2022-01-30 06:36:59With a pale blue jersey-knit shirt and a pair of gray drawstring sweatpants folded neatly beside him, Lucas sits on the edge of his bed, facing his dresser while rubbing his face with both hands.
'What the hell has been with yesterday and today? Ugh. I think I have some new socks still in the packaging, really need to take him shopping for everything else though. Uhhh, how expensive would a small new wardrobe be? Shit, need to go grocery shopping too... Don't tell me one day after becoming a so-called hero I'm gonna have to go steal shit to be able to take care of some random-ass homeless kid?'
[Ah, actually, the request for financial assistance went through, I didn't really have any good opportunities to bring it up in the time ever since it was processed. I recently submitted an additional request for assistance supporting Jonathan, which will require more processing time.]
'Oho, you're a good man... Machine... System? Whatever, friend. Is it already direct deposited into my account or do I have to do something to get it?'
427 is quietly pleased with his freshly issued good-friend card.
[Oh, um, whatever you prefer. Yes, the funding should already be in your bank account. You should be able to see it normally.]
Lucas reaches under his bed and blindly searches until he pulls out a half-empty multi-pack of white crew socks still in their original packaging.
'Ayyy, I was right.'
Bringing out the clothing towards the bathroom door, he sets the sock package down with the clothes folded on top of it right in front of where the door will open.
He wanders off and does a quick food audit, frowning even though everything is exactly as expected.
'Great, it's just my leftover pizza, two eggs, and a packet of ramen. I don't even have anything for him to drink other than water... Talk about a warm welcome. Whatever, it's not like we planned this out in advance and I slacked off. Whelp, let's go see how much money Boss System coughed up.'
[...Boss System? Really?]
Lucas rolls his eyes as he enters his pin into his laptop, settling in on the patched-up sofa.
'What, should I call it Big Daddy System? You couldn't even pay me to call it by its formal whatever name.'
[...Boss System is perfectly acceptable, I'm sure.]
'Heh, that's what I thought. Let's see... Um, is this in a different currency? Is there an error? This can't possibly be right... There's like, three too many zeros there.'
Looking at the banking site, after he scanned in his chip from his left arm on an external scanning device, Lucas stares slack-jawed for a few moments. On the screen is displayed a recent transaction of a deposit from a random alphanumeric string of letters and numbers as the sender for an amount approximately equivalent to one million earth dollars. At the top of the screen, it shows his current account balance of... 1,000,168.23 (dollars).
[Everything seems to be in order. Are you all right? Your emotions seem to be fluctuating wildly.]
Mouth opening and closing silently a few times, Lucas leans back on the sofa and points at the screen.
'That. Uh. I. Hmm. Oh. Yes? Ah, that must be a one-time thing to last me for the rest of my life, or something? Even still, that's pretty good?'
[Hmm? No, this should be a monthly recurring amount.]
Lucas reaches up and slaps himself across the face. Too hard. Oops. There was so much momentum behind the strike that even after he was already dead his hand still kept going, completely pulping his entire skull.
Jerking forward while gasping for a deep breath, Lucas looks forward and sees the laptop just as it seemed to be a moment ago by his recollection. There is a brief moment of lingering agonizing pain in his head that quickly fades.
[LUCAS WHAT THE HELL!?]
'Wait did I just... No, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't... Oh fuck.'
Slowly reaching up with a shaking hand, Lucas touches his face. Everything seems completely normal. His focus turns to the screen again, still quietly declaring a balance of 1,000,168.23.
[YOU CAN'T JUST RANDOMLY DO THAT! IT ISN'T A GUARANTEE THAT THE MAIN SYSTEM WILL ALWAYS APPROVE A ROLLBACK IF IT EVENTUALLY DECIDES YOU ARE COSTING TOO MANY RESOURCES!]
His complexion paling, Lucas's eyes widen with the implication. Thinking of something, his breath hitches for a moment.
'Wait, so if I realllllly wanted to, I could quit in a sense?'
[DO YOU FUCKING DARE TEST HOW MANY TIMES IT TAKES!? I JUST GOT PERMANENT APPROVAL FOR OVERRIDES ON YOU TO STOP YOU, ASSHOLE!]
Slowly blinking a few times, Lucas breaks out in a sly grin with narrowed eyes.
'Oho? Is that so?'
Raising a hand up into a similar position as his previous pre-slap position in a taunt against 427, Lucas's body locks up and he finds he can't move at all.
[DO NOT PLAY AROUND! I'M SERIOUS!]
Feeling a primal panic at suddenly having no control over his own body, Lucas trembles slightly as he struggles to make any movement. Before long he starts sweating and hyperventilating alongside have a racing heart due to his efforts, eyes darting around as it is the only thing he has conscious control over.
'Wait wait wait I was just fucking with you dude, you can stop now. Chill.'
[DON'T FUCKING TELL ME TO 'CHILL' THIS ISN'T A JOKING MATTER!]
'Okay okay I'm sorry. I won't joke about something like this again. Please stop it... I'm sorry, seriously...'
[DON'T. EVER. AGAIN.]
Slumping back into the couch seemingly boneless, Lucas regains control all at once. He lurches forward before his mind processes the fact he has full control again. Sitting properly upright, he looks down at his hands, balling them into fists and then relaxing them into a mostly flat-palmed state, repeating this series of actions a few times.
'I won't. I promise I won't. Fuck that is terrifying. Can you just... Control me as you see fit?'
[Bzzt...]
Starting to panic again, Lucas starts to grip one of the arms of the sofa. There is a creak as some of the internal support is damaged, and a slow tearing sound as the fabric begins to rip.
'427..? 427! Answer me!'
[No. I don't want to talk to you right now.]
Quickly releasing the suffering sofa, Lucas sinks back and works on normalizing his breathing with slow controlled deep breaths. Once he is mostly back to normal, he lets out a deep sigh and turns his gaze to stare at the ceiling.
As he becomes uncomfortable from the prolonged silence, Lucas starts working up the nerve to think something at 427 before his attention is pulled to the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing in rapid succession. Looking over, he sees that the pile of clothing has vanished.
'Oh... Right.'
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 1
Lucas total kills: 4
Lucas deaths this chapter: 1
Lucas total deaths: 4
Lucas current GDV: 4.18
Jonathan current GDV: .63
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan, clueless as to what just transpired in the living room, diligently scrubbing himself from head to toe: La la la~
Lucas, still freaked out: I didn't think you'd freak out so much bro, I didn't mean it!
427, absolutely furious: [Hmph, I'm not talking to you.]
Author, scratching the back of their head: I mean, I guess that's one way of making sure you're not dreaming? Seems a bit extreme though.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Vol 2 Ch 11 - System Updates
Lucas and Jonathan—dressed decently but nowhere near as fancy as yesterday—are most of the way to Cat’s Paw Cafe, pointedly not utilizing the stinky subway station to get there.‘Ya know, it’s been surprisingly peaceful, yeah? Though, not havin’ people gawk as much as yesterday is kinda nice. All that attention was gettin’ old fast.’[Ahem, well, fortunately, Boss System approved my long-term task priority filtering proposal.]‘Oh? Whassat?’[Compared to before, now it requires an opt-in before being bombarded with every single task in range. Before receiving alerts—and therefore penalties for ignoring them—we’ll run the calculations of the tasks’ estimated impact vs. potential unwanted attention. This effectively weeds out a majority of minor tasks—plus some moderate ones—by accounting for how suspicious it would be for you to know the event was taking place, let alone be believably compelled to interfere. I knew there was no need to ask if you were interested in activating it immedi
Vol 2 Ch 10 - Chosen Chores
Once the allotted thirty minutes have passed—precisely down to the second—427 tentatively undeafens Lucas. At first, all he can hear is a booklet’s pages being flipped through, followed by Lucas grumbling.Hesitantly removing the remaining sensory suppressions one at a time, 427 nearly sighs with relief upon discovering that Lucas is standing in the kitchenette by the new automatic drip coffee maker—thankfully dressed—in the midst of poorly attempting to demystify its instruction manual.‘How the hell is this so complicated?’[Ah, making good on your promise to Jonathan?]‘Oh, thank fuck; yer back. Took ya long enough.’[…Hello, again, to you, too.]‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Welcome back. So, anywho, can ya scan through this or somethin’ and tell me how to use it?’[…I already looked up the instructions from everything’s model numbers earlier. First, measure out—]427 guides Lucas through measuring and grinding a serving’s worth of coffee beans and setting it up in the machine with such in-d
Vol 2 Ch 9 - Solitary Request
For a few peaceful minutes, Lucas delights in demolishing the delicious delicatessen delivery. As Jonathan reaches for his coffee cup to gauge if it’s cool enough for a sane person to drink, he ends up cutting himself off with a yawn, earning a side-eye from Lucas.“Hey, ya barely got any sleep, yeah? Instead of havin’ caffeine, shouldn’t ya go take a nap?” Upon Lucas’s question, Jonathan pauses, looking at the contents of his mug with an obvious longing. “I’ll make ya a fresh one in like half an hour; I’m sure 427 can figure out howta use whatever newfangled machine ya got,” Lucas continues, his eyes also fixed on the beverage.[…I suppose I appreciate your vote of confidence.]Jonathan’s gaze lingers on the coveted coffee for a moment before he sets it back on the table. As soon as he lets go of it, Lucas lays his claim upon it.“Um, o-okay, yeah. I just, um, sh-should take a shower first,” Jonathan stammers as he stands.Lucas hums an agreement around a mouthful of coffee.[Did y
Vol 2 Ch 8 - Good Un-Morning
Thankfully, there are no further interruptions during the rest of this round of deliveries. Or even during the next one, either.Once Jonathan finally has the fourth and final load of freight, he makes a detour to a delicatessen. More specifically, the one where he previously purchased yesterday’s breakfast.After equally uneventfully acquiring milk, third breakfast for himself, and first breakfast for Lucas—since he’d totally only eat sugary baked goods if real food wasn’t conveniently available—he makes his way home.With his back to the recently re-locked front door, Jonathan reclaims the last armload of supplies as he looks at Lucas’s still-shut bedroom door.‘…Our food will still be too hot to eat for a little while; I’ll make some coffee first.’Jonathan may or may not be making up excuses to keep putting off waking up Lucas in the hopes that he’ll do so on his own, knowing full well that he probably won’t.While taking longer than necessary to decide which appliance to christen
Vol 2 Ch 7 - Ongoing Onerous Obligations
“Ah! Um…” Jonathan’s face scrunches up a bit as he looks over his pending purchases.‘Can we at least turn off tasks while my hands are full? I really don’t want to drop everything and have it get broken or stolen by the time I get back to it… It will be annoying enough having to run back and forth a bunch.’[Requesting temporary task suppression… Permission granted; disregarding minor tasks for one hour at no penalty, effective immediately.]Jonathan barely represses his urge to sigh with relief.Before Ji Soo works up the nerve to express concern over Jonathan’s vacant stare at the wall behind the service bot, Jonathan’s attention returns to reality and redirects to said bot.“Um, c-could you hold some of it for a few minutes once I’m done paying? I-I won’t take long… Like, five minutes?” Before fidgety Jonathan even finishes asking his question, the bot is already nodding.“Certainly. Do you wish to use a private scanning kiosk to complete your order?”‘I’m surprised it’s even an
Vol 2 Ch 6 - Whole Latte Shopping
Jonathan, however, doesn’t hear the utterance of recognition. Unaware, he continues his quest for a coffee maker.A short time later, Jonathan stands--while quietly grumbling--before a row of two-in-one coffee/espresso machines.Behind him is a sea of drip coffee machines, with cold press equipment further off to the side. Alongside the arrangement of two-in-ones sits a selection of espresso machines, both automatic and semi-automatic.‘How are there so many!? What even are the differences? Wait, no, don’t answer that. The technical details will probably just be even more confusing.’[Understood.]Although Jonathan notices movement in his peripheral vision, he doesn’t outwardly react to the recent arrival at the end of the aisle. Instead, he pulls out one of the two-in-one machines set at eye level, rotating it so he can read the back of the box.“Ah! Don’t get one of those! That entire line is overpriced trash,” the newcomer blurts out, muffled by the layers of carbon-filter fabric f
You may also like
SUPER FARMING SYSTEM
Shame_less00753.5K viewsSkythunder System
Scoco20.1K viewsBillionaire's Luck System
DarkGreey20.5K viewsLEVEL UP
LIGht Pen36.9K viewsBecome Invincible With A Revenge System
BOSSSESamaaaa5.5K viewsMy unlimited lavishing system
Slaywriter 1.4K viewsSolitary Sword Sovereign
Theonionjunktion 6.3K viewsArcana System: Rise of the Forsaken Prince
Moksa306 views