CHAPTER TWO

RICHARD

The first thing I was conscious of was the intense white light that still shone even behind my closed eyelids. Then there was silence, total silence, the kind that seemed heavy and oppressive.

I gradually opened my eyes and immediately shielded it from the glare of the blinding fluorescent light above. Disoriented, I quickly sat up. The room spun a little and I closed my eyes briefly to fight off the dizzy spell. My heart beat fast as I took in my surroundings.

I was in a room that looked like a hospital room, except that this room had grey, gleaming steel walls, even a formidable looking still door.

The room was illuminated by blinding lights placed above the bed on which I had lain. There were no curtains, no windows. I swallowed and fought off an attack of claustrophobia.

Where the hell was I? Had I died and gone to... wherever people went when they left the world. I clearly remembered feeling weird outside the gates of Amelia's house just before I passed out. As I swung my legs out of bed, the buzzing sound started up again. It sent a chill up my spine.

[Linking the Ultra Billionaire System]

[10%

[50%

[80%

[100%

[You have activated the Ultra Billionaire System]

The disembodied voice, mechanical and inflectionless, seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. I froze and watched in horrified fascination as the steel wall in front of my bed began to fold in on itself, and became a wall to wall screen. The next instant, the screen lit up and showed a picture of me! Underneath the picture was my biodata, popping up on the screen almost faster than I could read.

[System Host: Richard Thorne]

[Balance: $200]

[Body: Weak due to cancer and exhaustion]

[Mind:31(Normal)]

[Ultra Billionaire Points: 0. You’ll gain 1 point for each completed task]

“What is happening to me?” I asked no one in particular, glancing around the room in shock. Before I could understand what was happening, the voice started again.

[You have been chosen as the new host. You have been completely cured of cancer.]

"W-what?"

[You have been completely cured of cancer]

"But how?" I didn’t understand what was going on at all. There was no possible way my cancer will be cured just like that. I waited for a response but got nothing.

I tried a different tack. "Who or what are you?"

Though I was scared to death, I was fascinated too, and I slowly walked over to the screen which went blank for a second. I shrank back. An X-ray image popped up.

[This is an X-ray image of your body, Richard. As you can see, you are completely cancer free. You have no more health complications. Congratulations, you can also be rich by completing certain tasks. You get points for each completed task. Each task must be completed within twenty four hours. One point is equal to one million dollars.] Now blinking on the screen was a bag full of dollars next to a million dollar sign.

"One million dollars." I sucked in a breath and stared as though hypnotized at the blinking numerals on the screen.

[First Task: Spend one million dollars. Once you complete the task, you’ll be rewarded with 1 ultra billionaire point. You have 24 hours to complete the mission.”

I blinked and suddenly began laughing. My laughter had a hint of hysteria in it, but it was either laugh or lose it. Amelia must have hit my head too hard with the lamp. I must be having a lucid dream. Cured of cancer and expected to spend one million dollars when I was dirt poor? What a laugh! This was totally unrealistic, even for a dream. How would I spend 1 million dollars in 24 hours when I only had $200 in my bank account? If I had 1 million dollars, wouldn’t I have paid for my chemotherapy? Maybe I was truly losing my mind. Just as I was contemplating, the screen revealed my bank details.

[The System is not transferring the funds to your bank account]

[One million dollars has just been transferred to your bank account]

A timer appeared on the screen immediately. 24: 00: 00 quickly became 23: 59: 59.

In a daze, I dug out my phone from my pocket. It's screen was cracked and I recalled that I had it in my back pocket when Amelia's security guards threw me outside on my ass.

For the first time, I began to believe that it was all real. I unlocked my phone and saw that I had just gotten an SMS notification from my bank. I had been credited one million dollars! I rocked back on my heels, stunned as I counted the number of zeroes again. I rubbed my hands on my eyes to be sure I was seeing well. What just happened?

At that point, it felt like I was dreaming. But I took a moment to understand what the system revealed to me. Did it mean I could spend the money on anything? And I gained more points, wouldn’t I become the richest man in the world? And how did it heal my cancer?

I decided that there was only way to be sure that I wasn’t crazy and the system was real. To run a test on myself.

On legs that were far from steady, I pushed open the heavy door. There was only a single corridor in front of me that led directly to the exit. Outside, it was daytime. Cars and people went past. The world had not ended as I had half expected it to. I flagged down a taxi, gave the driver the address of the hospital that had diagnosed me with cancer, then collapsed against the seat, staring in shock at the passing scenery.

"We're here, sir."

The driver's voice brought me back to the present. I paid him with the little money I had in my wallet, walked into the hospital and demanded to see the doctor, and said that I had an emergency. A nurse quickly ushered me into the doctor's office and left to call him. A couple of minutes later, the doctor bustled into the room.

"Mr Richard. What is the-"

"I want you to test me for cancer again."

The doctor looked at me as though I had gone mad. "Why on earth would you want that?"

"Please. Please doctor. Run the tests at once. I need to get the results today."

"Fine," he said sharply, annoyed and irritated.

He took a sample of my blood and left the office. The half hour I waited there was the longest of my life. When the door opened again, I sprang to my feet. The doctor, his eyes bugging from his head, hurried to his chair and collapsed on it. He looked like he had seen a ghost as he stared at my result.

"Astonishing! Astonishing!" he kept saying while looking at me as though I had sprouted two heads.

"What do the test results say?"

He pushed a sheaf of papers across the desk to me. "It says here, Mr Richard, that you are completely cancer free."