The next morning, Chris got up from the floor and went to the kitchen to make some rice for himself, and give the bread for Bruno to eat.
'Since I told those gangsters that I don't have any money left, it should be foolish to go and buy some food. Maybe I can take Bruno out for a walk and stop by a store, we'll have something on the way and eat rice and bread for dinner?'
Thinking about it, Chris entertained the idea quite a bit.
Going back to the living room, which was basically the hallway+kitchen, he found what he looked for, it was a mini cart that he could use to transport Bruno around.
Since his good friend sacrificed for him to continue living, Chris made sure to treat his dog better than himself and did his best to make him happy.
"Bruno. We're going for a walk!" As if he could understand Chris's words, Bruno tried to bark from joy, but all he got were some whimpers that tugged at Chris's heart every time he heard them.
'I swear to god that I'll treat you once I pay Sophie back. Please bear with me for a little longer, Bruno.'
Helping Bruno get on the mini shopping cart, Chris and his dog made for a funny duo as he walked around the neighbourhood.
"Taking your girl out for a date?"
"I bet the only reason there aren't any puppies walking around is because he's a male."
"Hahaha! You're right fatty!"
As Chris endured the devious laughter and fucked up jokes of those shits around, he tried his best to keep a calm expression on his face and seem unbothered.
Even though he was boiling inside and ready to take their life.
'They can pick on me all they want, but Bruno is another matter.'
Feeling Chris's distress, Bruno rolled in the cart and waved his paw at him, trying to make him feel better.
'I should also go and quickly deposit that money in my bank account, it's safer that way.'
Over the course of five years, Chris managed to gather some money, he was close to paying back his debt to Sophie.
Five years, sixty months… between 150 and 300 UEC every month plus some of the money he had left from Sophie's initial money, Chris had around 13.400 in his account.
With these 100 UEC he was going to add, it was 13.500 UEC, another 500 and he was close to paying it off.
'Three months. Even if I have to starve again to pay her back sooner, I'll do it.'
With that money, Chris would be able to pay his school fees and enrol once again. The last year of high school offered him a diploma, which was quite important just because it raised his social status.
That meant better pay at work, the opportunity to have a job and be registered for paying taxes.
A lot of things would change.
But the law dictated that those who dropped out of school have to pay 10.000 UEC to attend once again!
When Chris heard that for the first time, he almost fainted.
'After I pay Sophie back, I should really consider that other option.'
The option Chris meant was doing some illegal work for another gang that controlled the slums, the Red Dots.
They were basically the drug lords around and were in need of fresh meat everyday. It was dangerous, and if the police caught them, it was game over.
Their 'distributors', aka the ones who received drugs and sold them, were the lowest of the lowest; no one cared for them since they weren't there to fight other rival gangs, but to make some quick cash.
And that was exactly what Chris planned to do after paying Sophie back.
It took him around thirty to forty minutes to get to the closest park since the slums were quite a distance away.
Despite being in the same city, the slums were different from the rest, no one bothered with them, not even the enforcement teams, and the slums didn't disturb the rest of the city, much to the mayor's relief.
'They are also paying taxes to those corrupted politicians anyway, maybe that's where my protection fees are going… Hah… Scums.'
Sighing in displeasure, Chris couldn't really enjoy the walk, but he still put up a smile for Bruno to see.
The two of them spent some time in the park before Chris took Bruno out to eat something tasty.
It was actually his favorite thing in the world: chicken!
All-You-Can-Chicken was a small restaurant owned by a kind old man who took a liking to Chris, he often gave him coupons and discounts, other times he even went as far as not allowing Chris to pay.
'Old man Smith is such a great man. He's probably aware of my circumstances after asking me why I wear the same clothes every day. Haha! He's still cool for not trying to make fun of me.'
Whether old man Smith really knew or not, Chris still respected the man greatly, and who knew, after he paid his debt and quickly earned some money from selling drugs to go back and finish his studies, maybe he can work part time there!
Passing by a bank, Chris saw an ATM and stopped, taking out a 100 UEC bank note, he approached the machine. Quickly going to check his account again and deposit the money, Chris left Bruno and the cart a bit further, close to a street corner.
It was quite late already, and the bank was quite close to the slums, just for safety Chris tried to leave Bruno at a safe distance in case something happened.
Introducing his data and checking the balance, Chris had a faint smile on his face as he saw the sum of 13.400 UEC showing up.
Quickly adding the rest, he now had 13.500 UEC.
'A few months, just a few months—' Chris's thoughts were interrupted after hearing some footsteps behind him, looking back, it was Carlos and his two friends.
His heart stopped beating for a second.
'No, no, no, this can't be…!'
Quickly trying to take out his credit card, Carlos squeezed his hand hard.
"Well, well, isn't this interesting? Almost 14.000 UEC were hidden by our friend… What a surprise, don't you think so too, guys?"
"I knew this fucker was up to something."
"That's a nice sum, we'll thoroughly enjoy it."
Hearing that, something snapped inside Chris.
"I knew you had a hidden stash, that's why we followed you, but I didn't expect you to be so dumb and directly go to an ATM. Haha!"
As Carlos laughed, his smile disappeared from his face as he coldly said, "Now, quickly take out that money, or we're going to take your dog and teach him how to swim."
Because there were a lot of surveillance cameras around since they were in the city and not in the slums, Carlos couldn't really be aggressive, but this didn't mean that he couldn't make Chris do what he wanted.
Trembling from the fear and rage he felt inside of him, Chris swiftly did as Carlos said and took out all his money before handing them over.
He didn't say a thing as he watched the laughing trio leave with all his hard worked money over the course of a few years.
Soon, his cheeks felt like burning, and unconsciously, tears dropped from his eyes; the passerby frowned as they saw a young man crying without showing any emotion on his face at all.
They thought Chris was probably insane so they made way for him.
Bruno felt Chris's emotions, and he tried so hard to bark that he eventually woke up the young man from his daze.
"It's alright Bruno. We can't do anything about it." Thought Chris, while his first thought was of contacting the other rival gang of Carlos's Den of Wolves, the Jade Cross.
'Fuck my life, fuck Carlos, fuck everything, if I don't take my revenge, I'll better kill myself. You'll pay for this Carlos, you and those two fuckers, your whole gang will suffer because of what you did.'
Gritting his teeth hard, Chris was gripping the cart so hard that his hands were almost purple.
'Why am I so poor? Just why did God or whatever existed out there give me such a life?'
As Chris got back to his apartment and asked himself this question, another voice was heard inside his mind.
[Ding! The Divine Wealth System found a suitable host with the characteristics of being greedy, calculated, miserable, and unlucky!]
[Initializing System… AcAcquiring Data…]
[Ding!]
A string of letters and numbers suddenly appeared in front of Chris's eyes.
[Divine Wealth System]
[Host: Chris Collins]
[Wealth: 0]
[Level: 1]
[Strength - 0.97]
[Agility: 0.91]
[Stamina: 0.83]
[Intelligence: 1.08]
[Charm: 0.76]
[Inventory/Shop/Prestige/Missions]
Note: Average adult's stats are around 1
"What the... Holy fu—"
Chris couldn't even curse as another luminous screen popped up in front of his face.
[Does the host want to activate the first mission?]
[Yes/No]
Gulp.
Gulping down air, Chris unconsciously thought of pressing yes.
[Ding!]
[Mission 1: 10 push-ups(0/10) 10 squats (0/10) run one kilometer (0/1)]
[Rewards: 100 UEC, 1 Prestige, 0.1 to all stats]
Seeing that, Chris widened his eyes and looked excited like a little kid receiving a present.
"This can't be true... No, it's just my imagination..."
Despite saying so, Chris already did a squat and checked his mission progress.
Squats (1/10)
'Fuck, it's true.' seeing that the count really changed, Chris knew it was true.
A big grin adorned his face for a second, before he got serious once again.
He read about this mystical stuff named system before, but it was only that, a story.
Now?
That story seemed to be true.
'Is this my...worst day?'