Rocket was the pièce de résistance of gifts, each valued at $2,000. A single Super Rocket would trigger a platform-wide notification, a banner unfurling across every stream.Ninety-nine Super Rockets—that was an expenditure of $198,000! And just for kicks!Even among the truly wealthy, such
The arrival of Fortune Baron instantly grabbed the attention of countless YouClub viewers, especially his current spree of gifting the new streamer Samantha, which set the gossip-hungry crowd abuzz with speculation.Evan shook his head at the flurry of messages and retorted, "Who's this fool? I'm gifting on my own terms; what's it to you? Let's talk after I send ten more Super Rockets."Without hesitation, his fingers flew across the screen as he continued his generous onslaught."Whoosh!""Whoosh!""..."In just five minutes, he had unleashed eighty-eight Super Rockets, their effects dominating Ava's stream with an unyielding presence."Is he really going for ninety-nine Super Rockets?""Eighty-eight in five minutes, wow, now that's what I call a tycoon."By now, the trolls were struck dumb by Evan's display, his opulence virtually palpable through their screens.These eighty-eight Super Rockets had an unparalleled effect, swelling the crowd from a mere twenty thousand to half a mill
Evan, seeing these messages from various female streamers, could only scoff. He didn't bother to reply—sending even a single period seemed a waste.He continued his onslaught of Super Rockets, unabashedly slapping the faces of the trolls and Fortune Baron himself!"4022!""4023!""..."Ninety minutes had passed, and his gifting marathon hadn't paused for a second.Ava's stream was abuzz like never before, as the entirety of YouClub's audience and even those from other platforms converged there, all eager to catch a glimpse of this super tycoon and the beauty he was showering with riches.And during this spectacle, as Evan continued his cool, methodical gifting, the headquarters of YouClub was anything but composed."Manager Kennedy, please proceed with signing a contract with this broadcaster named Ava immediately!"In a modest twenty-square-meter office, seven YouClub employees—four women and three men—pleaded with the middle-aged man seated regally in the office chair."All of you a