The air was cool, the silence profound.

He thought, Actually, he was really tired even if he wasn’t that sick. The stress of being broke was a sickness all on its own.

With a heavy sigh, he opened his light brain and navigated to the financial app. Checking his bank account was an act of torture at this point. The remaining amount stared back at him, a number so pitifully small it mocked his existence.

He closed the app, his expression hardening into one of grave determination.

"Shelly, don’t you dare come out right now. I really can’t afford you anymore. I don’t think I can even afford a small snack from the system mall right now. So shut up to wherever you are right now and hibernate if you must." He said out loud in a tone that was both gravely serious and desperate.

Silence answered him, which made Neville genuinely grateful. At the very least, it proved that Shelly wouldn’t talk or appear out of nowhere, depleting another layer of his rapidly shrinking savings.

Sighing again, he reopened his light brain. He opened the calculator and tapped out figures as he did the brutal math required to survive the next few days. It even involved just making do with nutrient solutions.

But then, a cheerful notification arrived at his light brain.

A bank notification.

[Stellar Credit Union

Your account XXXXX7827 has received a transfer of SC52,000,000.00.]

Neville blinked. He read the number.

He blinked again, rubbing his eyes a little, as if the screen was blurry.

Then he blinked one final time and removed his glasses.

Even if the glasses were non-prescription, purely for disguise purposes, he still meticulously cleaned them on his shirt before putting them on again.

He read the amount one more time.

He thought, Just how many zeroes were in there? Five? Six? Seven?

Then a cold dread washed over the initial shock.

"Who the f—k would send him this much money?!" His voice was a strained whisper. "Did someone use his account to launder money? Who was it? Did my bank account get hacked?!"

Just as he was about to panic and call the bank’s emergency fraud line, a message notification chimed.

It was Bryan.

B.Stewart: Did you receive it?

Neville’s fingers hesitated before typing.

YourHope: What is?

B.Stewart: The money ?__?

Money? I don’t have any money... Wait. He looked back at the deposit notification that still glowed strikingly on his screen. Is this the money?

Neville pondered for a full ten seconds before his suspicion won out. He quickly cropped a screenshot of the deposit notification and sent it back.

YourHope: Is this the money you’re talking about? screenshot.jpg Are you insane? I’m not going to launder your dirty money!

B.Stewart: Clean your head, best actor. (¬_¬;)

B.Stewart: That’s compensation money.

YourHope: Compensation money?

B.Stewart: Let’s say it’s a settlement money for the beating earlier and a shut-up money from Mr. Patting_your_shoulder guy.

"You can just call him by his name, you know! Why make a complicated nickname?!" Neville rolled his eyes, a small, weary protest against Bryan’s usual antics.

But still, the mention of ’shut up money’ was a strong motivator. He typed back, his fingers trembling with cautious hope.

YourHope: So this is free money?

B.Stewart: Yes. Free money. Actually, it’s on the smaller side, but it’s up to you. ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Neville didn’t care if it was small or not; he was not that greedy about money. There were more important things than raising the compensation money.

He continued to type.

YourHope: No tax? Full Amount? All mine?

B.Stewart: Yes, Mr. Millionaire Best Actor. Give me an extra portion of food when you get back to work.

Neville’s eyes brightened, a sudden, blinding shift from dull grey to brilliant megawatts. His heart trembled in excitement.

Millionaire?! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Free Money?!

All Mine?!

He didn’t bother typing another word to Bryan. He launched himself off the sofa, spinning in a circle, his deliberately pale face suddenly flushed with joyous color.

"Shelly, get out of here! We’re having a party! We got money!!!" Neville shouted excitedly.

His voice cracked with sheer relief and elation. He didn’t care about the neighbors or the noise; an interstellar house should have adequate basic soundproofing.

He only cared that the immediate future no longer meant calculating the minutes until his next paycheck and working to the bone for points.

As if Shelly was just waiting for Neville to give the command, she appeared in a sudden, brilliant manifestation of light. Then the light turned into geometric patterns, zipping in twirls from the walls of his room to the center of the ceiling.

[Host! We’re rich!]

Shelly exclaimed, her light core glowing so brightly it cast sharp, dancing shadows around the room like disco lights. She sounded as ecstatic as Neville.

"I know!!" Neville exclaimed, jumping up and giving a mighty, gut-punching victory gesture into the air. "Let’s celebrate! What do you want first, food? Clothes? Furniture? Or what, WHAT?"

[Yay!] Shelly excitedly said, [Also buy a cake, host! You can’t forget the cake!]

"Right! A cake!" Neville excitedly replied, opening the system mall interface.

Then, Shelly, who seemed to come to her senses a little, panickingly exclaimed, [Host, HOST! Wait, WAIT!]

"What?" Neville said, trying not to sound annoyed at the change in her tone.

[Before or after you buy the cake, please purchase these first.] Shelly said, opening another holographic display.

[Host Must Buy (Shelly List)

Emergency Escape System

Emergency Medical Kit

Crying Suppression Drops

Pheromone Suppressants

...]

The list was so long that Neville’s eyes almost bulged out. He suddenly felt like he had an unending credit list that he could only afford to pay the interest on.

Looking at his newly found wealth, he started to worry.

Could this much money afford all of these?

Shelly seemingly noticed his expression and said, [Host, just buy it with money. I doubt the rate at which you earn points by working to the bone can reach the amount of points needed to buy this stuff. Just resign yourself to buying this with your savings.]

Neville sighed and resigned himself to buying everything in Shelly’s long list of MUST BUY.

Then an intrusive thought passed: how much could he squeeze per person if he blackmailed everyone in the HW Corporation?

The thought made Neville unconsciously lick his lower lip.

How could he miss such easy money?