[New Task>>> Put your ex-girlfriend in her place]
Arthur's brows furrowed together. "Ex girlfriend? I dated her?" He asked himself. He muttered under his breath as he turned around to look at Sophia."I'm not sure I should waste my energy on… that," He started to walk away and ignore the system's task.[Reward >>> an amount of your memory will be regained.Additional 10,000 USD and increase in ego.Punishment >>> Compatibility with the system will be reduced by 5 percent. Remember, if the system Compatibility reduces by less than 35 percent, it will cause a slow and painful death.]The cold robotic voice in Arthur's head made him shiver with fright.A slow and painful death. Goosebumps."And what are you standing there ogling at me?" Sophie's voice snapped him back to reality.Arthur shook his head. "You're not worth my time."That took Sophie by surprise. She gasped. "What?!""I said you're not worth my time. That's what I said," Arthur said lazily.Sophie looked like she was about to get a heart attack. She could not believe that Arthur was talking to her like that."Maybe I should remind you of who my boyfriend is," Sophie gloated."How about you tell me who you are?" Arthur said. "You clamor behind a man because you know you're nothing but thrash."Sophie opened her mouth to say something but closed it without a word."Were you going to say something?" Arthur asked.Her mouth opened and closed again like a fish."I thought as much," Arthur said and walked away. He flagged down a taxi and got in, leaving astounded Sophie standing on the street and thinking about her life.Arthur sat in the backseat of the taxi, waiting for the results from the system.[Task completed successfully]"You have made your ex-girlfriend reconsider her status," The robotic voice said in Arthur's head.He smiled.[Ego increased by 5%][System Compatibility with host increased][System Compatibility >>> 55%]Arthur fist-bumped the air.The taxi driver glanced at him, confused."Just keep driving me around the block. I'll pay for everything the meter counts, okay?" Arthur said to the driver who nodded."A piece of your memories concerning your ex-girlfriend is starting to be uploaded into your brain. Brace yourself."Arthur took in a heavy breath as he felt a rush of adrenaline into his head and pictures flooded across his mind. Pictures, voices from the past.How he met Sophie in college and how much he had loved her. But what the system didn't show him was the reason why they broke up. That space was still blank in his memory."There is still a blank spot in my head," Arthur muttered."What did you say, sir?" The taxi driver asked from the front seat.Arthur shook his head, "Not you."The taxi driver kept glancing at Arthur."Why did we break up?" Arthur muttered under his breath."That will be uploaded into your memory when you complete more tasks," The robotic voice said.Arthur groaned in frustration. He leaned forward and said to the driver, "Stop me here."The driver pulled over to a stop by a street. Arthur got out, paid his fee from the thick wad of cash in his bag, and walked away.He dipped his hand into his pocket and kept his head low. "So what now? What do I do?" He asked."Anything you want. I will let you know when your next task is ready," The system replied.Arthur nodded and just walked along the sidewalk, soaking in the morning sun. He walked past a boutique and the clothes displayed in the window showcase caught his eyes.[New task][Glam up. Upgrade your looks]Arthur chuckled. "Oh, I can do that," he laughed and walked into the store. A little bell jingled as he opened the door. There was a sales girl behind a large counter. She looked up and gave a bright smile at him as he walked in."Hello sir," She said.Arthur smiled. "Hello. I need to get some new clothes."She looked at him and laughed, "Oh you look like you need it." She said it very jokingly that even Arthur smiled."What do you have for me here?" He asked."What are you looking for?" She asked back. "We have formal, we have casual… anything. Feel free to browse around."Arthur nodded and walked along the aisle. He was oblivious to the dirty glances that some customers around gave him. He walked around. A thick shirt and denim jeans caught his fancy, he picked them up from the hangar and carried them to the front desk."Fine choice sir," The sales girl said. She reached across and picked a pair of sneakers. "This would go very fine with it."Arthur looked down at his feet. His shoes were open at the front and peeling all around the skin. He chuckled. He had not thought of getting a new footwear. "Thank you, miss–""Ella. What do you think you are doing?!" A sharp voice snapped from behind the sales girl. She turned and saw a colleague coming from behind a backdoor."I'm just attending to a customer. That's all." The nice sales girl called Ella replied.Arthur looked as the owner of the voice came into view. It was a scrawny looking lady with a long neck. She came over to the counter. "I got a report from some of our respectable customers that a vagabond was strolling along the aisle unnoticed.""Oh I noticed him," Ella said. "And he's not a vagabond."The scrawny sales girl stretched her long neck and looked at Arthur from head to toe and said, "He sure looks like a homeless person."Arthur shrugged and said, "You're not wrong. I am homeless."The scrawny girl turned to Ella and said, "You see? How do you expect him to pay for all that? You even added a fucking sneaker!""Oh I am going to pay with no –""Shut up!" The sales girl said. "Ella, take those things back from him and return them to the shop."Arthur started to protest, "Oh, no no, I am going to –""I said shut up before I call the security," He was snapped at back again. "Ella, do what I said and return all those things."Ella gave him a sorry look and started to pack the things."I said no, I am going to pay, and I'll pay in cash." Arthur snapped.The scrawny girl raised an eyebrow and with a smug smile on her lips, she said, "Oh yeah? Ella, how much is the total?"Ella typed into a calculator and said, "Everything came up to 6,500 dollars, sir.""I bet you've never seen that amount of money in your entire life. Now get out of here before I call the police."Arthur frowned. He reached into his bag, counted out the money, and dropped it on the counter.The eyes of the salesgirl almost popped out. Then he reached into the bag again, took out another wad of cash, and threw it on the scrawny sales girl. "There. Use that to pay for your surgery.""S-surgery?" Ella asked, smiling subtly. The scrawny salesgirl was unmoving. A vein bulged in her forehead like she was about to have apoplexy."Yes. Your colleague needs surgery to remove the stick up her ass," Arthur said, took the package of his clothes and walked out the door.Over the jingle of the bell, he heard Ella's laughter.Smiling as he made his way across the street, he was concerned that the money he had left was little.[Bonus gift for standing up to the sales girl][Additional 5,000 USD into your Nirvana bank account][Ego increased by 5 percent]He found a lonely alley and quickly changed into his new clothes.[Task
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THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 9
[New Task][Get a job as a taxi driver. Deadline in 24 hours]Arthur blinked unbelieving. "What?" He asked. "You are to get yourself a job as a taxi driver until further notice," The system voice replied. "Shit!" Arthur cursed under his breath. "I thought I would not have to work again for the rest of my life and only spend all the money from the system." "The deadline to get the job is tomorrow morning," The system interrupted his thoughts. "Failure to do so is disastrous.""Let me guess," Arthur said dryly, "A slow and painful death." He groaned as he stood up. "Where can I get a taxi to buy? Or even rent?" He asked himself as he made his way into the commercial district of the city. His stomach gave a small grumble so he obeyed and entered the first restaurant he came across. It was a very fancy and high-end restaurant. Large glass chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling and from the looks and muted sounds from everyone there, he could tell that these were all rich billionai
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 10
"I'M GOING TO the hospital," A tall thin man in an oversized suit said, getting into the taxi. Arthur started the engine and drove on. He had been doing this for over a week now and even as he didn't expect to like it, he found himself waking up every morning looking forward to the type of people he was going to meet that day. He had found a small apartment on the outskirts of downtown. It was a shabby building, but he had nice neighbors and a place to sleep. He had also bought some casual clothes, not as expensive as the first set he had bought, but they were not cheap either. Oftentimes, he caught himself thinking of his late friend, William, but he snapped himself out of getting sad, and for that reason, he was glad to have a job as tasking and busy as a taxi driver. It kept his mind from thinking of the past and trying to regain his memory. "Would you like some music, sir?" Arthur asked his passenger. The man shook his head. "I would prefer the silence." Arthur nodded. He k
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 11
THE MEMORIES CAME in short flashes. It felt like Arthur was in a theater with flicking scenes. He saw an old woman with white hair. She was holding the gold necklace that he had around his neck now. "Grandmother?" He muttered to himself. The images kept flashing in his head. The memories kept on filling the blank spots in his head. After almost 30 minutes, the images stopped rolling. "60 percent of your memories have been restored," The system told him. Arthur released a long breath and nodded to himself. Sure enough, he remembered almost everything. He remembered his father, stepmother, and step-brothers. What he could not fathom was why they had not reached out to him. From the newly gained memories, he could tell that they did not like him so much, but after no contact for over 5 months, they should have tried to find him. Maybe he should find them, he thought to himself. "Not yet," The system replied. "Soon, it will be a task for you. But not now." "You don't get to co
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 12
"Little brother?" Arthur asked. "Do I know you?" "Stop the joke, Arthur," The man said. "Look, It's me, Liam. Your stepbrother. Here," He took off his face cap and dark shades. Arthur looked at him again, he was still having some difficulty piecing together some of his memories. It was still all a bunch of garbage in his head. Then slowly, it started stringing together. "Liam? Liam!" He remembered. Liam was the son of his stepmother before she married his father and he had not been really wicked or evil to Arthur all those years ago, but neither had he been exceptionally friendly. So Arthur was confused as to why he was there. "I didn't know what to think when you disappeared all those months ago," Liam said. "Mother wouldn't say anything. Your father, Edward too refused to comment. We all just assumed that you were missing, or worst-case scenario, dead. Where were you?" Arthur shrugged. "I've been… huh, alive. As you can see." Arthur shrugged out of his coat and dumped it on the
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 13
ARTHUR GROANED AND opened another can of beer. "A job at a nightclub…" He muttered to himself as he raised the beer to his mouth. Then he shrugged and sat down, after all, The system did not specify if he had a deadline or not. He thought that he could chill for as long as he wanted. But just as he prepared to close his eyes and sleep on the couch, his mind kept on wandering about what his stepbrother had just told him. The major part of his day had been spent being punished for a crime he did not do because he was a 'nobody'. He groaned again, stood up, and put on his coat. He decided that there was no way that he was going to spend the night drinking beer and sleeping, so he took one glance at his living room before walking out. As he walked along the street which was still very busy, he put his hoodie up because it was a cold night. Bright neon lights flashed and caught his attention as he walked past. He hummed to himself as he walked lightly, making sure not to brush past any
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 14
"WHO ARE YOU?!" A loud voice shrieked. Arthur snapped awake, tumbled backward over the chair he had been sleeping on, and tried to gather himself. "Wha?" He rubbed his face. His brain was still half asleep so he tried to remember why there was another person in his house as he stood from the floor. "Who are you?" The lady asked again. "And where am I?" Then Arthur remembered the events of last night. The bar. The alley. The two men. And finally, this woman. She was awake now. "I saved your ass from robbers last night!" Arthur snapped, twisting his neck to release the cramped feeling there. "Robbers?" The woman asked. "It looks like you kidnapped me!" Arthur sighed. "I don't have the strength for this. Look," He pointed at the door. "That's the door. It's unlocked you can go." He walked over and sat on the couch. The woman looked at him. uncertainty and suspicion glinted in her eyes, but then, she reluctantly went over to pick up her shoes. She sat at the other end of the cou
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 15
ARTHUR WALKED INTO the first restaurant that he came across and sat down near the window. When the waitress approached him to ask what he would like, He said, "I want a full breakfast. Scrambled eggs, bacon, waffles, hashbrowns, toast, and a jug of orange juice." The waitress looked at him, "All those for only you?"Arthur nodded. She walked away to get his orders and came back a few minutes later balancing two trays in her arms. She gently placed them on the table. "All those food are going to kill you," She said jovially. Arthur laughed. "No, it won't." Then he dug in. He knew he needed to eat a lot to be able to gain as much muscles as he wanted. After he was done here, he was going to find a gym to enroll himself in. 45 minutes later, Arthur was done with the breakfast. To the waitress's humor, he could barely stand straight. His stomach jutted out and he felt very filled. "I think I over ate," He muttered as he waddled out. He strolled the area until he found a gym. He got
THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes. CHAPTER 16
IT HAS BEEN three weeks. Three long, excruciating weeks for Arthur of going to the gym 5 days a week. He groaned awake and turned over on his bed, groaning even more at the sore and aching muscles all over his body. After lying in bed rebooting his brain for 10 minutes, he swung his leg over his bed and stood up. He went to the bathroom to brush his mouth and wash up, as he did his things, he looked at himself in the mirror. "There are no changes!" He muttered at his reflection. "I'm still as skinny and puny as I was one month ago."He rinsed his mouth and went to the kitchen. He had been following his coach's instruction by cooking his meals himself. He had bought a cookbook filled with different recipes that he wanted to try and after he started cooking his meals, he found out that he enjoyed cooking very much.He mixed up his protein shake, broke 5 eggs into his heated-up frying pan, and sat down to drink his shakes as the eggs cooked. All he wanted to do today was just to eat,
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