Price Of Grace: The System Made Me Billionaire

a mysterious game

Ethan’s frown deepened.

He didn’t remember installing any game app that had this kind of setting.

The notification had appeared over a black icon bearing a strange silver emblem.

He instantly opened his phone and looked for that emblem.

That silver emblem was sitting among his other apps as though it had always been there.

As a software developer, his first instinct was to uninstall the app and run a virus checker.

However, in his haste, he accidentally clicked on the icon.

He grimaced and tried to close the app, but his damaged phone wasn’t responding properly.

The screen flickered, and the usual navigation buttons had stopped working.

He had more important things to worry about than a suspicious application.

His mother needed surgery, and he still had to figure out how to arrange the money.

Therefore, he decided to wait for the application to open completely so that he could close it properly and uninstall it.

The screen remained blank for several seconds.

Then a faint metallic sound rang through the phone's speakers, followed by a loading animation that resembled a silver clock turning backward.

A message appeared.

[WELCOME, PLAYER.]

[THE REAL-WORLD SURVIVAL GAME IS NOW ACTIVE.]

Ethan's eyebrows drew together.

He had no time for this nonsense.

He tried to close the app, but the phone stopped responding.

“What the f**k?” He yelled in frustration and was about to shut the phone down when another line of text appeared.

[CURRENT WINNING: $0]

[FIRST TASK: AVAILABLE]

One after another, a few lines of text continued appearing.

[COMPLETE THE TASK TO UNLOCK YOUR REWARD. ALL SUCCESSFUL REWARDS WILL BE TRANSFERRED AS REAL MONEY TO YOUR VERIFIED BANK ACCOUNT.]

Ethan blinked.

He was familiar with online gambling applications and knew how they worked.

Most of them lured people in with promises of easy money, encouraging them to spend more than they could afford.

Moreover, he had no money to gamble with right now.

But the phrase “REWARDS WILL BE TRANSFERRED AS REAL MONEY’ stuck in his mind.

He needed money.

Real money.

He had seen plenty of applications claiming to pay users for completing tasks.

Most of them offered a few cents after hours of pointless work, while others demanded deposits before the real withdrawal.

He laughed at his own desperate stupidity and hit the back button.

When it didn’t work, he pressed the power button, but the application remained on the screen.

Then a few more lines appeared.

[SPECIAL EMERGENCY TASK UNLOCKED.]

[OBJECTIVE: COMPLETE YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE BEFORE THE DEADLINE.]

[REWARD: $200,000 IN REAL MONEY]

He froze.

For several seconds, Ethan couldn't move.

Two hundred thousand dollars.

His heart began to pound.

If the reward was real, he could arrange the surgery immediately and still have money left to cover part of the remaining expenses.

His palms got sweaty.

But beneath the desperate flicker of hope, suspicion remained.

“Forget it. It’s nothing but another scam,” he whispered to himself, and was about to move the phone away when the next line appeared.

[YOUR TASK: Help someone in dire need of help and save his life]

[TIME LIMITS: 10 Minutes]

Ethan laughed aloud while shaking his head.

“This is the hospital, bro. Everyone here is in dire need of help and is trying to save a life,” he said to the app as if he were talking to a real person.

[YOUR TIME STARTS NOW]

[9:58 Mins]

Ethan jerked his head, put the phone back into his pant pocket, and took a deep breath.

“They really know how to manipulate a person in dire need of help.” He muttered, running his fingers through his hair.

He looked towards the next end of the corridor, where the ICU ward was.

His mother was still lying there, waiting for him to arrange the money to save her life.

His heart clenched painfully.

He couldn't afford to waste another second on a ridiculous game.

He sighed and dragged his injured, rain-soaked body toward the emergency room.

The cuts on his arms still stung, and the bruising around his ribs made every movement uncomfortable.

If he intended to approach some of his friends for financial help, he needed to get his wounds treated first.

He went to the elevator so that he could go to the ER on the ground floor.

He had barely taken a few steps when a sharp cry rang out from the adjoining corridor.

“Someone, please! Help him!”

Ethan stopped and looked behind him.

A woman’s desperate voice echoed through the hallway, followed by the hurried footsteps of several people.

A few people present there ran in that direction.

He also followed them and dragged his feet there.

Near the entrance of the ICU waiting area, a middle-aged man had collapsed on the floor.

His body was trembling violently, and his face was turning an alarming shade of blue.

A young woman knelt beside him, frantically shaking his shoulder while calling for help.

“Dad! Dad! Please, open your eyes. Somebody, please do something!”

She was wailing frantically, looking around and at her dad.

“Call the doctor! Call the nurse!’ She was shouting at the top of her lungs.

Before he could even think, he was rushing forward.

“Move aside!” Ethan called, pushing through the crowd.

He had just spent the past few hours begging another person to save his mother's life.

He knew what it felt like to watch someone you loved slip away while everyone else stood helplessly by.

He couldn't turn his back on someone experiencing the same nightmare.

“Where are the nurses?” Someone yelled among the people around us.

“Don’t block the air,” Ethan yelled, putting his finger under the old man’s nose to check his breathing.

“He was talking to me just a minute ago!” the woman cried.

“Then he suddenly clutched his chest and fell!” The woman’s voice trembled, but Ethan didn’t pay attention to her.

The man's breathing was irregular, and he remained unresponsive.

He didn’t touch the man’s body. He was careful not to move him unnecessarily.

Ethan knew enough to understand that an unresponsive person who wasn't breathing normally needed immediate emergency assistance.

He had no intention of pretending he could handle the situation alone.

When he found no signs of normal breathing, he called out for the hospital staff again and began chest compressions, following the basic emergency instructions he remembered from a short-term first-aid certification course at university.

“Come on,” he muttered between compressions.

“Stay with us.”

The woman sobbed behind him.

He focused on what he was doing, counting the compressions and listening for the medical team’s approaching footsteps.

His ribs protested with every movement.

His injured arms trembled, and sweat gathered along his forehead despite the cold air-conditioning.

But he continued until the medical staff arrived and took over.

“Sir, move back!” a doctor ordered as the team surrounded the patient.

Ethan immediately withdrew, his chest heaving.

The staff worked rapidly, assessing the man and preparing the necessary emergency treatment.

Ethan stood several feet away, watching helplessly as the woman clutched her hands together and prayed.

His phone vibrated once more.

He ignored the vibration and wished for the man to respond.

He glanced at the young woman standing a little distance away.

For a second, he saw himself in her.

After what felt like an eternity, one of the doctors called for the emergency trolley while another continued working on the patient.

Then the man suddenly coughed.

A weak, ragged sound escaped his throat.

Ethan released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

His legs felt weak, and he leaned against the nearby wall to steady himself.

He had no idea whether his actions had made a difference, but at least the man was receiving the treatment he needed.

He closed his eyes, exhausted and tired.

His phone chimed again.

But this time, his heart skipped a beat.

This was the special tone that he had set for any bank alerts.