Chapter 3. Desiring to Forget

I woke up from the vibration of the phone lying beside my head. The first thing that came to my mind was, "How long did I sleep?" Although I wasn't sure if I had slept at all, as I had lost consciousness rather than fallen asleep. My memories of what had happened were hazy, as if the moments before the incident had been erased from my mind. The more time passed, the more I remembered, but that wasn't the main concern at the moment, as my phone was vibrating from an incoming call. With a quick movement, I picked up the phone and answered the call.

"Hello," I said, as an anxious voice came through the phone, the voice of my mother.

"Son, where did you get so much money from? You didn't get involved in anything illegal, did you? Tell me honestly, I won't scold you," she quickly asked her questions. Hearing her voice, I finally restored in my memory the events that had passed, which helped me recall the excuse I had come up with earlier.

"Hi, Mom, calm down. I recently remembered that I once bought a few bitcoins when they were worth just a few dollars, and now they're worth tens of thousands," I said to her reassuringly.

"Bit... what again?" she asked me uncertainly, but to me, it looked like suspicion in my words.

"Mom, bitcoin. It's... like a virtual currency, you know? When it first appeared, it was cheap, but now more and more people are using it, which has made it more expensive. So, I sold some of them and transferred you part of the money. I'll send more later, so don't be surprised. You and Dad should think about what to spend it on, now that you can enjoy your life instead of working every day," I said enthusiastically at the end.

Of course, I hadn't forgotten about Max, but... I felt that feeling for the first time... "son's happiness?" I couldn't be sure what to call it correctly. All I could say was about the feelings I experienced. Euphoria, delight, happiness - words that couldn't fully describe my feelings. They intertwined inside me, creating a flow of emotions, to which unexpected self-confidence joined, as if a breath of fresh air. That's how I felt, even though this feeling was gifted by someone else's life.

"Is it true? You're not lying to me, son?" she said cautiously, it was clear that she didn't fully believe me.

"Of course, Mom. Why would I lie to you? If I wanted to keep you in the dark, I would have sent you much less, but as you can see, I decided to send such a sum right away so that you could relax. Think about what you and Dad will spend it on, now that you can rest easy," I said confidently.

"Okay, son, I believe you. When will you come home? We haven't seen you at home for a long time," she said with concern.

"I'll try to come home in the next few days, but I can't promise," I said, scratching my head. Considering what I got into, I'm not sure if that time will come.

"We'll be waiting for you at home, son," she said, after which we said goodbye. Just as I finished the conversation with my mother, a new message arrived on my phone.

"I'm glad you've come to terms with the game and its consequences. Currently, over a dozen people are participating in the game, but unfortunately, at this stage, I'll have to say goodbye to half of them, including you if you don't meet the conditions of this stage. I'll send the conditions of the stage a little later, but for now, familiarize yourself with my gift."

Reading the message in full, I wondered about the so-called "gift" when suddenly a table appeared before my eyes. It was translucent and static, as if it were an interface in the game, slightly visible, which helped me see it in front of me and static in a certain area of my vision. In the table itself, there were several values, most of which were filled with questions, and only one value was visible to me, namely, the amounts. Why amounts? Because the values of these amounts were similar to the money I received earlier in exchange for Max. In dollars, these amounts may seem less epic, but that doesn't negate the fact that they are quite large sums.

"An interesting table, isn't it? You already understand that these amounts mean their lives, and now you'll have to choose for yourself whom to turn into your wallet. And since you understand your new ability now, it's time to move on to this stage. Those of you who spend the least money will be erased from this reality. I've allocated a week for this stage; the table will be updated every day unless, of course, you're erasing people in batches per day, then the update will happen automatically. By the way, you can erase a thousand a day if you want, it doesn't matter to me. I hope you'll progress further because there are plenty more gifts from me ahead."

Hundreds of thoughts raced through my mind. But the main one at the moment was only one, namely "what determines the monetary amount?" Asking myself this question, I didn't immediately notice the incoming message.

"You'll have to find out for yourself. After all, there are no teachers better than pain and error, which will fill your life from this moment on. As a consolation, I'll give you one hint. For the life of a close person, you'll receive an additional ability. The more relatives and loved ones you use in the game, the more abilities you'll have."

So, in this table, my relatives could be included. As soon as this thought settled in my mind, I immediately started thinking about how to distinguish them from the others. And then it dawned on me. Why hadn't I thought about the inhumanity of my thoughts before? Why didn't I care about the fate of those I choose? When did I take what was happening for granted? The more questions I asked myself, the more I realized that I had simply ignored the unpleasant consequences of my choice. The only excuse that came to my mind was "erasure" of myself, which was also easily justified by the instinct of self-preservation inherent in all living beings.

Though somewhat nauseated by my own thoughts, I managed to gather myself and decided to first return all the purchases from yesterday except for the phone. Logging into the app, I quickly canceled the orders, then checked the delivery status of the phone. Truth be told, I was pleased with the amount that was credited to my account after the refunds, as it was quite impressive. I could have started my own business with that sum, but why bother? I had money and freedom of action; I just needed to spend the sums wisely to ultimately end up at the top of the remaining participants list and stay alive.

Of course, it was regrettable that I was now rejoicing in the money obtained for Max's life, but looking back, it can be said that I had no other way out. Nobody asked me if I wanted this. And now, upon closer reflection, I understand that there's no longer an excuse like "ignorance"; now, I alone decide whom to leave and whom to erase. Maybe next time the feeling of disgust will be greater, or maybe not. Will I continue to rejoice in money or regret my decisions? I no longer know what's right and what's not. Do I want to live and be happy with money? Yes, I do, but... why continue to think about it? Right now, my main concern is how to distract myself, forget about everything. Buying something truly expensive and meaningful seemed like the best idea for me at the moment.

Since I wanted to buy something expensive, I should first look at this "expensive thing" and at the money I had now. With familiar quick movements, I unlocked my phone and opened the banking app, selecting the "my bank" category and entering the password for the app. Before me finally appeared the field with the current balance of the account.

***** ****                               127,013,965.09**

*2542

And below the main account, there was a deposit account, although the sum on it was ridiculously small compared to the previous one. To rectify this annoying situation, I decided to transfer some of the available funds there. As far as I remember, to receive slightly over half a million monthly, I needed only 45 million, so...

Deposit ***                             45,001,039.23**

Until 20.01.20**

Now I had 82,013,965.09 left, which was enough for me to buy a good car and a small apartment, although I could wait a bit with the latter since I still needed to choose someone from the list to get the money and stay alive. So, my current task would be to wait for the delivery person with my new phone and then go look for a car. I had to wait for about half an hour, but just sitting and doing nothing was already a forgotten feeling for me, as for the past two years, I had always been busy with something like a squirrel in a wheel. If I hadn't had the opportunity to participate in all this, I would probably have been the very courier someone was waiting for now.

Should I pack my things? Although I didn't have much stuff. Most of it, I returned home since I hardly used it. Currently, all my belongings fit into a travel bag, which was always ready to go; all that remained was to add a few T-shirts and shirts, and I would be ready to leave. But after this thought, I suddenly felt lonely. I didn't want to leave this place; I don't even know why.

For a moment, someone's image appeared in my mind, but it didn't fully materialize before there were several knocks on the door. Though somewhat disappointed, I reluctantly headed towards the door. Due to the size of the apartment, it only took me a few breaths to reach it. I always wondered why such houses were built? Who was supposed to live in them? Was such a tiny room enough for a family? Or were they built in the hope of helping elderly people meet their end? The only plus here was the soundproofing created by the thickness of the walls. Approaching the door, I asked a question.

"Who's there?" I said.

"It's me, your upstairs neighbor," came a young voice.

"Oh, yeah," I replied and opened the door.

Before me stood a girl, perhaps a little older than 20, if you count all our encounters with her, it would be five, but even knowing this, it's hard for me to understand why her image appeared in my mind then. Didn't I want to say goodbye to her? Was it because of her that I didn't want to leave this place? She was attractive to me, considering her image stored in my mind since our first meeting.

When I first moved into this place, she was the first person I met. At that time, she was returning from university with a few girlfriends; they were chatting cheerfully and seemed to pay no attention to the surroundings. It seemed as if they didn't care about the atmosphere that prevailed around them. I think it was because of her that I decided to rent this apartment. Imagine a girl a little under 170 centimeters tall with long black hair neatly tied in a ponytail, a delicate oval face with minimal makeup, and a floral skirt with a white blouse. Her image literally revived me at that moment, as it was then that I can be said to have "betrayed" a friend.