The door was shut. The world was silent.
Alex stood in the middle of the vast office. He didn't move for a full minute. He just breathed. In. Out. The air was cool, filtered, and expensive.
Memories crashed into him. Two sets.
One set was sharp, clear, familiar: sitting in a small apartment, staring at a computer screen, drinking cheap coffee, feeling the vague, endless pressure of bills and a life going nowhere.
The other set was like watching a movie: this office, this city, a childhood of private tutors and cold parents, a company built on ruthless decisions, and a vague, scripted future that involved a clumsy intern and a predictable love story.
Alex Sterling, the man from the apartment, was now inside Alex Sterling, the CEO.
He walked to the window. The city sprawled beneath him, a circuit board of light and ambition. His reflection in the glass showed a stranger's face. Handsome. Sharp. Unsmiling.
"System," he said. His voice was quiet in the empty room.
The blue screen materialized without a sound, hovering at the edge of his vision.
[WEALTH MAXIMIZATION PROTOCOL 71 - ACTIVE]
"Explain your primary function," Alex commanded. He needed data. Rules. Parameters.
The flat, metallic voice spoke in his mind. "Protocol 71 is a capital accumulation framework. You will formalize social bonds into binding agreements. You will be rewarded. Emotional investment is counter-productive. It will be penalized."
"Social bonds," Alex repeated, turning from the window. "You mean girlfriends."
"Affirmative. The designation 'girlfriend' is a socially recognized construct suitable for contractual formalization."
A laugh, dry and hollow, escaped Alex's throat. This was absurd. It was insane.
"Why?" he asked.
"Directive is absolute. Reason is not required for execution," the System replied. "Focus on the mechanism."
The screen shifted. Bullet points of stark white text appeared.
[CORE MECHANICS]
1. Primary Quests: Formalize a 'Girlfriend Agreement' with a qualifying individual.
• Reward: Substantial one-time capital injection.
• Qualification: Target must be socially recognized as an eligible partner. Target must willingly sign.
2. Weekly Maintenance: Each active agreement requires periodic social reinforcement.
• Reward: Recurring capital stipend per agreement.
• Requirement: Maintain public perception of stable affiliation. Minimize conflict.
3. Milestone Bonuses: Reaching specified numbers of active agreements unlocks tiered rewards.
• Milestone 1: 5 Agreements.
• Milestone 2: 10 Agreements.
• Milestone 3: 25 Agreements.
• Milestone 4: 50 Agreements.
• Final Milestone: 71 Agreements.
4. Penalties:
• Emotional Attachment Detection: Substantial capital deduction per incident.
• Breach of Contract without Cause: Penalty and potential nullification of all current agreements.
Alex read the list. Then he read it again. His accountant's mind—from his old life, from this new one—kicked in. He ignored the madness of the premise and focused on the structure.
It was a progression system. A grinding game. Sign contracts, get money, maintain them, get more money. Hit targets, get huge payouts.
The final number glowed with a faint, ominous light. Seventy-one.
"What happens at seventy-one agreements?" he asked.
"Final Milestone reward is classified. It will redefine your operational parameters," the System stated. "Achieve it to transcend."
Vague. Ominous. But the path to it was crystal clear.
A new quest notification pulsed.
[ACTIVE QUEST: PRIMARY TARGET ACQUISITION]
Target: Ella Reed.
Objective: Formalize Girlfriend Agreement #001.
Reward upon Signature: $500,000.00
Penalty for Failure: None. Target may be substituted.
Half a million dollars. For making the intern sign a piece of paper.
The moral questions rose up in him. They were the questions of the man from the apartment. This is wrong. You can't treat people like this. She's a person.
But that man was gone. That man had nothing. This man, in this body, had a glitched system and a city at his feet.
The System's voice cut through his thoughts. "Sentiment is a resource leak. The target is a qualifying asset. Your objective is to secure the asset under contract. This is efficient. This is the directive."
Alex closed his eyes. He saw the cramped apartment. The dead-end job. The powerlessness.
He opened his eyes. He saw the steel and glass city, the symbol of a power he now held.
A profound, chilling calm settled over him. The dread of displacement evaporated. In its place was a clear, empty space. A spreadsheet. A business plan.
He didn't have to play the loving CEO. He didn't have to follow a romantic script he never wrote.
All he had to do was make deals.
A strange, weightless feeling filled his chest. It wasn't happiness. It was the absence of a burden he never agreed to carry. Nihilistic relief.
"Okay," Alex said to the empty room. The word was final.
He walked to the desk, the CEO's desk, and sat in the leather chair. It felt right. He tapped the computer to life. He opened a document.
"System," he said. "Provide a standard template for a Girlfriend Agreement. Include non-disclosure, public appearance expectations, code of conduct, termination clauses, and a discretionary allowance structure."
Text began to fill the document on his screen. Cold, legal language. Terms and conditions for pretending to be in love.
Alex read it, his eyes sharp. He made edits. He defined the "allowance" as a monthly payment for services rendered. He stipulated that both parties could terminate with a thirty-day notice, but a unilateral breach by him would incur a hefty payout to her.
It had to be fair. Not out of kindness. Out of strategy. A fair contract was a stable contract. A stable contract paid weekly maintenance.
He was no longer a man lost in a novel. He was a contractor reviewing a spec sheet.
He saved the document. Draft_Agreement_001_Ella_Reed.
The quest glowed in his vision. $500,000.
The first move was clear. The target was in the building, probably reprinting those reports, her heart still pounding from his scripted anger.
He would not offer her flowers. He would not apologize.
He would offer her a deal.
Alex leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. A thin, purposeful smile touched his lips.
"Let's get to work."