After love and friendship

John simply pressed, no, without even thinking. Come on, there was no lack of scammers in the world. They must have underestimated Leo, fooling him with a Gentleman's system was simply stupidity.

Although Leo was bad in many things, when it comes to reading books, he stood apart from the rest. He was a voracious reader from a young age and was familiar with the general plotline in the web novel.

"I have not died or reincarnated, do you think I am a 3-year-old kid to believe your system scam?" Leo chided the scammer with a smile, secretly pleased with his extensive 'knowledge'.

"It's not like there were no systems that attach themselves to phone but those were very rare and their title would be something like chat group or gaming system. If you want to scam, at least make it believable!" Leo scolded the scammer as if that person made a rookie mistake.

Just as he was about to forget and move on. He received the same notification again.

[Gentleman's system has chosen you as a new host. Please select yes, if you agree]

[Yes ] or [No]

Leo was not irritated by the notification, simply chuckled, "I must commend you for being persistent." Leo's tone was as if a senior giving pointer to a rookie junior.

"But still no"

Leo felt like a benevolent citizen who was kind to even a scammer. He couldn't help but reprimand himself for being too kind.

"John, oh John! you still have a long way to control your emotions."

John shook his head. Notification on the phone also stopped eventually. John didn't think much about the 'scam' and slept nicely in his one BHK apartment thinking in his mind how to bait another 'fish'.

As he got up from a good sleep, the first thing he saw on his phone was the notification he received yesterday.

[Gentleman's system has chosen you as a new host. Please select yes, if you agree]

[No ] or [Yes]

John was still in a murky mode as he just got up. He unconsciously tapped the right side of the button which would be the usual place for 'no' but he didn't know that 'yes' and 'no' swapped their places silently.

Just when he tapped 'yes' phone screen showed him a series of messages.

[System initializing….1%…2%…]

[Reading the user's data for the last 5 years]

[Error: User has not met the minimum requirement for the system]

[If the user couldn't meet the minimum requirement within a week then Gentleman's system would automatically terminate its contact with the host]

[Requirements :

1) User has to genuinely fall in love with a girl.

2) User has to make at least one loyal friend ]

"How did I accept this ?" John was still in his sleepy mode and couldn't think properly.

"What's up with the requirement?" He had never heard of 'requirement terms' for getting a system.

"Is it really a system or just a sophisticated scam?" John started to doubt everything he had read in the web novel. When something challenged his previous knowledge, his first reaction was to not believe it. Not just him, almost everyone behaves like him.

"Well, let's give it a chance first. What if it can change my life?" He was aware of how heaven-defying a system was. All the protagonists in the novels he read became big shots within a short period with the aid of a system.

"It might be the opportunity I am looking for." John finally felt little excitement.

"But I am not sure whether I am compatible with the system." He had a vague idea about the future path of the gentleman's system which revolves around people and relationships. But he never valued those things. Suddenly and within a week, how could he change his core personality?

Sure, he could manipulate a girl and have fun with her but it would not last for too long as they were not some robots as they could eventually sense, what was genuine and, what was fake. All his life, he had not committed to a single person. He hardly trusted any other person other than himself over the years. If he can't trust another person, how could he gain a loyal friend?

His harsh past showed him firsthand, how costly trusting another person could be. If anyone said, I trust you in a slum, no one would believe him and instead, people would try to stay away from him. Why? Its simple, empty promises couldn't fill one's stomach. Instead of trusting a person, people in the slum trusted their hard work to earn bread and butter.

System didn't stop sending the notifications.

[If the user can meet the requirements in a week then the system would accept the user as the 128139th host]

John immediately sobered up.

"Let's forget about the requirements for now, what do you mean by 128139th host? What happened to the previous 128138 hosts?"

Unexpectedly system answered with a notification

[All the previous users are dead]

John sucked a deep breath and said resolutely, "I don't need any stupid system quickly bugger off from my phone."

It's as if the system expected John's reaction.

[If the user can't complete the minimum requirement and turn into a host then the user's priced possession will be taken as the system fee]

John suddenly had a bad feeling, "What do you mean?"

[5 lakh rupees]

Just three words turned John's emotionless face into an emotional storm. No one knew better than himself, how hard it had been to earn that much money. It was not just 5 lakh rupees, it was his blood and sweat. If it's lost just like that John had no idea how long it would take him to earn that much money.

John's face turned cold "What happens after I become the host?"

[Host would have then earned his qualification to become the successor of this system's creator. After qualifying, the host would then have to complete a series of missions to truly become the successor]

[Of course, missions are dangerous and the host could lose his life]

[But host would also get many chances to earn exciting rewards]

"What's the point of exciting rewards if one can't even live to enjoy them? Forget about the reward and tell me, what do I get from becoming the so-called successor?"

[The successor would become the owner of this system and all its resources would be in your command. To give you an overall understanding of the value of the resources, it is equivalent to 100 billion Earths]

John didn't show any exaggerated emotion as he didn't know whether the system was telling truth or just giving empty promises to make him work hard. He was very familiar with the empty promises, so unless he saw with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe anyone, let it be the system or almighty God.

"I am willing to meet the requirements to become a host. Can you tell me exactly what is considered falling in love? How do you know when someone has turned into a loyal friend?"

[User has to realize it yourself but the system would provide notification when you fall in love or make a genuine friendship]

John felt frustrated "What a crappy system, why am I not lucky enough to get a Harem system or Dual cultivation system? There would be no need for trust or loyalty. It would be just a world of fuck and forget. A carnal world without any commitments is a destination for every hot-blooded youth.

Thinking from another perspective, how many people are fortunate enough to get a system? I must thank my lucky stars for even encountering one. If what the system said about the successor is true then this would take me beyond my wildest imagination. I have a feeling that the system is not from this world. What if I get a chance to travel beyond Earth?" John's heart started beating fast but eventually, he controlled himself.

"Let's first meet the requirement then I will think about the rest. Since I am going to fall in love anyway, let's go with the number one beauty in our school. Apart from her, I think I have scammed all the other girls in our school. I have a fair understanding of the rest but I am clueless about her. What kind of person is the number one beauty? "

John fell into deep thought. According to his understanding of love from the books, he would have to make frequent contacts with the person you like and when things go well, eventually a spark would fly between them which is believed as love. John had no practical experience with the love but he had no choice but to give it a try to save his money and become the host.

"Falling in love is within my control but gaining a loyal friend would depend on another person's opinion about me. In my school, I really have a bad reputation since I am not from well to do family. Apart from me, almost everyone is from a decent family with a good reputation. They see me as a bad egg polluting their environment. It's difficult to change their opinion in a week. What should I do?"