A few days had passed since that night at the Atmos Hotel. Levi received a message from one of his old friends—Albert, whose family owned several bars and restaurants. Despite Levi's sudden fall from wealth, Albert had remained one of the few friends in his life.
He decided to meet him at one of the family establishments. Inside, Albert stood up in front of a small group of their mutual acquaintances.
"Listen up guys, I want to upgrade the bar I'm setting up. You're all good friends to me, so is anyone interested in investing and growing the business together?" Albert announced. "The estimated cost is 2.5M, and I'm willing to give up 30% of the shares, which means an investment of around 800,000Z per person. What do you guys say?"
The group fell silent, uncomfortable with the proposal. They all exchanged glances thinking about the risk involved.
One of them thought aloud, "Albert's family earns tens of millions a year. Why does he only need that much?"
In truth, Albert had lost quite a lot in his last investments, making his father lose trust and refuse to fund him further. But the others didn't know this.
The group seemed more interested in eating and partying than discussing business opportunities.
"What happened? You all went silent. At least say something," Albert pleaded.
One friend spoke up, "Albert, I don't think we're at the point of needing investments yet. If it's just a liquidity issue, we can all chip in some thousands and you can pay us back later."
They'd all seen Albert's track record—fourteen companies and twelve losses. He always seemed to pick the wrong side of every investment.
Levi sat there saying nothing. Albert, how can you even hope for anything from them? They're all parasites who squander money from their families. I've seen their faces ever since my family went bankrupt.
Albert kept his glass down and started leaving, his disappointment was evident.
"I'm out."
[SYSTEM - NEW TASK AVAILABLE] [TASK: HELP YOUR FRIEND] [REWARD: 10% ORANGE COMPANY SHARES]
Levi was shocked by the notification. He already owned some Orange shares from the previous missions, but this would increase his stake significantly.
"Hey, what if I invest all 800,000Z by myself?" Levi called out.
One of the guys laughed loudly thinking it was a joke.
"Come on, don't joke like that. It's not the first time we've met, haha," the guy said with condescension.
Another chimed in, "Why don't you go to the bathroom and wash your face to clear the drinks?"
A third added, "Brother, even if you have that much, I don't think you should do that. I'm saying from my experience."
"Hehe, Levi, how did you even get here? Want some taxi money?"
Levi didn't respond to any of their jabs. He simply pulled out his phone and transferred the full amount.
"Here you go."
Albert's phone buzzed, and he watched the bank notification appear. His eyes went wide.
"What happened, Albert?" one of the guys asked.
Albert showed them the phone screen his hands slightly shaking.
"He transferred the money," Albert said in disbelief.
The guy's eyes went wide at the sheer number of zeroes.
"Sooo many zeroes. Where did he get the money?"
Seeing Levi transfer the money so casually, Albert finally understood the truth about his friend's situation. He took Levi to a different room, finally comprehending what kind of friendship he'd actually maintained.
"If I'd have known you were that rich, I wouldn't have called all those idiots just to waste money on good wine."
"Now you know. Those guys aren't trustworthy. It's fine just for fun, but you can never rely on them," Levi replied, taking a sip of his drink. "Tell me your plan going forward."
Albert smiled for the first time that evening.
"Alright," he said.
For the next thirty minutes, Levi and Albert discussed the bar's decor, styles, and various business aspects. They talked about layouts, customer experience, pricing strategies, and marketing approaches.
Albert looked at Levi with newfound respect.
"You're pretty good. You didn't just waste time in college. You've got a pretty good eye for business."
"This is called commercial talent. But we need a manager. We can't keep an eye on it all the time," Levi pointed out.
An hour later, a message came through on Levi's phone from Helena.
Helena: "Sir Levi, the car you've reserved is coming on Friday. You can come pick it up and get the ownership papers."
Levi grinned as he read the message.
"No rush. Are you free day after tomorrow at night? I want to ask a few questions," he replied.
Helena seemed to be overthinking what he wanted, but she agreed.
Levi then messaged her, "Let's meet at 4 then, on the 3rd floor of Ambrossa Mall that day."
I need to expand my girlfriend group.
He kept the phone and continued drinking.
"Besides, she's beautiful and quite smart. Spending money on her won't be a waste," he muttered.
What Levi didn't realize was that the mall was close to Helena's workplace, and the manager who'd been eyeing her would likely visit by chance.
Later that evening, Levi drove to the Hellfire Racing Circuit- the reward he'd received from completing the taxi mission. He pulled up to the reception area with evident excitement.
But the receptionist immediately shot him down.
"Sir, we have a VIP reservation set today, so we are closed to the public."
"But I'm not here to ride cars, you see. I'm here to take the ownership. Call your manager."
"Your good name, sir?" the receptionist asked.
"Levi Allencraft."
A guy in an expensive suit suddenly entered, removing his sunglasses. Several others followed behind him. This was Lionel Tyson, the famous racer.
"What's going on here? Didn't I ask you people to clean this place up?" Lionel asked.
One of the staff women immediately went to apologize.
"Sir Lionel, this person here has taken over our circuit and is going to meet the manager," she explained nervously.
Lionel's eyes narrowed with curiosity.
"This place was bought? Who is so rich to buy this whole place?"
Levi was walking toward the manager's office when he asked the receptionist :
"Who is that guy? The whole track was reserved for him?"
The woman replied, "You don't know him? He is the famous racer Lionel Tyson. Not a lot of people dare to mess with him, given his own and family's background."
"Family background too?"
"He's the son of the district chief," the woman said with obvious reverence.
"Ooh."
The woman went into the cabin, "Manager William, there is a person named Levi here to meet you."
They went inside.
"Hello Mr. Levi, you didn't call for a few days since I got the notice of inheritance. I thought you didn't want to come."
"Aah, I was busy," Levi replied.
"Hey, ask for juice for the boss," William instructed one of the girls.
The girl looked confused.
"The boss? But isn't he a guest?"
"Did you forget the notice we got a few days back? The whole circuit has been acquired by him. He's the boss."
The previous owner had died of old age without leaving an heir. When the inheritance came through after eight months, everyone was relieved—though they all secretly wondered if Levi was the old man's illegitimate son.
"Can you show me around the race track?" Levi asked.
"Ah yes, yes," William said eagerly.
William guided him through the massive facility. True to its name, the Hellfire Racing Circuit was absolutely huge, with a capacity audience of 100,000 seats. Levi's eyes widened at the sheer scale of it.
"Woah."
"Would you like to drive too, sir?" William asked.
"Can I? Ask someone to bring my car over."
Finally, one of my bucket list wishes completes.
A few car sounds suddenly came from behind them. It was Lionel and his group, already racing on the track. The tires screeched as they performed impressive maneuvers.
Lionel stopped his car and came walking toward their direction irritated.
"William, what are you doing? I've booked this whole place, and now strangers are entering here? Do you want to die?"
William's face went pale.
"How dare I bring some random outsider here? He is the inheritor of the property and is inspecting the place," William explained quickly.
Lionel's expression shifted to confusion.
"What?" Lionel asked.
"William, just give them some money and clean up the track," Levi said casually.
Lionel wasn't annoyed anymore. Instead, he became interested in the youngster who'd just thrown him out of a racing circuit so boldly.
He took out his pack of cigarettes and offered one to Levi. Levi accepted it.
"That's interesting. No one has dared to throw me out of a racing circuit before," Lionel said with a slight smile. "How about we race? The winner keeps the place to himself for today."
"Nah, forget that," Levi replied.
"I know I'm a pro and you're a newbie. How about I give you a 10-second lead?"
[SYSTEM - SKILL AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE] [GOD TIER DRIVING SKILL] [COST: 1,500,000Z] [INCLUDES PASSIVE SKILLS:] [- DRIFT MASTERY/APEX DRIFT: PERFECTING CONTROLLED SLIDES] [- NITRO SURGE/QUANTUM BOOST: FOR SPEED BOOSTS] [- SLIPSTREAM/GHOST RIDE: RIDING IN ANOTHER CAR'S SLIPSTREAM] [- AIR BRAKE/G-FORCE LOCK: ADVANCED BRAKING/CORNERING] [- HEAT SEEKER: FOR AGGRESSIVE, CLOSE-QUARTERS RACING] [- PERFECT SHIFT/REV MATCH: SMOOTH GEAR CHANGES] [- ENGINE BRAKE: USING ENGINE TO SLOW DOWN] [- STUTTER BRAKE/TRAIL BRAKE: PRECISION BRAKING TECHNIQUES] [- APEX PREDATOR: MASTERING CORNERING LINES] [- VEHICLE DYNAMICS: UNDERSTANDING CAR BEHAVIOR] [- GRAVITY WELL: AFFECTING OTHER CARS' PHYSICS] [- PHASE SHIFT: SHORT-TERM INVULNERABILITY/SPEED] [- VECTOR JUMP: LEAPING OBSTACLES] [- ENERGY SIPHON: STEALING BOOST FROM OPPONENTS] [- LANE WEAVER: EXPERT LANE CHANGES] [- PARKING PRODIGY: PERFECT PARKING UNDER PRESSURE] [- ROAD SENSE: PREDICTING TRAFFIC]
"How much is this for? Such game-like skills. I'm not going pro, okay," Levi said.
The system responded with the price.
[COST: 1,500,000Z]
Levi bought it without hesitation.
"Okay, two laps only. I too wanted to check out my new car," Levi said.
"Oh, let me see that new car of yours," Lionel said curiously.
The valet brought around Levi's M9—the latest model sports car.
Lionel's eyes went wide with surprise.
"Is this your car? Wasn't it quite pricey? It's the latest model too."
"Well, it's one of the few. Don't tell me you think I'm bullying you with high specs," Levi replied with a smirk.
"That's not true. Even I spent 3,000,000Z on my car. It's one of the best in performance other than real race cars, of course."
They both got into their respective vehicles and lined up at the starting line.
"3... 2... 1... Go," William announced.
The race started, and the two cars shot forward into the circuit.