Sean walked aimlessly on the road, heading home. He was coming from a construction site, having already completed today's work.
He was a university graduate, having graduated over a year ago. But unfortunately, he had not managed to get any job, despite his qualifications.
With the current situation of the world, unless someone had connections, it was becoming exceedingly difficult for one to be able to gain a job.
Sean had not given up on looking for job opportunities. He had already submitted several applications to different companies, and he was still waiting for a response. But he did not hold any high hopes for the opportunity.
He did not come from a big background, only coming from a small family that was located in a very small city, in the poorest side of the city. The family had a small grocery store, but due to the location of the grocery store, the business was not doing that well.
During the time that he was still in campus, his parents took several loans, including from loan sharks and other family relatives, in order to pay for his fees. But considering the income that they were getting, and him not getting a job for over a year now, it had become almost impossible for them to be able to repay the debt.
Recently, it seemed that the loan sharks had been getting a little agitated. It was clear that they were getting impatient, despite continuously adding the interest on the amount of money that had been borrowed from them.
Recently, they threatened that they would end up taking everything from the grocery store, in order to repay themselves. But that was something that Sean could not allow.
After all, that grocery store was something that both of his parents had worked so hard in order to open. It had been a source of income for them, and had it not been for his education, they would definitely be capable of sustaining themselves by depending on the grocery store.
It was just that Sean was getting a little desperate. He did not have any other means of getting the money that was required in order to pay the debts. And for asking for the loan sharks to give them more time, that was even more impossible.
Those guys were completely unreasonable. They never cared about your situation, they only cared about the money. Additionally, it was not just the loan sharks that wanted the money back, but the other people that had lent his family money also wanted the money back.
It was just that they were not as aggressive as the loan sharks. Regardless, it was always difficult for someone to be free, especially if they are in debt.
Sean looked at the street, which was currently busy with a lot of pedestrians that were coming from work. The majority of the people in this part of the city were of a low class, which was to be expected considering that there was no rich person that would want to live in such an environment.
Not to mention the hygiene, but the criminal activities within this part of the city was way high. This was something that easily discouraged investors from investing in this part of the city.
Taking a deep breath, Sean stopped walking. He looked at the worn out pavement, his mind deep in thought. But then suddenly, he noticed something on the ground.
A little curious, he bent down and picked it up. It was only then that he suddenly realized that it was actually a coin. But this coin was faded and rusty, making it almost impossible for him to be able to tell the currency.
Just as he was puzzled, scrutinizing the coin, something that shocked him suddenly happened.
In front of his eyes, a holographic screen suddenly popped up. At the same time, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind, with several prompts appearing on the screen.
[System activating... System activated.]
[System binding in progress... System binding successful.]
[Welcome host to the Ten Times Multiplier System: Investment Rebate]
Sean was stunned by this. He could not understand what was going on. Apart from the shock of a screen suddenly appearing in front of him, there was also the doubt about the information that was suddenly forcefully injected into his mind.
It took him quite a while to be able to finally process the information that had appeared in his mind, while trying to calm himself down.
According to the information that had appeared in his mind, the screen that had appeared in front of him belonged to a system that had been bound to him. The origins of the system had not been explained in the information at all.
In any case, according to the information, the aim of this system was simple. As long as he invested in something, there would be a return. The return would be 10 times the amount that he had invested.
As for the definition of investment, according to the dictionary of the system, an investment was anything that could bring a form of return.
Sean was not sure about what kind of return was counted as an investment, but that was something that needed to be tested out in order to be sure.
But apart from that, apart from the 10 times rebate of his investment, there was an additional reward. For every investment that he made, there would be an additional reward that would accompany the money that would be brought back to him.
There was no detail about what type of reward would be given for each investment that he made, but it was made clear that the higher the profit of the investment made, the higher the value of the reward that would be given.
Additionally, it was stated clearly that an investment in the same thing would only bring back an additional reward for the first investment. Any more investment in the same thing would only bring back the cashback rebate, without any additional rewards.
Sean was left dumbfounded for quite a long while. The concept of the system was not strange to him. Having already been in contact with web novels in this modern world, he understood what a system was.
But it was just too incredible, something that he did not believe would happen to him. He had actually gotten a system? He believed that systems were a work of fiction, and not something that really existed in real life.
But then again, if that was the case, how was it possible that there was a holographic screen that was still floating in front of his eyes. Sean looked around, and he realized that it seemed that while people were giving him weird gazes as they went by, it did not seem to be related to the screen in front of him.
Instead, it was obviously related to the expression that was on his face, and him standing there like an idiot. Regardless, Sean took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
Since others could not see it, Sean decided to believe that all this was just an illusion. So, he decided to ignore the screen in front of him, and just get back home and rest.
The moment that he decided to ignore the screen, it actually disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Sean was both relieved and disappointed. If it was true that he had received a system, of course he would be happy. But it was just too good to be true.
As he began walking home, his mind could not help but drift to the issue concerning the system. Was it all just an illusion, or was it true. After all, the information in his mind had not disappeared, despite the screen disappearing.
No sooner had he thought about this that the screen appeared in front of him yet again. Displayed on the screen was the last prompt that he had received, about him being welcomed to the system.
Shocked by the sudden appearance of the screen, Sean was suddenly forced to believe that this was not an illusion. This was definitely real.
Sean took a few deep breaths, trying to stabilize himself. Then, he decided. Currently, he was hungry. Even though he had eaten lunch, it was several hours ago. And considering the intensity of the job at a construction site, the food had already been digested, and he was feeling hungry.
Looking at the several stalls around, Sean approached one of them. It was a stall that sold street food.
Sean took a deep breath, before decisively deciding to buy a few fruits from the street stall. He only had $20 at the moment. This was the amount of money that he had received after an entire day of work.
Sean did not like spending the money recklessly, considering the current family situation. But right now, he thought that there was no harm in trying this out. If it did not work, he would just have to work harder in order to earn more to replace the money that he had spent.
Spending $2, Sean purchased several fruits. Immediately after making the payment, Sean waited, waited for the prompt from the system.
But even after waiting for nearly half a minute, there was no prompt at all. Sean took a deep breath, disappointed. It seemed that this was all just a joke.
Feeling a little frustrated, he took a bite of one of the fruits in his hand. Due to the frustration, he did not even think about washing the fruit first. Instead, he was only thinking about how much money he had wasted.
He was not sure if the system was real, or maybe he had not made the right investment. But if the system required him to make those investments that required him to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars, it would be impossible for the current him. After all, he did not have the money.
In these street stalls, it was impossible for someone to be able to return any item that had been purchased as long as the transaction had been completed. That was even if he had not left the stall.
But just after Sean had taken a bite of the fruit, the mechanical voice sounded in his mind, while at the same time, the holographic screen appeared in front of him, together with a prompt.
[You have spent $2 on food. Investment detected. Rebate activated. You have received $20. Additional reward, basic chef skills.]