Drake lay motionless on the hospital bed, staring at the strange screen floating in the air above him. His first instinct was to call for the nurse. Maybe the concussion was worse than they thought. Maybe he was hallucinating from pain medication.
But the screen looked too clear. Too real. the soft blue light even cast actual shadows across his hospital gown.
New text began reappearing on it:
[You have been chosen because of your untapped potential and recent bad luck. I will guide you to wealth, power, and success]
"What are you?" Drake whispered, his voice barely audible in the empty room.
The response came immediately, as if the system had been waiting for him to ask that exact question:
[I am the luxurious-tech system, an advanced technology designed to optimize human potential...I am here to provide you with strategic guidance to improve your life. ]
Drake's heart pounded in his chest. Am I going crazy? After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours—losing his job, catching Jenna and Marcus, getting literally hit by a car—maybe going crazy was exactly what he needed now.
"Why me? he asked.
[The universe wants to Give you a second chance to rewrite your fate and I will help you with that. ]
Before Drake could process this, the words on the glowing screen changed again and a small tutorial appeared, showing him how to navigate the system with eye movements and small hand gestures. Drake tried it. He blinked twice to select options, tilted his head slightly to scroll. It felt natural, like the system was reading his intentions.
Then, another window opened:
[host — Drake Wayne]
[Age — 23 years old]
[ CURRENT STATUS]
[Financial IQ: 3 out of 10]
[Business Skills: 2 out of 10]
[charisma: 4 out of 10]
[Determination: 9 out of 10]
Drake stared at the numbers. Seeing his failures laid out like that stunged him, but the 9 out of 10 in Determination caught him off guard. Maybe he wasn't completely useless after all.
A new message popped up:
[Quest: First step to prosperity]
[Objective: invest $100 in cryptocurrency within 24 hours. ]
QUEST: FIRST STEP TO PROSPERITY
OBJECTIVE: Invest in CRYPTOCURRENCY WITHIN 24 hours.
[REWARD: Basic financial Literacy Skills]
[Consequences of failure to comply: None (but highly recommended to build momentum]
Drake let out a bitter laugh that sent pain shooting through his broken rib. "$100? I have only $215.83 left. and moreover, I don't even know how to buy crypto."
The system instantly responded with a clear step-by- step guide: first download a specific app, verify your identity, transfer funds, and purchase a recommended alt-coin that was about to spike.
Drake read through the Instructions twice, his doubt fought with a small, desperate hope he had not felt in a long time.
****
By 3PM, the hospital discharged him. Dr. Petel gave him a prescription for pain medication that Drake knew he couldn't afford to fill and instructions to rest for at least a week. Drake nodded along, already planning to ignore all of it.
He took a bus to the public library, Every bump on the road made his injuries throb. The rain had stopped since yesterday, leaving the streets wet that reflected the dull afternoon light.
Inside the library, Drake claimed a computer in the back corner. His hands shook as he did exactly what the system told him to do.
[ Download app. ]
[ Create an account. ]
[ Verify identity with a photo of driver's license. ]
[ Link bank account. ]
When the time came to transfer $100, Drake hesitated. This was half of what he had left. If this was all a hallucination or scam, he would starve.
But what choice did he have or what more could he lose? His old life was gone. No job. No girlfriend. No apartment. He was already at rock bottom.
He transferred the money.
The system guides him to a special alt-coin called—velocity chain that Drake had never heard of. He purchased $100 worth at $0.13 per coin.
[Investment complete]
[Expected return: 750-percent, within 18 hours.]
Drake stared at the confirmation screen. "I just threw away grocery money because a magic screen told me to. " I'm an idiot. He whispered to himself in doubt.
He logged out and left the library, with his whole body hurting from every step he took.
****
By evening,Drake returned to the waterfront parking lot where he'd left his Honda Civic the night before.
The space was empty.
"No, No, no, no." Drake said repeatedly as he limped around the parking lot, searching desperately until a faded sign near the entrance caught his eyes:
(VEHICLES WITH UNPAID REGISTRATION HAS BEING TOWED)
Of course. He'd been three months behind on his car registration. Just one more thing he couldn't afford.
However, he was planning to start sleeping in his car but it seems the universe wants him to be completely stranded.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contact. Almost all his contacts were customers and some coworkers from Jacky's Pizzeria—people he barely knew. He stopped on Tommy jin, a delivery driver just like him, who had always been friendly to him.
The call rang four times before Tommy picked up. "Yo, Drake? I heard you got fired, men. That sucks."
"Yeah. " Drake swallowed his pride. "Listen, I know this is random, but I'm in a bad spot. Is there any chance I could crash at your place tonight? Just one night. I'll figure something out tomorrow."
There was silence between the lines for a few seconds.
"I don't know, men....I'm staying with my cousin right now," Tommy said slowly. "But.... Let me ask him. Hold on."
Five minutes later, Tommy sent him an address. Tommy's cousin's friend needed someone to water his plants while he was out of town for a week. Drake could sleep on the couch if he promised to take care of things.
It wasn't great, but it was definitely better than sleeping outside in the streets.
****
The apartment was in a neighborhood even worse than Drake's old one. The couch smelled like cigarettes, and one of the cushions had a weird dark stain. But this place had walls, a roof, and a door that locks. So none of the rest really matters.
Drake sat down his backpack and slowly lowered himself carefully onto the couch, his ribs screaming in pain. He had stopped at a convenience store and bought a package of ramen and a cheap bottle of generic pain relief with the last of his money. Now he had $15.83 left.
His phone buzzed. Another call from a blocked number—probably Jenna using someone else's phone. He deleted the notification without even opening it.
He thought about the $100 he'd invested. About the system's promise of a 750% return. Which seemed nearly impossible.
But then again, so did the glowing screen only he could see.
He downloaded the trading app on his smart phone and logged in to check his portfolio. The velocity chain was still at $0.13. Nothing had changed.
Drake sighed upon seeing it. With that he closed his eyes and exhaustion pulled him to sleep.
****
His phone alarm woke him from sleep at 9AM. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest as he sat up. The bruises on his side were now a deep purple-black, spreading like spilled ink across his skin.
He grabbed his phone with shaking hands and the first thing that came to his mind was to open his crypto app.
The screen loaded for a while, but when the app fully opened, drake couldn't help but stare at it frozen. He had to refresh the page because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Velocity chain(VLC) : $0.98
His $100 investment was now worth $850.
"Holy shit," Drake whispered. He refreshed again just to be sure. The number stayed the same. "Eight hundred and fifty dollars. It's real. It's actually real."
A notification appears in his vision — And the system interface materialized like it had never left:
[Quest complete.... ]
[Basic financial literacy skills unlocked]
[ You can now understand investment terms, read financial statements, and identify market patterns. ]
Drake felt the Overwhelming change instantly. Knowledge flooded into Drake's mind like someone had downloaded a finance textbook directly into his brain. Words he never understood before, like—P/E ratios, market cap, bull and bear markets, options trading — all now made perfect sense to him. He suddenly knows how to read charts, recognize trends, and understand things he would have needed years to learn.
It was like putting on glasses for the first time and realizing the world had always been in focus, he just couldn't see it.
Without hesitating, he sold his velocity chain position immediately, locking in $850 before the price could fall back. He transferred the money to his bank account, with his hands still shaking.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Drake let out a smiled. A genuine smile, not the tired ones he'd been wearing for months.
This made him realize the system wasn't blushing when it said it would change his faith.
By noon, Drake went out for a drink. He got to a coffee shop three blocks away, buying a black coffee for $3 and sat at a table close to the window.
Someone had left a copy of a wall street journal on the table next to his. Before the system, Drake would always skip past the financial section of the newspaper. Back then they always looked like a mess of numbers and confusing words meant for people who wore suits and made big money.
But now, he picked up the paper and starts reading.
And he could actually understand everything, thanks to the financial literacy skills the system had given him.
Stock movements. Market analysis. Federal Reserve policy implications. Large company earnings report. Words and ideas that once felt impossible to understand, now clicked into place in his mind like a piece of puzzle he'd been staring at his whole life without knowing how they fit together.
Curious, Drake opened his phone and searched for one of the companies mentioned in the newspaper — a tech company reporting earnings next week. Yesterday, he didn't even know what a quarter report " Is.
But now, he read through their financial statement in minutes. With his new skil, he could highlight problems instantly. Yes, their revenue was growing, but their debt to equity ratio was rising too. Their cash flow was positive, but barely. The company was using accounting tricks to make themselves look stronger than they really were.
He could identify three major red flags —problems that the newspaper experts completely missed.
Drake leaned back in his chair, already forgotten about his coffee.
This was power. Real power. Not physical strength, but the power to see through corporate bullshit and understand how money actually moved through the world and just having the thought of that made drake smile.
A new glowing message appeared in front of him:
[Your financial literacy ability is developed rapidly. ]
[Secondary Quest Available]
[Increase your capital to $5,000 within one week. ]
Drake's smile faded slightly, $5,000 from $850 in a week? That's extremely aggressive. He'd need to take a lot of risk in order to achieve that.
But honestly, who is he to refuse? It's because of the system guidance he was able to make this money, so he might as well keep following it.
He opened the trading app on his phone and funded it back with only $800, he kept $50 for food and bus rides. He wasn't dumb enough to gamble every last dollar.
Using the system's guidance and his new analytical skills, Drake found a risky choice: options on a tech company that would report earnings soon. The stock price was lower than it should be based on sector trends, and if their numbers beat expectations, the options would explode in value.
And if the report turns out bad.... He would lose all his capital in investment.
Drake stared at the order screen for a long minute. This was gambling—gambling with money he couldn't afford to lose. Money that could keep him alive for another week.
But on the other hand, it wasn't gambling. Not for him. Not with the system guiding him, not when he has understanding of everything flowing through his brain.
He placed the trade entering a position on the market cap.
The confirmation appeared on his screen. $800 in options contracts expiring on Thursday.
With that, he finished his coffee and stood up, his ribs still aching with every movement, but his mind clear like never before. The old Drake wayne—the one who was scared, broke and always played it safe —would have never taken this risk. He would have saved the money and let fear control him.
But that Drake died on that rainy street the night he got hit by the car.
This new Drake wayne was done waiting for life to crush him over and over again.
He is ready to take what the universe owes him.