The heat of July hung heavy in the air, the sun blazing overhead like molten gold pouring from a cloudless sky. Cicadas shrieked in the trees, their cries a relentless reminder that summer was in full, sweltering swing.

“Hey! Are you Jamie?”

A deliveryman in a sweat-soaked orange polo shirt jogged up the narrow lane, holding out an EMS envelope like it was made of treasure.

Jamie paused at the rusted gate of his courtyard home. “Yes, that’s me.”

He accepted the envelope with both hands, his fingers trembling slightly. His smile was gentle, polite—but if you looked closely, there was a quiet wariness behind it. The kind that comes from years of holding yourself together when life kept trying to pull you apart.

As he turned to go, a group of middle-aged neighbors clustered just outside the gate, watching him with poorly disguised curiosity.

“That’s the Sterling boy, isn’t it?”

“He made top marks again—heard he got into the Redeemer Institute of the Arts!”

“A real genius, that one. Shame about his parents…”

“They’d be proud if they were still around. But art school? That stuff’s expensive. Where’s he gonna get the money?”

Jamie didn’t react. He was used to the whispers. After all, what else did people in this neighborhood have to talk about?

Inside, the old courtyard house was silent. Dust hung in the still air. Peeling paint curled on the wooden window frames, and time had worn every brick like the lines on an aging face.

Jamie stepped carefully into the small living room and set the envelope down in front of two black-and-white portraits—his parents, forever young in frames stained by incense smoke and memory.

He lit three sticks of incense, pressing them together with a practiced touch. Then he bowed low, his forehead nearly touching the floor.

“I got in,” he murmured. “I made it.”

He stayed like that for a moment, letting the silence carry his words to wherever they needed to go.

No one had expected him to succeed—not the relatives who’d passed him around like unwanted baggage, not the teachers who said talent meant nothing without connections. But he’d proved them all wrong. Pure grit had gotten him here.

He should’ve been thrilled. And he was—sort of. But the joy was already giving way to dread. Tuition. Housing. Supplies. Travel. Living in Redeemer wasn’t just a dream—it was a debt waiting to happen.

His stomach tightened at the thought.

Just then, his phone buzzed with a message.

Leo:

Mia’s throwing a grad party next week. You coming? Wanna pitch in for her gift?

Jamie:

Not going.

Leo:

What? You serious? You and Mia used to be inseparable!

Jamie:

Don’t push it. I said no.

He tossed the phone aside with a sigh, falling back onto the bed. The mattress groaned under his weight. He stared up at the cracked ceiling, where a spider web had taken over one corner.

Mia.

Just hearing her name reopened an old wound.

She was the girl everyone admired—sharp, elegant, radiant like sunlight. And for a while, she'd looked at him the same way. They’d shared pencils, doodled in margins together, exchanged glances that lingered a little too long. Everyone thought something was going on.

So did Jamie.

Until the day after the college entrance exams, when he’d finally confessed… and she’d smiled with an apology already in her eyes.

She was dating Nico.

Nico—rich, arrogant, always flaunting his brand-new car outside the school gates. He wasn’t smart. He wasn’t kind. But he was wealthy. And in a world where money could buy everything, that was all that mattered.

That was when Jamie learned the real rules of the game.

And that’s when something inside him changed.

Just as the ache in his chest began to rise again, a strange chime echoed in his head, soft and melodic like a video game reward sound.

[Joyful life System Successfully Bound!]

[Scanning host data…]

Jamie blinked. A glowing screen flickered to life in front of him, floating midair like a sci-fi HUD.

His pulse spiked.

Name: Jamie

Age: 18

Current Funds: $2,687

Pleasure Points: 0

System Alert: You have acquired a Special Ability — “Golden Touch”!

Ability: Golden Touch

Level 1 / Upgrade Progress: 0/100 Joy Points

Activation Effect: Every moment of genuine joy grants you random rewards. Additionally, you earn $0.10 per second—passively.

Legal Notice: All funds are sourced from a secure offshore trust under your name. Transactions comply with global finance laws. Enjoy your new wealth—responsibly.

He stared at the screen.

“…What?”

Was this a joke? A hallucination? Heatstroke?

He rubbed his eyes. Nothing changed. He pinched his arm. Hard. Still there.

His hands trembled slightly.

“This... this is real?”

A number began ticking in the corner of the screen:

$2,687.10… $2,687.20… $2,687.30…

Jamie sat bolt upright.

“Six dollars a minute… $360 an hour… Over $8,000 a day?”

His jaw dropped.

That was more than his entire household had seen in months.

“Is this for real?”

[Ding!]

Correct! This system is designed to reward happiness. Eat good food, play, relax, fall in love—whatever brings you joy fuels the system.

Joy Points can be used to boost skills, attributes, and unlock new powers.

Jamie burst into laughter, half in disbelief, half from pure, unfiltered thrill.

“So you're telling me... the happier I live, the richer I get?”

[Ding! First Joy Detected. Golden Touch Activated. Lucky Draw Unlocked!]

Would you like to spin?

“Hell yes.”

He slammed the “Confirm” button.

[Congratulations! You’ve unlocked: Travel Cashback Multiplier!]

Effect: All travel expenses are eligible for random cashback multipliers!

Summer’s the perfect time for a soul-searching adventure—why not start now?

“Cashback… on travel?” Jamie’s eyes gleamed. “Alright, let’s test this.”

He pulled out his phone and opened the TripX app. Just a cheap train ticket to start—Belmont, $35.

[Congratulations! 10x Cashback Activated!]

[$350 credited to account. New Balance: $3,002]

“…No way.”

He shot up, knocking his chair over as he spun around the room in shock. “It worked!”

Then, a new idea struck.

He turned to the old wall map above his bed—yellowed, creased, edges curled. He grabbed a plastic suction dart from the shelf.

He closed his eyes. Took aim. And threw.

Thwack.

The dart landed on a city in the south.

Riverton.

Jamie grinned. “Why not?”

He went all in—first-class plane ticket, baggage upgrades, lounge access. Total: $2,150.

[15x Cashback Activated!]

[$32,250 credited to account. New Balance: $33,102]

He almost dropped the phone. Thirty. Thousand. Dollars.

That was more than he’d ever dared to imagine.

[Ding!]

50 Joy Points awarded for first taste of true financial freedom.

The future is wide open, Jamie. Where you go next is entirely up to you.

He stood there in stunned silence, staring at the glowing system interface hovering in the dim room.

For the first time in his life, the world wasn’t closing in.

It was expanding.

He could breathe.

He could choose.

He could finally live.

And this? This was only the beginning.