"Good Morning Sir"
"Morning"
"Good Morning Sir"
"Morning"
Harsh walked down the hallway as people greeted him. He had a confident smile, a straight back, and a farm posture. Wearing an office suit and ready for everything he would face, he had a perfectly trimmed beard like every day and no one thought that today was anything special, just like every day he sat in his office and started to study the reports on a few new offers they had gotten, the value and brand impacts of the product and the price.
His job was quite simple, at least nowadays, he had to review the deals his staff had gotten him and pass the report on which they should take and which they should avoid. Just a year ago, he used to be the person trying to get the best deals from all the parties, but after his promotion, he became the manager of the branch at the age of 26.
Anyone who saw him will have no idea that he had just gotten the medical report last night which stated that he had a hole in his heart.
He was working because he simply didn't know what else to do. Did he lack money to get an operation done? No. It's just that the operation only had a 35% chance to succeed. Was he working so he could send money to his family back in India? No, they had enough money to buy this company many times over.
There wasn't anything or anyone stopping him from going back to India, giving the operation a try, and, even if it failed, living his last days with his family. No, there wasn't anyone stopping him but himself. His pride, his word, was what stopped him.
Even if he had left the family, his values were still with him, the value of his word. There was a saying in his family, "Raghukul Reet Sada Chali Aayi Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye," which essentially means that you must never go back on your word even if you've to give up your life.
Obviously, as someone in the trade, he had lied about many things and even gone back on his word, but the difference is that those aren't his words as a Raghuvanshi but rather just lies that were already meant to be broken.
While the loophole is quite an obvious one, a family such as his would not have survived in this era if they couldn't even lie. Yet the word of his family still could be considered iron in India, simply because anything they swore in the Raghuvanshi name, they always complied.
Would his pride let him go back to the same house and the same family that he had sworn he would not visit until he's worthy in the eyes of his father and when he calls him back?
It was, after all, he who had sworn it. His father hadn't asked him of it nor anyone else in his family. No, it was simply because his arrogance had clouded his judgment, or maybe it was the frustration of being best at everything yet could not even get the pleasure of it before his father would beat him at the very thing he came best at and remind him that there's always a bigger fish and there's no pleasure in being the strongest person in the room, because if you're the strongest person in the room then you're in the wrong room.
He had everything, he couldn't remember a thing he could not buy or a thing that he was not able to get, everything still was quite well up until the point in his life when he had challenged his father that even if he could not beat him, he was still better than a billion people at hundreds of fields.
His father had asked him "Could you have done it without the family's backing?"
This was the moment when his mentality had collapsed and he had sworn in the name of Raghuvanshi that he would not return to his family until his father called him himself and found him worthy of it.
He had started at the bottom and was currently in a decent position in a large company outside India. He was saving up money to start a business later as well. But everything had come to a halt when he started to have pain in his chest.
Office work was as usual… boring. He had no interest in the work other than earning money. He was simply overqualified even for the manager's position. If he was not so stubborn at starting from the button, he could have definitely gotten a way better job.
Getting off the work, he drove off to a bridge overlooking the river. His thoughts were a mesh of pride and loneliness. The longing for his family would sometimes outweigh his stubbornness, and in such a moment, he turned on his phone and dialed a number that was engraved in his memories.
"The number you've dialed is currently out of reach."
Well, that was the first time, he thought.
It didn't concern him much; it's been 4 years, and he had no idea if the number was still active.
Trying to remember any other number, he stared at his phone. However, suddenly, everything broke. Starting from his phone's screen and spreading around the bridge, spiderwebs appeared everywhere, cracks that looked as if space itself was breaking, and before he could react, he was in nothingness.
Looking around himself, he saw nothing but darkness; looking at himself, he found that there was no body. He could not feel his body nor could he see or hear. Was this Death? He thought. But before his consciousness could fathom his condition, he felt his body again, he could see again, he could hear his heart beating and he saw that he had a body, although now it was Naked.
Looking around, he found another person; the person in front of him looked exactly like him, down to the last detail. Well, the guy in front of him was wearing clothes at least. Except the guy in front of him was wearing clothes he never would, it was a purple sparking suit with big round sunglasses.
"Hello, My Friend," said the man in a purple suit with dangerous levels of enthusiasm.
"Can you explain what the fuck is going on?" Asked the naked man with forced politeness, forgetting that he actually doesn't swear at all, but looking at the situation, it was quite warranted.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Congratulations! You've become the owner of the Universal Trading System." Said the purple man and started clapping.
"Now, My Dear Friend, you must be wondering what it is; it's a System that makes trading possible for everyone in the universe, especially other System Holders. Goods or Services, you can trade anything. You can also request things. Do you want someone to deliver fresh goat milk to you every day at 4 AM, or do you want your neighbor to move away? Maybe you want to throw someone in the sun or visit the moon. Anything and everything can be done via the Trading system. And you, my friend, will earn a commission for all the trades."
"So it's like a company and you're hiring me?"
"Yeah, and Nah, I'm not hiring you, but it is definitely like a company, and you'll be more like an owner. Any other questions?"
"Why am I naked? Who are you? Why do you look like me?"
"Hmmm…. I can't answer all of them. You see, you don't have enough Authority to get answers; I mean, I could give you an answer outside your authority, but as soon as I do, the system will kick me out, so… you're naked because you simply aren't visualizing yourself with clothes. This place isn't actually a physical place but more like a mind palace, so just think about it and you'll be able to wear anything. As for why you only see yourself when you look at me? That's because System doesn't want you to see me, so it just displays the only face it's allowed to show you right now… your own."
"Why should I even accept the System?"
"It's not like you can just reject it; it's already bound to you, but if you really want to remove it, you'll probably have to die for that."
"So I'm forced to accept it, do I even get anything from the system? Also, I'm about to die soon anyway; why would you choose me if you know I'm about to die? Or did you not know it and just randomly chose me?"
"You can get a lot of things from the system: power, wealth, fame, whatever you want; as for your little heart disease? It's as easy as curing a normal cold for the system. Also, I didn't choose you, the system did." The man in the purple suit told the naked man who was trying to imagine himself in clothes but wasn't able to make them appear yet.
"Now you've got my attention since it can cure me; I'll accept this System of yours."
"Again… you've no choice in that matter and it's not my system." The purple man said with a lack of his usual enthusiasm.
"Yeah, yeah, so how does it work, and how do I get out of this mind palace?" Said the man in Batman suit who had just learned to conjure up clothes and found he could practically imagine anything at all.
"Nice suit, the System will give you an explanation for all that. While most of the trade is for other System Holders, ordinary people can also trade; for System Holders, they can use a plugin, and normal people can just enter your special Office, which you'll get." Said the man, who had now changed from a purple suit to a Superhero suit that Harsh could not recognize.
"Does everyone know I have a System? I've read a few novels where people have such systems, and they keep the secret. Am I also in danger with that and others trying to kill me or something?"
"Yes, I would suggest you keep it as your greatest secret. Currently, since your authority is 1, The System is still in the trial phase; at this time, anyone who is adept at sensing systems will be able to tell you have a System and might kill you to get a System core. Try to increase your Authority as fast as you can; with each increase, you'll be more secure. Because everyone wants a System Core, especially one as powerful as yours. So increase your authority; of course, each time you increase it, you'll also get other rewards and such. Now, I don't have much time, I'll tell you something that your level of Authority can't get you to understand. So listen carefully." The man in the strange superhero outfit lowered his voice as he said "Your Beginner's Package is extremely important and try to recruit all three so you can get the best reward of Beginner's Package but most importantly, don't let them know that it's another system, make them think it's their own system." As soon as he had started saying things outside what Harsh's Authority allowed, the Strange Twin of Harsh started disappearing and was completely gone as soon as he finished the sentence.
Suddenly, everything returned to normal; he was standing in front of a bridge and had his phone in his hand. He also found that the time that passed in that realm was different from the actual time. But most importantly, there was a strange signal inside his brain, it was as if a third eye that could only see one thing and that thing was a holographic text note that said:
[Installation of Universal Trading System Complete]
Once this message was put aside another one came.
[You've been chosen as the host of Universal Trading System. Please complete the first task to remain a user or fail it and cease to exist. To complete the task, you'll be given a 3 × System Contact Card(Planetary) and a basic description of its Functions.]
[System Contact Card: Randomly connects you to a system within the range designated in the name of said Card. You may send a pop-up message as you see fit to them, but you must give them the option to install a plugin of Trading System and another option to not install the plugin. Your message will be translated to the System Designated Language for the recipient to understand.
Note: Universal Trading System is not responsible for anything you may send in the message and can not be held against it.]
[Task: Use System Contact Card to make at least one Host to install the Trading System Plugin.
Punishment on Failure: Erased Existence
Rewards: Beginner Package (Rank Determined by Performance)
Task Type: Growth/Survival ]
He understood the task easily and he also found the three cards. He thought about it for a few moments and understood that he should try three different tactics on the three different systems. While he was somewhat confident in fooling people, he also understood that these System users might be quite powerful, knowledgeable, and talented themselves.
He used the first Card.
Searching…
Connecting…
Synchronizing…
Connection Established.
System: Medicine King System
Rank: G-
Host: Long Dong
Regulation: Immortal Council
Please Use the Massage Function Below.
He found that he could activate the other 2 Cards as well in different tabs, so he did it as that would help him make three different messages.
Searching…
Connecting…
Synchronizing…
Connection Established.
System: God of Sea Poseidon System
Rank: D
Host: Lex Foster
Regulation: Pantheon Of God Heads
Please Use the Massage Function Below.
Searching…
Connecting…
Synchronizing…
Connection Established.
System: True Witch System
Rank: A+
Host: Ethelreda Ring
Regulation: The Elder Council
Please Use the Massage Function Below.