Chapter 1 The Giving Back system
1647 Words
Saint Pauls University, New Oodry.
Rhythmic tapping sounds filled dorm room 304.
A thin student sat transfixed at his computer, brandishing a black mouse and striking his discolored keyboard. He was playing a multiplayer action role-playing game named DFO.
The boy had regular and delicate features, but his messy short curls and the dark circles on his waxen face indicated that he had been playing the game from morning to night.
The boy was Ryan Melton, a sophomore studying Computer Science at Saint Pauls University.
“f**k the game,” Ryan cursed as he threw away the mouse, collapsed in his chair as if the game had knocked all the spirit out of him. “Kick me out of the team again? For my low-grade equipment? Come on, I know I just didn’t charge enough!”
Ryan had spent more than five years in this game. He was farming in the game when his friends were drinking in a bar; he was busy dealing with NPCs and their quests in the game when his friends were dating; he was fighting with bosses in dungeons when his friends were having a party. His time was fully engaged by the game, and as a result, he had no girlfriend, let alone s****l experience. His roommates never gave up laughing at him for that.
Taking a breath, Ryan picked up his phone next to the mouse, looking at his pale face on the screen, and shook his head with a wry smile. Then, he got up to go downstairs for a meal.
It was a bit cold this time of the year. Ryan walked out of the dormitory only to find it was raining outside.
Well, all boys who suffered Internet addiction didn’t care what was going on outside the window. Nothing but games took hold of them. Ryan had to go upstairs to take an umbrella, ready to look for quick snacks as usual.
Storms came with thunder and lightning. As Ryan was eating in a fast-food restaurant, he gazed idly out of the window worrying about his computer. Thunder won’t turn off my beloved computer, will it?
He quickly dispatched the meal, rushing back to his dormitory.
At the same time, a line of red bold words eerily displayed on the screen of his computer.
The Giving Back system is being downloaded...
1%...10%...30%...99%...100%
The Giving Back system is successfully downloaded, waiting for activation.
Ryan quickened his pace without knowing that he would soon embrace his magical new life.
Ryan took off his damped coat as he pushed open the door, relieved to find that his computer was still on.
Hey, what’s this? He moved closer to the screen, staring at the red words in the message box.
Active the Giving Back system? Yes/No.
What happened? He frowned. My account is compromised?
He didn’t believe that any game company would give anything back after players charged, and it must be something like Trojan Horse.
Ryan clicked No without hesitating.
"The system account is associating with you. You may feel pain during the process. For your safety, the system automatically turns on hibernation for you." An icy voice reverberated in Ryan’s mind, scaring the crap out of him.
"What the hell? Didn’t I click No?" Ryan shouted in overwhelming alarm before he fell into a coma.
It was late at night when the door of the dormitory was pushed open again. A tall boy came in wearing blue sportswear and a pair of white sports shoes, with a towel on the shoulder, looking full of life.
Victor Keller wiped the sweat away from his face and paused when he found Ryan lying on the ground.
"Ryan? What are you doing on the ground on such a cold day?"
Perry Larson and Gian Bell followed in, looking over with a bewildered look on their faces.
Ryan made no response.
Perry, always well-groomed and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, was the most handsome boy in the dormitory. No wonder he changed girlfriends every week.
“Sudden death,” Perry pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, trying to support the appearance of Conan, “According to scientists, playing online games is one of the most common causes of sudden death. Ryan spent days and nights on his game."
The fat boy next to Perry was Gian. He was either eating snacks or on his way to buy snacks. Though he was the fattest boy in their class and had no girlfriend, he was proud to be a foodie and never tried to be slimming.
But Perry’s words made it impossible for him to enjoy the unfinished candy bar in his hand.
"Hey, Perry, you know I’m timid, don't frighten me." Gian took two steps back, his voice trembling.
Victor knew Perry was joking, but he still took two steps to Ryan cautiously, stretching out his hand to test Ryan’s breath. As expected, Ryan was breathing normally. Nothing went wrong, and he must be just too tired.
"Ryan, get up. Why not sleep on your bed?" Victor pushed Ryan lazily.
Ryan blinked when roused from sleep. As his eyes slowly adapted to the light, he sat up abruptly and coughed.
He moved his shoulders a bit and knocked the dust out of his clothes, looking around. Three familiar faces stared at him.
"Everybody's back? What are you all looking at me for? Anything on my face?” He rose and took a look at himself in the glass. There was nothing odd with his face. He was still a commoner.
"You just lay on the ground as if you died!” Gian patted his chest as he complained, “You’re frightening me to death!"
Victor stopped Gian and took over the speaking turn, "Ryan, you guy all right?"
Knowing they all cared about him, Ryan smiled and said, "It’s nothing. I’m fine. I was just too sleepy and fell asleep."
"Good. Since nothing happened, have a bath and go to bed." Victor nodded and went to the bathroom first.
Ryan went back to his computer, but the red words disappeared and everything looked the same as the afternoon as if he just had a strange dream. He had no mood in playing games and went to bed early after a brief washing.
Just as he closed his eyes, the icy voice came into his mind again.
"Hello, Mr. Melton. I am an artificial intelligence known as the Giving Back system developed by Tencent, an online game company in 2222. I came to the present earth through time travel and randomly feedback a customer who once supported the games of Tencent. I am very glad to serve you. You can communicate with me in your mind.”
Hearing the words, Ryan broke out a sudden cold sweat. He spoke to himself that he must have played DFO for too long and it made him hallucinate.
"Mr. Melton, you are not hallucinating, I am real."
The reply from the Giving Back system in his mind made his hair stand on end.
"System? Feedback users? Okay, fine. I charged only one hundred dollars for your game. Why chose me?" Ryan wondered. Even if what the AI said was true, and he just had an experience that only the hero in a novel would have, why they didn’t choose the rich rednecks?
"Mr. Melton, I randomly selected a user from millions of users, and any of our supporters can be the one. You are the lucky dog."
Ryan accepted the explanation, though it sounded incredible.
He had been a commoner since he was a child. He came from an ordinary family, and he was not a smart boy. Maybe it was lucky for him to be admitted to this university, but he never had the confidence to find a good job after graduation. The pressure of competitiveness in a modern society scared him.
That was why he played games every day. He just wanted to escape from reality.
But everything seemed to change now.
After another explanation from the system, Ryan finally knew what the system meant.
A panel appeared in his mind.
Name: Ryan Melton
Level: 1
EXP: 0/1000
Point: 0
Daily Fund: USD 10,000
Mall Level: 1
The system had 10 levels. A newbie at Level 1 could spend up to 10,000 dollars provided by the system per day. You could gain experience points by completing the tasks that the system gave you or by running through the daily fund. For example, the system would give you 10 experience points after you spent 10,000 dollars every day. The money given by the system could not be cashed or collected, and the balance would be automatically removed at the end of the day.
After you leveled up, the system would upgrade and the rules would be changed accordingly.
Ryan took a breath from crying out in excitement. If he didn’t misunderstand, he had money to burn from this moment!
He gathered his composure and asked subconsciously, "Where is your money from? I won’t accept illegal money."
"Please rest assured. Tencent has made big money, and we just want to give some back. The money will not cause any trouble to you. Please do not leak any information about the Giving Back system, or I will leave after removing your memory all about me."
Ryan was relieved and nodded. He didn’t doubt that he hit the jackpot.
Thinking of this, Ryan could not control himself and roared with laughter.
“What made you crazy?” Gian’s pillow was thrown to Ryan’s face.
After a long while, Ryan fell asleep with a smile.
- Writer
