Free Web NovelChapter 3: 3 | System Awakening!
"The afterglow of a battle is always sweeter than the victory itself." — Oscar Wilde
Dexter got home within the hour.
When he opened the door, he saw his wives in the living room, Lyra and Mira were staring into space as usual and Selene was still asleep on the old couch.
Their eyes didn’t even move to him when he entered as they remained in their own world.
’Can’t imagine what they must be feeling.’
Afterall, they were previously at the peak of their lives but now, the had all been tossed to a useless person.
Dexter shook his head and calculated how much he had left and it was about 5000 dollars.
At this rate, they’d be broke in two weeks. Maybe less.
He dropped the pen and rubbed his face.
---
That evening, Dexter sat alone in the small backyard. The sky was dark and the neighborhood hummed with distant sounds of televisions, arguments, a baby crying.
He crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and cultivated.
The meditation technique drew ambient mana into his body but he couldn’t absorb it. Like a bucket fetching water from a well.
His thought began to wander and landed on money. He needed money if he wanted to make it through this month.
He needed a job. But with F-rank ability, no formal combat training, and the stink of the Ashford disgrace, no legitimate guild or company would touch him. The only work available was low-level Dungeon Porters and Scouts.
Even that required a basic hero license. And a hero license required clearing at least one dungeon.
Dexter opened his eyes and stared at the sky. A single star poked through the haze.
’Tomorrow,’ he thought. ’I’ll figure it out tomorrow.’
---
The next morning, Dexter prepared a simple breakfast, rice porridge again, with pickled vegetables and tea. He was setting the table when three heavy knocks rattled the front gate.
’Are the neighbors finally getting friendly?’
Dexter set down the teapot. He looked at his three wives and spoke.
"Stay here."
He walked out the door and opened the gate.
The moment he opened the door, a huge man burst through the door and entered the gate.
The one in front was a tall dude built like a door with a white beard. He wore a leather jacket.
Seeing him, Dexter felt his mana wave.
’Awakened Hero level 3.’
The others were level 2 and 1.
Behind him, three smaller men fanned out, hands in pockets, trying to look casual.
"Morning," the big man said. His grin widened, revealing his gold tooth.
"Well, well. The bastard prince of the Ashfords. Look at this, boys, this is the closest you can ever get to royalty."
He shoved past Dexter without waiting for an invitation and directly entered the house. The three thugs followed, their boots tracking mud across the living room floor.
"My name’s Kreg," the big man said, scanning the living room like a generational thief. "This territory belongs to us, the Red Fang Crew. Since you’re new here, I’ll explain how things work. You pay us protection fee, monthly and we will protect you from monsters invasions."
Dexter’s expression didn’t change.
’He’s at the Awakened Hero rank level 3 stage. There’s no way I can be his match. surrender is not a sign of defeat. ’
He inhaled and asked. "How much is the protection fee?"
Kreg smiled. "I like smart people a lot."
Then he came before Dexter, a head taller than him as he looked down at Dexter as he grinned. "How about 5,000 dollars for starters."
Dexter’s face changed slightly. "That’s impossible. I don’t have 5,000 dollars to give."
Kreg laughed out loud, his voice booming through the walls.
"Oh, I think you do." He stopped in the middle of the living room. His eyes moved slowly around the room and then landed on the three women.
Mira sat in her wheelchair near the sofa. She met Kreg’s gaze with indifference, as though he were a stain on the wall she couldn’t be bothered to clean. Lyra sat beside Selene, the same indifference while Selene simply stared elsewhere.
"Word is," Kreg said, stepping closer to Dexter, "the Ashfords gave you a nice little parting gift. Ten grand, right? Cash?" He cracked his knuckles. "Protection fee is five thousand. For the first month. After that, we negotiate."
Dexter’s fists clenched hard. ’What to do? That cash is all we have. If I give them, we won’t survive for long but if I don’t, these men might do something worse.
"Take the money and leave," Dexter said, pulling the remaining cash envelope
from his pocket. "It’s all I have."
At that moment, Kreg’s men started drifting moving towards the women. One of them licked their lips.
"Boss, these girls are high-quality. Look at them. We could use them for a while, then sell them to some wealthy clients. Nobles pay top credit for."
"Hahaha. You’re right. Even if they’re broken, we could get a massive price for
them from some of the underground collectors..."
One of the thugs grabbed Lyra by the jaw, examining her face like checking a dog.
Kreg’s eyes flashed with a sudden, ugly greed as he looked at the three women.
"They would fetch a pretty penny..." Kreg murmured, ignoring Dexter.
A surge of white-hot anger hit Dexter. Usually, he was thoughtful and calculating but right now, his sanity vanished.
Before Kreg could finish his sentence, Dexter moved.
He punched the first thug square in the jaw. Turned, kicked the second in the balls and tackled the third one directly to the ground punching his face in!
He had no formal combat training, but he caught them completely off guard.
But the physical disparity was too wide. Dexter was only a level 1 bronze warrior, the lowest level here is level 2.
Before Dexter could land the third punch, the men recovered faster than he had thought
Two of them grabbed him from behind, wrenching his arms behind his back. The third one stood up and immediately punched him in the ribs.
"Ugh!"
Kreg stepped forward. His gold tooth gleamed.
"That was stupid," he said, and hit Dexter across the face.
The blow sent blood spilling in the air, staining the floor.
Kreg leaned in. "What did you think would happen?"
Dexter looked up at him. Blood trickled from his split lip down his chin. "Take the money and get out."
Kreg sneered and ignored him as he turned toward the women again. "Why would I leave when there are precious cargo to be secured?"
Dexter chuckled. "Do you really think our families will let common thugs touch their daughters without consequences?"
Kreg’s grin faltered but he recovered it quickly. "You’ve all been abandoned. They don’t care about you."
"They don’t care about us," Dexter nodded in agreement. "You’re right. They don’t care about us. However, they care about their reputation. If word gets out that some low-life street thugs laid hands on the daughters of the Frost, Vance, and Calloway families, what do you think would happen? "
"The only way they could save face would be to make an example. Just wiping your entire crew completely won’t be enough to pacify them. Your families won’t be spared either. Even the bastards."
Kreg’s face immediately went pale. He was just a regular thug, nowhere near enough to compete with those massive families.
Suddenly, Kreg drove a fist directly into Dexter’s stomach.
Dexter doubled over as he coughed up blood.
His knees buckled. The men holding him let go, and he dropped to the floor.
Kreg snatched the envelope from Dexter’s pocket.
"Even if I can’t do anything to the girls, I can still do so many things to you."
Kreg muttered and patted Dexter’s face.
"We’ll be back next month. You better have more money by then." He glanced at the women one more time. "Or we’ll find other ways to collect."
"Let’s go."
The thugs laughed and mocked him as they left the house.
---
Dexter lay on the floor for a long moment. Stars speckled his vision and his ribs ached as he breathed.
The girls stared at him with strange expressions on their faces. But Dexter ignored it as he heard a sound.
[Ding!]
Dexter flinched. He looked around. But nothing nearby made that sound.
Suddenly, golden text materialized in the air before his eyes.
’Could it be?’
’[Requirements have been met.]
[Conditions: Minimum Affection of 0.1 (4/3)]
[Initializing system integration]
[Progress: 0%... 25%... 50%...]
[Progress: 75%... 90%... 100%]
’[Integration Complete. Welcome, Host, to the Ten-Thousandfold Investment Multiplier System.]’
Dexter couldn’t believe it. Ever since the incident when he was 9, the system had been a part of his life.
However, the requirement for activating the system was gaining a miniscule 0.1 affection of at least 3 people. For 10 years, he only managed to gain the affection of a single person.
Now that he’s 19, he had completely given up and had completely forgotten about the system. But now, it the requirement was reached? How?
╔═══════════════════════════════╗
10,000x INVESTMENT MULTIPLIER SYSTEM
╚═══════════════════════════════╝
[Investment Target(s)]: Mira Calloway (Wife), Lyra Vance (Wife), Selene Frost (Wife), Jasmine Constance (Ex-Girlfriend)
[Name]: Dexter Ashford
[Race]: Human
[Talent]: Not Awakened
[Mana Affinity]: F-Rank (Low Grade)
[Rank]: Awakened Hero/ Meta Hero
[Level]: 1
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[Attributes]
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Strength: 25 (Basic human stat is 10)
Agility: 25 (Basic human stat is 10)
Physique: 25 (Basic human stat is 10)
Mana: 20 (Basic human stat is 10)
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[Meditation Technique]
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★ Starlight Meditation Technique [Mortal Grade]
• Increases Mana Absorption
• Improves Mana Recovery
• Accelerates Cultivation Speed
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[System Notice]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
’[System Note: Invest in your wives. Protect them. Provide for them. Every act of investment; financial, emotional, physical, strategic will yield returns multiplied by your current tier.
Higher investment significance yields greater rewards.
Requirement to upgrade to 100x Multiplier: Kill 10 beings.]
’[System Note: Rewards given directly by the system cannot be reused to trigger a direct investment return. For example, using the 50,000 credits to directly hand over as cash will not trigger a return. However, if you use those credits to purchase items, food, medicine, or assets for your wives, the investment return will trigger.]’
•••
’[Scanning investment...]’
’[Investment detected: Subject sacrificed 100% of liquid assets (5,000 Credits) to neutralize an immediate physical threat to all three investment targets. Accepted physical violence to create a protective barrier. Prioritized target safety over personal welfare.]
Dexter was still stunned when another set of notifications came in.
’[Analyzing target responses...]’
’[Mira Calloway: Emotional disturbance detected — dormant emotional seed planted.]’
’[Lyra Vance: Physiological response detected — cortisol decrease of 12% — a minuscule sense of madness restored for the first time in 6 months.]’
’[Selene Frost: Core temperature elevation of 0.3°C during protective action — frost generation suppressed voluntarily for 3.2 seconds — longest conscious suppression on record.]’
’[Current Multiplier: 10x — Base Tier]’
’[Calculating Returns...]’
’[Calculation Complete.]’
’[Returns Granted:]’
’1. 50,000 Credits — Direct Financial Return (10x original investment of 5,000 Credits).’
’2. Mana Affinity Upgrade: F-Rank → E-Rank.’
’3. Talent Awakening: Enhanced Hearing (E-Rank) (200-meter radius + sound differentiation).’
’4. Cultivation Boost: 10 Months of compressed mana refinement applied.’
’5. Flame Demon Bloodline (Royal Grade).’
[Do you wish to accept Rewards? Y/N]
