"I'm leaving. Do you have anything else to say to me?"
Inside an ordinary apartment in Rosewood Gardens complex, Olivia stood fully dressed by the door. Her flight attendant uniform accentuated her slender figure, with black stockings highlighting her delicate legs.
She turned to look at Marcus, her eyes filled with complicated emotions that words couldn't express.
Marcus had a cigarette between his lips, his gaze fixed on the woman he'd shared his life with for four years.
After a long silence, he finally extinguished his cigarette and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "How about... one last time?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Olivia bit her crimson lip, hesitated briefly, then gave a slight nod.
Several hours later, Olivia fixed her disheveled hair and prepared to leave with her suitcase.
Her voice trembled slightly: "It's all my fault. If you feel wronged, take it out on me now. Hit me, curse at me—I'll accept it all."
"I'm sorry, Marcus."
With those final words, Olivia turned and walked away.
Watching her leave, Marcus sat alone on the balcony and lit another cigarette.
He looked at the potted plants they had grown together in the corner of the balcony, his thoughts drifting back to their university days.
They had first met during a campus event, getting to know each other before falling in love.
Along the way, they had supported each other, striving together toward their goals.
After graduating from flight school, Olivia had secured a position as a flight attendant thanks to her exceptional appearance and elegant demeanor.
Meanwhile, Marcus had successfully joined a well-known foreign company, earning a monthly salary of over ten thousand.
Together, their combined monthly income exceeded twenty thousand—a decent wage in many cities.
But in the exorbitantly priced metropolis of Westport, this income seemed insignificant.
The apartment Marcus rented already cost six thousand a month. Add in daily living expenses, transportation, and communication fees, and their basic monthly expenses easily exceeded ten thousand.
Not to mention holiday gatherings, shopping, and other additional expenses—every expenditure stretched their finances thin.
Initially, they had been hopeful, believing that if they worked hard together, their future would eventually improve.
But as time passed, two or three years after graduation, harsh reality shattered their beautiful expectations.
They finally realized that their current lifestyle might be as good as it would ever get, with little prospect for improvement.
When Olivia calculated that with their current income level, it would take at least 200 years to afford a house in Westport—and even then, only in the distant suburbs—both fell silent.
In that moment, Marcus understood that their relationship had reached its end.
In the living room, surrounded by cigarette smoke, Marcus leaned against the cold wall.
Olivia had been quite thoughtful before leaving—she'd prepaid three months' rent and even left detailed instructions for every item in the house.
And then, she was gone.
Looking back over the years, Marcus had truly given his all.
To earn more money, he had worked his way up to assistant team leader at his company, and even spent evenings and weekends driving for a rideshare service.
The "996" work schedule? That was nothing—he'd even endured working through countless nights.
But in this city, no amount of effort seemed to be enough.
What a joke to say "once you're here, you're a Westport citizen"—it sounded bitterly ironic.
Looking at the sky outside the window, he felt only profound exhaustion.
For so many years, he had suppressed his own desires for the sake of survival. Now, it was time to indulge himself.
His eyes caught sight of the brightly lit massage parlor downstairs, and his gaze flickered momentarily.
But ultimately, he turned back to his room and powered up his nearly decade-old laptop.
Opening the Ultrazon shopping site, he pulled up his long-cherished wishlist and clicked "order" without hesitation.
A top-of-the-line i9 desktop computer with an RTX 4090 graphics card!
Sitting in front of the computer, Marcus's finger trembled as he confirmed the payment.
Thirty thousand dollars, gone just like that.
He refreshed his bank account notification.
[Card ending in 4680, July 2nd, 13:21 - $29,850 deducted, remaining balance: $45,120]
Looking at this enormous expenditure, Marcus felt no pain—instead, he experienced an unprecedented sense of liberation. The heavy burden of saving for a house had finally been lifted.
Whatever happened next, he could always leave Westport and return to his hometown to live.
All these years of trying to put down roots in Westport, waking up early and going to bed late, scrimping and saving—it had been too exhausting.
Opening the gaming platform on his computer, Marcus eagerly added long-coveted games to his cart: "Elden Ring," "The Witcher 3," "Sekiro," "Red Dead Redemption 2"...
Games he had only dared to watch others play before, he could finally enjoy himself.
The thrill of buying left Marcus grinning as he lay on his bed. This feeling of spending money like water was absolutely exhilarating!
Just then, a cold mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his ear:
[Detected host engaging in indulgent spending. Billionaire Indulgence System activated]
[Drink today's wine today, why sigh alone at the moon?]
[Life is short—if not for yourself, why come to this world at all?]
Marcus was still in a daze, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Suddenly, a series of mechanical prompts echoed in his mind.
[Host completed first indulgent purchase. Reward: $220,000]
[Host completed indulgent purchase. Reward: $10,000]
[Host completed indulgent purchase. Reward: $10,000]
[...]
The notifications continued one after another.
At the same time, Marcus's phone began to vibrate frantically.
He quickly pulled out his phone to check, only to see text messages flooding in:
[Valued customer, your Pinnacle Bank account
ending in 3302
has received a deposit of $220,000. Source: legitimate]
[Valued customer, your Pinnacle Bank account
ending in 3302
has received a deposit of $10,000. Source: legitimate]
[Valued customer, your Pinnacle Bank account
ending in 3302
has received a deposit of $10,000. Source: legitimate]
Seeing these deposit notifications, Marcus finally realized this was all real.
As an avid reader of web novels since childhood, he was more than familiar with "system" stories.
After waiting for more than twenty years, he had finally received a system of his own.
After the initial excitement subsided, Marcus slowly gathered his thoughts and carefully analyzed the operating rules of this peculiar system.
It seemed the first reward came after purchasing the computer, followed by the rewards from buying games.
He pondered thoughtfully, realizing the compensation appeared proportional to the spending amount—the more he spent, the greater the reward.
With an experimental mindset, Marcus selected a few more games and paid for them.
As he expected, only the first couple of game purchases triggered the reward mechanism; subsequent expenditures yielded no further returns.
He nodded to himself—the system was designed quite meticulously, evidently to prevent people from exploiting loopholes.
If one could infinitely earn rewards by repeatedly purchasing small items, that would be too much.
It seemed that after repeating similar consumption patterns multiple times, the system automatically blocked the reward effect.
