"Mr. Matthew Lawrence, have you made up your mind? If you don't sign this equity inheritance document, your father's entire estate will be donated to a foundation for children in Africa."
Inside the presidential suite, a blonde lawyer in a sharp suit looked at Matthew, who sat on the sofa in a daze. The magnetic voice snapped Matthew back to reality.
He instinctively sat up straight but quickly leaned back again.
"Mr. Bell, give me five more minutes. I will give you a definitive answer then. You have been here all day, five minutes will not hurt."
His voice was flat, but his knuckles, white from gripping the armrest, betrayed his calm facade.
The blonde lawyer checked his watch. Seeing the hour hand approaching midnight, he nodded out of professional courtesy. "Very well, sir."
Cold moonlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating Matthew's handsome, mixed-race features. His dark eyes fixed on the two documents neatly arranged on the coffee table.
One was the Inheritance Document. The other was a stack of Equity Inheritance Documents.
If this were just any ordinary equity agreement, Matthew would not be so conflicted. The problem was the company involved: the world-renowned Umbrella Corporation.
The same Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil world, the global behemoth spanning pharmaceuticals, medical hardware, and defense industries. The shadow organization secretly developing biological weapons.
This was not an easy choice.
He glanced through the gap in the curtains. Stark Tower stood in the heart of New York, ablaze with lights even at night. Diagonally across from it, another skyscraper loomed in the darkness. The red-and-white umbrella logo on its side was painfully bright.
Don't ask why the Umbrella Corporation existed in the Marvel Universe. Matthew did not know how things had gotten this weird either.
Besides, he was not in the mood to figure out how far the Marvel world had veered off course. His priority was deciding whether to sign his name.
If he did not sign, he was screwed. His original self had never received a dime from his deadbeat dad and currently owed a community gang twenty thousand dollars. If he walked away from the inheritance today, he might be kidnapped tomorrow and forced to transport "white sugar."
But if he did sign... as a shareholder of Umbrella, he might end up dead in some "accidental" virus leak.
It was a choice between the wolf and the tiger.
The city lights outside were dizzying. The room was thick with his racing thoughts. He sat there for a long time, the pen in his hand growing warm from his grip.
Just as the five minutes were about to expire, Matthew seemed to reach a decision. He took a deep breath and sat up straight. Without further hesitation, he signed his name.
Matthew Lawrence.
The moment the pen lifted... a transparent light screen flickered before his eyes.
[Ding... 'Benefiting the People Panel' has finished loading!]
[Please check the 'User Manual' for specific instructions.]
"A system?!"
Matthew's eyes widened. He felt like a man who had just won the lottery after a lifetime of poverty. His mind went blank with a single thought: 'I did it! I actually did it!'
"Mr. Lawrence? Did you say something?" Arthur asked, looking at Matthew's strangely excited expression. He suspected the man might have indulged in some illicit substances while he was spacing out.
Realizing he had lost his composure, Matthew coughed twice and shook his head. "Mr. Bell, you must have misheard..."
"...Perhaps," Arthur replied indifferently. "In any case, since you have signed the agreement, let's discuss the rest of the estate."
"Your father left you thirty-five properties, a twelve percent stake in the Umbrella Corporation, four and a half billion dollars after taxes, and fifteen mid-sized companies..."
The recital of the assets was tedious. It took Arthur about five minutes to finish the list, his throat going dry by the end.
"In short, congratulations, Mr. Matthew Lawrence!" Arthur smiled and extended his hand. "Congratulations on becoming a very rich man!"
"Thank you," Matthew replied politely. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few green bills, and handed them to Arthur. "Take this 500 dollars as a tip for keeping me company today."
While Arthur was reading the list, Matthew had already skimmed the System User Manual.
The system's functions were simple. He just needed to increase the happiness of his employees and those around him, or prevent specific disasters. By "benefiting the people," he would earn rewards.
'Increase happiness or prevent disasters...' Matthew mused.
As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. For now, he did not have the power to stop disasters. Besides, disasters did not happen every day.
That meant he had to start by making people feel "benefited." He wanted to see if the simplest, most crude method—throwing money around—counted as benefiting the people and earning System Points.
Smelling the familiar scent of ink on the bills, Arthur's eyes lit up. He did not show too much excitement, discreetly pocketing the cash.
[Arthur Bell feels a flicker of joy. System Points +1. Please increase your efforts to benefit the people!]
'So throwing money really works...' Matthew raised an eyebrow.
Having finished his business, Arthur began packing his documents. Seeing that splurging earned points, Matthew looked at the remaining four thousand five hundred dollars in his pocket. This was supposed to be for his debts, but now that he was a billionaire, it did not matter.
"Mr. Bell, I have been thinking. 500 dollars is not enough to express my excitement, especially since you have been such a diligent lawyer. Here is another four thousand five hundred. Consider it a bonus for your hard work today."
Hearing the praise and seeing the stack of fresh bills, Arthur's face broke into a genuine grin. He accepted it happily. This would cover his three children's formula for quite a while!
[System Points +10. Arthur Bell feels deeply satisfied.]
[Accumulated System Points: 10. Pass Reward... T-Virus Prime Concentrate *1 (Stored in System Space).]
[Next reward at thirty Accumulated System Points. Please continue to use system rewards to benefit the people.]
Matthew's smile froze.
"..."
'System, do you even hear yourself? You want me to use the T-Virus to benefit the people? Not accidentally breaking this thing is the greatest benefit I can give them!'
He cursed the reward in his head, but his expression remained neutral. Once Arthur left and Matthew was alone in the spacious room, he focused his mind.
A sealed, double-helix glass vial appeared in his palm. The deep blue liquid shimmered beautifully under the lights.
Matthew did not find it beautiful at all. To him, this vial was the horn of the apocalypse. If he poured this into the city's water supply, the entire planet would face an unprecedented catastrophe.
Matthew gripped the T-Virus tighter.
"Phew... better put this away. If it breaks, I cannot take responsibility for what happens next."