My Hacking System

Ten Thousand Dollar Tip

She disappeared toward the kitchen. While Adrian looked at his laptop and started pressing some keys.

Soon Kaitlyn arrived and placed the bill and payment terminal on the table. With a smile on her face, she sat down in front of Adrian.

“So… Maybe I should give you some tips.” She smiled.

“Tips?” Adrian was staring at her in confusion.

“You were such a gentleman tonight. And I liked your company.” Kaitlyn laughed.

“Well, if I'm getting tips…” Adrian leaned forward, and his eyes met hers.

“I think I deserve something more valuable.”

“Oh?” Kaitlyn's eyebrows rose.

“Your precious time.” Adrian smiled.

Kaitlyn froze, and her cheeks immediately turned red, while Adrian watched her reaction.

Oh. I didn't expect that to work.

Adrian glanced at the laptop screen and pressed the enter key. The payment terminal printed a slip.

“Here.” Adrian glanced at it and picked it up.

“What's that?” Kaitlyn looked confused.

“Payment's done. I also left you a little tip.” Adrian smiled.

“When did you—” She stared at him as she took the receipt, and then she looked down. Her expression changed immediately. She looked at the number again and then back at Adrian.

“Adrian. Why does this say ten thousand dollars?”

“The rest is your tip.” Adrian leaned back.

“Ten thousand dollars?” Kaitlyn stared at him in disbelief as her voice dropped.

“Yeah.”

“Are you insane? Ten thousand dollars is not a tip!” She lowered her voice and immediately looked around and saw the restaurant was nearly empty.

Adrian stared at her.

“And you told me you were broke! So where did you get ten thousand dollars?”

Adrian had expected her to be shocked, but he did not expect her to interrogate him.

“Lottery.”

“You actually won the lottery?” Kaitlyn stared at him.

“Look, Kaitlyn. I know it's a lot. But I'm not doing this because I think you are poor.” Adrian leaned closer. “You offered me a discount because you knew I was struggling. You didn't make me feel like shit about it.” He continued.

Kaitlyn went quiet, and her expression changed.

“So let me return the favor.” Adrian smiled.

She stared at him for a few seconds.

“This is too much.” Finally, she looked down at the receipt.

“Then don't spend it all at once.” Adrian shrugged.

“Adrian!”

“I'm kidding.” He laughed.

Then he stood and grabbed his laptop.

“See you tomorrow in class.”

“Yeah…” Kaitlyn looked up. She wasn’t thinking clearly.

Adrian smirked and walked toward the door. And before leaving, he looked back at her.

Kaitlyn was still staring at the receipt.

He smiled and stepped outside.

The cold October wind hit Adrian immediately once again. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked toward his apartment building. 

By the time Adrian returned to the apartment, it was already 11:42 P.M. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The apartment was quiet. Maria's bedroom door was closed, so she had probably already gone to bed. Adrian quietly locked the door behind him and walked toward his room.

He placed his laptop bag beside the nightstand and collapsed onto his bed. For several seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling. His mind was strangely quiet. Then he rubbed both hands over his face.

For the first time all day, he finally had the chance to think. Everything that had happened came rushing back.

“Gunther.”

Adrian's smile disappeared. His eyes slowly shifted toward the empty space in front of him.

“System.”

[Hacking System]

[Host: Adrian Miles]

[System level: 1]

— — — — —

[Skills:]

[Hacking level: Intermediate]

The familiar black panel materialized, and the golden letters glowed softly in the darkness.

Adrian looked at it for a long moment.

You humiliated me in front of everyone. You made me feel powerless. Now let's see how powerful I really am.

A slow smile spread across his face.

Adrian reached for his laptop and pulled the battered machine from his bag, plugged in the charger, and pressed the power button. The fan immediately roared to life, sounding like a tiny aircraft preparing for takeoff.

The laptop took its sweet time booting, and when the desktop appeared, he immediately began to stroke on the keys. His fingers moved faster than they ever had before. The knowledge implanted by the system flowed naturally through his mind. He didn't need to think about every command. He simply knew what to do.

System, scan Gunther's devices.

[Potential target detected.]

[Target: Gunther's MacBook Pro]

[Security Rating: ★★★★]

[Estimated Success Rate: 19%]

— — — — —

[Potential target detected.]

[Target: Gunther's iPhone 17 Pro]

[Security Rating: ★★★★]

[Estimated Success Rate: 15%]

— — — — —

[Potential target detected.]

[Target: Gunther's home wi-fi network]

[Security Rating: ★]

[Estimated Success Rate: 91%]

A grin appeared on Adrian's face.

His fingers moved across the keyboard as he started to hack Gunther’s wifi. It didn’t take long to hack into his wifi network.

[Hacking successful]

“Got you.” His eyes sparkled as he leaned back.

System, scan again.

[Potential target detected.]

[Target: Gunther's MacBook Pro]

[Security Rating: ★★★★]

[Estimated Success Rate: 70%]

— — — — —

[Potential target detected.]

[Target: Gunther's iPhone 17 Pro]

[Security Rating: ★★★★]

[Estimated Success Rate: 65%]

— — — — —

[Potential target detected.]

[Target: Gunther's Smart TV]

[Security Rating: ★]

[Estimated Success Rate: 97%]

“Holy shit.” Adrian's eyebrows rose as the difference was enormous.

He had already figured out the pattern. Direct access was difficult, but if he could get inside the network first, everything connected to it became easier to reach.

Adrian stared at Gunther's MacBook.

First, let's see what you're hiding.

Adrian started typing. At first, everything went smoothly, then the difficulty increased.

His fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard. The MacBook wasn't easy to break into. It had multiple layers of protection working together, and every time Adrian thought he had found an opening, another barrier appeared in his way.

[Attempt failed.]

“Come on…” He frowned and tried another approach.

[Attempt failed.]

Adrian leaned closer to the screen. He had expected the MacBook to be difficult, but this was ridiculous.

Adrian cracked his knuckles and continued.

Time passed.

The rest of the apartment had been silent for hours. Outside his window, Chicago had settled into the deep stillness of the midnight. Every now and then, a car passed somewhere in the distance, but Adrian barely noticed it.

His entire attention was focused on the laptop. His fingers started to ache, then they began to cramp.

Adrian pulled one hand away from the keyboard and popped his fingers.

For a moment, he considered giving up. But then Gunther's face appeared in his mind. That smug grin, hundred-dollar bill, dance for me.

Adrian's expression hardened as he put his fingers back on the keyboard.

“Not yet.”

He continued. Another thirty minutes passed.

His back hurt, his neck hurt, and his wrists felt like they were on fire, but Adrian refused to stop.

Adrian's fingers continued to move.

Then finally—

[Hacking successful]