01. First Scenario; Unlock Your Unlimited Balance

Matthew Wilson awakened when a water bucket was thrown over his head. He was furious because water had also entered his mouth and nose.

He was on his knees when he was unexpectedly shocked, causing him to rise up and wipe the water off his face with his face cloth. This caused his breathing to become difficult for many minutes and his eyesight to become cloudy.

 

Someone who had earlier resprayed him dumped the remaining water from the bucket into his face just as he began recovering his composure.

 

"Why does it make me feel so terrible to watch you kneel like that in front of me?!" A middle-aged guy snapped at Matthew with bulging eyes and a scary stern expression.

It was a tall man with a thick mustache and once-black hair that was now almost all white. After splashing Matthew with a bucket of water, he threw the bucket against the wall and the side of the room. The old man was furious.

 

What, though, had agitated him?

Not just middle-aged men. Several handsome men were in that large room wearing fine suits, and their shoes appeared to have just received a fresh coat of shoe polish. Matthew was presented to three more women in addition to the males, two of whom had faces that were remarkably similar to the lads'. Not the brown-haired woman who stood a little higher than the other ladies and looked to turn her head aside when Matthew caught his eye. They appeared to belittle Matthew and believed it to be a joke.

Matthew had no idea who these people were or why they treated him that way. Even the environment in which he was being assessed looked strange to him.

"Look at my face when I speak to you! You obnoxious son-in-law!" While the middle-aged guy cursed, Matthew felt compelled to listen, his face down.

They, who? Who are these individuals? Matthew had no memory of why he was there and had no notion why he was there. Now hold on, son-in-law. How long ago did he get married?

'No! It might have been a mistake! I can't be married already, right?' When Matthew was about to speak, he paused to plan his speaking strategy. His lips were closed, and suddenly, bells in his mind started ringing.

Ding!

[ Fusion is in progress. ] The voice echoed inside his head, making Matthew confused but unable to ask anyone.

'What? What's that?!'

[ Updating the process is ... 45%. ]

 

'Wait! Wait! What?! Processing what?!"

 

[ Updating the process is ... 75% Please wait till the system is finished. ]

Matthew's brain continued to ring with voices. As the voices in Matthew's head began to be audible, the people around him stopped moving as they waited for the voice's updating process to be finished. Matthew waited about three minutes until the singer stopped counting inside his head.

[ Fusion is completed. Welcome back, Matthew Wilson. And welcome to the Balance Unlimited System. I'm Trivia. I'll help you explain everything to you. ]

'Balance unlimited?'

 

[ Correct. Your body and memory are already merged with Balance Unlimited. To achieve infinite balance, you must finish each scenario and give back to the individuals in your immediate vicinity. ]

'Wait! Wait! You talking to me right now?!'

[ Of course. I'm talking to you, and only you can hear my voice. ]

Matthew could only freeze and watch everyone else seem frozen while still sitting on the wet floor and wearing his clothes.

'Then who are they?'

The names and photos of everyone there were suddenly shown on a window screen that opened in front of Matthew. A pail of water was poured on Matthew by his father-in-law, Huggins Floss, a middle-aged former marine.

Then there are two more men: Denias and Bram Floss, Jonathan Scott's nephew, and one of the three women. All of them are the sons of Huggins Floss. Heidi Floss, his wife Hugins Floss, Briana Floss, and her in-laws were also there.

'Wait! System! I've read them all, but who are they? I never knew I was married before?!'

[ Please complete the first scenario so I can unlock more features and explain why you're here. And if you successfully finish the scenario, a balance of one million dollars will be added to your account for the first time. ]

'W—what scenario?! And is it real money?'

Once more, a screen window appears. However, this time it displays a letter with a lock on it and other read-only text windows that are locked. But the open procedure started when Matthew consented to finish the scenario. Then a writing window on the screen appears.

[ First scenario; Trash son-in-law. Please complete the task, and the balance will be added automatically. ]

'Wait! What should I do?'

[ The Host is a pitiful and tormented individual. They attempt to play the Host. ]

The window screen shut after that, and time resumed as usual. In reality, the water poured on Matthew earlier made him feel cold.

"I regret marrying my daughter to you! Even though you once ran a business, look at you today! Do you have to incur debt to buy some food?" Huggins Floss lost his cool as he touched Matthew's cheek and severely slapped him.

He could hear voices telling him to pretend to be someone else who was the son-in-law of a family like that. Everything appeared to be taking place in a dream. It was as if he had entered a novel and turned into the main character who was aware of the rules. Was that the case? It most definitely feels that way.

"Dad, just give him some money. I'm already tired of him. Axel will come to pick me up soon. You'd better give him that money and let him go. After all, this house is already mine. He won't have anything else except what you give him." said Briana Floss, the previous Host's wife.

"Wait! Why are you leaving? Aren't we still married?" Matthew tried to talk to Briana, hoping that if they were still married, then she would defend him. But she didn't. Briana laughed at him instead.

"How did you say that? I sent you the divorce papers, didn't I? You should have signed them to complete everything as quickly as feasible. I've had enough of being your poor, worthless wife."

 

Shortly after, Matthew remained silent. He was still unfamiliar with its details despite being asked to carry out a scenario. To get some reminders, he attempted to reactivate the system.

'Hey, system!' Matthew called out. 'Did I really sign the papers?' he asked.

[ No. Briana Floss did provide the divorce papers, but Host never signed them. ]

'Then, what about the house?'

[ The Host had given his house and land as collateral for the money he had borrowed during his marriage to Briana, and the money became so much debt that the Host couldn't pay it back. ]

'So, how about now? Is it really being repossessed?'

[ Correct. ]

The system's voice vanishes once more, to be replaced by Huggins Floss, who declines to give him any money.

"He needs to lick my toe first if he wants money! He believes that getting money is simple. Even though he constantly begs me for money, he cannot repay the whole amount he has borrowed." Huggins Floss did not stop talking.

The words of Huggins Floss were welcomed with laughs from his two boys. They approached Matthew and stuffed one of his feet into a pair of gleaming leather shoes while simultaneously laughing. Matthew was sure the skin was natural animal skin produced, particularly after taking one look.

When Denias' toe touched the tip of Matthew's lips, he wished to withdraw the foot from his face. He reasoned that resisting was incorrect nonetheless because the Host the system had identified was a weak guy.

Ding!

The system sounded in his head again, and then a window opened, giving Matthew two options.

[ You have the option of; waiting to collect another loan from Huggins Floss and getting tossed out of the house, or you could choose to have Denias Floss kick your ass and receive an extra $50,000. You've got two seconds to decide. ]

'What?! Are you kidding me?! How can I get my ass kicked just to get fifty thousand dollars?!' Matthew shouted inside his head.

[ So, is the choice? ]

'No! I'll choose to keep quiet and get kicked out of this house.' Matthew decided.

[ Correct. Accepted choices result in the cancellation of the bonus, and the remaining funds will be received once the scenario is through. ]

Once more, only Denias Floss's laughing could be heard as the system's sound vanished. Matthew was growing weary of these individuals because they treated him like trash, deserving of derision.

"Aren't I your daughter's husband, Dad, and you have also gotten this house as collateral for my debt. Then, why are you being so rude to me?" Matthew started to push back.

"Rude, you say? What do you think you've contributed to us that we must be so kind and gentle to you?" Denias said, starting to get emotional over a simple sentence from Matthew.

"Your company has gone! Bankrupt. You don't even have money to buy food, and you still dare to recognize my daughter as your wife?!"

"Of course, because I haven't signed the divorce papers yet. So, I'm still your daughter's husband." Matthew was not to be outdone.

"My sister already has a better and richer future husband than you, so don't expect her to keep you as a husband anymore!"

"Sign the papers in exchange for me giving you five hundred dollars and walking out of our lives." Huggins Floss was fed up with Matthew continuing to talk nonsense about his daughter.

Huggins Floss offered to pay $300 to remove Matthew, but Denias rejected the offer immediately. "Dad, that's too much! Just give him fifty dollars and force him to give us the title deed to this house so we can change it to our name. After all, he can't pay all his debts, right?"

"Never mind, stop this and kick him out right now! Axel will be here soon, and I don't want him to see this trashy guy here again!" Briana replied as she hurriedly approached Matthew and gave him a shove that nearly caused him to trip.

Imagining how awful the Host's life must have been in the past for him to be abused, Matthew could only smile as he was exposed to such abuse.

Without even being present, Briana Floss, his wife, flung a bag full of several hundred dollar notes in Matthew's direction. Who knows how long the case has been there.

"Signed or not, I'm going to go ahead with the divorce proceedings, and I want you to get out of here and stop showing your face in front of me! I've had enough of useless trashy husbands like you."

Ding!

[ Congratulations! The balance has been added. You can end the scenario now. ]

When the computer displayed a screen window with a balance of $1,050,000 in Matthew's name, he initially believed it to be a dream. He prepared to participate in a game using a method that provided the ideal balance. A brand-new existence that he had never previously envisaged.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[ Dear Matthew Wilson, welcome. The balance unlimited has been made available. I am Trivia, and I'll stay with the new Host till death. ]