Ian, Jardin and Moby sat in a middle-class cafe.
"Considering they are second hand, 500 bucks should cover the cost, Ian." Jardin calmly said while sipping his coffee.
Ian chuckled hearing the offer.
"Come on, Jardin. I thought you were in the shoe business, don't you know the real value of the limited edition La Vistas?" Ian taunted.
"Of course I know, Ian." Jardin struggled, but maintained a friendly smile on his face, "But they are second hand."
"I bought them for 10,000$." Ian said.
"Ah, my condolences." Jardin shook his head, "You were scammed."
"Haha." Ian gave a short, cold laugh and looked up at Jardin.
"My offer is 4000$, take it or leave it."
All this time, Moby, Jardin's lackey, stayed silent.
But when Jardin gave him a slight look, Moby instantly opened his mouth.
"That's a little steep, bro." Moby said with shrugged arms, "By the way, I haven't seen you before. Freshie?"
"Yeah."
"Ohh, what course?" Moby continued the conversation.
"Business."
"Hmm, you told me you were from the North. Are you here alone or with family?"
"Is this an interview, Moby?" Ian asked, annoyed.
"No no, as your seniors we are just looking out for you." Moby quickly waved his hands.
"Well I am not alone." Ian replied one last time before getting up and taking a paper napkin.
He pulled out a pen from his pocket, a costly parker pen.
There was a strange glint in Jardin's eyes but he hid it masterfully, just observing Ian.
"This is my number, seniors. Call me if you want to make a deal, but nothing below 4000$."
Ian wrote down his number on the napkin and simply left the cafe.
[ Poorly handled situation: -100 GP ]
Ian's eyes widened.
He thought he handled the situation pretty decently, but system disagreed?
What did he do wrong…?
***
Inside the cafe, Jardin looked at Moby and nodded.
"Follow him, find out about him." Jardin said with a smirk.
"Yeah, bro. He pulled out a parker like it was nothing, and those sneakers? We can even sell them for over 6000!" Moby smirked as well.
"Be careful. He said he wasn't alone."
After listening to Jardin's warning, Moby nodded and left the cafe as well.
Without even knowing, Ian had gotten a stalker.
***
'Fuck! I gained 10 for breakfast, but lost 100 instantly?!' Ian felt a headache coming.
He kicked open his apartment's door, startling Alice who was in the kitchen.
"How much do you eat in a day? All I see you doing is eating or sleeping!" Ian grumbled.
"..." Alice turned to look at Ian, her eyes deadpanned.
Ian swallowed his words, "I am sorry."
"You should be." Alice sighed, "I was making a reel, okay? I can see you are irritated so I won't put up with my bratty act, but don't take me for granted."
"Yeah." Ian said and removed his shoes by the door before shutting off the door.
'Huh?' He instantly opened the door again.
There was nothing. The corridor looked empty.
"What?" Alice asked.
"Nothing." Ian replied and shut the door again, 'I swear I saw something…'
He checked the time and it was 1:40 already.
'Whatever, I will just continue from 3. I should take a nap.'
Ian nodded to his decision and laid on the couch while turning on TV.
"Oh Ian, you know, I already got 3000 followers." Alice said excitedly from the kitchen.
She seemed awfully different from her past bratty self, and Ian wondered how she changed.
Did the slap change her so much?
He wasn't a fan of domestic violence, but if the results were this good…
"Oi did you hear me?" Alice shouted.
"Yeah yeah, heard you." Ian yawned, "If you can't even get that much with your looks, go die in a ditch."
"..." Alice grumbled a string of curses under her breath.
"I also received a few texts from some guys." she added.
"I don't particularly care." Ian said with a serious look, "We were both forced in this 'marriage', you can do what you want."
Hearing that Alice walked out to the hall.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"The guys? You can date them if you want." he said as if it was casual, but Alice's cheeks blushed.
"Are you retarded!? Why would I date anyone?!"
"I don't know. Sex?"
"..." Alice deadpanned, "Is that why you dated girls?"
"Yeah."
[ Ruining your image: -20 GP ]
'ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!' Ian instantly got furious.
'My goal is becoming self independent and proving myself!!! I don't need to care about my 'IMAGE'!!'
But obviously, the voice activated system didn't answer.
"Disappear." Ian said, without even caring that Alice heard him.
The floating text vanished obediently.
"What did you say to me??" she asked.
"Haah, nothing." Ian sighed, feeling too tired to shout.
And he didn't want to go further in negatives either.
"You're fucking weird." Alice harrumphed and barged back into the kitchen.
Ian just kept his hand on the head and closed his eyes, looking at the ceiling.
'I thought I had changed. I was getting smarter and better than I used to be.' he thought,
'But I am still the same. I lost a total of 110 GP already.'
Thinking about GP, Ian frowned.
'But… Why did I lose a 100 there? What did I… do wrong?'
'And why did they ask if I was alone or not…?'
'Ugh so many why's, I am exhausted.'
No matter how much he thought, he couldn't figure it out.
So, like a tired man he was, Ian decided to sleep on it.
It was already 2:30 and Ian shot up to his feet.
"I'm going to work," he called out.
"Bye!" he got a response from the room.
***
Ian had once again worn his favourite and best shoes.
The limited edition La Vistas.
He was in the midst of climbing down the stairs, but he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps from behind.
'Eh, that's not really a big deal. A few other people also lived here.' he thought casually and kept walking lethargically.
"Move faster dude."
Ian heard a voice he felt like he had heard somewhere before, but he didn't get time to remember it.
Because he was falling.
A shove from behind and a slip in his balance was all it took for Ian to roll down the stairs and hit the floor with a loud thud.
"Argh!" he grunted in pain.