Chapter 1: Hope

Castor sat on the sidewalk with his cart and saw the disgust and sometimes fear of those who walked past him.

After all, he hadn't shaven or taken a proper shower in two years and was abandoned by everyone he knew after he became homeless.

Now he sat at the corner of the busiest intersection looking for some people to donate. He was as low as one could get in modern society.

A couple more hours passed before the streets were deserted, and Castor finally got up and started strolling with his cart to what he called his new home.

After walking for 30 more minutes, Castor walked into what he called his home, an abandoned house for who knows how long.

Luckily, the door was kept open, so it was an easy place to sleep where he wouldn't have to worry about being attacked during his sleep by others.

Sitting down, Castor took out his donation box and counted his daily earnings.

$30 after sitting on one of the busiest streets in New York, in the end, he only made $30, which didn't surprise him. There were better spots where he could earn up to $100 a day, but gangs controlled these spots to make some extra cash.

Looking at the cracked roof with a giant hole in it, Castor couldn't help but remember when he had a place to call home, when he thought he was on top of the world, when he still had some self-respect.

"All this because I don't want to sleep with some random girl…." Castor muttered as he closed his eyes.

[System binding...….]

[Clan System loading...….]

[Scanning world...…]

[Scanning host...]

[Loading 1%...46%.....78%....100%]

[Ding! System Loaded.]

[Please Read the System Guide….}

"WHAT GOT OFF!!" Castor yelled, screaming as he heard a voice in his mind.

It meant either two things were happening, someone knew he was here and was messing with him, or he was now going crazy.

Looking around, he could tell the traps he put around the room and door were still untouched, meaning no one had come in.

"Am I already going crazy? Then again, I've been homeless for practically two years now. It would be weird if my mind wasn't a little out of tune." Cator said to himself as his heart slowed down.

Finally looking around, he noticed a blue floating screen in the corner of his eye.

[Please Read the System Guide]

Clicking it another giant blue screen popped out making him jump.

"Have I gone crazy?" castor said, looking at the blue screen in front of him.

[Welcome to the clan system, this is your system guide on how to use the system.]

[You have been lucky enough to have been chosen by the great outer system god to receive a system]

[The clan system is a system that helps you develop a clan that will one day stand at the top of your universe.]

[After scanning your world and your current situation you have been given a gift package]

[Please open the gift package after reading the system guide]

"No way…." murmured Castor as he finished reading the system guide.

It took about 30 minutes but those 30 minutes had given him something he hadn't felt in a long time.

And that was hope for a better future.

Gathering his thoughts for a couple of minutes, Castor took a deep breath and opened the gift package from the system.

According to the Manual, this would give him a foundation that he could use to start developing himself and his clan in the future.

[Opening Gift package...]

[x1- Rented apartment for three months]

[x1- All your lost identification papers]

[x1- Advanced level day trader skills]

[x1-Talent appraisal skill]

[x1-system panel]

[x1- 10 cubic meters of storage space]

[x3- $500 cash]

"Holy shit..." Castor said as he looked at the papers that appeared in front of him.

His Identification papers, when they were stolen he turned into a real homeless person, without his identification it was pretty much impossible to prove who he was, especially with the fact that he knew no one would help him prove his identity.

Seeing the papers, Castor's eyes got a little watery. The loss of his Identity was what hit him the hardest after he became homeless, because of that he wasn't able to get a job, a place to live, and even his car was towed.

All because he couldn't prove his identity.

"All right, caster calm down. We can cry later when I'm sitting in my apartment." Castor said to himself, wiping his tears away

[ Rented Apartment- The system has given you an average rented apartment for three months for you to quickly start improving your living conditions so you can begin working on completing clan tasks]

[Advanced Level Day Trading skills- Day trading skills of the top 1% of day traders will be your most powerful skill for you to set a stable foundation for the clan.]

[Talent Appraisal skill- No matter what era, talent will always be sought after and looked for, sometimes talent is in front of you, and you could never know, with this skill, you can quickly recruit all types of talents into the clan.]

[10 cubic meters of storage space- A safe place where you can keep the most important things to you can make sure you don't lose them]

[System Panel- A panel that will let you track the current status of your clan and how it's doing]

Taking a deep breath Castor quickly rushed around the house and started taking out his hidden stashes of chas along with anything he deemed important and rushed out of the house and ran.

For the first time in a while, he felt that his life had a purpose

====================================

Breathing hard out of exhaustion from running at pretty much his top speed for the last 10 minutes.

In Front of Castor was a typical low-rise apartment with four floors.

Getting in front of the door Castor quickly input the security number he had gotten from the system and went in.

Without wasting any time we went to the third floor and found his room.

"Room 304…." Castor said his voice was shaky and filled with nervousness.

Putting in the key given by the system, Castor opened the door and turned on the light.

What greeted me was an average apartment with some decent furnishing and appliances.

Like an excited child, Castor quickly started running around the whole apartment opening every that could be opened and imagining how he was going to decorate the palace a little.

The first thing that Castor did after exploring his new place was to take a bath and shave. It's been around maybe almost a whole year since he's taken a bath, and the last time he took a bath couldn't even count as a bath as it was just a very heavy downpour that he used as a bath.

After 40 minutes Castor came out of the bath and started to shave with a razor and clipper that was there, without worrying about the skin he went all out trying to get rid of the savage bear that had always bothered him.

10 minutes later standing in front of the mirror was a face Castor never thought he could see again.

Due to the two years of harsh treatment, his skin had gotten darker and rougher along with random pimples and dark spots all over his face. At the same time, his teeth looked like they were on their last two feet and would be falling off soon.

His once smooth and silky hair was a tangled mess that took him over 20 minutes to wash and untangled, and it still looked like a mess.

In the end, he looked nothing like his 18-year-old self, and while he could still see some of his former attractiveness, it was hidden under his new skinny physique and rough face.

"Dam, I bet those bastards wouldn't even recognize me if I walked past them." Castor said, looking at himself and his body.

'I'm sleeping in tonight.' Was Castor's last thought as he went to bed feeling safer than ever.

After all, now he didn't have to worry about anyone breaking in and just randomly beating him and stealing all his stuff…again.

—--------------------------------------------

"Old habits die hard." Castor said as he woke up at 5 Am.

This was usually when he would wake up and get out of the abandoned house to prevent anyone from finding him.

That was how he lost his identification, clothes, and phone.

He had left the house at 7 Am and was found by some homeless gang that robbed him and took his stuff after beating the shit out of him.

Luckily after hiding for a couple weeks he realized they didn't know where he lived, but that memory was burned deeply into his brain.

"Enough of that. Let's make some breakfast and get the day going."