Spending To Receive Rebate

[Ding!]

[New Mission Is Available!]

[Mission: Learn three new skills]

[Reward: $100] 

"Nice! New mission, and its reward is $100!" Silas said after reading the notification.

"The thing is how to complete it. Learning three new skills... I wonder if it's normal skills or something else," he said as he thought of the new mission he got from the system.

Silas decided to put the new mission on hold for the moment and focus on his plan for the day. He did not feel any rush to complete it, as there was no time limit on it.

"Time to go shopping," Silas said and walked out of his room. Before leaving, he decided to check on his brother, Alex.

When he got to Alex's room, he saw that he was still sleeping. Silas saw this and smiled, deciding not to wake him up since it was the weekend.

"Sleep tight, champ," Silas said and closed the door.

******

Before going shopping for clothes, Silas decided to get himself something to eat, as he had no idea if he would have time to eat with how he planned the day for himself.

He found a random restaurant and ordered a simple breakfast. After making his order, Silas selected a table and took his seat as he waited for his order to arrive.

Twenty minutes later, the waitress brought his order and placed it on his table. Silas saw and thanked her, then turned to look at the plate in front of him.

After eating his breakfast of eggs, bacon, and cheese, Silas walked towards the counter to pay his bill.

"How much is my bill?" he asked the waitress at the counter.

"$13, sir," she replied.

"Okay, add $20 to it. That's your tip," Silas said as he gave her his bank card.

The waitress was very happy when she heard this. Though $20 might sound small, considering that the standard guideline is to donate between 15-20% of the total bill, you realize that Silas is actually being overly generous.

She actually would have never believed that someone as shabbily dressed as Silas would be so generous. It's true when they say that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. 

Happily, the waitress made the transaction and gave him back his bank card.

"Thank you; please come again," she said as Silas walked out of the restaurant.

Silas heard this and smiled happily as he waved his hand at her in acknowledgement. Normally, he would have never thought of eating out because of how broke he was, but now, he's not only eating out but also giving out tips.

The reason why Silas is actually smiling isn't because of what the waitress said, but because of this:

[Ding!]

You spent $32. You received a 10x rebate of expenses made. You earned $320. The money has been sent to your bank account.

Immediately, Silas felt his phone vibrate slightly in his pocket, an indication that he had received a message.

He didn't feel the need to check it, as he already knew the content of the message.

*****

The door of a small clothing mall opened, and Silas walked inside.

Immediately, he was approached with a smile by the female salesperson.

"Welcome to our store, sir. How may I be of help?" she asked him.

"I would like to buy some clothes. Give me the best, but nothing too flashy or loud," he replied.

"Sure, we have exactly what you're looking for," she said when she heard what Silas said.

"Please wait; I will go get some for you to check," she added and walked towards a clothing rack to start selecting some clothes.

Though the female salesperson saw how shabby Silas' clothes were, she didn't say anything or think much about it. As someone who has been working the job for a long time now, what has she not seen?

A few minutes later, the female salesperson came back with some clothes in her hands.

When she got to where Silas stood, she started showing him the clothes, which he approved of.

Silas' fashion sense could be described as bland. Maybe it was because of his financial situation, but he never really cared about what he wore. As long as it covered his body and he wasn't naked, he was fine with it.

After Silas was done choosing the clothes he wanted, he asked the female salesperson if the store had a changing room, to which she told him yes.

Hearing her response, he picked one of the clothes and went to the changing room.

...

A few seconds later, Silas walked out of the changing room after changing into the new clothes.

After coming out of the changing room, Silas felt a little bit different. He felt like the clothes he was wearing gave him a little bit of confidence.

During his walk from the restaurant to the store, he could feel the judging gaze of people who saw him, which made him lower his head subconsciously, but after changing into the new clothes, he felt confident in himself.

He thought of this and smiled as he walked towards the female salesperson.

"How much is everything?" he asked when he got to where she stood.

"$499.99," she replied.

'$499.99? What's the 99.9 there? Why not just make it $500?'

"Here," Silas said as he gave her his bank card.

The lady smiled when she saw this and walked towards the counter to swipe the card.

Immediately after she swiped the card, Silas received a notification from the system.

[Ding!]

You spent $500. You received a 10x rebate of expenses made. You earned $5000. The money has been sent to your bank account.

Silas nodded in satisfaction when he saw this.

"Do you do home delivery?" he asked the female salesperson.

"Yes, but that will cost you more," she replied.

"That's fine. I want to buy more clothes for myself and a ten-year-old boy. Do you have kids' clothes?" he asked.

"Yes, we do."

"Okay, let me see what you have."

The female salesperson nodded and immediately went to bring out the kids' clothes available and more of the clothes that she felt Silas would like.

******

A few minutes later, Silas walked out of the store after paying for the clothes and dropping his address for the home delivery.

The second set of clothes he bought cost him $3000, and this was including the cost of home delivery and the tip for the female salesperson.

Walking out of the store, Silas made his way to his next destination, the office of a real estate company.

On the way, Silas saw an Apple store and walked in. Though, as a person, he's not a fan of Apple and their shenanigans, who says he can't buy their product?

Also, he needs to spend to receive rebates, which means the more expensive things are, the better the rebate he receives.

Silas walked into the store and went to a stand that had an iPhone 15 Pro on it.

He picked up the phone and gave the lady standing behind the stand his bank card, indicating that he wanted to pay for it.

Silas also decided to buy a MacBook Pro 14. After he was done picking what he wanted, the lady swiped the card and gave it back to him before she started packaging the items for him.

While the lady was busy with what she was doing, Silas was smiling from ear to ear. The reason? This:

[Ding!]

You spent $1199. You received a 10x rebate of expenses made. You earned $11,990. The money has been sent to your bank account.

You spent $3499. You received a 10x rebate of expenses made. You earned $34,990. The money has been sent to your bank account.

Who said that money doesn't give happiness? Silas would love to see that person right now and give him/her a very good beating.

"Here you go, sir," the lady said after she was done with the packaging.

"Thank you," Silas said as he collected it and left the store.

Silas' plan was to go to the real estate company and buy an apartment or a house, but he decided to put it on hold. Instead, he opted to go to a car dealership shop and get himself a car as a means of transportation since the office of the real estate company was still a very long distance away.