Next day
Morning sunlight filtered through his windows with golden rays.
Augustus woke up early like every other day, and the system's task that he had seen all depressed hovered before him, but this time, instead of a gloomy expression, a delighted smile etched on his face.
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Mission #01: Your daily grind!
[▸] No phone for 1 hour, take a cold shower, keep your room spotless — $10,000
[▸] 100 push-ups, 100 pull-ups, 100 squats, meditate 2 minutes — $20,000
[▸] Receive a compliment, greet and smile at 3 people — $10,000
[▸] Dress with confidence — $10,000
Every habit you build today shapes the person you become tomorrow.
| Penalty: Every hour of delay adds 10 extra pushups to your next workout. No excuses.
| Reward: $200,000 + Balanced Body and Sharp Mind. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Damn, these tasks can be repeated, then I can easily live off of completing these small tasks," he mumbled, but then added with a thoughtful look, determination flickering in his eyes,
"But I would be dumb to stop here and I doubt the system would even let me do that," he smiled, glancing at the system panel and stood up to complete the first task.
[✓] No phone for first 1 hour, Take a cold shower, stay in a clean room.
↳ Reward: $10,000.
This is a good start for the day, he mused with a soft smile while sitting on the bed and ruffling his hair, already feeling somewhat confident, just after taking a cold shower and completing the task.
"Let's check the balance and call David to ask for his decision."
| 8:12 AM
| New Balance: $3,18,590.87
"Damn, and it's not even been 24 hours since I got the system," he cheered after checking the first credit message was at 12:42 PM yesterday.
"Hello, David. How are you?"
"Hi, Augustus. I'm feeling much better. About the shares, can we meet personally? I want to know more about your plans." David replied, and the reason he believed in Augustus was because, when being discharged, he was informed that the bill of $4,785 was already paid.
"Fair enough. I'll come to the office soon," he said, cut the call, and stepped out of his tiny apartment room.
**
Clap! clap!
Similar to yesterday, Janice garnered everyone's appreciation for her singing, but unlike yesterday…
"Hello, Miss Singer. Your voice is as beautiful as you," he confidently stated and dropped a $200 bill like it was nothing.
She looked at him with a deadpan expression, misunderstanding that she had taken it the wrong way; he slightly panicked.
Did I go too far? and tried to change the topic immediately, "W-will you be directly going to the clothing store from here… I want to buy some clothes too, haha."
On the other hand, Janice raised her brows, shocked by the sudden compliment and $200. "Y-yes, I'll use the changing room and change my clothes into a uniform there," she hesitated, while also knowing that he didn't slip that bill by mistake today.
Then, "You also… look good today," she complimented and quickly added "5 minutes, I'm almost done," and moved away to collect money from others.
[✓] Receive a compliment. Greet and smile at 3 people
↳ Reward: $10,000
A dazzling smile appeared on his face, but this time it wasn't just because of reward; he looked at her and stood patiently on the side.
Five minutes later, they both walked to 'Veyron & Vale' while happily talking to each other.
"What's your major, and what do you do in your free time?" Augustus asked, starting the conversation.
"I'm studying at the Starlure University of Music, and other than singing, I don't have any other talent, so I perform and also work," she replied, tilting her head.
"Ohh, then you should sing online too, like streaming or something," Augustus suggested.
She smiled. "Here, this is my streaming platform ID. I'm already here," she said, showing her streams on the phone, which had 12,000 followers.
"Wow, that's a lot," he complemented.
"Looks like we are already here."
They both entered the shop while Misty teasingly eyed Janice and nudged her.
Augustus picked a few clothes along with gym wear with the help of Janice, then paid $12,400 and waved his hand toward Janice and Misty. "See you tomorrow, Miss Singer," he said with a soft smile, stepping out of the store.
"See me tomorrow?" Janice muttered while Misty pushed her from the side playfully.
Augustus held the shopping bag, booked a taxi, and finally stood in front of WhaleFit's huge building.
Ohh right, the trainer asked me to inform them when I'm nearby, he mused and pulled out his phone, then began to message…
| Message: Unknown number
| - Trainer, I'm already here :)
He'd already received a message from the trainer, so he excitedly replied to the same number and stepped into the automatic doors.
However, since he wasn't paying any attention, he bumped into a burly man. "Ah, sorry, my bad!" Augustus stumbled back, trying to catch his phone that slipped from his hand.
The person paused for a moment and scanned him thoroughly. Then his angry, calculating gaze turned to scorn as he growled, "Where the fuck are you looking, shithead? I'm already angry, get lost now." He lashed out and pushed Augustus back.
Augustus frowned with a sharp glare. "I said sorry, alright?" he replied with an annoyed tone.
"What is it, pip-squeak? You wanna have a go or something?" the man snapped and… punched Augustus with an angry expression, not liking the way he spoke or looked at him.
Ding…
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Task #10:
[×] – A man can be harmed but not disrespected. Show him his place.
| Penalty: All your notifications are replaced with annoying reminders to confront Bruno until done.
Disrespect left unchecked grows bold. Correct it.
| Reward: 10% stake in Havencrest Property + Self Respect.
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Yeah, System. Don't worry, I was going to teach him a lesson anyway.
"I said sorry already. Why did you hit me?" Augustus asked coldly in a sharp tone.
Two guards in black suits promptly arrived, stepping between them. "Gentlemen, please calm down. No scenes outside WhaleFit's building."
Bruno, the burly man, looked away, fuming. "Tch," and walked, shoving Augustus on his way out.
"Stop!" Augustus interrupted sharply.
Bruno paused and turned around with an exaggerated sigh. "What now?" People had started to gather nearby. Phones were starting to appear.
"Sir, please move this conversation inside," one of the guards said quietly. "This is a respected facility."
"He hit me. Publicly," Augustus stated firmly. "Ask him to apologize. Then we'll take this inside."
Bruno smirked. "Apologize? To some random pip-squeak?" He scoffed and turned to the security. "I'm a paid member here. Get this clown out of my face."
Augustus also let out a knowing smirk. If this was before, maybe he would have apologized and walked away, but with the system, he had begun to gain confidence.
"Fine. Then pull the security footage. I'd like to file an official assault complaint," he confidently stated.
The guard shifted awkwardly at the broad man named Bruno Larsen, and then at Augustus. "I'm sorry, sir. We can't pull footage without upper management's permission."
Bruno grinned. "Yeah, walk away, little man. You clearly don't know how things work around here," he said mockingly.