Rejected by Her, Chosen by the System

EPISODE 5 – Infinite Cashback System

The blue screen refused to disappear.

Fred blinked once, then he blinked again, convinced that the strange image would vanish if he gave his eyes enough time to adjust, but it didn't.

The translucent panel remained suspended in front of him, shimmering faintly beneath the dim afternoon sky. Raindrops passed straight through the glowing surface without creating the slightest ripple, as though the screen existed somewhere between reality and imagination.

His head throbbed relentlessly. Blood trickled from the cut above his eyebrow and ran into his eye, blurring his vision. "I'm seeing things..."

His voice was barely more than a whisper. The beating had clearly been worse than he had first realized.

Using trembling arms, Fred tried to push himself upright. A sharp pain exploded through his ribs, forcing him to stop halfway before he gathered enough strength to continue. Every muscle in his body protested the effort.

At the entrance to the alley, pedestrians hurried past without sparing him a second glance. No one reacted to the floating screen. No one pointed at it. No one behaved as though anything unusual existed at all.

Fred frowned. Either he had finally lost his mind, or whatever hovered before him could only be seen by him. As that unsettling thought crossed his mind, the glowing letters shifted.

"Host Vital Signs Stable."

"Neural Synchronization Complete."

"Infinite Cashback System Successfully Activated."

Fred stared at the words. "...Host?"

A hollow laugh escaped him. "So now my hallucinations have professional vocabulary."

The screen responded immediately.

[Voice Recognition Confirmed.]

[Host: Fred Harris.]

[Age: 26.]

[Financial Status: Critical.]

[Current Social Standing: Extremely Low.]

[Mental State: Severe Emotional Distress.]

Each line appeared with cold mechanical precision. The faint smile on Fred's face slowly disappeared. Every detail was accurate painfully accurate. "Who are you?"

For several seconds, nothing happened. Then another notification quietly appeared.

[Question acknowledged.]

[Current authorization level is insufficient.]

[Complete missions to unlock system history.]

Fred rubbed his temples. "This has to be a dream."

Unable to resist, he reached toward the glowing panel. His fingers passed through the blue light, but instead of meeting empty air, he felt a faint vibration travel through his hand and up his arm. It felt real far too real then. Another notification appeared.

[First Beginner Mission Generated.]

A soft chime echoed inside his mind as the interface expanded into a much larger display.

[Beginner Mission]

[Spend $50 before 12:00 Midnight.]

[Reward: Beginner Cashback Gift.]

[Failure: Permanent System Deletion.]

Fred read the mission once. Then he read it again. After a third reading, his expression settled somewhere between disbelief and irritation. "...That's it?"

He looked around the empty alley as though expecting someone to jump out and admit it was all a joke.

"You appear after I lose everything," he said, shaking his head, "and your first brilliant idea is to tell me to spend money?"

The System offered no reply.

Fred laughed bitterly, and the sound echoed off the damp brick walls. "You picked the wrong person."

Years of exhaustion weighed heavily in his voice. "I don't even have fifty dollars."

For a brief moment, the screen remained still. Then it flickered.

[Correction.]

[Host currently possesses $68.43.]

Fred's eyes widened. He even knew the exact balance in his bank account. He slowly shook his head. "This isn't funny."

The System ignored the complaint. Instead, another sentence gradually appeared.

[Opportunity belongs to those willing to spend.]

Fred quietly repeated the words to himself. "Opportunity..."

His gaze drifted toward the street where the thieves had disappeared only minutes earlier. "They stole my wallet."

"They took my phone."

"I lost my job."

"My girlfriend left me."

"And somehow you're talking to me about opportunity."

The glowing interface remained perfectly calm, almost as though it had heard the same complaint from countless people before.

New words appeared. [Current circumstances do not determine future value.]

[Only decisions do.]

Fred frowned. Something about that statement refused to leave his mind. It wasn't because the words sounded inspirational.

It was because they sounded absolute, like an unbreakable law rather than empty encouragement.

Slowly, Fred climbed to his feet.

Every movement sent another wave of pain through his bruised ribs. Dirt stained his shirt, his lip had swollen noticeably, and dried blood marked the side of his face.

He didn't need a mirror to know he looked terrible. An elderly woman passing the mouth of the alley noticed him.

She hesitated before walking toward him. "Young man..."

Concern softened her expression. "Are you hurt?"

Fred forced a weak smile. "I'll be alright."

She studied him for another moment before gently shaking her head. "You don't look alright."

Reaching into her shopping bag, she removed a small bottle of water and held it out to him.

"I can't do much," she said kindly, "but you should clean the blood before it dries."

Fred accepted the bottle. "...Thank you."

The woman smiled. "My husband used to tell me something."

She paused briefly before repeating the familiar words. "'A stranger's kindness often arrives when hope doesn't.'"

Before Fred could respond, she simply nodded and continued on her way until she disappeared into the crowd.

He watched her leave. After everything that had happened since yesterday, she was the first person to show him even the smallest act of kindness.

A soft chime sounded once again.

[The host has received goodwill.]

[Remember the value of genuine generosity.]

Fred blinked. "What does that even mean?"

The System did not explain. Instead, a countdown timer appeared beneath the mission details.

[Remaining Time 01:07:42]

Fred's heartbeat quickened. The timer was moving. Every second disappeared with relentless precision. One hour, seven minutes, forty seconds, thirty-nine, thirty-eight.

The countdown never paused. Fred drew in a deep breath. "If this is some kind of prank..."

His voice slowly faded. Deep inside, he no longer believed that explanation. The glowing screen still hovered before him. It knew things no stranger should know. It answered his questions. It reacted to his words. It had even acknowledged the old woman's simple act of kindness.

None of that should have been possible. Then again, nothing about the past twenty-four hours had been possible.

His entire life had collapsed in less than a day. Perhaps the impossible wasn't finished with him yet. The timer continued to fall. 01:05:18

Fred lowered his head. "If I spend this money..."

His voice was barely audible. "I might not have enough to eat tomorrow."

For the first time since the System had appeared, it answered without the slightest delay. Or...

A brief pause followed.

Then another sentence appeared. [You may never need to worry about money again.]

The alley grew strangely quiet. Even the distant sounds of traffic seemed to fade into the background.

Fred stared at the glowing words as every sensible part of him wanted to dismiss them as nonsense, yet another thought quietly crept into his mind. "What if... What if this were real?"

What if the mysterious messages from the unknown number, the ones that had arrived after Chloe left him, had never been a cruel joke?

"Tomorrow changes everything."

His pulse quickened.

The countdown continued. [01:03:51]

Fred slowly clenched his fists. Whatever this mysterious System was, it had left him with only one decision to make.

He could trust it, or he could walk away and spend the rest of his life wondering whether he had abandoned the one opportunity capable of changing everything.

He continued staring at the steadily falling timer as each second disappeared. For the first time since his world had fallen apart, a small but undeniable spark of possibility flickered to life inside him.