Ten Times Multiplier System: Investment Rebate

Sean walked aimlessly on the road, heading home. He was coming from a construction site, having already completed today's work.

He was a university graduate, having graduated over a year ago. But unfortunately, he had not managed to get any job, despite his qualifications.

With the current situation of the world, unless someone had connections, it was becoming exceedingly difficult for one to be able to gain a job.

Sean had not given up on looking for job opportunities. He had already submitted several applications to different companies, and he was still waiting for a response. But he did not hold any high hopes for the opportunity.

He did not come from a big background, only coming from a small family that was located in a very small city, in the poorest side of the city. The family had a small grocery store, but due to the location of the grocery store, the business was not doing that well.

During the time that he was still in campus, his parents took several loans, including from loan sharks and other family relatives, in order to pay for his fees. But considering the income that they were getting, and him not getting a job for over a year now, it had become almost impossible for them to be able to repay the debt.

Recently, it seemed that the loan sharks had been getting a little agitated. It was clear that they were getting impatient, despite continuously adding the interest on the amount of money that had been borrowed from them.

Recently, they threatened that they would end up taking everything from the grocery store, in order to repay themselves. But that was something that Sean could not allow.

After all, that grocery store was something that both of his parents had worked so hard in order to open. It had been a source of income for them, and had it not been for his education, they would definitely be capable of sustaining themselves by depending on the grocery store.

It was just that Sean was getting a little desperate. He did not have any other means of getting the money that was required in order to pay the debts. And for asking for the loan sharks to give them more time, that was even more impossible.

Those guys were completely unreasonable. They never cared about your situation, they only cared about the money. Additionally, it was not just the loan sharks that wanted the money back, but the other people that had lent his family money also wanted the money back.

It was just that they were not as aggressive as the loan sharks. Regardless, it was always difficult for someone to be free, especially if they are in debt.

Sean looked at the street, which was currently busy with a lot of pedestrians that were coming from work. The majority of the people in this part of the city were of a low class, which was to be expected considering that there was no rich person that would want to live in such an environment.

Not to mention the hygiene, but the criminal activities within this part of the city was way high. This was something that easily discouraged investors from investing in this part of the city.

Taking a deep breath, Sean stopped walking. He looked at the worn out pavement, his mind deep in thought. But then suddenly, he noticed something on the ground.

A little curious, he bent down and picked it up. It was only then that he suddenly realized that it was actually a coin. But this coin was faded and rusty, making it almost impossible for him to be able to tell the currency.

Just as he was puzzled, scrutinizing the coin, something that shocked him suddenly happened.

In front of his eyes, a holographic screen suddenly popped up. At the same time, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind, with several prompts appearing on the screen.

[System activating... System activated.]

[System binding in progress... System binding successful.]

[Welcome host to the Ten Times Multiplier System: Investment Rebate]

Sean was stunned by this. He could not understand what was going on. Apart from the shock of a screen suddenly appearing in front of him, there was also the doubt about the information that was suddenly forcefully injected into his mind.

It took him quite a while to be able to finally process the information that had appeared in his mind, while trying to calm himself down.

According to the information that had appeared in his mind, the screen that had appeared in front of him belonged to a system that had been bound to him. The origins of the system had not been explained in the information at all.

In any case, according to the information, the aim of this system was simple. As long as he invested in something, there would be a return. The return would be 10 times the amount that he had invested.

As for the definition of investment, according to the dictionary of the system, an investment was anything that could bring a form of return.

Sean was not sure about what kind of return was counted as an investment, but that was something that needed to be tested out in order to be sure.

But apart from that, apart from the 10 times rebate of his investment, there was an additional reward. For every investment that he made, there would be an additional reward that would accompany the money that would be brought back to him.

There was no detail about what type of reward would be given for each investment that he made, but it was made clear that the higher the profit of the investment made, the higher the value of the reward that would be given.

Additionally, it was stated clearly that an investment in the same thing would only bring back an additional reward for the first investment. Any more investment in the same thing would only bring back the cashback rebate, without any additional rewards.

Sean was left dumbfounded for quite a long while. The concept of the system was not strange to him. Having already been in contact with web novels in this modern world, he understood what a system was.

But it was just too incredible, something that he did not believe would happen to him. He had actually gotten a system? He believed that systems were a work of fiction, and not something that really existed in real life.

But then again, if that was the case, how was it possible that there was a holographic screen that was still floating in front of his eyes. Sean looked around, and he realized that it seemed that while people were giving him weird gazes as they went by, it did not seem to be related to the screen in front of him.

Instead, it was obviously related to the expression that was on his face, and him standing there like an idiot. Regardless, Sean took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Since others could not see it, Sean decided to believe that all this was just an illusion. So, he decided to ignore the screen in front of him, and just get back home and rest.

The moment that he decided to ignore the screen, it actually disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Sean was both relieved and disappointed. If it was true that he had received a system, of course he would be happy. But it was just too good to be true.

As he began walking home, his mind could not help but drift to the issue concerning the system. Was it all just an illusion, or was it true. After all, the information in his mind had not disappeared, despite the screen disappearing.

No sooner had he thought about this that the screen appeared in front of him yet again. Displayed on the screen was the last prompt that he had received, about him being welcomed to the system.

Shocked by the sudden appearance of the screen, Sean was suddenly forced to believe that this was not an illusion. This was definitely real.

Sean took a few deep breaths, trying to stabilize himself. Then, he decided. Currently, he was hungry. Even though he had eaten lunch, it was several hours ago. And considering the intensity of the job at a construction site, the food had already been digested, and he was feeling hungry.

Looking at the several stalls around, Sean approached one of them. It was a stall that sold street food.

Sean took a deep breath, before decisively deciding to buy a few fruits from the street stall. He only had $20 at the moment. This was the amount of money that he had received after an entire day of work.

Sean did not like spending the money recklessly, considering the current family situation. But right now, he thought that there was no harm in trying this out. If it did not work, he would just have to work harder in order to earn more to replace the money that he had spent.

Spending $2, Sean purchased several fruits. Immediately after making the payment, Sean waited, waited for the prompt from the system.

But even after waiting for nearly half a minute, there was no prompt at all. Sean took a deep breath, disappointed. It seemed that this was all just a joke.

Feeling a little frustrated, he took a bite of one of the fruits in his hand. Due to the frustration, he did not even think about washing the fruit first. Instead, he was only thinking about how much money he had wasted.

He was not sure if the system was real, or maybe he had not made the right investment. But if the system required him to make those investments that required him to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars, it would be impossible for the current him. After all, he did not have the money.

In these street stalls, it was impossible for someone to be able to return any item that had been purchased as long as the transaction had been completed. That was even if he had not left the stall.

But just after Sean had taken a bite of the fruit, the mechanical voice sounded in his mind, while at the same time, the holographic screen appeared in front of him, together with a prompt.

[You have spent $2 on food. Investment detected. Rebate activated. You have received $20. Additional reward, basic chef skills.]

Sean was so shocked that he could not react after receiving the prompt and the voice in his mind. It was only after a few seconds that he finally reacted.

'This is real?' He could not help but ask himself. His expression showed both surprise and excitement.

Could it be that if he purchased food, unless he ate the food, it would not be considered as an investment? Or maybe the investment was not completed unless he got a return?

Regardless, Sean realized that he had gotten a big opportunity. This was a big opportunity that could change his life entirely. Not only his life, but the life of his family as well.

If it was true that the system was capable of multiplying the money that was invested by 10 times, did that not imply that as long as he invested in something profitable, he would be able to get the money back 10 times?

And with that money that was returned from the system, he could go ahead and invest yet again, and it would be returned back to him. Simply put, as long as it was a wise investment, he would have infinite money.

Just thinking about it, Sean could not help but get thrilled. But as he was getting excited, he was suddenly hit by a headache. While the headache was not intense, it made him flinch.

At the same time, a large amount of information was suddenly poured into his mind. All of this was related to cooking. Anything about being a chef was poured into his mind, and the different types of meals that he had never even heard of, he got both the recipe and methods of preparation.

The information that he received made him feel like he had been a chef for several years. And, it was only after he had managed to deal with the sudden influx of information that he realized something.

This seemed to be the reward that he had received after buying fruits, which seemed to be basic chef skills. But just looking at the information that he had received, and the skills that were currently ingrained into his muscle memory, Sean could not help but wonder if this really was just at the basic level.

After all, if he compared the current level to the one that he possessed before, he felt like there was a distinction between heaven and earth.

At this moment, his phone suddenly rang with a notification. Sean took out his old phone, realizing that it was a message from the bank. According to the message, $20 had been deposited into his account.

This immediately shocked Sean. But it was also at this moment that he realized something. It seemed that while the cash back of the system worked, it did not give him cash, instead, the money was deposited into his bank account.

The expression on Sean's face made the stall owner who had just sold the fruits to think that Sean was so excited about the taste of the fruits.

So, he commented, "Young man, if you like the fruits, you can buy more. Look here, I still have so many fresh fruits."

It was only when the stall owner spoke that suddenly, Sean came back to his senses. He realized that he was still standing in front of a street stall.

Realizing this, he decided to go back home first. While he was tempted to try yet again buying more fruits so that he could get more money back, he decided against it.

First of all, the hygiene of the food in the streets was not that good. Currently, while he was not sure if the system was going to disappear the next day, it was better for him not to risk getting sick while trying something like this.

Ignoring the street stall owner, Sean immediately rushed home. At this point, it was as if all the exhaustion from the work that he had done the entire day had vanished. He felt energetic as he sprinted back home, surprising many people in the streets.

Not caring about the looks that he was receiving, Sean headed home. In just a little while, he arrived at an old street that had fewer people. Well, while there were fewer people in the streets, the number of houses was quite high, and all of them were old.

Sean entered into an old three-story apartment. This was where they lived. During the times that his parents were still in their youths, they had managed to purchase an apartment here. It was also during that time that they had started the grocery store.

The apartment building was quite old, with chapped walls. It was clear that the building was in need of repainting. But considering the buildings around, one could say that the condition of this apartment building was way better as compared to the other buildings.

Sean entered into their apartment. He shared a bedroom with his younger brother, who was currently out, as he had not yet come back from school. Currently, both of his parents were at the grocery store.

Without having to worry about anything, Sean immediately entered into the room, got inside the bathroom, and took a quick shower. As the cold water rushed on the surface of his skin, Sean felt like he was dreaming.

But the cold feeling from the water told him that he was not in a dream. He had gotten a system, just like those that he had read in the web novels.

Thinking about this, and thinking about the current family situation, Sean thought that he needed to use the system to the maximum level possible. He was not sure if the system was ever going to disappear at any point in time, so, he had to make sure not to waste any opportunity.

But there was one thing that he was worried about. The money just appearing within his account was definitely going to raise some issues. While it was true that at first, the amount of money was small, and might not raise much suspicion. But if the amount of money kept on increasing, if the source of the money was not determined, then things would definitely get complicated.

Sean obviously had no intention of revealing the existence of the system. If he did that, would he not be taken into those laboratory by those crazy scientists for experiments? Or maybe he might be detained by the military, thinking that there was an alien race that was invading?

Regardless, Sean was not having the intention of even informing anyone in the family about the presence of the system. It was just that he was not sure about how to explain about the money.

If he spent the money and started a business, the money would be returned to him. But then again, he could explain the business' existence, but what about the money that was 10 times more than what he previously had?

Just as he thought about this, another prompt from the system appeared.

[The host does not need to worry about the source of the money. The money that is deposited into the host's account is from a legitimate source, one that exists in this world.]

Sean was slightly shocked. Immediately, he could not help but inquire, 'Is the origin of this system someone within this world? Maybe an organization?'

While Sean was excited about having a system, he was definitely not willing to be a guinea pig. If this was some form of experiment, then Sean would rather not have this system.

[While the source of the money is from this world, the system is an existence that is from outside this universe.]

Even though he had even more questions, Sean was at least relieved that for the time being, he did not really have to worry about someone in this world coming to look for him or his family. As for the existence of the system, coming from outside this universe, Sean decided not to question more.

What was the use of that? Even if he knew about the origin of the system, what would he do? Anything that came from outside this universe was definitely something that he could not deal with.

So, it was better for him to look for a way of exploiting the system to the maximum level possible, and even if anything happened to him, at least his family would be okay.

Thinking about this, Sean walked out of the bathroom, dried himself, before putting on a new pair of clothes. It was also at this point that he felt slightly tired.

He had after all come from a construction site not long ago. So, the fatigue from all the work that he had done during the day was coming in.

But thinking about the system, and not being sure about how long it was going to exist, shown decided not to waste time. It was better for him to try and invest more, so that he could gain more money.

He had an idea, and thinking about it, he immediately walked out of his room, headed downstairs from the apartment where he lived, which was located on the top floor, and headed to the grocery store that was owned by his parents.

The grocery store was not located far from the apartment, just a few blocks away. And as he got closer, he realized that there was a crowd of people that was standing in front of the grocery store.

Looking at the crowd, Sean's expression could not help but shift slightly, as he got a bad feeling about the situation.

Sean frowned as he looked at the group of people that was currently standing in front of the grocery store owned by his parents. The reason of the frown appearing on Sean's face was because he was familiar with a situation that would lead to something like this happening.

This was something that had happened several times already, and the frequency had been increasing recently. With a heavy heart, Sean approached the crowd. As people saw him, they began making way for him, as they were familiar with him as he was a neighbor.

As he approached the store from the crowd, he heard an arrogant voice, and he immediately knew who the owner of the voice was.

"I have already given you enough time. You have to repay the debt by half by tomorrow morning, or else, we will take everything from this store of yours!" The voice was extremely rough and was tinged with disdain.

"Can- can we get a little more time, please? We are trying so hard, but the business is not doing that well." A lady's voice that was so familiar in Sean's ears rang out. From the voice, one could feel the desperate emotions in them.

"Humph! How many times have you asked me about this already? As I said before, there are no more chances. You are already five months overdue, and I cannot allow you to continue like this.

We need the money to give them to others that need loans as well. And you better remember, the interest will keep on increasing each day by 5% of the principal, the longer you take, maybe at some point, even this store of yours would not be able to repay the debt."

"What kind of interest rates are these? We clearly borrowed $500, but now, you want us to pay back over $2,000, that's just too much!" A male voice exclaimed.

"What? Are you not happy with that? If you feel that we are asking you to pay less, we can as well increase that amount by at least 50%, are you going to be happy with that?" The arrogant voice responded.

At this time, Sean had already walked over. He realized that the store that was owned by his parents was currently messy, with shattered glass fragments at the entrance. And at the moment, there was a group of five men standing in front of the store, holding baseball bats, others with golf sticks, while others were holding metal rods.

Sean had seen these people a few times already, and he knew that they were part of the gang that owned a loan shark company, the same loan sharks that had lent his parents money. The gang that they were part of was big, one of the main gangs in this part of the city.

This group of five men was part of the debt collectors, and were notorious for their infamy. They were feared in the streets, especially by those that owed them money.

Standing in front of the five men was a couple, whose hair had already began graying. They were Sean's parents. Although they were in their late 40s, they had gray patches of hair on their heads, which was obviously caused by the situation that they were facing.

Sean understood the pressure that his parents were facing, and that was the reason why he had been working hard to find a job. If he could earn a good income, the two would not need to worry about such a situation.

The moment that the tattooed man at the forefront noticed Sean approaching, he frowned. He looked at Sean, only to relax in a while. He had thought that someone wanted to play the hero and wanted to interfere, but it turned out to be the useless son of this poor couple.

Sean's parents noticed him as well, and they frowned, but said nothing. They did not want Sean to see this, as that would put him under a lot of pressure, something that they did not want to see.

"Okay, we will try to find something to pay tomorrow." Sean's father, with black hair that was mixed with patches of gray, said. He had initially wanted to say something, but now that Sean was here, he decided against it.

He was currently the head of the family. He did not want to shift his responsibilities to his son. So, he agreed to what was said, though he was not sure about where he would get the money from.

"You better make sure that you do that. Otherwise, I don't mind taking over this store of yours." The leader of the group responded with a sneer on his face.

He then turned around, and with his group, walked away. But just as they went past Sean, Sean suddenly spoke up.

"How much is the debt now?" Sean asked in a calm voice.

"Huh? Kid, you have a problem with that? You better focus on getting a job and leave this to your old man to handle. If you can't get a job, you might as well come and join us. We can get you a job, though it might not match your status as a university graduate, hahaha!" The tattooed man responded as he turned to look at Sean.

"I asked how much we owe you. I want the exact figure." Sean asked once again, not bothering to respond to the words that the man had said.

"Sean, come over and stop causing trouble." Sean's father suddenly said with a frown on his face. He was afraid that the attitude that Sean was showing would lead to the gang beating him up.

Sean said nothing, but looked at the leader of the group.

The tattooed man gazed at Sean with a menacing gaze, trying to intimidate him. But that did not work as Sean just looked at him without showing any fear.

Seeing his unwavering gaze, the bulky leader of the group smiled, exposing his yellow teeth. As he chuckled, he said, "They say that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. This seems to be true. But, this is the attitude that we want in our gang. Though, since you are asking about the debt, you owe us $3,000."

"What? When did the amount reach there? It was obviously $2,480!" Sean's mother exclaimed.

Sean's mother, although having a few wrinkles, it was clear that she was a beauty, unlike his father that looked rough.

She had neat blonde hair that was tied into a simple ponytail, hazel eyes, and was quite tall, standing at a height of 176 cm.

At her words, the gangster looked at her with a ferocious smile as he said, "The interest just went up. That is the payment for making us waste time to come and look for you so that you can pay up."

Sean's mother was just about to argue more when she was stopped by her husband. Sean's father, Michael Stevens looked at his son with a frown on his face.

He shifted his gaze and looked at the tattooed man and said, "Don't listen to the nonsense that the kid is saying. Just like I said before, we will try and make sure that we do make the payment as we have agreed before."

"Humph! You better make sure of that. Otherwise, if I come back here tomorrow and you have not prepared the money, then you will have to blame yourselves, in fact, you can just leave the grocery store open, because it would no longer belong to you." The leader of the group of five stated.

Sean wanted to say something, but in the end, he decided against it. Right now, it was better for him not to say anything, considering that his father had already spoken.

In any case, it was not as if what his father had said was going to change what he was planning. Currently, there were only a few hours remaining till darkness set in.

Sean believed that within the remaining few hours, he could actually manage to get the $3,000. He did not have the intention of asking for the amount of money to be reduced.

He understood the gangsters within this part of the city. If he continued arguing with them, they might just go ahead and add up the money that they were asking for.

It was impossible to take this issue and involve the police. While it was true that if the police came, this group of gangsters would not do anything. But it was also impossible to have the police stationed here all the time.

The moment that the police left, that would be the time that the family would suffer. After all, how many times had the police already tried to crack several dens of the gangsters but failed?

The leaders of different gangs had their own connections, making it impossible for them to be eradicated from this city.

Sean watched the group walk away, and since the drama had already ended, the group of people that had gathered also began dispersing.

Of course, nobody within the group tried to console the family. After all, they understood the cruelty of these gangsters. They had no intention of getting themselves involved in this issue, as that would also lead to them being targeted by the gangsters.

"Sean, you have to understand that there is a great difference between here and where you were in campus. It has already been over a year since you came back, but the way you are acting is as if you don't know the behavior of these crooks." Sean's mother admonished him.

It took quite a while for Sean to explain to his parents that he might have gotten an opportunity, but he wanted to make sure that it was real first. As long as it worked, they would be able to clear all the debts that they had, and they would be able to change their lives.

"What kind of opportunity are you talking about? You better not be involved in any criminal activities, because if you are, then be ready to get out of my house." Michael stated with a frown on his face.