Pennbrook University, Harrison Hall, Room 510.
It was already eight in the morning, and plenty of classes had started, but all four guys in the dorm were still dead to the world in their beds, showing zero intention of getting up.
Maybe this was some kind of mandatory college ritual: ditching early morning classes.
After all, they'd just survived four brutal years of high school. Now in the relaxed world of college, only a total saint could resist cutting loose a little.
Suddenly, one of the guys bolted upright in bed, eyes flying open.
The sudden voice in his head, along with the translucent screen hovering before his eyes, shocked Arden West completely awake.
[Indulgence System: God-Tier Tycoon has been activated]
[This system exists to help the host enjoy a life of total freedom and spontaneity.]
[Any indulgent behavior will be rewarded by the system.]
[Additionally, all spending related to indulgence will receive random cashback between 2 to 10 times the amount!]
[Note: The system operates with complete legitimacy—all gains are from legal sources!]
Holy shit, is this one of those legendary Systems?
Arden felt a surge of excitement.
Then he thought—he'd overslept and skipped class. Did that count as indulgence?
The moment the thought crossed his mind, the system chimed again:
[Ding! Host overslept and skipped class. Reward: +$150]
Arden quickly checked his phone for the notification.
[Bank of America]: Your account ending in 8577 has received $150.00. Current balance: $320.00.
His account originally only had the $170 in living expenses his aunt had just sent him yesterday—typical broke college student status.
Now, $150 had appeared out of nowhere, basically doubling his net worth.
Instantly, Arden had an indulgent idea, and he also wanted to test the system's value.
He jumped out of bed quickly, threw on some clothes, and ran to the dining hall to order a ridiculous spread for breakfast.
Spicy chicken sandwich, loaded breakfast burrito, bacon-wrapped hot dogs, a stack of pancakes... eating this much greasy food first thing in the morning had to count as indulgence, right?
[Ding! Host overate at breakfast, spent $6.50, triggered 10x cashback, +$65]
The bank notification lit up his phone simultaneously.
"Arden? Getting breakfast?"
Hearing someone call his name, Arden looked up.
It was his academic advisor, Emma Anderson.
Though she was called an advisor, she was actually just a grad student who'd recently finished her undergrad at Pennbrook, working part-time while pursuing her master's in the same major.
Arden greeted her politely: "Hey, Emma."
"Eating this heavy first thing in the morning—careful you don't get indigestion," Emma reminded him kindly.
"It's fine, I'm planning to hit the gym later, so I need the energy."
"Oh, I see. Well, enjoy your food. I've got stuff to handle. See you!"
"See you, Emma."
Emma didn't stick around long, exchanging just a few words before heading off.
She remembered that Arden's class had a political theory lecture that morning, which meant Arden had skipped.
She'd noticed, but didn't mention it.
These days, it was totally normal for college students to skip a class here and there. As long as they could hold it together during finals and their grades weren't completely terrible, it was fine.
If she got strict about it, Emma herself had skipped plenty back in the day.
Her management style was pretty relaxed, and as an attractive, easygoing grad student, she'd been well-received by students since the semester started over a month ago.
As for Arden, saying he was going to the gym was obviously just an excuse.
Working out was way too disciplined—it didn't fit the Indulgence System vibe at all.
After demolishing his food, Arden returned to the dorm and fired up his computer.
His roommates were still passed out. Playing games might wake them up, so he decided to binge some shows instead.
He'd been meaning to catch up on a bunch of series—both American and foreign—that he hadn't gotten around to yet. Now seemed like the perfect time.
After watching for a bit, the system notification sounded again:
[Ding! Host is watching shows during valuable study time. How indulgent! Reward: +$300]
Getting paid to watch TV, huh?
Not bad.
Arden immersed himself in the plot.
Time slipped by quietly, and soon it was past nine in the morning.
His roommates started waking up one by one, some preparing for their second morning class.
It hadn't been long since the start of freshman year, and most students still cared about appearances, so they generally didn't skip classes scheduled at reasonable times.
Of course, some people showed up because they could see the girl they were crushing on.
Ryan Wells, who slept in the bed next to Arden's, had no classes. He got up, opened his laptop, and launched a certain anime-style game.
Yeah, Ryan was a hardcore otaku, but compared to those over-the-top anime nerds who wore character T-shirts, used body pillows, and quoted Japanese lines, he was way more low-key.
He looked like a normal college student on the outside.
When he had nothing to do, he liked to quietly watch anime and play anime-style games (while adamantly refusing to spend money).
He had a good personality—the harmless type.
In the month since school started, Ryan was the roommate Arden got along with best.
Mainly because the other two had pretty difficult personalities. Relying on their families' money, they often pulled ridiculous stunts, leaving the two normal guys speechless.
Seeing that his roommates were all awake, Arden turned off the show.
Tired of watching, he decided to play some games instead.
He logged into League of Legends. As soon as the interface loaded, he got bombarded with skin promotion ads.
Normally, Arden would close the ads immediately, unbothered.
Skins had nothing to do with a broke guy like him—they didn't add any stats.
Using the free skins they gave away was enough.
But now, with the Indulgence System unlocked, Arden's mindset had changed.
If he bought a ton of game skins at once, would that count as indulgence?
After getting confirmation from the system, Arden spent money like water, doing crazy ten-pulls, clearing out everything he could from the shop.
Skins he'd liked for ages but had suppressed the urge to buy to save money.
His bank account currently held $670 total.
He wanted to spend as much as possible since the system offered instant cashback—the more he spent, the more he'd get back.
God Fist! Spirit Blossom! And limited-time returning championship skins! Basically, he bought everything he liked!
The total came out to $640.
Not bad—that was a pretty auspicious number.
[Ding! Host indulged in game skin spending, triggered 5x cashback, +$3,200]
The balance in his bank account had already reached over $3,200.
This earning speed is absolutely insane, Arden thought.
Pennbrook University, where Arden studied, was a top-tier research university, and he was majoring in computer science, one of the hottest fields right now.
Even their graduate seniors who landed high-paying tech jobs after graduation might not earn $3,200 per month.
Not to mention, this was just Arden's income from casually browsing around for one morning.
As his capital increased, Arden could choose more extravagant indulgent spending, and his wealth would snowball, growing faster and faster.
Moreover, the system stated that with deeper indulgent behaviors, the rewards wouldn't just be cash, but also luxury cars, designer watches, mansions... and even more mysterious hidden features.
Is this the life of a God-Tier Tycoon? Truly magnificent!
Arden was excited for a moment, but he quickly calmed down—he was the type with strong mental fortitude.
Enough about earnings—first, let me try out these new skins in a game.
The dorm room had loft beds with desks underneath. Ryan, who was halfway through his game, stood up to stretch and inadvertently glanced at Arden's game interface. He immediately froze:
"Holy shit, bro, when did you buy so many skins? These must add up to over a hundred bucks, right?"
"Yeah, I just spent over six hundred total."
"???"
Ryan looked stunned. What the hell was going on? Arden had always been a free-to-play player, a freeloader just like him. Why had he suddenly started whaling?
Arden laughed: "I'm coming clean—I'm actually a rich kid too."
"Wait, why did you say 'too'...?" Ryan suddenly realized something. "Damn, so I'm the only broke guy in our dorm!"
Before Arden could respond, Ryan scratched his head with a grin and said, "Actually, that's kind of a relief. So you've got money too, bro. That makes sense. Otherwise, with those two clowns in our dorm, they'd totally warp my understanding of rich people."
Arden just smiled, saying nothing. Living in a college dorm, you're bound to meet idiots. It's normal. This was a country of 330 million people—how else could you appreciate the diversity of human genetics if you didn't encounter a few morons?
"Bro, you don't know—last night when you weren't here, Evan and Tyler started arguing again."
Evan Thornton and Tyler Shaw were the names of their other two roommates.
"Why?"
"Over a girl, of course. Evan likes this one chick, and Tyler insisted she was fake, secretly no different from other girls, so they got into it."
"...But I remember that girl didn't even acknowledge Evan at all, right?" Arden recalled.
"Exactly! It's just one-sided, and they're arguing over her. Unbelievable."
Simp culture existed in every era and place.
Arden just listened to it like gossip.
However, the so-called Goddess Dorm where the girl Evan was chasing lived was pretty interesting.
Among the four girls, three of them were exceptionally beautiful, each with her own distinct style.
They were nicknamed the "Goddess Dorm" by their classmates.
The one Evan liked was named Imogen Blake—a cool, mature older-sister type.
She was also a freshman, just like them.
Over 5'8" tall, with a pair of long, perfectly shaped legs.
Her cold, stunning face was even more beautiful than a celebrity's.
She was also majoring in computer science, like Arden. Apparently, she'd released an open-source project online during high school, and a professor had already invited her to join his research lab shortly after school started. A true academic genius.
She'd attracted the attention of countless teachers and students since orientation.
Though she usually maintained an expressionless face, people constantly tried to get close to her.
However, she rejected all advances without hesitation, stating clearly: "I'm not interested in dating, and I won't accept favors from others for free."
Maybe that's exactly what made Evan find her so special.
Tyler, on the other hand, thought Imogen was just putting on an act.
This kind of thinking was actually pretty normal—everyone had a hidden side.
Arden didn't care about his roommates' drama. He just found it amusing.
He quickly refocused on his game.
He played top lane Vayne, then mid lane Yasuo.
Combined, both games, he went 1-17.
"Man, no way. Silver ranked lobbies are too brutal. I can't handle this. I'm hiring a booster!"
Without hesitation, Arden opened a boosting app.
He selected the "League of Legends" category and sorted by price, high to low.
Hiring an absurdly expensive booster was definitely a form of indulgence.
Arden took a closer look and saw that the highest-priced ones were basically pro players or former pros.
Skip, skip—they were all guys. Not interesting.
What was the point of spending big money to have some dude play games with him?
He might as well just queue with Ryan and have two Silver players take on the world together.
Arden decisively filtered for "Female Boosters Only."
This search brought up a dazzling array of internet-influencer-style beauties.
Much better!
After browsing for a while, Arden settled on a female booster with the username "BlakeOutCurtain."
Compared to other boosters, she didn't even use a filtered selfie.
She only left an audio introduction.
Her voice was incredibly pleasant—sounding young but with a cool, mature quality that sparked the imagination.
Unfortunately, the young lady stated in her intro that she wouldn't do anything suggestive—only play games.
Her rate was $30 per hour.
This was already approaching the fees of regular pro players.
So the question was: what gave this booster the confidence to charge such a high price?
The answer was simple: her rank was Challenger, 1000 LP!