Chapter 3

Aiden was in awe as he stared at the holographic screen that suddenly appeared before his eyes. This phenomenon couldn't be explained logically and Aiden wondered if this was an illusion and his mind was playing silly tricks on him.

Sarah noticed that Aiden's eyes were fixed on something ahead of him. However, when she looked in the same direction, Sarah couldn't find anything there.

Sarah gently placed her hand on Aiden's shoulder." Is everything alright?" She asked curiously as she was concerned about the cause of Aiden's dazed facial expression.

Aiden was instantly snapped out of his thoughts when Sarah tapped his shoulders. "Huh! What did you say, mom?" He asked. He was so focused on the screen before him that he was unable to pay attention to Sarah's question.

"I was asking if you were alright because your face was pale a few seconds ago." Sarah responded with a concerned look on her face.

Aiden answered with a smile as he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Oh! It is nothing to worry about. I was just thinking of the whole scene we witnessed in that house awhile ago." He lied.

Hearing Aiden's response, Sarah let out a deep sigh she never knew she had been holding back as her mood dampened. " I know that it was a lot to take in and it didn't turn out as planned.

However, I am more concerned about what we are going to do next. We don't even have any money to cover up for you father's medical expenses not to speak of resolving to loan debt." Sarah lamented with a sullen expression.

"Don't worry mom, I promise that it is going to be alright and we will get out of this whole mess. I will definitely find a solution to solve all these problems as soon as possible. Let us head back to the hospital to check on dad. I am sure both dad and sis must be getting worried by now since it has been quite some time since we left them at the hospital, besides you know we can't leave Sofia to take care of dad alone."

Aiden consoled Sarah, although he didn't even have an idea of how to resolve all these issues like he promised. He just wanted to cheer Sarah up because he just couldn't stand by and let his mother brood in depression.

Sarah was secretly aware of these facts, which is why she easily agreed with Aiden's suggestion. "Okay, we should go back now."

Aiden nodded and smiled at Sarah with a pleasant look. He was glad that Sarah had finally calmed down because the last thing he wanted was for her to breakdown considering all the stress she had put herself through due to the unfortunate incidents that had occurred in the past recent days.

In a short moment, a taxi finally arrived which Aiden and Sarah boarded and left the Anderson premises. An hour later, the taxi finally arrived back at the hospital and they both entered the hospital building without much hassle.

Aiden and Sarah headed directly to the ward room William was placed in. As Sarah opened the door to the room, an ecstatic girlish voice called out to them and announced their arrival.

'Mom, big brother…..you guys are back." Sofia happily remarked as she rushed to hug Sarah.

"Yes, I'm sorry we took so long before we returned." Sarah said apologetically as she locked Sofia in her arms.

"How is dad doing?" Aiden asked ignoring the sentimental moment Sarah and Sofia were having.

Before answering Aiden's question, Sofia released herself from Sarah's grip. "There haven't been any complications with his health condition ever since you both left."

"Hmmmm…that's's all right for now." Aiden muttered while glancing at William who was sleeping on the bed.

William wasn't born with a noble heritage like Sarah, but he was very hardworking and managed to overcome every obstacle to graduate from college. After his marriage to Sarah, he was fired at work for no reason.

Eventually, Willam failed to secure another job no matter how many times he tried. Later, he discovered that he was being targeted by the son of the same family Sarah was supposed to marry instead of him. The Andersons didn't intervene in this matter because they were unsatisfied that Sarah had forcefully married William against their wishes.

Hence, the couple didn't give up and moved to the slums where they could afford to rent an apartment. William and Sarah established a small restaurant in this ghetto with the rest of the savings they had left.

The business seemed to be running smoothly for a while until eventually the area the restaurant was located became a target for the gangsters terriorize in order to make money.

As all the business establishments were terrorized for many years by these gangsters who forced them to pay an exorbitant sum of money as protection fees. This caused restaurant finance dwindled putting it on the brink of bankruptcy.

In order to prevent closing down the business, William was forced to seek out a loan from the bank to keep the restaurant running. In spite of this, the gangsters continued to pressurize the business, forcing it into continuous financial difficulties.

The period to pay back the bank loan had already expired two months ago. There had been extreme pressure on William by the bank officials that forced him to make retaliation against the gangsters when the thugs arrived at his restaurant two days ago to collect the protection fees as they usually do.

The thugs resorted to destroying the restaurant because William was unable to pay. Meanwhile, William wasn't going to quietly watch them destroy his restaurant, so he tried to fight them.

As a result, one of the thugs stabbed William in the stomach, puncturing his kidney. William needed surgery but unfortunately the family was lacking in money to fund it.

Aiden had just recently graduated from college and he was just an ordinary office worker with a low salary. Therefore, he did not have enough savings to cover the medical expenses.

At this point, Aiden felt useless and pathetic, making him wonder if the Andersons were right about the fact that he would never be able to reach their status. However, as he clenched his fist in frustration the holographic screen which he had forgotten about appeared before him again.

[Notification: 100,000 gold coins have been awarded to you as a system bonus reward]

[Gold is the main currency of the system which can be used in three ways. It can be converted to real money which shall be transferred to the host's bank account and one gold is equal to a million dollars. Gold can be used to purchase skills from the system that enhance the host's ability. Gold can also be converted into stats points which the Host can use to improve his physical capability. In order to view the status window, the host needs to say "Status".

[Host can earn more gold in the future by completing various quests assigned to Host by the system]

Aiden looked around to see his mother and sister's expressions. However, he observed no changes in their reactions which meant that he was the only one that could see the screen. He also confirmed that he wasn't hallucinating either.

"I need to excuse myself for a moment." Aiden informed his mother and sister before leaving the room to deal with his current predicament.

Aiden rushed into the men's toilet and hurriedly entered an empty cubicle to ensure his privacy. "Open the Status window" Aiden instructed.

[STATUS]

> Profile

Name: Aiden Maxwell

Age: 22

Race: Human

>Stats

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Intelligence: 25

Endurance: 12

Charm: 4

Sense: 3

(Available Stats Point: 0)

> Skills: None

> Shop (OPEN)

>Currency: 100,000

"Wow! This is really happening." Aiden muttered in disbelief as he stared at his status window.

[Quest Available]

- Pay the medical expenses associated with William Maxwell's surgery.

Reward: 1000 gold coins.

"What?! This damn system is giving a mission related to my father. Anyways it is not bad either besides I would have paid for it too." Aiden thought to himself.

"I would like to convert all my gold coins to cash," Aiden instructed the system.

A few seconds later, Aiden received an alarm on his cell phone. When he removed the phone from his pocket to check it, he realized he had got a message from his bank stating.

"Holy sh*t, this isn't a scam." Aiden screamed in shock. This was completely unbelievable as he was just broke a few seconds ago but now he suddenly became a very wealthy man. Infact, he thought he was still hallucinating but decided to give it benefit of doubt and take his chances.

However, he would never have imagined he would be able to win such a jackpot. "This is really incredible. Where did this amazing power come from?" Aiden wondered because there were no words that could express his emotion. As long as he had this system, there was nothing he wouldn't be able to achieve.

Admist his moment of rejoicing, Aiden recalled the first quest he received from the system. He swiftly rushed out of the toilet and headed to the counter to completely seize this opportunity because he still wasn't sure when the system would disappear again.

"Nurse, can I have the bill for the patient named William Maxwell?" Aiden politely requested.