Ethan could hear strange noises in his head; he found himself drowning in his thoughts, but in an instant, all his memories came rushing inside him, and he screamed out in the real world.
Ethan stood upright as he woke up from what seemed like a nightmare.
He was seeing different numeric numbers that he didn't understand. What a crazy thing, he thought.
Ethan gazed forward, only to see a big digital screen in front of him.
"What the hell?"
Ethan moved in such a rough manner that his head hit the wall behind him. He finally looked around, and he was currently in a hospital bed.
"How did I get here?"
Ethan tried to remember what happened when he was kicked out of Lady Madison mansion, but he couldn't get the picture correctly; all he remembered was a strange voice and this shit in front of him.
Ethan slowly gazed forward again. He remembered seeing something like this before he passed out.
What could it be?
Ethan fully looked at the digital screen, and something sounded in his head.
"Claim Reward"
Ethan quickly looked around, but he didn't see anybody. But he was sure he heard a female voice.
His eyes opened widely as he suddenly thought about it.
Could it be that he has gone crazy?
His heart missed a beat as he thought about it. He looked straight at the digital screen.
[Host: Ethan Winston]
Physique; Weak
Mentality; Weak]
[Host has successfully ascended to the beginner level.]
[Claim system reward: $10,000,000,000,000]
Ethan's eyes went through the words on the screen; he was trying to process what he was seeing, but his eyes kept moving to the system reward, which was ten trillion dollars.
His head tried to calculate what the amount could buy, and everything seemed purchasable.
Ethan blinked twice, hoping to see that the digital screen had disappeared, but it was still there. He closed his eyes for five minutes and opened them, and the digital screen was still there.
"What the hell is this?"
Ethan tried to touch it, but his hand went through the screen. It was like a reflection of something, something that he couldn't see.
He sat upright again. So he had really gone mad.
Ethan massaged his forehead, as he couldn't believe what was happening to him. He muttered after some minutes of silence.
"Claim Reward"
[The host has claimed beginner rewards.]
[The system would now undergo some changes.]
Ethan heard the voice in his head again, but it wasn't as painful as before. Although it felt awkward, it was more like his mind was sounding louder than usual.
[The system has undergone changes successfully.]
[Hi. I am Poppy Hardy, your system's general manager. Would you like me to brief you about the system?]
Ethan sat properly on his bed; he still didn't understand what was going on, but he felt real, and he was eager to know more, so yes, it was automatically clicked on the screen.
[Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enlighten you, master. You have been chosen by the Divine Founder as the successor of the bounteous system, a system that would grant great strength and immense wealth when all the procedures are followed properly.]
Ethan could hear the message in his head, but he still went on to read it on the screen. He wondered if this was everything.
"Is that all?"
Just when he voiced out, the female voice sounded again.
[The Bounteous system was carefully crafted by the Divine Founder. Each level had its own requirements, goals, rewards, and benefits, but there are general requirements that the host must give out to receive.
To move up the rank and become the one above all, the host must obey all the rules of the system.
The host must give out to receive]
Would you like to know the system's general rules or the rules that govern the beginner level?]
Ethan read through the message; he wanted to know both, so the system brought out new messages while sounding in his head.
[System general rules: Host can't spend the system's standby funds.] The host can only spend the funds inside the system bank.
Ethan was surprised to see the message before him. He immediately thought of the ten trillion dollars; does this mean he wouldn't be able to access it, and what with the system bank?
After thinking about these questions, the system displayed new messages.
[The system bank contained money generated from investments. The host would get 2X of every dollar generated from investment daily.
Beginner-level limitation: the system bank would reflect daily
Note: The system bank would evolve as the host ascends to a higher level.
Ethan was confused by this, but the system messages were still sounding in his head.
The host can only use standby funds for donations and investments. For every hundred million dollars of investment, the host would receive one system point, and for every one million dollars of donations, the host would receive one system point.]
Ethan was finally understanding how this so-called system works. He understood why he had to invest a hundred million dollars to get one system point: it was because he would also get money from the investment, whereas he wouldn't get anything from the donations.
Now that he understood that part, he wondered what the system point was used for.
Wondering what system points are used for?
[Don't worry, Poppy got you covered. System points are used to improve host attributes. [Attributes such as host physique and host mentality]
[Current host attributes].
Strength— 0
Speed— 0
Body (Charm): 0
Intelligent— 0
[New attributes would be unlocked as the host ascends to another level.]
Ethan read messages instantly; earlier, the system identified him as a weakling. With these attributes, he would be able to strengthen his body. He wonders how that would be possible, though; he would love to try it immediately, but he doesn't have any system points; he would have to make donations or invest to get one.
[That is all for the general rules; now for the rules that govern the beginner level.]
Ethan proceeded in his mind, and the system displayed the rules.