Slightly Alike but Very Different

Darren walked past everyone thoughtlessly. His gaze was straight ahead, one hand in his pocket and the other tapping his chin. The halls of the hospital had the usual ambient noise of busy people, some of which looked in his direction.

Ordinarily, it seemed like he was just looking ahead and walking, but this was only because they could not see the system interface that his entire focus was on.

"Sponsorships are the lifeblood of emerging businesses," he muttered under his breath, reading from a guide on corporate funding. "A successful sponsorship proposal must emphasize mutual benefit. The sponsor must believe they will gain more than they give. Having sponsors as a business tycoon increases your status and respect. Car companies such as Ferrari and Porsche are the kind of sponsors that should be appealing to you."

Darren took a breath of understanding and also tiredness. For the past few days he'd been studying. Cramming. Devouring every bit of information on running a business, securing sponsorships, and mastering investments.

The system was not going to let him off easy. Even though it had given him the means to be rich, it wanted to make sure that he knew how to maintain the wealth, even when it came in excess.

Ding! The system announced a notification.

┏Test Time┛

┏Question 1: What is the primary factor that influences an investor's decision to fund a startup?┛

Darren exhaled. Easy. "Projected profitability, potential market growth, and risk assessment."

┏Correct!┛

He didn't applaud himself and just quietly waited for the second question.

┏Question 2: What is the most effective way to ensure long-term sponsorship loyalty?┛

Darren hesitated. Consistent performance? Return on investment? He clicked his answer.

┏Incorrect! Incorrect!┛

The system's rebuke flashed red.

┏You must study harder.┛it chided.

┏One must be good to be a top investor, but to be the richest investor, one must be perfect.┛

'Okay, okay. I get it.' Darren replied. 'Next Question.'

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┏Question 3... Correct!┛

┏Question 4... Correct!┛

┏Question 5... Correct!┛

┏Question 10... Correct!┛

┏Well done. You passed the test with a 90% score┛

┏Grade A. Reward: 30% Discount on next random purchase┛

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Small rewards like these were what Darren used to go about his days, purchasing items on cheaper prices and getting rebates as well.

During this time, he had come to understand something about the Investor System. It never ever granted him money. No matter whatever he did, cash was never a price. All it could do was give him the means to make cash and then grant him rewards that could double it, reduce costs, lower the tax cuts and offer rebates.

So the only way he could make more money was to first make money and then get the rewards that could make more money. Money on its own was never a reward.

The Investor System indeed was a very disciplined system, and over the last three days, Darren had learnt to be just as disciplined.

Having almost collided with one of the nurses, he returned back to the present and the interface disappeared.

"I'm sorry," the nurse turned to him and said, then walked away.

Darren looked surprised. Did that nurse just apologize to him? That's new.

He sunk his other hand in his pocket, twitching his nose at the horrible smell of hospitals that he hated. Antiseptic, cold, and impersonal.

Making a face, he walked forward and stopped at the reception desk.

That same nurse, Nurse Helen was there. Darren didn't have any overreaction at seeing her, rather he just calmly sized her up before standing in waiting.

The smacking noise of her chewing gum became irritating fast, but she still didn't even bother to look up at first.

"Who are you here to see?" she asked in a bored tone.

"Patient 157," he answered.

"Are you a relative?"

"Yeah."

She slid a clipboard toward him. "Sign here."

Darren took the pen, tightening his fingers around it as he began to sign. He then noticed her raise her face to take a good look at him. Yet, she didn't say anything.

Something was weird today. Darren clearly remembered how it had been the last time he came here. The humiliation. The disgust in her voice. The way she had made him kneel, had laughed as he kissed her shoe.

So why was it that none of that was happening today? This Nurse Helen appeared to be treating him like she would any other visitor.

Even the people around him. Unlike those few days ago, they weren't sneering. Weren't whispering. No one looked at him like a piece of filth clogging up their perfect hospital.

It couldn't just be because he got a simple makeover was it? He had literally just taken a few hundred dollars from what he'd kept from the loan and used his minor discount and rebate rewards to go shopping.

Were these people really that vain?

Did they all just see his tailored leather jacket and his slicked back brown hair and then decided that indeed he was now worthy to be amongst them?

For their information, this was the same Darren Steele they had mocked a few days ago. Just in better clothes!

Or was it? Maybe there was something different. Something in the way he was carrying himself. However, it had just been three days. How much of him could change in only three days?

Removing the thoughts from his head, he handed the signed form back.

Nurse Helen picked it up and glanced at it. The moment recognition struck, her jaw slackened.

"Darren Steele?" she blurted. "You're that same pathetic guy?"

She scanned him up and down, shock flickering in her expression. She saw his dark brown hair, styled neatly compared to how unkempt it was before. His jawline was even chiseled, his skin glowed, radiant and healthy, and she could swear he looked taller, or maybe it was his shoulders that were broader.

"I mean… you still do look familiar, but you're also completely different."

Darren ignored her words, refusing to react. He only adjusted his jacket, glancing at the corridor that led to his mother's hospital room.

Nurse Helen cleared her throat, snapping back to her usual tone. "So you successfully made the payment, huh? Whatever god you worship must've finally granted a wish."

He looked at her and raised one brow, but didn't say anything.

"How come you look completely different? It's been what? Three da—" She kept talking, but Darren didn't care.

Without another glance, he turned toward the corridor and started walking.

'Ehhhhh?' Helen blinked, watching as he walked past. "Hey!" She stepped out of the table, watching him move with the kind of confidence that made people step aside instinctively.

He walked coldly, hands still in his pockets. No care in the world.

Helen scowled, then she began chasing after him. "Hey! Excuse me—"

But Darren didn't stop. Didn't even acknowledge her. He just continued to walk towards the room.

'What is it with this guy?' the nurse thought and she stomped after him. 'No way he's ignoring me right now.'

Clearly there was something majorly different about him. But she was beneath his notice now.

"Stop it!" she snapped. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Darren suddenly came to a halt, causing her to stop as well, startled. For a moment, it was like she could sense his emotions, could feel the aura seeping out of him. There was no rage, no bitterness — only something that somehow even seemed worse.

Cold indifference.

"What do you want?" he looked over his shoulder and asked, his voice as smooth as a blade.

Feeling a bit of fear from the way he snapped at her, Helen shot back; "I was talking to you and you just walked away. That's rude!"