The system

New York City, Manhattan – Near Riverside Drive

The evening rush was in full swing.

Thomas Blackwell had just finished another exhausting day at work. Dressed in a slightly wrinkled button-up and slacks, he loosened his tie as he walked down his usual route home.

A cigarette hung from his lips, the soft glow flickering against the cool night air.

On the highway beside him, vehicles roared past in an endless stream. Taxis honked impatiently, delivery trucks rumbled through traffic, and the occasional luxury sports car zipped by, its engine growling like a beast on the hunt.

On the sidewalk, people moved at different paces—some fast, in a rush to get home, others slow, either lost in thought or too tired to care.

New York was a city that never slept. A city full of dreams—but also full of disappointments.

It was ruthless, a place where some people thrived, while others barely survived.

Thomas exhaled a long breath, watching the smoke drift upward into the night sky.

"When does this boring life end…?"

Every day felt the same—wake up, go to work, deal with a demanding boss, and barely make enough to cover rent.

"If only I could go back a few years… just buy some Bitcoin and become rich."

He scoffed at himself.

"What's the use of thinking about it now?"

In today's world, money was the ultimate measure of a person's worth.

If you had money, you were successful.

If you didn't? Nobody cared.

Thomas knew this all too well.

Buzz.

His phone vibrated twice in his pocket.

He stopped, pulled it out, and glanced at the screen.

A notification from Venmo.

"$5,000 received."

Thomas blinked in surprise.

"Ryan actually paid me back? No way… is hell freezing over today?"

Tapping into the app, he saw the payment had indeed gone through.

Then, a new message popped up from Ryan.

"Hey man, I'm leaving New York. Take care. Maybe we'll cross paths again someday."

Thomas' first reaction—he's joking.

His second reaction—he's probably serious.

After thinking for a moment, he held down the voice message button and said, "Good luck, bro. See you around."

New York was a city that gave hope to some but destroyed others.

High rent. Insane housing prices. Intense competition. Brutal working conditions.

Some people made it.

Many didn't.

People came. People left. It was a constant cycle.

Thomas didn't overthink it.

Surviving his own life was his only priority.

After sending the message, he closed Venmo and was about to lock his phone when something strange caught his eye.

A brand-new app had appeared on his screen.

"Fortune? What the hell? I don't remember downloading this…"

The icon was sleek, featuring a golden coin with a mysterious glow.

Thomas frowned and long-pressed the app, ready to delete it.

But the moment he tapped "Uninstall"—

His screen suddenly went black.

Then, a loading bar appeared.

"1%… 2%… 3%…"

"The hell? Did my phone just get hacked?"

No normal app should be this impossible to remove.

He tried force-quitting it.

Didn't work.

He opened his security settings and tried running an antivirus scan.

Didn't work.

He even tried resetting his phone to factory settings.

Nothing worked.

The progress bar kept moving.

"99%... 100%."

Then—

Zap.

A sudden electric shock surged from the phone into his palm.

Thomas let out a sharp curse, his hand jerking involuntarily.

The phone slipped from his grasp and hit the pavement with a dull thud.

At that exact moment, a cold, mechanical voice echoed directly in his mind.

"Ding! The Wealth System has been successfully installed. Scanning the current world…"

Thomas' eyes widened.

His first reaction—he was hallucinating.

His second reaction—he was definitely not hallucinating.

A system.

The legendary cheat code that only existed in web novels.

A golden finger—the kind that could change a person's destiny.

A wild thrill surged through his veins.

"Holy shit! I actually got a system!"

His mind raced.

"Wait… is this 'Wealth System' actually good?"

One minute passed.

"Ding! World scan complete. Binding process initiated."

"Ding! Host successfully bound: Thomas Blackwell."

"Ding! Current Wealth Level: LV1 (Earning $1 per second.)"

Thomas' breath caught in his throat.

"$1 per second… 60 seconds in a minute… that's $60 per minute… $3,600 per hour… and in 24 hours… that's $86,400!"

His hands trembled slightly as he did the math again.

"$86,400 per day… that's over 2.5 million a month!"

His heart pounded.

He could quit his job right now and still make more money than most CEOs.

Then, another thought struck him.

"Wait… won't this kind of sudden income raise red flags?"

As if reading his mind, the system spoke again.

"Ding! No worries, Host. All income is processed through the system and appears completely legitimate to the outside world."

A wave of relief washed over him.

Thomas exhaled, his heartbeat finally slowing down.

He looked back at his phone.

A translucent interface had appeared before his eyes.

Wealth System:

Host: Thomas Blackwell

Wealth Level: LV1 (Earning $1 per second) (Next level: Requires 10 million Wealth Points.)

Current Wealth: $13,068 (Increasing by $1 per second.)

Wealth Points: 0

Host Attributes:

Lifespan: 23 / 86

Strength: 8

Constitution: 9

Spirit: 10

Disease Resistance: 8

Skills: None

His gaze locked onto his bank account balance.

Every second, the number increased.

It didn't slow down.

It didn't stop.

A grin stretched across Thomas' face.

"This is real… this is actually real!"

"I don't have to work another day in my life."

Ding! A system starter pack has been prepared. Would you like to claim it?

"Hell yeah!"

Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have received the Wealth System Starter Pack. To use it, simply focus your thoughts."

Thomas immediately activated it.

Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: [Bronze Time Travel Card] x1.

His grin froze.

His pupils shrank slightly.

"Time… travel?"

His breath hitched.

His mind raced.

One thought dominated his entire brain—

Bitcoin.

If he could go back in time… even just a few years…

He wouldn't just be rich.

He'd be unstoppable.