Elric sat there on the edge of his old, creaky bed, still breathing heavily as he stared at his own hands like they were brand-new accessories he hadn't ordered. His heart was racing, but not from fear anymore — it was pure, electric adrenaline.
"Won't it be real, right?" he whispered aloud to the silent, dimly lit apartment, feeling a little silly talking to empty air.
The sensation flooding through him was incredible. His entire body felt pumped with clean, vibrant energy, as if someone had replaced his blood with liquid lightning. He wanted to jump up, run laps around the block, or maybe flip his cheap mattress just for the hell of it. His mind felt even better — sharper, faster, and clearer than it had ever been after the best sex of his life. The usual mental fog, exhaustion, and overthinking had completely vanished. Thoughts flowed smoothly, effortlessly, like a high-end sports car on an empty highway.
Unable to resist, he stood up and walked over to the small, slightly smudged mirror hanging on the bathroom door. He leaned in close, tilting his head left and right under the weak yellow light. His reflection stared back, looking noticeably improved. His jawline seemed a bit sharper, his skin clearer and healthier, and his eyes had a subtle, bright spark that made him look more alive — more handsome. Not like a movie star overnight, but definitely the polished, "main character after glow-up" version of himself.
Still, a cautious voice in the back of his head refused to stay quiet. This could all just be an extremely convincing illusion. My exhausted, overworked brain throwing me the nicest dopamine hallucination of my life. I need something real. Something undeniable.
Thankfully, his newly sharpened mind immediately latched onto the detail he had almost overlooked in all the excitement — the "Newbie Gift Pack" for his first major money loss. Elric quickly pulled up the blue floating screen again and mentally tapped on the glowing gift pack icon.
Two rewards appeared in clean, elegant text:
1 Billion Dollars in capital to be lost.One random hidden ability will be enhanced by a random amount.
His eyes were instantly drawn to the first reward like metal to a powerful magnet. One. Billion. Dollars. The number was so absurdly huge that his brain almost refused to process it. While the attribute points sounded incredibly valuable, they still felt like something his mind could fake in a dream. But one billion dollars? That was on a completely different scale.
He rubbed his eyes several times, blinked hard, looked away toward the curtained window, then looked back. The text remained exactly the same, floating patiently and glowing softly in front of him.
His mind quickly calmed down again, the new clarity helping him think straight. Still the same damn question is this actually real, or am I having the mother of all mental breakdowns?
Taking a slow, deep breath, Elric mentally clicked on the glowing "1 Billion" option.
Notification:The 1 billion dollars has been deposited into your bank account under your name and Social Security number.
Bank: Chase Bank
A detailed, perfectly crafted backstory immediately unfolded on the screen:
Origin generated: After receiving $2 million worth of stocks from your late grandmother, you sold them all and directly invested in the stock market by shorting banking bonds with 40x leverage. Following the recent market crash, the position turned into $1.4 billion. After applicable taxes, a clean $1 billion has been deposited into your account.
Elric felt completely dazed. What the hell is 40x leverage? I can barely understand my monthly credit card bill without crying.
Not wanting to waste another second, he grabbed his phone with slightly trembling fingers and dialed Chase Bank's customer service.
"Hello, thank you for calling Chase Bank. Would you like to open a new account, or do you have another inquiry today?"
"I'd like to check on my account status," Elric said, trying his best to sound normal and composed. "A large amount of money was supposed to come in recently." Despite his efforts, his voice still trembled with nervous excitement.
"Certainly, sir. Can you please provide your full name and account number?"
He gave the details carefully. For a few seconds, he heard the rapid clicking of a keyboard on the other end… then the typing suddenly stopped.
Elric's stomach dropped like a stone. Fuck. Here it comes. The system is about to screw me over.
"Is there any problem?" he asked, his voice rising slightly.
"No, no — sorry sir. I'm transferring your call right now. Please hold for just a moment."
Elric's mind immediately spiraled into full panic mode. Great. Instead of the fancy stock market backstory, the money was probably never real. Or worse — it's stolen money. And of course there'd be no taxes paid. I'm looking at three hundred years in federal prison for tax evasion. How do people even survive jail? Do they let you keep a phone? Can I bring my floating blue screen buddy to prison with me?
Just as he was mentally drafting a detailed prison survival guide, a calm, professional voice came on the line.
"Hello, Mr. Elric Williams. My name is Rick Johnson, Branch Manager here at Chase. I've been expecting your call."
Elric's brain momentarily short-circuited.
"Your money has been safely deposited into your account. The full amount is available for you to use at any time."
"Mr. Elric? Are you still there?"
"Oh… yeah. I'm here," he managed weakly.
"Excellent. If you're free, I'd like to meet with you personally to discuss some options and next steps. Would tomorrow work? We can meet at the Grand View Hotel — it's more private and comfortable for these kinds of conversations."
"Yes," Elric replied.
"Perfect. I won't take up any more of your time today. See you tomorrow, sir."
Click.
The line went dead, but Elric remained standing frozen in the middle of his tiny, musty apartment, phone still pressed against his ear, staring blankly into nothingness.
One billion dollars was an amount so massive he had never even dared to imagine owning it in his entire life. Sure, people won lotteries. People built companies that exploded overnight. That part wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility.
But the floating blue window? The perfectly generated backstory? The instant, polite confirmation from an actual bank branch manager?
That kind of thing simply shouldn't exist in reality.
And yet… it turned out to be completely, undeniably real.