All Chapters of Gratitude System: From Class F To a God: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
21 chapters
Chapter 1
At exactly 11:47pm, Hiroshi heard footsteps closing in on him. He was sitting in the office going through the files sent to him.Hiroshi Tanaka was twenty-two years old, 5'8ft tall, with a thin stature that came from not eating as much as he should. His eyes were always looking tired. He had worked many jobs before now to earn a living and take care of his sick mother, Emiko Tanaka. His mother Emiko had been sick for three years now. The hospital bills ate through his father's life insurance. Then her savings. He even took money from loan sharks. Now, they are after him because he hasn't paid.The steps were hard and fast on the marble floor.He had been looking at that same spreadsheet for twenty minutes. He was already feeling sleepy but he did not stop because he had to finish putting the information together before 10am that day. His neck felt stiff from bending over the keyboard. The Kuroda building was supposed to be empty at that time. That was why he worked late at night. No o
Chapter 2
Kazuo did notice. He was smiling still. He said, “Hey daughter. What's wrong? You just made me proud. Keep being the son your mother never gave me. Remember, you will one day inherit all of this okay? He tapped her hand as he said. Hana didn't even let out a smile."The boy is finished," he said. He poured the red and expensive wine and raised his glass to a toast. "Three million credits in debt. Class-F status. No appeal. No future."Hana looked up. Her face was pale. "You just ruined his life.""I protected this family." Kazuo took a sip of wine. "It's quite unfortunate but don't worry. He asked too many questions. He looked at files he should not have seen." He took a deep breath and said, “He was the perfect scapegoat. We needed to explain how funds disappeared from the company's account to calm our investors down, remember?”Father, you siphoned this money. Why drag an innocent boy into this? He has a sick mother. Who is going to take care of her if he goes to jail? Cuz clearly,
Chapter 3
The conference room was on the top floor of the Kuroda Tower.Glass walls, long table and leather chairs. Twelve men and women sat around it. They were investors. Kazuo stood at the head of the table. He was wearing a black suit. His hair was perfect. His smile was perfect."Thank you all for coming," he said smiling.A man at the far end of the table spoke. His name was Mr. Endo. He is a Class A citizen. He had gray hair. He was wearing a Rolex watch. He smelled like old money."You said there was an emergency meeting," Mr. Endo said. "What is the emergency?"Kazuo pressed a button on the table. A screen lit up behind him. It showed a picture of Hiroshi and his student ID photo. “You all asked for accountability and thorough breakdown of your investments. The company was running at a loss and I didn't know how. This man," Kazuo said. "Hiroshi Tanaka, a former intern at Kuroda Industries."A woman with short hair which looked like it was dyed brunette leaned forward. Her name was Mr
Chapter 4
He raised his hand and held the back of his head with both hands. “This is real. This money is actually mine. I have been recruited by some invisible system. No wonder I grew bigger and got more strength,” He whispered. He kept pacing back and forth as if that would answer his questions. He stopped and smiled. Then he said, “This could actually be good. Now I have money. I will no longer be a Class F citizen and I can do whatever I want including protecting the people I care about.”He shook his head for a second and said, "You must be delusional Hiroshi. What's really going on? Could this be a real thing? Is someone pulling my legs?”He put his phone away and went and got food.He was just one meter away from the restaurant when he saw a group of boys bullying another boy.He thought to himself, “I have read this in fantasy stories. But those are just mere stories right? It can't be true. But this is too much of a coincidence. This notification comes after I fought for something or
Chapter 5
Hiroshi woke up that morning from the floor. He laid there while Ren took the couch last night. His body aches. His arm hurts from being tucked under his head throughout the night.Ren woke up tired that morning. His head ached from drinking too much than his body could carry last night. His breath still smelled like alcohol.He stood up from the couch and found Hiroshi sitting on the floor. He stopped and placed his hands on waist. He said, “Hiroshi. Why are you on the floor? You have a room, don't you?“I didn't feel like lying on the bed last night, " he replied. He observed his hands. His hands and entire body were still strangely strong. He picked his phone and checked his account balance. 24,000,000 credits. He checked his messages again to confirm if truly, this system thing was true and he wasn't hallucinating. No messages from new loan sharks, no unknown texter about mistakenly sending him money. He asked, “Ren. Do I look different?Ren chuckled. “You look like you have bee
Chapter 6
It's nightfall already but Hiroshi hasn't slept. He was lying on the couch. He kept thinking about all that had happened H within the last three days. He thought about Hana, about how lovey dovey their relationship used to be until recently. He thought about how he was framed and the unknown system that had recruited him. “Now, I can afford to take care of my mother and everyone else around me. The system will remain a secret for now. I will pay up the three million credits debt and tell them I took another loan as usual.”Hiroshi stood up from the bed and took his notebook and a pen. He wrote down a to-do list.Pay the three million tomorrowPay Ren’s overdue rent tomorrowMove into a more comfortable apartment soonLook for an insider that works for the Kuroda empire or used to work there. I need information I could sabotage them with.Form a group that would help me in this mission.He hit the under of his pen and said, “Pretty much enough things to do for now.” He dropped it and we
Chapter 7
It was raining hard Monday morning. The kind that hits the window and doesn't stop easily. It was pouring down heavily.It was six am that morning. Renji Kuroda opened his eyes before the alarm went off. His body just knew.The room was small. A bed. A desk. A closet. Nothing on the walls. No pictures. Not even his own face anywhere in there. The staff brought in a plant once. It was gone before noon. He liked it empty.He had his bath and got dressed. Tied the tie the way his father taught him when he was twelve. Takumi Kuroda. Kazuo's younger brother. He had kind eyes and a soft voice. He was tall like Renji but gentler in the face. Everyone said Renji looked just like him.Takumi used to laugh when the knot came out wrong."What did you do this time boy? Come here. You'll get it, just keep at it." Always smiling when he said it. "You have good hands."Renji looked at his hands. Still good hands. They'd done things his father wouldn't recognize.He walked to the kitchen. A long cold
Chapter 8
The sun came through the thin sheet over the window. Hiroshi didn't have real curtains yet. He was going to order for them today.He was on the floor mat he brought while moving into the house. Still no bed. His back hurt. His neck hurts. He sat up and rubbed his face. “I cannot continue this rubbish. Do I have to fucking care about an explanation? I am not just getting curtains. I am getting everything the house needs.” He thought to himself.Ren was on the couch in the other room. Yuki's door was closed. He picked up his phone and checked his account balance. Credits: 24,200,000Twenty four million. Two weeks ago he had nothing. He kept thinking someone would call and say it was a mistake. I finally understood he has been recruited by a private system that rewards protection of people's life.He got up, went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Room temperature. He drank it standing there.He needed to understand the System. He'd been using it but not really understa
Chapter 9
Hiroshi walked into his mother's room. That medicine smell hit him straight away like it always did. Then the machines. A typical hospital.Emiko was sitting up. The tube was still in her neck but she looked better than yesterday. Less pale in her face. A little color was coming back.She smiled when she saw him come in."You look tired," she said."I'm fine.""You're lying."He pulled a chair up and sat next to her. He took her hand. Her fingers were thin and cold like always."How are you feeling?""Better. The doctor said my lungs are starting to clear.""Good."She gave him that look. The one she'd been giving him his whole life when she was about to say something he didn't want to hear. "You don't have to sit here all day you know. I know you've got things to deal with.""I want to be here mum."She squeezed his hand. "You were always terrible at lying. Has it been hard paying for my bills? I feel so bad that I have stressed you in the last week. God only knows how you managed to
Chapter 10
Hiroshi pushed the door open. It was quite dark inside. Just the streetlight coming through the window.The front door was open when he came in. That means someone was already home. Probably Yuki. He went to her room and knocked. He didn't get any response. Then he moved to Ren’s room. The door was slightly opened making a creakling sound. Hiroshi called out to him. “Ren! Ren! Are you in there? No response. He went in anyway. His balcony door was open. Ren was out there. He just didn't want to answer because he didn't have the energy to.Hiroshi walked over. Ren didn't turn around. He was just standing there with both hands on the railing, a bottle in a paper bag hanging from one of them.Hiroshi stopped next to him with hands in his pockets. “Hey man. What's up?” He placed his hands on his shoulder and let out a smile.The city was out there in the distance. Lights small and blurry from up here.Ren took a long drink. He didn't even flinch. Just swallowed and kept looking out."Your