God-Level Tycoon: Rise of the Nobody

The Reward and the Threat

The air in the abandoned factory still smelled of dust and fear. Ethan stood over the unconscious body of Carl Vance, the loan shark who had been terrorizing half the district. His men were sprawled across the ground, groaning and clutching their wounds.

Ethan wiped the blood from his knuckles, his breathing steady. Inside his mind, the familiar cold chime rang out.

[Mission Complete: Neutralize Carl Vance and his crew.][Reward: Combat Mastery Lv. 2 Unlocked.] [Bonus Reward: System Upgrade Available.]

He froze. System upgrade? That was new.

[Initiating Upgrade…][Estimated Time: 30 seconds.]

Ethan’s muscles tensed as warmth surged through his veins, followed by a wave of clarity. Every sense sharpened—his hearing picked up the faint drip of water three rooms away, his eyes caught the twitch of a man’s finger before it even moved.

When the voice returned, it was… different. Deeper. More commanding.

[Upgrade complete. New Feature Unlocked: Shadow Network.] [You may now recruit and control operatives through the system’s interface. Operatives will be loyal only to you.]

Ethan’s lips curled into a slow smile. A network… loyal only to me? This was more than just money or strength—this was control. The kind of control men killed for.

He was already imagining the possibilities when his phone buzzed. Unknown number. He answered.

“Mr. Cross,” a distorted voice said, calm yet dripping with menace, “you’ve been making moves. Impressive… but you’ve stepped into a game you don’t understand.”

“Who is this?” Ethan asked, voice flat.

“You don’t need to know my name,” the voice replied. “You only need to know this—walk away now, or the next time you see your sister, it’ll be in a coffin.”

The line went dead.

For the first time in weeks, Ethan’s hands clenched—not from rage, but from the sudden, ice-cold realization that the battlefield had just shifted. This wasn’t just about building an empire anymore. Someone out there was watching him.

And they knew exactly where to strike.

The threat still rang in Ethan’s ears long after the call ended. "Walk away now… or your sister will be in a coffin."

For the first time that night, the heat in his chest wasn’t just from adrenaline—it was from fear laced with fury. Whoever this person was, they had made one thing clear: they were not afraid to cross the line.

Ethan forced himself to breathe slowly. Panic was what the enemy wanted. Precision was what would destroy them.

[System Notice: Shadow Network tutorial available. Would you like to proceed?]

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

A dark-blue holographic interface unfolded before his eyes like the blueprint of a city. Tiny glowing nodes pulsed across a digital map of Oakridge—each one representing a potential operative the system had scouted for him.

[Shadow Network operatives can be recruited through influence, money, or intimidation. Loyalty is absolute. Current available recruits: 5.]

The profiles appeared one by one:

Cassie “Ghost” Varella – Information broker, hacker, expert at making people disappear—digitally and physically.

Dante Cruz – Former enforcer for the Salerno syndicate, muscle with a strategic mind.

Maya Kwon – Professional infiltrator, can bypass any security system.

Tariq “Lockjaw” Hassan – Weapons specialist, skilled in both firearms and explosives.

Noah Graves – Disgraced journalist with a knack for digging up secrets people want buried.

Ethan’s lips curved. The beginnings of a kingdom.

But he didn’t have the luxury of building slowly. The threat to his sister meant speed was survival.

He picked his first target for recruitment—Cassie Varella. The system tagged her location: a grimy back-alley bar called The Black Wire.

Twenty minutes later, Ethan pushed open the creaking door. Cigarette smoke curled in the air, the dim red lights making every face look a little dangerous.

Cassie was easy to spot. A pale woman in her late twenties, dressed in a leather jacket and ripped jeans, her fingers dancing over a laptop while a glass of whiskey sat untouched beside her.

Without waiting for an invitation, Ethan sat opposite her.

“You’re being watched,” he said quietly.

Her eyes flicked up, sharp and cold. “By who?”

“Half the room,” he replied. “And by me. I have a job for you.”

She smirked. “I’m not cheap.”

“I’m not broke.”

Something in his tone made her pause. She closed the laptop, leaning forward. “What’s the job?”

“Someone called me tonight. Threatened my sister’s life. I want a name, a location, and leverage on them—fast.”

Her smirk returned, but it was tinged with curiosity. “Why should I care?”

Ethan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he slid a slim black card across the table. No name, no number—just the silver insignia of the Shadow Network.

Her brows shot up. “You’re… him?”

“I’m whoever I need to be,” Ethan said, voice low. “And right now, I need you working for me.”

For the first time, Cassie’s confident façade cracked into something like respect. She reached for the card.

[Recruitment successful. Operative loyalty: 100%.]

By the time Ethan left The Black Wire, Cassie was already digging. Her voice came through the earpiece she’d given him.

“Your caller used a voice modulator, but they made one mistake—routing the call through a relay that bounced through an inactive business line. I’m tracking it now.”

Ethan’s steps quickened. “How long?”

“Minutes. Maybe less.”

That was when the system chimed again.

[New Mission: Identify and eliminate the threat to your family.] [Failure penalty: Loss of primary asset—Sophia Cross.]

His sister’s name burned like fire on the screen.

“Cassie,” he said sharply, “double the speed. We’re running out of time.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ethan stood outside an abandoned apartment block on the east side of the city. Cassie’s intel had been precise—the signal had originated from here.

The building looked dead, but Ethan knew better.

He stepped inside. The air was damp and stale. Floorboards groaned beneath his boots. Every instinct screamed trap.

Halfway up the staircase, his phone buzzed again. Same unknown number.

He answered.

“You move fast,” the distorted voice said, amused. “But not fast enough.”

A sudden click echoed through the hallway—followed by the unmistakable metallic snap of a sniper bolt being pulled back.