Beginning

Do you know that you can buy happiness?

How?

Just spend money on something that you really love, in that way you're spending money and buying happiness.

"But I don't know where to spend it."

Don't worry, you can spend money in this live stream by giving me some balloons and gifts... Sera, the popular idol on "V Screen," said that to her viewers. (V Screen is a popular app used by millions of users.)

Arin stared at sera's donations and viewers. He could see her cheerful face while talking and also her well-organized room in the background. After that, he looked at his own face on his broken phone, where he could see the dark circles around his eyes. His uncut hair covered the left side of his face.

After looking at himself, he looked around his room, which was covered in junk food boxes and soft drink bottles. Sigh, he sighed and closed Cera's live stream, then looked at his own V Screen channel. There were only five subscribers to his channel. Three of those were his parents and little sister, and the last one was his own alternative account and his close friend.

He took a deep breath and smiled, then slowly reached toward the face cam and positioned it correctly. After that, he opened his game folder, started the game, and began to live-stream. "Hello, it's me, Arin. Today we are going to play one of the popular games that was released a few years ago - Dungeon Maker."

He then looked at the viewer count and was surprised to see that it had reached eight for the first time. "I am grateful for the new viewers." After that, he continued to play Dungeon Maker.

Ding.... Ding

The chat screen of Arin's live stream read:

『Riusan67: Are you still playing this old game that was released eight years ago?

Sennyn: His old PC can't run anything new.

Trustissue: He is just one of those useless people that hope to become big in this』

He saw all of those mean comments, and his eyes became red and filled with tears, but he pulled himself together and said, "Well, guys, it's time to end our live stream for today."

However, his mean commenters became more interested in this situation and started to curse at him. 『Riusan67: Look at this f@#£&; he is trying to run away.

Trustissue: Hahaha, such a loser. Sennyn: Go and die, you worthless piece of shit. You can't do anything. You don't have any talent or money, so why are you even living like this?』

He couldn't control his tears anymore, and they started to flow down his cheeks. He wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Good night, guys." He said that with a cracking voice and shut down the live stream.

He sat for a while longer in his cheap chair, which he bought during a discount sale. He covered his eyes, but even at that moment, his tears still flowed.

Ring... Ring... Ring... Ring

His phone rang. He wiped his tears and looked at the phone. The phone displayed the name; it was his mother's.

He looked at that call, cough, then he cleared his throat and wiped the tears.

Arin - "Hello, Mom."

Mother - "Arin, my dear, what happened?"

Arin - "Nothing, Mom, nothing happened." (His voice was cracking.)

Mother - "Then why did your voice change? I'm sure something happened there today."

Arin - "Nothing, mom. Nothing happened." (His voice is cracking.)

Mother - "Then why did your voice change? I'm sure something happened today."

Arin - "No, mom. Nothing really happened. I caught a cold today, that's why my voice changed."

Mother - "So did you buy medicine?"

Arin - "Yes, mom."

Mother - "How is your job at that new mall?"

Arin - "It's pretty good. Where is Dad and Lyra?"

Mother - "They are here watching that old comedy film. You loved that movie so much."

Arin - "Mom, I need to go to work early tomorrow. I will call you later."

He hung up before his mom could say anything else. Then he looked at his broken phone and held it tightly in his hand.

Our main character, Arin, is an 18-year-old college student. Due to his poor background, he can't afford to do most of the things his classmates do. His dream is to become a successful person on V Screen, a video streaming platform that works on both phones and computers. He now stays in a small apartment near his college.

After whining for some time, he goes to sleep.

Tring ... Tring ... Tring ... *

His alarm starts on his old, broken phone. He grabs the phone and turns off the alarm. A few minutes later, he jumps out of bed and looks at the phone. It's almost 8:15, and he's late for the bus. He runs towards the toilet with a towel and toothbrush in his mouth. It takes him almost six minutes to finish bathing and brushing. Then he quickly changes his clothes, grabs his bag, and locks his room before running towards the bus stop.

He is lucky the bus hasn't left yet.

"Hello, Arin. You didn't go to college today," one of the men sitting in front of him asks. (That man was an acquaintance of Arin.)

"No, I took leave from college so I could go to work."

After that, they both talk for a bit. Arin looks at his phone, and he sees zero messages and calls. It's 8:43. When the time hits 8:50, Arin arrives at his destination - Grains mall, where Arin works. He climbs the stairs and opens the door. He looks at the lift, which is almost full, but he still squeezes in.

The third floor.

Arin walks towards a gift shop where there is an old lady at the front desk who is angry at Arin.

"Why the hell are you late to work?" she asks.

He scratches his head and smiles, but he doesn't reply to the woman. Then he grabs a mop and starts to clean the shop. After that, some customers come to buy some products. When they leave, it's almost noon.

"I'm going to eat something, ma'am," he tells the owner.

The owner replies, "As soon as you finish your lunch, don't loiter around and come back quickly."

Arin says, "Yes, ma'am," and picks up his lunchbox before going to his secret spot. His secret spot is behind some indoor plants where no one will come. He opens his lunchbox and sees just a few pieces of bread and an omelet. While eating, he thinks to himself, "Someday, maybe I can eat a fancy dinner with my family." While eating, he looks at his phone and wonders why it isn't turning on. A worried expression forms on his face. He finishes his lunch quickly, washes his hands and mouth, and then runs towards his workplace.

Owner: "Why are you in such a hurry? Are you that eager to work?"

Arin: "Ma'am, my phone isn't turning on."

Owner: "Your phone?"

Arin: "Yes, ma'am."

Owner: "Give me that."

Arin hands over his phone to the owner.

Owner: "Arin, are you still using this broken phone?"

Arin smiles and says, "Yes, ma'am. I don't have enough money. Also, I need to pay the bills."

The owner suddenly becomes silent and then says, "You poor thing. You know that sometimes I scold you, but I see you like my grandson. So, here's some money. With this, you can at least repair or buy a small phone."

She hands over some money to Arin, and as he receives the money, his eyes fill with tears.

Owner: "What are you waiting for? Go and ask the mobile shop."

Arin: "Ma'am, I will go to the mobile shop after finishing the work."

But the owner doesn't listen and insists that he goes to the mobile shop.

Arin leaves the shop and heads towards one of the mobile shops in the mall. A few minutes later, he arrives in front of a mobile shop and looks at the name board.

CELLINK - that was the name of the shop. He slowly opens the door and enters the shop, and there are some customers inside.

He looks around the shop, and it's air-conditioned, and the floor has white tiles with a black pattern. He looks amazed by the shop's interior, and an employee comes towards him and asks, "Sir, may I help you?"

Arin replies with a soft voice, "Yes, could you please look at my phone? I hope that it can be repaired."

Employee: "Of course, sir."

Arin hands over the phone, and when the employee looks at his broken phone, his face turns sour. He thinks to himself, "Is this man a beggar? Who has this type of broken phone nowadays? He doesn't look like a beggar. Maybe he is one of the rich kids who is playing as a poor person."

After that, he says to Arin, "Sir, I don't think this phone can be repaired." Arin's face becomes more gloomy, and he says, "Is that so? Then can you show me some phones that I can afford?"

The employee becomes happy and shows him expensive phones, explaining their features. Arin becomes worried, and he quietly asks the employee, "Do you have any cheap phones?"

The employee then shows him some less expensive phones. Arin says, "Mister, I don't have that much money on me."

The employee becomes annoyed and asks him with a slightly louder voice, "Then what is your budget, sir?"

Arin becomes scared and takes out the money he got from the owner and says, "Do you have any phones for 3000 zerx?"

The employee says, "Hah? For 3000 zerx? Here I thought you were some kind of rich kid playing as a poor person. We don't have anything for those measly 3000 zerx."

Arin starts tearing up, and at that time, the employee says, "Here, this is the only one you can afford for those measly 3000 zerx." He then shows him an old smartphone that is slightly newer than his old phone.

His face turned red with happiness as he asked the employee, "Mister, can I really buy this for 3000 zerx?"

The employee replied, "This phone is worth more than 4000 zerx, but I will give it to you for 3000 zerx."

Arin handed over the money and took his new phone. After saying goodbye to the mobile shop employee, he ran towards his workplace.

As Arin left the shop, the employee started to laugh and said to himself, "I fooled that idiot for 3000 zerx. That broken phone is only worth less than 2000. It won't even charge, its battery life is almost 2 hours."

Arin arrived at his workplace and showed his new phone to the owner.

"Ma'am, look, I got this phone for 3000 zerx. Here is the remaining 1000 zerx," he said.

The owner asked, "Didn't I tell you to use the whole amount?"

Arin scratched his head and replied, "Ma'am, how can I use all the money when you treat me like your grandson? I don't want to waste the money."

After a few more hours of work, it was time to close the shop.

"Arin, don't wander around the city, go quickly to your room," said the owner.

"Yes, ma'am," Arin replied.

After closing the shop, Arin checked the time. It was almost 8:33, so he headed towards his home. Almost 30 minutes later, he arrived at his home and looked at the phone. It was 9:02, so he plugged the phone into the charger and headed towards the bathroom.

He changed his clothes and wrapped a towel around his waist. He opened the shower and started to use the soap.

Ring... Ring... Ring... Ring * His phone started to ring, it was his mom.

He washed his face and left the shower to take the call. When he touched his phone, a small drop of water splashed onto the socket. Suddenly, there was a spark of blue. Arin got electrocuted, and the whole apartment's power was cut off.

Arin's eyes became white, and his room was now in complete darkness. Suddenly, there was a blue light on his phone, and it showed some texts.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

•×~ו CØNN3CTING •×~ו

×•× BOOTING TH3 D3VIC3 ו×

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•