A black Honta Civix pulled up beside Jason. Jason looked at the car and made a confused face. The passenger window rolled down, and a cute, calm, and bright face appeared.
"Hop in, I'll drop you off." Kaitlyn offered help as soon as she saw Jason, who was struggling with a few bags.
"Thank you, Kaitlyn." Jason thanked her and pulled the back door open, put the bags on the back seat, and closed the back door. Then he opened the front passenger seat and sat beside her. The inside of the car was clean, cool, and smelled faintly like vanilla air freshener.
"You are doing pretty damn well for yourself, so what do you do for a living?" Jason asked her, as her outfit and car were adequate enough to impress Jason.
"I am the Assistant General Manager of Silverline Auto Group." She replied with a proud smile on her face.
"Wow, seriously? AGM at one of the finest car dealers on the current market! That's great. But if you are the AGM of such a fine premium multi-brand automotive dealer, then why are you using this Honta Civix?" Jason was obviously struck by her because he didn't anticipate Kaitlyn would be of such high status and still remember a guy like Jason, who was still wearing sandals and shorts. But still using a low-key car.
"It's because… well, you can say it's my preference. It reminds me of where I started. As an AGM I obviously can drive something flashier, but I don't want to. This car… It is dependable, and my emotion is attached to it." Kaitlyn said it like she had deep feelings for her car.
"Sorry if I offended you; I didn't mean it. I was just simply asked out of curiosity." Jason apologized to her, as he didn't want to offend her choices.
"I know, I didn't mind." Kaitlyn smiled.
It was almost 10:30 P.M. when they arrived at the front of the apartment building where Jason lives.
"Thank you so much for the ride." Jason, who was carrying all his bags, thanked Kaitlyn for helping him.
"No problem, I live about ten minutes away, so it's not a big deal, and I liked talking with you." Kaitlyn said with a smile on her face.
Jason felt something warm flicker in his chest at that. "Yeah. Same here. Hope we run into each other again."
"Text me." Kaitlyn smiled.
Jason smiled and gave a small wave. She waved back, rolled up the window, and drove away. Her taillights were shrinking into the distance and soon disappeared from the sight of Jason.
She is an AGM in the current best automotive dealership, cute and attractive in every aspect, and yet she treated me well. Damn, I hope we do meet again.
Jason headed toward his rental apartment. When he was walking in the hallway heading toward his room, Jason saw a familiar face heading toward him. It was Nora, the landlord's sixteen-year-old daughter.
"H… Let me help you, big bro." She saw Jason and wanted to greet him, but seeing Jason struggling with the grocery bags, she immediately reached out.
"Oh, no need, Nora. I have arrived anyway." Jason shook his head and refused, as he had already arrived and she was just a little girl to him.
"I will help as much as I can." Before he could stop her, she took two bags from him and carried them toward his room.
Jason sighed and followed after her. At the door, he unlocked it but didn't open it right away.
"Thank you so much for your help. Oh, and I transferred the rent to your mom's E-wallet." Jason thanked Nora, and seeing the landlord's only daughter, he remembered that he successfully failed to complete the spending quest and ended up giving the rent money. If the system had stated beforehand that it wouldn't work, then he wouldn't have given the money right away.
"Okay. I'll tell her. Bye!" She handed the bags back, waved, and walked off down the hall.
Jason waited a bit for Nora to leave out of sight before opening the door.
Kreeeeeak
The moment Jason pushed open the door, the first thing that hit him was the smell of cigarette smoke.
Yeah. That's why I didn't open it in front of her. Maybe I should really quit smoking.
Jason stepped in, put the bags on the table, and locked the door behind him. Then he started putting the groceries away. The milk and fruit went in the fridge. Bread and cereal stayed on the kitchen counter.
A few moments later, after he freshened up, he was lying on his bed, eating cheesesteaks and scrolling reels, but he didn't feel entertained. He checked the time and it was 10:50 P.M. Jason stared at the screen, then let out a sigh.
I got the golden finger, yet I feel like I will ruin my life. Watching reels and doing nothing will make me lazier. Maybe that is why the system wants me to exercise to level up. I got the opportunity, and if I ruin this golden opportunity this time…
Jason thought to himself and shook his head.
No, I can't let this opportunity slide away.
Jason got up from the bed and took a position for push-ups on the floor.
"Two… three… four…"
By the fourth one, his arms gave out and collapsed on the floor, panting. His hands were shaking.
"Damn it… Only four push-ups. Fuck this… I'm done. My arms are dead. Four years of instant noodles really took a big toll on my body. My body is weak as hell. No wonder I was struggling with those grocery bags.
Jason, who was collapsing on his chest, rolled over and forced himself into a sit-up position.
"Eight… nine… ten…"
Haah!... Huff!… Haah!… Huff!…
Jason managed to do ten sit-ups and collapsed again on the floor. Then he lay there for a second, staring at the ceiling with a bitter expression.
"Fuck. If things continue like this, I won't be leveling up; I will ruin my life instead. From tomorrow I will change my lifestyle and level up." Jason said to himself and pushed himself up and headed back to bed.
After a while, he picked up his cracked phone again and opened Online Multiplayer Battleground Mobile on his cracked phone. The game was lagged like hell. His phone was so weak it could barely keep up with the graphics, and the frame rate was pathetic.
"Come on, man. Even my damn phone is depressed."
He played for a while, and when his phone's charge nearly died, he plugged in and charged his phone and went to sleep.
System.
[Pulse Card Balance: $174]
[Complete the Main Quest to level up the system.]
[Quest Log:]
[Pushups (100/4)]
[Sit-ups (100/10)]
[Squats (100/0)]
[Running (10/0 km)]
[Spends ($1000/100)]
$174. Nice, I'm gonna grind this out and buy myself something decent. New clothes… A better phone… Maybe even move to a different place. Hell, maybe a PC too.
For the first time in a while, he fell asleep thinking about improving his life instead of escaping it. and soon fell asleep.
The next morning
The sun was shining. Jason felt motivated. He had already walked to a nearby sportswear store and picked out an ash tracksuit for his running quest. He now stood at the counter while the employee waited.
"That'll be $45." the salesperson said.
"Yeah, Sure." Jason reached into his pocket for the Pulse Card but couldn't find it. He patted his other pocket. But the result was the same. Same with the back pockets. He frowned his eyebrow
Did I leave it at the apartment?
"One second, I'll just use ePay." Jason said with a forced smile.
He pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen. He swiped to the app drawer, looking for the heart logo. But it wasn't there. Jason frowned. He swiped again. And again. He searched the app library.
Heart Financial Bank App. [No Results Found]
A cold drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. His hands began to tremble.
System?
System!
Nothing happened. No semi-transparent panel. No holographic text.
"Sir? Are you paying?" the employee asked, looking annoyed.
Jason didn't even hear him. His face had already gone pale.
"System… System… Golden Finger… Cheat Code…"He screamed the words, panic rising in his throat.
"Don't do this to me. Please." Jason sniffed and cried.
But the System did not answer.