REBORN RICH WITH A SYSTEM

Chapter 2

“Shiit!”

Raven tried to swipe the screen away, but his hand passed right through it. It was like a hologram, yet he could still feel the pain in his fingers.

“What the hell is this?!” Raven shouted.

Without realizing it, he flung the fried tofu in his hand onto the floor. His younger siblings were startled and immediately backed away in fear.

Raven stared at the ring on his finger. It was a silver ring that Mrs. Aisyah had given him when he and Laila got married. According to Mrs. Aisyah, the ring had been found inside the cardboard box in which she had discovered Raven lying abandoned in front of her door, left there by his biological mother.

He had worn it ever since. Raven tried to take it off, but he couldn't. Instead, it seemed to tighten around his finger, as though it were slowly merging with his skin.

“What kind of system is this?” Raven asked through gritted teeth, trying to endure the pain.

Leo cautiously approached him and reached for his hand.

“Big Brother…”

Raven snapped out of his thoughts, and the screen slowly disappeared. His body was drenched in sweat as he recalled the mission the system had given him.

“Save Laila? What's going to happen to Laila?”

“What's wrong, Big Brother?” Leo asked.

Raven's gaze returned to the calendar on the wall.

“July 4, 2004.”

Suddenly, he remembered. That day was supposed to be his wife Laila's birthday. It was also the day she would take her own life after being raped by a gambling boss in the forest. Unable to bear the shame, Laila would throw herself into the river, just one day before that year's presidential election.

And that also meant it was exactly one week before a devastating fire would engulf the orphanage, killing the woman who had raised him and all his younger siblings.

Raven looked at each of the little children standing before him. His head throbbed as memories of their final moments flashed through his mind. He remembered how they had struggled for their lives amid the raging flames, their cause still unknown to him. They had all died in Mrs. Aisyah's embrace.

“No! This can't happen!” Raven said, shaking his head.

“They must live and be happy!” he added firmly.

He glanced at the old clock hanging on the decaying wooden wall. It was ten in the morning.

“There's still time. I won't let Laila die!” he declared.

As far as he could remember, Laila had jumped into the raging river at around two in the afternoon. While everyone was busy preparing for the election, Laila had chosen to end her life forever. Her body wouldn't be found until two days later, downstream.

At least now, he still had several hours to stop it from happening.

“Hey, why is Big Brother Raven acting like that?” one of the little girls with messy hair whispered to Leo.

“Shhh.” Leo warned his younger siblings to stay quiet because they knew how terrifying Raven could be when he was angry. He would throw and smash anything within his reach.

“Big Brother, can I have the tofu?” another child asked, still staring at the fried tofu lying on the dirt floor.

Hearing that, Raven's heart ached all over again. He looked at the tofu on the floor before picking it up.

“Don't eat that. It's dirty now. I'll buy you some fresh ones later.”

“But Mother made those…”

“I promise I'll buy some for all of you,” Raven replied softly.

His younger siblings fell silent. They lowered their heads, occasionally sneaking glances at him. They weren't used to seeing Raven behave this way. Usually, whenever one of them dared to talk back, he would yell at them furiously.

Raven had lived in the orphanage since childhood, raised and cared for by Mrs. Aisyah. He had never known who his biological parents were. He had simply been left inside a cardboard box and found by Mrs. Aisyah one morning.

There had been no letter or information about his identity, only a thin piece of clothing and that silver ring. At the time, he had nearly frozen to death, but fortunately, Mrs. Aisyah had managed to save him.

Yet after growing up, he had only repaid her kindness by becoming a constant source of trouble because of his reckless behavior.

The same went for his wife, Laila. They had grown up together and had been found only a few days apart. Eventually, Mrs. Aisyah had asked Raven and Laila to get married, hoping that marriage would finally make him change for the better.

Raven walked out of the room, his body still unsteady. According to Leo, he had been unconscious for two days after collapsing with a high fever. They hadn't had enough money to take him to a doctor, so he had been left lying in bed at home.

“Where are Mother and Laila?” Raven asked when he stepped outside and found neither woman there.

“They went to collect firewood, Big Brother.”

Raven shook his head. He remembered what had happened that day. When Laila returned from collecting firewood, his mother had already gone home ahead of her. That was when Ratno, the gambling boss, had approached Laila and assaulted her. Ratno had claimed that it was payment for Raven's gambling debts.

The firewood they collected every day was sold to earn a living, while some of it was kept for their own use.

Raven immediately rushed out of the house. He had to catch up with Laila and his mother in the forest.

“Big Brother, where are you going?!” his younger siblings shouted together, worried about his condition.

But Raven no longer cared. He kept running as fast as his legs could carry him, without even taking the time to put on his sandals.

Unfortunately, after running for several meters, Raven realized he had no idea which part of the forest to head toward. Laila and his mother usually collected firewood in different locations.

He quickly turned around.

“Leo, where did Laila go to collect firewood?!”

“To Mr. Marzuki's plantation, Big Brother!”

Raven nodded and immediately sprinted in the direction Leo had pointed out.

The plantation was quite far away, and the path leading there was anything but easy to navigate. It was narrow and overgrown with thorny bushes.

All this time, he had never known how hard Laila and his mother had worked just to make ends meet. He had never cared. All he knew was that there should be food waiting for him when he returned home. If there wasn't any, he would get angry and smash whatever happened to be within reach.

Everyone in the village knew Raven as an ungrateful young man. He had been taken in and raised since childhood, yet even as an adult, he had done nothing but burden the people who cared for him.

“Laila, please hurry home,” Raven muttered as he continued running.

He was gasping for breath, and beads of sweat as large as corn kernels rolled down his forehead. But he didn't care in the slightest. All that mattered was reaching Laila as quickly as possible and preventing the tragedy from happening.

His feet were bleeding. It was hardly surprising, considering he was running barefoot, stepping on whatever lay in his path without even noticing the pain.

Finally, Raven arrived at an overgrown rubber plantation belonging to Mr. Marzuki. The place was terribly quiet. Only the chirping of crickets and the occasional calls of birds could be heard.

“Laila! Mother!” Raven shouted.

There was no response. His thoughts were already racing toward the worst possible outcome.

“No… Please, don't let it happen.”

“Laila!” he called again.

Crack!

The sound of a snapping branch suddenly rang out. Raven immediately rushed toward its source.

At last, he spotted his wife and mother sitting on the ground, taking a break and catching their breath.

In front of them was a pile of firewood, already chopped into shorter pieces and ready to be carried home.

“Laila!”

Laila and Aisyah turned around. Both women were startled to see Raven standing there.

“Brother Raven? What are you doing here?” Laila asked, staring at her husband in confusion.

“Raven, are you awake now?” Mrs. Aisyah asked.

Raven approached the two women and immediately pulled Laila into a tight embrace.

“Finally, I've found you,” he murmured.

“I don't have any money left,” Laila replied flatly, making no effort to return his embrace.

Thud!

Her words struck Raven like a slap across the face. But he understood why Laila was behaving that way. In the past, he had only ever sought her out to demand money and satisfy his own sexual desires.