The Pledge

*tap* *tap* ... *tap*

Chris walked with his hands in his pockets looking around his area curiously. He saw the families of street dogs he never paid attention to, He found piles of trash he never cared for, He observed the eerie and creepy feeling his desolate slums neighborhood gave...

He never paid heed to any of this earlier and only kept his attention on working and running his home. It was like he used to be detached from the world, a machine programmed to make money.

But now, no longer having huge baggage over his head, he raised his head high, confidence increasing with every step he took.

Undergoing such a transformation, his thin lips unconsciously arched upward, forming a warm smile.

A smile that was never formed on his face since his parent's death...Although since birth growing up in a lower-middle-class family in a small E Grade city, Chris never felt sad about his circumstances. He liked how his parents tried their best for their three sweet children.

But, it all changed on the day he received a notice that in an accident his parents have sadly passed away. That day, he inherited all their riches as well as their burdens, their assets as well as their debts...

*push*

Chris pushed the door for a small 7/11 convenience store in his locality. There sat a gloomy thin young cashier at the counter of the store, who had just woken up from his nap due to a disturbance caused by the opening of the door.

Chris nodded to the cashier in greeting and headed into the store after picking up a basket from beside the door.

'Eggs, bacon, rice, chicken, flour, fruits, canned foods, This is all for the house.' Chris thought as he placed the stuff in the basket and then continued 'I need a bit more high-calorie snacks for myself.'

'Aha! Found ya!' Chris found the chocolates! Chocolates can be easily considered one of the best snacks with high calories and glucose content. So, for Chris who needed glucose and calories, again and again, chocolates were gold.

Finally picking some energy drinks and some soft drinks, Chris went to the cashier for the billing.

"Hello Chris, you didn't go to work today?" The cashier smiled at Chris and asked casually while scanning the products.

"Hey, Jer. No, I didn't, thinking of quitting the job honestly."

"What?! Why?"

"Hmm, you can say that I found a much better one." Chris grinned.

"Hah, being vague with me, eh?" Cashier chuckled, putting Chris's stuff in a polybag. "121$" Cashier totaled and passed the bill to Chris.

"Online payment, jer."

"Suit yourself. But this is the first time I am seeing you buy in bulk." Cashier pointed at a QR Code and commented.

"Won't be the last either." Chris winked at him with a smirk and scanned the QR, transferring the 121$.

"Oh? You seem different now. But, the change has been in a positive direction." Cashier squinted his brows and pointed out, He also received a notification which he ignored knowing that it was the notification that he received 121$.

"I already told you to stop being so tacky, that's why you made no girlfriend." Chris laughed and quickly ran out of the store after throwing his taunt.

He could hear the "Come back here, bastard!" in the background as the door behind him swung to a close...

...

"W-Whoa brother! Don't you think you bought a 'lot' of stuff??" Cassie in shock, pointed at the polybag Chris kept on the table after returning home.

"Mm, don't worry. I bought many snacks for you too, enjoy!" Chris winked at her playfully and didn't bother to explain himself.

"Chocolates! This one's mine!" Cassie also dropped the topic and scourged through the bag, pulling out a big dark chocolate bar.

"Sure, take it." Chris ruffled her hair and laid back on the couch pulling out his cell phone, he opened the investing platform.

// Bitnote - Current Rate: 28,340$ //

'Ohh, Impressive. But, could go higher...' Chris checked the current soaring prices of Bitnote and hummed in amusement.

Relaxing on the couch, he also prepared for another round of 5-second money-making session.

5 Seconds later...

[Host: Christopher Swarts

Bank Details: XXXX XXXX XXXX 6587

Balance: 2126 - 121 = 2,005 $

Earned Money- 1500

<Withdraw>

Level-4 (1500/4000 EM) 2.5 EM/Tap ]

Impressed by his own wits and speed of money-making, Chris smiled slightly. He tore the wrapper of a chocolate bar and began munching on it to recover his lost energy.

Just like this, time ticked by quickly for Chris as he kept restarting his money-making generator every 1-2 hours and keeping up his shut-in lifestyle, he kept lazing around by taking naps, short showers, eating, and scrolling the internet.

7:08 PM

After taking a short shower and rolling a towel in his nether region, Chris left the bathroom and gave a quick glance at his investing platform.

// Bitnote - Current rate: 30,720 //

Chris noticed the current rate of Bitnote and was pleasantly surprised. Not getting too greedy, he quickly sold off all his stocked Bitnotes.

[ Host: Christopher Swarts

Bank Details: XXXX XXXX XXXX 6587

Balance: 2005 + 9435 = 11,440$

Earned Money- 6000

<Withdraw>

Level-4 (6000/4000 EM) 2.5 EM/Tap

<Upgrade?> ]

'Sigh...I passed the 10k mark but still need to earn more to complete the mission.' Chris sighed, his shoulders drooping downwards.

'Hmm, well, I at least managed to pass the 10k mark, most houses I liked need 10k per month.' Chris encouraged himself, after all, Chris wasn't just lazing around the whole day.

On a famous site of Housing.com, Chris scouted many worthy and nice properties to rent, and he was going to visit them the next day.

'yawn~ I will invest in another Crypto and reward myself with a short nap~' With his lazy genes acting up again, Chris opened the investing platform and since Bitnote was at its peak prices currently, Chris had no choice but to go for another one.

// Catecoin - Current rate: 0.7 $ //

Chris came across one another famous crypto that was at its low price currently.

'I should invest only 5k right now to be safe.' Chris was smart enough to not fall into Crypto's temptations and kept his goals clear. Since his goal was to complete the main quest, He will avoid unnecessary risks. After all, Crypto-Trading is a dual-edged sword.

After buying 5,000$ worth of Catecoins, Chris as planned...Went to sleep.

8:27 PM

'Sigh, what has happened to brother today? He is so much more lazy!' Cassie's eyelids twitched seeing Chris sleep like a log without a care in the world.

'Sister's gonna come home too...' She glanced at the time and thought in dread. She still remembered the bad mood her sister was in this morning...maybe she won't forget it ever in her whole life either.

She quickly moved her little legs and shook Chris awake. "Good Morn- I meant Good Evening." Chris yawned after opening his eyes.

"Sheesh brother, Sister's gonna come home. She was in a bad mood today, you better be careful." Cassie advised with good intentions.

"Mm." On the surface, Chris replied with a short hum, but in his mind, the memories of last night outside the apartment began to flood in.

The threat of Son of a Shark, the disgusting proposition to Cathy, the warm hug, the coming of the system...They all began to recollect in his brain, making his small bubble of lethargy and laziness burst.

No longer in the mood to laze around, Chris got up from the couch finally getting his priorities straight. He brought up the system hologram.

[ Host: Christopher Swarts

Bank Details: XXXX XXXX XXXX 6587

Balance: 2005 + 9435 - 5000 = 6,440$

Earned Money- 6000

<Withdraw>

Level-4 (6000/4000 EM) 2.5 EM/Tap

<Upgrade?> ]

'Hmm.' Chris hummed and continued to check his investing platform now.

// Catecoin - Current rate: 0.9 $ //

'SHIT! I MISSED SUCH A BIG SCOOP!!!' Chris screamed in his mind checking the graph of Catecoins. The max value that the graph reached at near time 8:01 PM was 1.5$!!! That meant the price nearly doubled from when Chris was sleeping...

From that day onwards, Chris pledged to never go for a nap after investing in Crypto...