The Broke Billionaire's System: Spend to Survive

Johann mopped the marble floors on the fiftieth floor of the Reinhardt Corp building with mechanical movements. The sharp scent of floor cleaner stung his nose. He kept his head low, avoiding the gaze of the executives passing by in suits that cost as much as an economy car. To him, they were gods, and he was merely dust that had to be swept away so as not to disturb the beauty of their world.

"Make sure there isn't a single spot in Mr. Viktor's office," his foreman whispered through the scratchy radio earphone.

Johann snorted softly. He knew every corner of this room by heart. He knew where Viktor hid his expensive whiskey bottles, and he knew where the man often dropped biscuit crumbs while stressed out over suppressing stock prices. Johann was a ghost behind this luxury. No one cared about him as long as the floors remained shiny.

As he entered Viktor Reinhardt's main office, the atmosphere felt cold. The room was massive, boasting a grand view of the city skyline. There was a spill of black coffee on the mahogany desk that looked like the remains of an angry cup toss. Johann approached, the mop in his hand feeling heavy. He began to scrub the stain meticulously.

Suddenly, a loud metallic chime echoed right inside his skull. Johann winced so hard his mop fell to the floor. He clutched his head, thinking a nerve had snapped.

A transparent gold interface appeared before his eyes. The text glowed brightly, defying the darkness of the room.

CURRENT BALANCE: $10,000,000,000.

MISSION: SPEND OR DIE.

Johann blinked repeatedly. "What on earth is this?" he murmured softly. He looked left and right, making sure there were no hidden cameras. The room was empty. Only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard, sounding like a mockery.

"Hallucinations from lack of sleep," he thought, trying to calm his heart, which was thumping like a broken engine.

He leaned down again to pick up the mop, but the notification did not disappear. Instead, a new line of text appeared beneath the golden balance.

[Universal Finance System active. Money is energy. Energy is existence. If the balance reaches zero, your heart stops.]

Johann let out a small laugh, though it sounded crazed. He was a janitor who had to count pennies just to buy lunch. "Ten billion dollars? If I had that much money, I wouldn't be here mopping up the coffee scraps of an arrogant man like Viktor," he whispered while staring at the golden screen.

A ridiculous idea popped into his head. He wanted to prove that this was just a cheap prank. He pulled out his smartphone with its cracked screen and opened a high-end coffee delivery app often used by the elite staff here. He chose the most absurd item on the menu. A coffee blend with rare beans from a mountain range he had never heard of. The price was seven hundred dollars for a single cup.

"Let's see if this crazy system works," he muttered, his finger trembling as he pressed the pay button.

A notification chime rang from his phone, not from the golden system in his eyes, but from the delivery app. Order accepted. Transaction successful.

Johann froze. The golden balance in his vision flickered once.

CURRENT BALANCE: $9,999,999,300.

"My God," Johann slumped down onto the cold marble floor. "It's real."

The world around him seemed to vibrate. Suddenly, the office door swung wide with a loud bang. Viktor Reinhardt walked in with two burly bodyguards who looked like killing machines. Viktor stopped in his tracks, staring intensely at Johann, who was still sitting frozen with the mop in his hand.

"Who are you?" Viktor's voice was cold, heavy, and filled with an authority that made the hair on Johann's neck stand up.

Johann swallowed hard. He tried to stand, but his legs felt like jelly. "I'm just the janitor, sir. I was cleaning up a coffee spill."

Viktor walked closer, his eyes narrowing as he saw Johann's still-lit phone screen. He looked at the coffee app display with a suspicious gaze. Viktor was a man who could smell something wrong from a mile away. He didn't believe in coincidences.

"A janitor buying seven-hundred-dollar coffee?" Viktor laughed, a laugh that didn't reach his eyes. "Interesting. Very interesting."

One of the guards took a step forward, his hand resting near his waist where a magic weapon was concealed. Johann felt the air in the room grow incredibly heavy, as if atmospheric pressure was crushing him into the floor.

"What are you doing with my corporate transaction system?" Viktor pressed, his voice now threatening. "Who sent you? Are you a spy from one of my competitors?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir!" Johann tried to explain, but his tongue felt tied.

The golden system in Johann's vision flickered again with a rapidly flashing red warning.

[THREAT DETECTED. WEALTH CORE REQUIRES PROTECTION. PURCHASE ENERGY SHIELD NOW: $1,000,000.]

Johann panicked. He didn't know how to buy a shield, but the notification seemed to understand his desire. A "BUY" button appeared clearly. Without thinking twice, he pressed it.

A golden light exploded from Johann's body, hurling Viktor's guards backward until they crashed into a glass cabinet. The sound of shattering glass filled the room. Viktor's eyes widened; he looked shocked to see pure energy radiating from the lowly man in front of him.

"He has a magical flow of funds," Viktor hissed, his hands beginning to glow with a deadly dark purple aura.

The other guard immediately drew a pistol from his holster, but Johann's golden shield automatically deflected the bullet. The bullet melted and turned into pure gold in mid-air before falling to the floor with an impossible clink.

"Capture him!" Viktor shouted.

Building security began to arrive from the hallway. The sound of synchronized combat boots echoed. Johann realized he couldn't explain this. He looked toward the exit, then back at his golden balance, which had drastically decreased but still remained enormous.

He had no other choice. He had to run or die. With what little courage he had left, he stood up and bolted through the door, ignoring Viktor's thunderous shouts behind him. However, after only two steps outside, three security guards were already waiting with glowing blue stun batons. They immediately pinned him down, dragging him roughly and accusing him of stealing the company's valuables.