The Grand System

Travis Lewis parked his old and cheapest electric bike in front of the Rose Garden store to buy a bouquet of 9 pink roses for Abigail, his pretty girlfriend.

As a delivery staff at the university, Travis had delivered the last parcel before Abigail called him, asking him to meet her inside the Mystique Peaks Hotel tonight, for she had a big surprise for him.

This was the first time Abigail would prepare a surprise for him. Overjoyed, Travis planned to surprise her with the roses first.

When Travis got to the Mystique Peaks Hotel, the security guard didn't allow him to park his bike nearby, and the doormen prevented him from entering because of his poor appearance.

Travis then dialed Abigail's phone number.

"I'm there already," Travis said

"Are those roses for me?" Abigail asked.

"How did you know? Where are you?"

Abigail laughed hysterically. "Look at your back."

Travis turned back, looking around.

Abigail got out from a black Chevrolet Equinox car with a scornful smile and walked towards Travis.

Travis raised his eyebrows as his brain couldn't express how gorgeous Abigail was tonight. He found it hard to take his attention off the expensive gown, shoes, and chains she wore.

"Wow!" Travis finally said. "Is this the surprise? Did you dress like this because of me?"

She shook his head. "No. I have something to tell you, Travis. I have a problem I must solve."

"What is wrong?"

"You! You are the biggest problem I ever had. I regret being your girlfriend and I don't want to regret it anymore. So, this should be the last time you call my phone."

The roses slipped down from Travis's hand as Abigail turned to leave. Travis quickly grabbed Abigail's hand. "Don't do this to me. You know I love you for real. I can't afford to lose you."

"Get your hand off me," Abigail said and pushed him down. "A love without money is fake. And if you dare to touch me again, my boyfriend will skin you alive. I called you here to let my boyfriend trust me that I broke up with you."

"It's not my fault I'm poor. And I've been taking care of you with the little I have. If I'm not rich today, I would be rich tomorrow. I thought you understood me all these years."

Abigail hissed. "I have suffered for being an understanding girlfriend for two years. Enough is enough."

A cute guy got out of the Chevrolet Equinox car and hurried to them. Travis recognized the guy as a playboy, and he had once caught him snorting cocaine with his friends.

"Is Calvin your new boyfriend?" Travis asked, pointing at Calvin Moore.

"Yes. I am proud to be his girlfriend. But you are a total asshole. I pity the girl that would accept you into her life."

"I don't say you shouldn't have another boyfriend better than me, but this Calvin is a playboy. He would ruin your life and abandon you in the end."

Abigail slapped Travis. "What do you know? It's easy for a riffraff like you to badmouth someone greater than you."

Calvin, who had been watching them in silence, held Abigail's hand and pecked her neck, but in response, Abigail kissed him. Travis kept his tears from dripping. No matter how hurtful it was, he would try not to show it in the presence of Calvin.

"You shouldn't have slapped him," Calvin said to Abigail. "He's already hurt about losing you."

"He deserved more than that for badmouthing you in my presence."

"Wait for me in the car. I want to speak with him for two minutes."

"Okay, honey. But if he wants to harm you, call for help," Abigail said, and then looked at Travis, saying, "If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in prison, don't try any shit with Calvin."

Calvin brought out some money as Abigail left. A proud countenance possessed his face.

"How much did you buy the roses?"

Travis furrowed his brow and got ready to leave. "I don't have any business with you."

Calvin blocked the way, preventing him from taking a step.

"You already have her. What else do you want?" Travis blurted out, trying to calm himself.

Calvin smirked gently and said, "Can you just imagine how I would enjoy her alone in my room?"

Travis's eyes reddened. He doesn't want to imagine it, but the more he tries, the more his imagination flows. He felt anger he couldn't resist. Grappling Calvin's neck, he pounced on his face.

The security guards from the hotel rushed to them and pulled Travis back forcefully. Calvin tasted the blood on his lips and swiftly used the opportunity to pounce on Travis's face and lips repeatedly till the security guards stopped him, but didn't hold him.

Calvin hurried to Travis's bike, destroying its tires when Travis was struggling to get off the holds.

It was too late for Travis when the security guards released him because Calvin was already driving his car away.

Travis ran after the car but couldn't catch it and then felt like destroying everything, but when he noticed many people were looking and laughing at him, he cooled down shamelessly and pushed his bike home.

He was tired when he reached home. He entered his house and sat on the floor, rested his back on his bed, and stared at the wall, hoping to see nothing. Staring at the wall is the last thing he can do to stop himself from dropping sorrowful tears.

No one loves him, no one. Not himself. What is the point of continuing to live in the world?

He didn't even realize he had been staring at the wall for almost thirty minutes. And he didn't want to stop, because if he stopped, he would cry. And if he intended to cry for every humiliation, and bad word he had experienced in his life, he would never stop crying.

Not long after, something suddenly emerged from the wall, rolling a yellowish light before his very eyes, and creating a circle symbol. Inside the symbol, two words were written. [Grand System]

The words didn't disappear, and when he realized he was not dreaming, he took steps backward. Then the yellowish light continues writing some words under the symbol.

[I am here to make you rich and famous.]

[Will you accept me?]

[Click *YES* or *NO*]

[15... 14... 13... 12... 11...]

He was scared by the fact that he would step close to the system and, at the same time, he was scared to lose the chance.

When the countdown was about to reach number 1, he cheered himself up and moved closer to the light, clicking on the words Yes.

His confusion was evident. The word he clicked wasn't an air at all. It was like his phone button. And the moment he clicked it, a loud sound entered his ears. He quickly closed his ears with his fingers, but the noise increased even more, and then some words appeared in front of him again.

[Warning!]

[Bear with the noise and win]

[The more you fight it, the more it increases its strength]

[Just accept it to realize the power of your acceptance.]

When the noise was about to deafen him, he removed his fingers and listened to the sound directly, then the noise abated immediately.

[Congratulations!]

[You have completely accepted the Grand System]

[The System is Activating...]

[12%, 30%, 45%, 77%, 100%]

[The system has successfully activated]

[You would receive a mission after 15 hours]

The written words and the glistening grand system symbol disappeared, leaving Travis in total confusion. He had never encountered this thing before.

Travis sat down on the bed, not quite knowing what to do next. He then thought maybe the trauma he went through from the time he lost his family had damaged his brain.

He set his alarm before concluding he would keep some money for a brain test.

In the morning, Travis opened his eyes while the rays of the sun filtered in through the curtain. His eyes almost popped out of his eyes as a question crept into his mind.

"Why did my alarm fail to wake me up?"

He jumped off the bed as quickly as he realized he had missed twenty-five calls from his boss and the time was 11:55 AM already.

He dialed his boss's number and received an answer on the first ring.

"I have replaced you, and I don't want to see your shadow here." His boss hung up the call.

Travis redialed the number to say something, but his boss blocked his number. He rubbed his hair in great tension and wished he was dreaming.

He slammed the alarm on the floor as he held a tear from dropping, for that wasn't the right moment to cry. That was the time he needed to convince himself that his boss could forgive him if he knew how to beg him. But only if he knew what to say.

The moment he was thinking about what to do next, the glistening Grand system symbol appeared before him, transfixing him.

[Account Balance: $15,000,000]

[Mission: Spend the money within three days.]

[You will die if you fail the mission]

[To print the Golden system ATM card, click here.]

Fifteen million dollars? Travis felt baffled. His insanity had reached this stage of creating fake money and fake access to print a physical ATM card. But wait! Didn't it work last night?

He stepped closed and clicked on it, but this time, he didn't take a step backward. The glistening symbol rolled in a circle in five seconds and a golden ATM card dropped onto his legs.

Travis took three steps backward and couldn't decipher what he should call this. But he realized he didn't need a brain test.

Travis compelled himself to take the card and noticed that it had his full name printed on it.

[Your four PIN is 2442]

[Warning!]

[You will die if you fail the mission]

The fact that the system printed the ATM gave him great anxiety, as it indicated that the system was serious about killing him if he dared to fail the mission. But how on earth would he fail if the mission was to spend the money he didn't work for?

Travis wore his sandals and went out. Getting out, he thought of where he could check if the card was real. He can't just test it at any shop because half of him hasn't believed it yet.

He looked at his bike and remembered how Calvin spoiled its tires after enticing his girlfriend away with money. If only this card on his palm was real, he would surely revenge on Calvin.

Travis trekked to the bank and joined the queue of people before the ATM.

After some minutes, he saw Sarah coming out of a car with her boyfriend. Sarah was the friend of his ex-girlfriend. He quickly faced the front and focused, for he didn't want them to notice him.

Some people in the queue smiled as Gideon was coming while some waved to him because he was the second son of a famous cheer-giver millionaire. Gideon waved back to them and took out his card as they offered him a free chance to withdraw his money first.

Sarah noticed the familiar clothes Travis often wore and whispered to Gideon. "That is Travis."

"The guy Abigail dumped last night?" Gideon asked.

"Yes."

Gideon went to him and offered him a handshake. "Afternoon, Travis."

When Travis raised his hand to accept the handshake, Gideon swiftly dug his hand into his pocket, leaving Travis's hand hanging in the air for a moment.

The people laughed and Travis felt ashamed of the unexpected embarrassment. Travis then faced the front, waiting for his turn to operate the machine.

"You are the only man that doesn't greet me. Who did you think you were? Who are you to leap to shake my hand?"

Travis focused on the man withdrawing money now and held his card tightly as he ignored the presence of Gideon.

"He's arrogant and proud of his rotten life. That's why Abigail dumped him after getting all his hard-earned money. And the funny part is that she never allowed him to touch her," Sarah said.

"He successfully loses." Gideon laughed with everyone.

"Now you must kneel before me and say you are sorry before I count number one to ten." Gideon raised his hand and counted down with his fingers.

When he reached number 10 and Travis didn't obey, he pouched on his face and kicked his leg. Travis fell and forced himself up.

"Do you want to fight me? Come and fight me. Just dare me."

Everyone was interested in the fight and was praising Gideon.

The grand system appeared before Travis.

[You are the only special being that can see these words]

[You can answer me with your thoughts]

[Who did you want to punish first?]

"Gideon," Travis thought, not caring if the system would help him or not.

[Choosing Gideon to receive punishment...]

[12%, 30%, 45%, 77%, 100%]

[How do you want me to punish Gideon?]

"Can you make unphysical bees enter his clothes and bite him till he takes off his clothes?"

[Yes]

"Do it?"

[12%, 30%, 45%, 77%...]

Gideon grinned as people were saying how brave he was and how fearful Travis was because he didn't take a step forward to fight Gideon.

[100%...]

Gideon felt many insects roaming around in his clothes. The bright beams on his face disappeared as he wondered if the insects found their way in when he went to the zoo yesterday.

"What is wrong?" Sarah asked as she noticed Gideon rubbing his body and shaking his clothes for something to come out.

Gideon screamed and shook his clothes faster.

A smile crept onto Travis's face. The grand system was so fast in helping him. Now he can't wait to see a drama happen.

Sarah gave Gideon you-did-this sort of glare and then said, "What did you do to him?"

"I did nothing. Everyone here is my witness."

"Don't tell me that. You are a fucking liar. If anything bad happens to Gideon, you will rot in jail."

"But he did nothing," a man said.

"Gideon kicked him down and he hasn't even taken a step to fight," another man said.

"I'm sure this strange thing will still happen to him if they fight each other or not."

Gideon couldn't endure as the pains increased. He ran to the car, but the door didn't open. Everything he was doing isn't helping anymore. He needed to take off his clothes before the pain increased.

"Can someone please tell me what is happening to him?" Sarah raised her voice and tears popped out of her eyes. She hurried to Gideon as he was shouting for help.

"What did he do to you?" Sarah asked.

"Open the door please," Gideon said impatiently.

Sarah pulled the door, but it didn't open. "Where is the car key?"

"Can't remember."

"But why is the car not opening?" Sarah searched his pocket and found no key, and then immediately dialed Gideon's father's number to tell him what was happening to his son, but the call failed. Gideon's father had switched off his phone because he was in a meeting.

Gideon took off his clothes and his underwear and kept rubbing his naked body. He didn't care that people were watching him, for he only wanted the pain to lessen.

People couldn't help but laugh as they recorded live videos of Gideon naked and of Sarah checking what was inside his clothes. Of course, she found nothing.

Sarah burst into tears. The situation has overwhelmed her and gave her no room to think of whom to call next. Is this how everyone in New York would see the nakedness of her boyfriend? This is more than an embarrassment to her, to the extent of wishing she had never pointed Travis to Gideon.

Travis felt a deep satisfaction and stole the distracting moment to use the ATM. He felt so thrilled and screamed internally as he withdrew money.

[You have successfully withdrawn $500]

[Account balance: $14,999,500]

[Warning!]

[You must spend the money within three days]

[Failing the mission would result in death]

Travis took a few breaths and was curious about how he would get another money if he spent plenty of money in three days.

[Completed primary mission would unlock a new mission with new rewards, including money and some super skills]

"Wow. You impressed me. Thank you so much!"

Now, Travis walked majestically from the bank while many souls kept arriving to record Gideon's nakedness. And now, Travis stepped into a new life given to him by a grand system that is unknown to people on earth, but beautiful.