Chapter 2 The system is real
"Aham aham".
A dry broken scoff escaped Jay’s lips as his eyes couldnt believe what it was seeing. right in front of him floated a strange translucent screen.
And somehow, the weirdest part was that it was speaking directly into his mind.
“Is... is this some kind of. of a joke?” Jay muttered weakly due to his critical state.
[ No, but this is your final opportunity to change your fate or die here, worthless and forgotten, knowing you were given one chance and threw it away," Said the strange translucent screen, giving jay an instant reply. ]
“Aha ha ha ha…”
jay let out a faint, breathless laugh from hearing what the strange voice in his head just said.
his eyelids grew heavier with every passing second But strangely, a bitter exhausted smile formed on his bloodstained lips.
“You know, it's kind of nice having some crazy hallucination like this right at my dying moment. It. It feels nice having something or someone giving me hope, it's... its nice” jay muttered breathlessly.
“Honestly at this point," He added with his voice growing visibly more weaker by each word's. " i don’t care if this is real or just my brain trying to comfort me before I die, But if there’s even a chance.
“then yeah.”
“I accept...”
[ Host consent Confirmed. The strange awkward voice in his head spoke immediately after confirming his approver. ]
[Binding System to Host... ]
[Emergency Restoration initiating... ]
[Host Identified: Jay Wayne. ]
[ age: 24]
[intelligent : 16]
[agility : 18]
[charisma : 2]
[System level: level 1]
[System point : 0]
[Account balance: $26]
“Ahhh…” Jay gasped in relief as the agonizing pain in his stomach slowly faded away. His torned flesh knitted itself back together closing the deep stab wounds before his very eyes. Even the bruises scattered across his body vanished one after another.
“Whhaa. What the hell,” Jay muttered in disbelief, while rubbing his stomach with both hands But couldn’t find a single trace of any wound.
Which was unbelievable because a few seconds ago he could barely breathe. Every movement had felt like death crawling through his veins. But now. now he felt perfectly fine.
Jay slowly pushed himself off the cold ground, expecting waves of pain to hit him, but nothing came. His body felt light. Energized. Like he had nevered been injured at all.
In no time, he stumbled out from the dark corner behind the dumpster and looked around the empty alley. Edward and his bodyguards were nowhere to be seen. They had long since disappeared, leaving him there to die like a piece of garbage.
Jay clenched his fists tightly as every single moment replayed vividly inside his head making his expression darkened with fury.
But then his attention was quickly reclaimed by the holographic screen that visibly still hanged across his vision.
It hadn't disappear.
Jay’s breathing slowed as realization finally struck him completely.
"This wasn’t some hallucination caused by near death."
"This system is real."
The glowing interface flickered slightly before mechanical words appeared once again before his eyes.
[ Host Vital Status Stabilized.]
[ Emergency Restoration Complete. ]
[ Congratulations Host, You are now officially bound to the Touch-to-Wealth System. ]
Cold chill ran down his spine making his eyes widened uncontrollably.
"Touch. Touch to Wealth System?” he whispered to himself. "What is that," Jay murttered under his breathe.
From what he was seeing, It looked like a system from some of those fiction novels he used to read back in the days. "But. But how is this even possible," Jay Thought with mild confusion.
He could recalled the system mentioning something about changing his fate and rising to immeasurable wealth. Just thinking about it sparked a burning curiosity deep inside him despite being a little bit sturned and confused of the situation he found him self in.
“System,” Jay called out cautiously.
[ Yes, Host. ]
“How does this actually work? How am I supposed to change my fate and rise to immeasurable wealth?” Jay asked, hoping for answers.
[ Simple, Host.]
[ The Touch-to-Wealth System allows you to receive the exact monetary value of any object you touch.
In other words, every time you touch an item, its monetary value will instantly be deposited into your bank account."]
The system gave him an instant responds, explaining the basics.
Jay froze for a second while trying to process what the system had just said. His eyes widened the moment he grapes a glimpse of understanding.
“So what you’re saying is… I get paid just for touching things?”
[ Yes, Host. ]
[ However, there are limitations regarding what you can touch and how many times you can use the ability," The system added. And hearing that only made Jay even more curious. ]
“Go ahead,” he said immediately. “Tell me.”
The system responded almost instantly.
[ Firstly: ]
[ The Host is currently limited to only two touches per day and once used, the touches will reset back to two every day.
Additionally, each touch must be used wisely. Wasting touches on low-value objects will greatly slow the Host’s rise to wealth. ]
Jay’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Only two touches a day…” he muttered under his breath.
That was both overpowered and frustrating at the same time.
The system continued.
[ Secondly: ]
[ The ability does not work on humans or buildings at the Host’s current level.
The Host must upgrade the system to unlock higher-value targets such as properties, companies, and human-value extraction. ]
Jay blinked in confusion.
“Human-value extraction?” he repeated slowly.
[ Correct host. ]
[ At higher levels, the Host will gain access to advanced wealth functions.
However, the Host is still far from reaching that stage. ]
Jay swallowed hard.
Even with just the basic ability, this system already sounded Opick.
If he touched a gold bar— he’d received it's full value and get paid for it instantly base on the monetary value of the gold bar being touch.
A sincere smile slowly formed on his face for the very first time since his miserable day began.
[ And thirdly..." ]
the system went on snapping jay out of his thoughts.
[ if host fails to use both assigned touches before the day ends, the system will issue a penalty. ]
his smile slowly faded immediately after hearing that.
“A penalty?” he repeated cautiously.
[ Correct host. ]
[ Failure to use all daily touches before the system touch resets will result in a significant reduction of the Host’s lifespan. ]
The moment those words appeared, Jay’s entire body froze.
“What?”
"That's. That's insane!".
“You’re telling me if I don’t use these touches every single day, I lose part of my lifespan?” he asked in disbelieve just to confirm if he heard wrong.
[ Correct Host. ]
[ The Touch-to-Wealth System follows the law of equivalent exchange.
To gain wealth, the Host must continuously pursue value and refusing to progress will result in punishment. ]
Jay felt a chill crawl down his spine.
This wasn’t some harmless cheat system ability like the once he knew from reading those fiction novels. What ever this thing was, it's seemed to be forcing him to want to grow rich or richer whether he liked it or not.
“What kind of lifespan reduction are we talking about here?” Jay asked carefully.
A brief silence followed before the system replied.
[ Penalty severity depends on the number of unused touches by host.
For example one unused touch can lead to deduction of one years from host current lifespan, and two unused touches can lead to a significant Loss of two years lifespan if host is not careful. ]
Jay’s face instantly went paled.
“Two years?!”
[ Correct host. ]
Jay clenched his fists tightly as countless emotions crashed through him at once. He felt fear. Excitement. And Pressure all at the same time.
This ability could make him unimaginably rich. but Judging from the Look of things, it could also be terrifyingly dangerous.
His gaze slowly lowered toward his hands.
Two touches every day. And no matter what happened, he had to use them.
A sudden thought crossed his mind, making his breathing quicken slightly.
If touching objects is what's supposedly going to give him money then what's the very first thing he should touch?
