The Lifespan Wealth System

Chapter 2. Money That Came Too Late

The sound of the river crashing against the bridge pillars rumbled like the muttering of a hungry giant. Axel stood frozen, his fingers still gripping the cold, rusted railing. The image of the old man was gone, swallowed by the darkness of the fast-moving undercurrent. All that remained were small ripples slowly smoothing out.

“Sir! Hey, sir!” Axel shouted, his voice breaking as it was torn apart by the night wind.

There was no answer. Only suffocating silence. Axel turned toward the asphalt where the man had been kneeling earlier. Lying there was a worn piece of paper, pinned down by gravel. Axel picked it up with trembling hands. It was an overdue hospital bill. Name: Alisa (7 years old), Cardiac Ward. In the corner of the paper was a number: ten thousand dollars.

Axel stared at his phone. One hundred thousand dollars had just entered his account. An amount that could have saved that man and his daughter many times over. But the number had arrived too late. Exactly one second after the man’s life had chosen to give up.

“Damn it … damn it! Why now?!” Axel roared, slamming his fist against the bridge railing until his knuckles bled. “Why is it that when I finally have the money, the person is already gone?”

A rough hand clapped down on his shoulder, making Axel flinch and nearly jump.

“Hey! Did you see someone run this way just now?”

A flashlight beam cut into Axel’s eyes. A neighborhood security officer approached with two residents who were breathing hard.

“He … he just jumped down.” Axel said, pointing with a trembling finger toward the river.

“What? Jumped?” The officer panicked, sweeping his flashlight across the water’s surface. “Oh no. Wasn’t that the market porter? He was running around like a madman because his wallet got pickpocketed in front of the alley.”

“Pickpocketed?” Axel’s voice shrank.

“Yes, that’s right. Poor guy. That was money he borrowed from everywhere for his child’s operation tonight. Why did you just stand there? You’ve been here the whole time, why didn’t you stop him?” one of the residents asked accusingly.

Axel stepped back. His tongue felt numb. “I stood still because I was busy thinking about my own transaction,” his mind screamed in agony.

“I just got here. I tried shouting, but he was too fast,” Axel lied. His chest tightened. The lie felt like swallowing molten lead.

“Tch! Kids these days, smart with phones but useless when it comes to helping people!” the resident snapped, already calling the search and rescue team.

Axel could not take it anymore. He turned and ran as fast as he could. He ran not toward home, but away from the guilt that suddenly felt heavier than all his debts combined.

By the time he reached the boarding house, his breath was nearly gone. But calm was not waiting for him there. Gerry and his men were already leaning against Axel’s door.

“Well, look who’s still alive,” Gerry sneered, crushing his cigarette butt into the wooden floor. “So, Axel, got the money? Our boss said if there’s no payment tonight, we’re allowed to take one or two of your fingers as collateral.”

Axel stared at them with a cold gaze he had never possessed before. His mind was still on the bridge, but his survival instinct had begun to take over.

“I have the money.” Axel said flatly.

Gerry laughed dismissively, eyeing Axel’s disheveled state, torn clothes, and hair that somehow looked dull and lifeless. “What money? Monopoly money? Don’t joke around, Axel. You’re trash. Don’t dream about having real cash.”

“I said I have the money!” Axel shouted, thrusting his phone screen right in front of Gerry’s face.

Gerry’s laughter died instantly. He snatched the phone, squinting at the neat row of zeros on the screen. One hundred thousand dollars.

“This … this is really your money? What bank did you rob?” Gerry stared at Axel in horror mixed with awe.

“None of your business. Take your boss’s cut and never set foot in my room again.”

Gerry signaled to his men. They pulled out a portable payment terminal and demanded Axel transfer ten thousand dollars, the principal and interest they had arbitrarily doubled. Without another word, Axel completed the transaction.

Transfer successful. Gerry checked his phone, then looked back at Axel with a different expression now. Not contempt, but predatory suspicion.

“One hundred thousand dollars, huh?” Gerry rubbed his chin.

“Listen, Axel having that kind of money but living in a rat hole like this? You must be in deep trouble. But whatever. That’s a bonus for me.”

Gerry walked away, but before disappearing down the stairs, he turned back. “Oh, one more thing. Next time, don’t dress like a bum if you’re rich. It’s embarrassing for your balance.”

Axel went into his room, locked the door, and slid down behind it. He stared at his hands. They felt ice cold. The fatigue he had felt during the first transaction had not faded. It had grown heavier.

He walked toward the mirror. Under the dim light bulb, he saw something that made him freeze. A section of hair at the front of his head had turned silver-white. Not gray from stress, but a clean, lifeless white, as if the pigment had been forcibly stripped away by an unseen force.

“Five years of my life, for these numbers,” he whispered hoarsely.

Nausea suddenly churned in his stomach. Axel rushed to the small bathroom in the corner and vomited clear fluid. His gut twisted violently, as if his internal organs were being wrung out to adjust to the new age stolen by the system.

“Huek .…”

Before he could wipe his mouth, his door was pounded on brutally.

“Axel! Come out now!” Galim’s booming voice echoed.

Axel wiped his mouth and staggered to the door. Galim was not alone. Behind him stood two police officers and the same residents Axel had met on the bridge.

“This is him, Officer! He was the last one with the porter on the bridge!” one of the residents pointed.

One of the officers stepped forward, his face stern. “Axel Benjamin? We received a report regarding your involvement in the bridge incident. In addition, the bank transaction monitoring system has just issued an automatic alert. There was a transfer of ten thousand dollars from your account to an account suspected of belonging to an illegal loan shark syndicate. Your account was also just filled with a large sum from an unclear source.”

Legal logic closed in on him. In this city, an unemployed man who suddenly had one hundred thousand dollars and was present at a suicide scene was an easy target.

“I didn’t commit any crime, Officer. That money is mine.” Axel defended himself.

“One hundred thousand dollars for a man who couldn’t even pay rent yesterday morning?” The officer grabbed Axel’s arm. “There is suspicion of money laundering and possible extortion leading to a death. Come with us.”

“Wait! Sir, I can explain!”

“You can explain at the station.”

Galim spat to the side. “I knew you were a criminal, Axel! No wonder paying rent was so hard. Gambling money or scamming people, huh? Officer, just take him! I’ll seal his room!”

Axel was dragged out. The residents began whispering, staring at him as if he were a monster. He was pulled down the stairs, through the narrow corridor where he used to greet neighbors who now looked away.

As he was shoved into the police car, his head suddenly throbbed violently. A cold whisper echoed in his mind again, drowning out the wail of the siren beginning to sound.

[The world does not need your explanations. The world only needs proof of your value.]

“Shut up … shut up!” Axel shouted, clutching his head.

“Quiet! Stop pretending you’re crazy!” the officer beside him barked, forcing Axel’s head down into the car.

Inside the dark vehicle, Axel curled in on himself. He was rich, but his hands were cuffed. He had money, but he had lost five years of his life in just one hour, and now he was being accused of the death of the man he had actually wanted to save.

His chest suddenly tightened. Not from panic, but from real physical pain, as if his heart were being forced to beat in a slower, heavier rhythm. He looked out the window at the crowd of residents condemning him.

Axel closed his eyes. The cold of the steel handcuffs seeped into his skin. At this point, he realized the system had not given him an escape. It had given him a new hell, layered in gold.

[Warning: Heart rate decreasing. Lifespan synchronization disrupted. Would you like to perform an emergency transaction to restore physical condition? Cost: 1 Year of Remaining Lifespan.]

Axel clenched his teeth in the darkness. “I’ve only been rich for an hour,” he thought bitterly, “and the world has already tried to kill me over and over again.”