Chapter 7 Pay your rent

“Yeah. yeahh."

"I’m coming,” Jay called out lazily while climbing out of bed.

He slowly walked towards the room to the door, paused with his hand on the handle, and took one slow measured breath Before finally opening the door.

And just as expected..

Mrs. Clay stood there with her arms crossed tightly beneath her chest.

The old woman was somewhere in her late sixties, short in height but terrifyingly loud. She always wore the same awkward-looking hairstyle that somehow matched her entire aggressive personality perfectly.

The moment the door opened, her sharp eyes locked onto Jay immediately.

“Oh, so you’re still alive,” she sneered. “I was starting to think you finally starved to death in there like the useless piece off trash you—“

"Can you please just shut the fuck up?”

The words burst straight out of Jay’s mouth before he could even stop himself.

“...Excuse me?” Mrs clay said slowly, her voice dropping half an octave with dangerous warning.

"I said shut up," Jay repeated while leaning against his door frame with his arms loosely folded.

Mrs Clay’s mouth hung open, but no words came out. She was left utterly speechless, given how rudely Jay had just spoken to her.

This wasn't a new situation at all. Over the past eight months now, Mrs Clay had been making these exact visits repeatedly, constantly screaming about overdue rent, insulting him, mocking his life, and none the less treating him like absolute garbage.

His usual response to her early morning assaults. was to stay completely quiet and wait until she gets tired and leave.

But not today.

Jay wasn’t having it anymore. He was sick of it—completely and utterly done of being look down on.

Mrs Clay narrowed her eyes furiously.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to like that?” she barked. “you broke bastard. You are the poorest and most useless tenant in this building who can’t even pay his rent on time and now. Now you suddenly found the courage to disrespect me?”

“Are you done?” he asked flatly while staring at her expressionlessly.

Mrs Clay looked genuinely stunned for a second.

Clearly, she wasn’t expecting this kind of response from him at all.

“You...” she pointed a trembling finger toward his face. “Don’t test my patience this morning, boy. If you can’t pay your rent today, I’ll throw you and all your worthless junk out on the street myself!”

Jay almost laughed hearing that.

Worthless junk?

The irony was honestly hilarious.

With the knowledge of having over eighteen thousand dollars sitting currently inside his bank account, jay no longer needed to tolerate any of her nonsense.

For a brief moment, he considered simply paying her immediately and ending the conversation.

But another part of him strangely wanted to enjoy the moment a little longer.

But still, he quickly dismissed the thought.

There was no point lowering himself to her level by arguing endlessly. Entertaining toxic people would only make him no different from them.

“You want your rent?” Jay said coldly. “I’ll give you your rent. I’ll even throw in a little extra—just to get you to stop talking.”

He straightened up from the doorframe and held up one finger. “Give me a second. I’ll grab my phone and make the transfer right now.”

Hearing that, her mouth hung slightly open in surprise when Jay deliberately shut the door in her face.

For a few seconds, the hallway outside remained completely silent as jay walked over to his bed, grabbed his phone, and started making the transfer.

The rent amount was $250, but staying truth to his word, he added an extra $150, making it $400 in total.

Jay stared at the screen as the transaction showed Successful.

With that, he casually walked back towards the entrance and opened the door again, intending to show Mrs. Clay the transaction receipt, but before he even got the chance, her phone made a notification sound.

Ding!

“I trust you must have received it already?” Jay asked calmly.

Mrs. Clay lowered her gaze toward her phone screen and froze immediately, with shock visibly spreading across her wrindled face.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Jay. the same jay she had considered worthless and useless for years because of late rent payments—had just paid her instantly without any argument or excuse. Not only that, he had even added an extra one hundred and fifty dollars as a bonus.

“Good. Good,” she said quickly, recovering from her shock. “Yes, boy, and make sure you pay your rent on time next month, or I won’t think twice before throwing your ass out.”

Her tone carried the same arrogant and annoying manner as always, acting as though she hadn’t even noticed the extra $150 before she finally turned around and walked away.

And as for next month, there wouldn’t even be one. At this point, Jay was already considering getting a new apartment. He was sick and tired of this place, sick of the cramped room, the peeling walls, and most especially sick of dealing with Mrs Clay’s constant arrogance.

Besides, now that he was finally seeing real money, it wouldn’t make sense for him to keep living in a run-down apartment like this.

The thought immediately brought the system back to his mind.

“Hey, System,” Jay called out inwardly.

[ Yes, Host. ]

“When am I going to receive my daily two touches?” Jay asked, wondering if the count had already reset like the system had mentioned before.

[ You already have them, Host. ]

[ The daily touches reset to two every day at exactly 6 AM. However, Host can choose to change the reset timing if desired. ]

“Alright, that’s cool,” Jay muttered softly. “But is it possible for you to add the touches to my stats screen like the rest of the stats? That way I can see them anytime they reset instead of always asking you.”

[ Yes, Host. That would actually be a great idea. If you like, I can add it right away. ]

“Yes, that would be perfect. Go ahead.”

[ Okay Host. Give me a second. ]

The system’s voice faded briefly as it carried out the command.

A moment later, it spoke again.

[ Done, Host. You can now check your touch status directly from your stats screen. ]

Hearing that, Jay immediately focused his gaze on the translucent system stat resting dormant at the edge of his vision.

And instantly, it expanded before him.

[ Host: Jay Wayne ]

[ Age: 24 ]

[ Intelligence: 16 ]

[ Agility: 18 ]

[ Charisma: 2 ]

[ Touch Status: 2 ]

[ System level: level 1 ]

[ System Points: 0 ]

[ Account Balance: $18,226 ]

“Yes, it's perfect,” Jay muttered under his breath while staring at the floating screen.

Now he wouldn’t need to ask the system any time he wants to know whether his daily touches had reset or not.

As for changing the reset timing, Jay didn’t really see any reason to bother with that right now. Six in the morning was perfectly fine unless it eventually became inconvenient later on.

Now the real problem was figuring out how to use today's touch wisely. Unlike yesterday, he couldn’t afford to waste such an overpowered ability on random useless things. Every touch had value, and if he played his cards right, his entire life could completely change within days.

Jay leaned back onto his bed, with his eyes drifting toward the cracked ceiling above him as countless possibilities began running through his mind.

Cars. Jewelry. Luxury watches. Rare collectibles.

There were countless expensive things in the world he could use the system touch on. The problem was how was he going to get access to them.