Balance Unlimited System

03. Meet An Old Friend

As though the universe had already made fun of him before. Still, Matthew had to handle the driver of the black Pigeot. As Matthew left the opulent home with the three-meter fence, a car almost struck him.

Not satisfied with a simple honk. The driver got out and shoved Matthew's corpse, bringing the luggage he clutched.

"Didn't you hear my car horn?! Are you deaf? Don't you see my car standing here and about to enter?!" The man snapped repeatedly.

Ding

The system window displayed the person shouting at Matthew in his profile photo. Axel Ruthless was the name of the individual. This man was having an affair with Dominic Rayn's wife, Briana Floss.

The system window vanished once more when the information was given, and the guy kicked Matthew.

"Hey, you piece of trash! Get out of my way!" He snapped. After a while, Matthew ran out of energy. He was unable to continue battling the arrogant man in the same way. He rose up and pulled his bag out of the way of Axel Ruthless.

"It's good that you know yourself. You trashy, useless man!" Axel Routhless continued to make fun of Matthew. He walked back to his car, whining and swearing, and when the gate opened automatically, he drove through.

Matthew was only able to sigh. He had been humiliated, kicked out, and was now homeless. Even three hundred bucks were in his possession. Even if it was only a tiny apartment, he should at least secure housing while seeking additional sources of income.

Matthew walked out of the big house that had become his ex-wife's home, carrying a bag full of an unknown number of clothes, and went to the bus stop. However, Matthew had underestimated how far Dominic Rayn's residence was from the bus stop.

The house was in a posh neighborhood. Finding a bus stop and getting to the freeway required a twenty-minute walk.

Matthew lacked a phone and knew nobody he could call for assistance. Nevertheless, he discovered he was in Florida, a state in the southeast of the United States, after arriving at the bus station and consulting the itinerary on the route board.

"Wow, I always wanted to live near the beach, and now that I'm alive again, I really do live near the beach." The distance between Matthew's position and Dominic Rayn's house on Caladesi Island's beach was just fifty kilometers.

Matthew would be close to his friend Anthony Baskin if he were present in Florida at that time. Even though he was now inside Dominic Rayn's body, Matthew could have been able to pass for Matthew Wilson to borrow enough money to travel back to his Canadian home.

"Hei, system," Matthew called out, and the system's window opened again.

"You told me that the time of my death was reset to a few hours before Dominic Rayn's death, right?"

[ Correct. ]

"That means I'm in the year 2023?"

[ Correct. ]

"What if I just transitioned into Dominic Rayn's body, but the individuals I've been in contact with are still alive? Does that indicate my status as a human has just changed to dead?"

[ Your spirit was only a distraction for me. Dominic Rayn's body now contains your soul, but we cannot change anything. In other words, yes. Your parents, girlfriends, and friends, everyone you ever knew, are still living today. ]

"Can I meet those people?" Matthew was so curious about the people in Dominic Rayn's life that the man chose to stop living despite having a system like Trivia.

 [ No doubt. Use Dominic Rayn's body because if you don't, you won't be able to tell them you're still alive. ]

"What? Why am I not the one in this body?"

[ Technically, you're actually dead. And the body you're carrying is Dominic Rayn's body. If anything happens, you will still be known as Dominic Rayn, not Matthew Wilson. ]

"Ah, shit!"

Matthew swore because the system's assertions were factual. Dominic Rayn's physicality prevented Anthony from considering him a friend. He only had 300 dollars, so he needed to find out if he could use that to pay for the system.

There was a system window. Dominic Rayn's account details, passbook, fingerprints, and signature were all captured on camera. 

[ Passbooks, account numbers, and signatures are readily accessible. The bank chosen by Dominic Rayn was Central Bank in the city center. ]

"Does this mean I can cash out the balance I got from you?"

[ Correct. The balance can be cashed out after logging into the account. ]

"Well, at this rate, I can stay in a hotel for a few nights and rent a flat that's a bit bigger."

[ Matthew Wilson, you can even buy a condominium if you successfully complete each scenario. ]

Matthew smiled and prepared himself as the bus was almost there. The distance between the bus stops needed a little detour to get to slight Central Bank, so Matthew had to take two buses and a metro ride to the city center.

Since Matthew routinely traveled to Florida for business, he knew precisely where to find the Central Bank when he arrived in the city's core. He went to a bank teller there and requested a new debit and credit card, citing the loss of his existing ones.

Matthew needed to find out where Dominic's debit and credit cards were. Or the Floss family took them for their own gain.

In addition to Dominic Rayn's face, identity, and fingerprints, Matthew may also use Dominic Rayn's signature to authorize particular papers required by the bank.

But as Matthew left the bank, a guy gave him a shoulder tap. When Matthew turned around, Anthony smirked at him. Anthony smiled, but Matthew could not reciprocate because he was now within Dominic Rayn's body and was left wondering. Dominic Rayn was smiling at Anthony as he explained the situation. And the grin that Matthew had taken at first to be kind turned into one that seemed rude.

"Hello, Dominic Rayn. How are you, buddy," Anthony asked as he patted Matthew's back quite hard, causing him pain.

"I've been having trouble finding you for five months now. How dare you run away from me like that, you little shit ...." Anthony put more force into each pat on Matthew's back, causing him even more pain.

"Sorry, but that hurts," Anthony continued to pound Matthew's back, so Matthew took a few steps back to escape him.

The system chimed again as Matthew turned his back, and a window revealing Anthony Baskin's identity, appearance, and relationship emerged.

However, what Matthew saw in the text the system had displayed on Dominic Rayn, who owed Anthony two million dollars to cover the operating costs of his firm, which Huggins Floss had taken over, left him feeling a bit let down.

The system window disappeared once the data had been entered.

Matthew knew Anthony Baskin as a lender. However, he was unaware that Anthony Baskin was the financier of Dominic Ryan's massive enterprise.

"So when will you repay everything you owe me, Ryan?"

"Um, that's-"

Ding!

The system window appeared, allowing Matthew to talk to Anthony Baskin and try to buy time for the debt to be paid or flee.

"Is this the second scenario?" Matthew asked.

 [ Correct. Please choose to be able to get ten million dollars. ]

"Why so less?!" Matthew protested.

 [ Please select and complete the second scenario. ] 

In the books he had read, the system had frequently given him large sums of money, so "I thought the system would immediately give me tens of millions in one scenario." It does not, however, apply to Trivia. Matthew pondered.

He only received the double money from Trivia after completing the first scenario.

"Okay! I choose the first one," Matthew said. Then the first choice changed color to green and the other to read.

[ Selection complete. Matthew Wilson, please complete the scenario. ]