The Ultimate Tycoon's System Audit

Chapter 2: 24-Hour Margin

The world was completely frozen.

Jin stared at a raindrop suspended right in front of his nose. It hung there in the air, perfectly still, reflecting the dim glow of the city lights.

I’ve finally cracked, he thought, his chest breathing in short, shallow gasps. My brain is shutting down because I lost too much blood. This is just a hallucination before I die.

He tried to raise his arm to wipe the water from his forehead, but his limbs felt like lead blocks, totally heavy and far away. The glowing black screen in his mind pulsed, sending a weird, cold vibration straight through his jaw before a fresh batch of text typed itself out.

[ HOST IDENTITY CONFIRMED: JIN ]

[ SYSTEM STATUS: ACTIVATED & BOUND TO HOST SOUL. ]

[ CURRENT LIFESPAN REMAINING: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 42 seconds. ]

The mechanical voice inside his head was sharp and crystal clear. Jin squeezed his fists. The gold luxury watch Director Kang’s thugs had forced into his hand was still there.

"What... what are you?" Jin whispered, his breath not even forming mist in the frozen air.

[ THIS SYSTEM IS THE SOVEREIGN AUDITOR. THE WORLD IS RUN ON CORRUPTION, UNPAID DEBTS, AND MORAL BANKRUPTCY. THE HOST HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO A LIFETIME OF UNREPAID SACRIFICE. ]

[ CURRENT PROTOCOL: INITIATING DEFAULT LIFE SUPPORT. TO EXTEND LIFESPAN PAST 24 HOURS, THE HOST MUST AUDIT AND COLLECT MORAL AND FINANCIAL DEBTS FROM THOSE WHO HAVE WRONGED HIM. ]

A massive, glowing translucent ledger appeared before Jin's eyes. It flipped open, pages turning rapidly before settling on two names written in dark, blood-red ink: Min-ah and Director Kang.

[ DING! INITIATING SYSTEM STARTER SKILL: EYE OF TRUTH (PASSIVE). ]

Description: Allows the host to instantly see the financial fraud, lies, and hidden moral debts of any target in real-time.

[ SPECIAL CONDITION DETECTED: TO OPTIMIZE FUTURE REWARDS, THE SYSTEM WILL HEAL THE HOST’S INTERNAL INJURIES, BUT WILL RETAIN SUPERFICIAL BRUISES AND TORN CLOTHING. MINIMAL VISUAL STATUS PROVIDES MAXIMUM IMPACT DURING REVENUE COLLECTION. ]

Before Jin could even process the words, the glowing screen flashed violently.

Snap!

The frozen raindrops instantly splashed onto his face. The sound of the rushing Han River rushed back into his ears. Time was moving again.

Jin pushed himself up off the wet asphalt. He expected his body to scream in pain, but he felt incredibly light. He walked over to a puddle and looked at his reflection. His cheap suit was torn and covered in mud. There was a dark purple bruise on his left cheekbone and a cut on his lip. He looked like a beaten dog—but his eyes were sharper and clearer than they had ever been in his entire life.

Suddenly, his broken smartphone hissed on the ground. The screen was cracked into a spiderweb pattern, but it flickered to life, forcing open a digital notification.

It was a company-wide email invitation from Cheonji Logistics.

Subject: Exclusive Celebration & Pre-IPO Engagement Banquet

Time: Tonight, 11:30 PM

Location: The Grand Hyatt Luxury Ballroom

Description: Join us in celebrating the upcoming multi-billion-dollar international IPO of Cheonji Logistics, and the beautiful engagement of our Managing Director, Kang, to his new partner, Min-ah.

Jin stared at the glowing text. A cold, bitter smile crept onto his face.

They had beaten him, framed him as a thief, and left him to die in the rain so they could walk straight into a luxury ballroom and celebrate their stolen wealth. Min-ah was probably getting dressed in diamonds right now, entirely unbothered by the fact that her high school sweetheart of five years was supposed to be a corpse on a bridge.

Ding!

A bright red box popped up in his vision, hovering over the phone.

[ SYSTEM MISSION TRIGGERED: THE BANQUET AUDIT ]

Objective: Attend the Cheonji Logistics Engagement Banquet.

Mission Requirement: Do not use physical violence. Execute an indirect moral audit.

Base Reward: +30 Days Lifespan, $10 Million USD Liquid Assets.

Penalty for Failure: Immediate cardiac arrest upon countdown expiration.

The timer in the corner of his vision read: 23:14:02.

"They think they wiped out the evidence when they crushed my flash drive," Jin muttered, gripping the gold watch tightly in his hand. "They think I'm just a useless, penniless clerk who can be stepped on and thrown away."

He looked down at his ruined clothes and his bruised face. If he showed up looking like a beggar, they would mock him. They would feel superior. They would let their guards down completely. And that was exactly what the System wanted.

Jin didn't go to the hospital. He didn't call the police, knowing Director Kang’s high-priced lawyers would just sweep it away. Instead, he turned around, left his broken scooter behind, and began walking through the pouring rain straight toward the brightest lights of the city.

It was time to collect the first debt.