The crowd dispersed, many still chuckling at the unexpected turn of events.
Maluck returned to the hotel and, without ceremony, tossed the thick roll of cash onto the bed in front of Chloe. “Got your back wages. And a little extra.”
Chloe caught it, flipping through the bills with practiced fingers. Her eyebrow shot up. “A little extra?”
Maluck smirked and held up what was left of his own stack.
“Whoa! So much?” she said, eyes widening. “What the hell did you do? Rob the guy?”
“Something like that,” Maluck said, grinning. “Let’s just say your ex-boss bet against me and… well, he lost. Badly.”
Chloe gave him an amused but skeptical look. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or deeply amused.”
“Oh, be both,” Maluck said, flopping onto the couch. “Because it gets better. The whole thing got recorded and put on Cointok.”
Chloe’s eyes lit up like a jackpot winner. “You’re kidding. I have to see this.”
She grabbed her phone and pulled up the app, scrolling until she found the trending video. And there it was—the now-infamous clip of Ron’s humiliation, with thousands of likes and comments rolling in. The camera had caught everything: Maluck’s smug confidence, Ron’s growing frustration, the crowd absolutely eating it up as a single penny wrecked a man’s entire week.
They watched it together, and Maluck, in secret, thought he looked quite handsome and delightfully arrogant.
The best part?
[System Task Complete]: Make sure this bastard learns the value of fair pay. Bonus based on severity.
?.02 Perception
?.02 Intelligence
As the notification faded, Maluck stretched, utterly content.
Chloe snorted. “Damn, I should’ve quit way sooner.”
They both laughed, the tension of the day melting away.
***
Now that Chloe wasn’t working and Maluck had nothing pressing to do while waiting for his check to clear, he decided to spend the next three days just lounging in the hotel.
Seriously, that was the plan.
He and Chloe had fun in the gym, he suffered the occasional bad luck incident, and he focused on one main goal—building up his Bad Luck Points.
For three days, Maluck let the bad luck roll in. Small annoyances. Minor inconveniences. A slow, steady avalanche of bullshit.
First, the shower water turned ice cold exactly ten seconds into washing his hair. He stood there, shampoo dripping down his face, praying for the hot water to come back before he lost feeling in his toes. Spoiler: It didn’t.
Then, there was the socks conspiracy. Somehow, every time he put on a pair, at least one was mysteriously damp. It wasn’t water. It wasn’t coffee. It wasn’t anything he could explain. And he hated it.
His fancy complimentary hotel pen exploded in his hand, leaving him looking like he had just lost a fight with an ink demon. The ink did not wash off easily. His fingers looked like he had taken up calligraphy as a blood sport.
His toothpaste tube betrayed him, exploding not just onto his toothbrush, but all over the sink and mirror. Like a damn crime scene.
Then came the cursed gym towel incident. After a solid workout, he grabbed a fresh towel, only to find it had a mysterious rough patch right in the middle. Like it had been washed in pure spite. It was like drying off with mild sandpaper.
His shoes developed a squeak. Not a normal squeak. A loud, aggressive, mocking squeak that happened only when he walked on marble floors. The problem? The entire damn hotel was marble.
At night, his phone kept slipping off the bedside table for absolutely no reason. Gravity was against him.
And then, just as he hit 99 BP, Maluck sat down in triumph… and knocked over his glass of water. Right into his lap.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He checked his BP, sighing.
Bad Luck Points (BP): 99.
‘Finally.’
And then, as if the universe wanted to add one last F U, the TV remote batteries died.
There, at last, he hit 100 BP!
Grinning, he immediately went to use the Fortune Tuner.
25 LP was all he needed.
Then he realized.
He had no LP.
SERIOUSLY?!
Once he converted all that BP, he’d have a nice, fat 50 LP to work with. But right now?
He was completely screwed. ‘Why wasn’t he smarter? Why didn’t he save some LPs?’
Maluck sat there, staring at his stat screen, feeling like the biggest idiot in the universe.
100 BP. 0 LP.
This was not the awesomeness he thought it would be.
Now, he deeply regretted every single time he had mocked protagonists in novels who hoarded their points like dragons sitting on gold.
“Use your damn skill points, dumbass!” he had yelled at his phone countless times while reading. “Why are you so worried about emergencies!”
Turns out, it wasn’t about emergencies.
It was about having a buffer for when you were a dumbass.
Which he clearly was.
He groaned and flopped onto the bed, dramatically covering his face with a pillow.
The System, ever helpful, decided now was the perfect time to rub it in.
[System Response] “Actions have consequences. Maybe next time, manage your resources better.”
Maluck shot up. “Are you serious right now?!”
No response.
Because, of course, the System only talked when it wanted to insult him.
He flopped back down, arms spread, staring at the ceiling. He could feel the cosmic judgment pressing down on him.
He was a fool. The clown. The absolute buffoon who had let himself hit 100 BP without a single LP in reserve.
He sighed. He had exactly two options right now:
1.Find a way to get LP immediately.
2.Pray his bad luck didn’t hit him with a major disaster before he figured out Option 1.
A knock at the door made him tense. ‘Oh no. It begins.’
***
Thankfully, it was just Chloe, who had forgotten her key card and also didn’t feel like looking shady while breaking into the room. He greeted her with a quick, distracted “hi,” before immediately pacing around the room, deep in thought.
Maluck gritted his teeth. He was completely stuck. He could feel the pressure building. The Bad Luck points were at a dangerous high, and he still hadn’t figured out a way to solve the problem. Every second that time ticked by, it was a second closer to an unexplainable flower pot dropping onto him from a third floor window.
With 100 BP, any Good Luck event would first burn through all his Bad Luck Points—which meant no LP gained.
That also meant buying Koala Kola’s was useless. Any “Sorry, try again.” would just lower BP without actually giving him LP. Last time, he had burned it down to about 6 BP before he started winning sodas. Completely useless.
And gambling? Same issue. He could lose money, sure, but all it would do was lower BP. There was no way to generate LP from it.
That left him with only one option.
System Tasks.
Maluck sighed. He just knew the System was going to make him do something stupid.
He needed to trick the System into giving him a task—preferably one with LP as a reward. But how?
“Hey, System,” he said out loud, rubbing his temples. “I could really use a System task right now.”
[System Response] “Then go do something interesting.”
“…That’s not helpful.”
[System Response] “Neither is sitting in your room whining.”
Maluck groaned. He needed a plan.
The thing about System tasks was that Maluck had noticed something weird—the System had moods.
Sometimes it was angry. Sometimes it was greedy, pushing him to make money. And sometimes… sometimes it was downright slutty, practically encouraging him to go out and experience the pleasures of the world like a damn harem novel protagonist.
But today?
Today, the System had apparently become a prude.
When Maluck asked, “System, I need some LPs. What’s the best way to do that? Should I go pick up some girls with Chloe?”
The response came instantly.
[System Response] Oh no! Don’t do that! Chastity is, like, so important! Everyone should strive for it! I mean, do you really want to be just another guy chasing after fleeting pleasures instead of embracing true virtue? No way! You’re better than that!
Maluck blinked. What. The. Hell.
“Are you serious? There’s still a System task for me to convince Chloe to have a threesome!”
[System Response] Oh-em-gee, no way! Chastity is, like, super important! You gotta keep your heart pure and your mind focused on, y’know, wholesome things! No distractions, just good, clean fun! Also… uhh, that task? Yeahhh, it kinda expired. Too bad! But hey! New day, new blessings, right?!
Maluck rubbed his temples. “I think you just called me a sinner.”
[System Response]If the shoe fits, girl! But maybe let’s try on a different pair—one that walks the path of goodness and light!
Maluck groaned harder. Of all the personalities it could have woken up with today, it had to be the judgmental nun.
“Alright, fine,” he said. “So… no LP for picking up girls. What about gambling?”
[System Response] Oh no, bestie! Gambling is a total no-go! It’s just setting yourself up for trouble. Let’s focus on making honest, wholesome choices instead!
Maluck squinted. “That’s rich, coming from a luck-based System.”
[System Response] It’s one thing to wisely manage fortune, but it’s another to just throw it all away like confetti! Would you toss pearls into a pigpen? Let’s make smarter choices!
Maluck threw up his hands. “Okay, fine. What do I do then? How do I get LP?”
The System paused before answering.
[System Response] Oh gee, Bestie! I guess I could whip up some Tasks for you! Buuuut just a heads-up—they’ll be a bit tougher. And, like, if you fail? There might be some penalties. Try your best :)
Maluck sighed. “Looks like I have to go feed orphans or help an old lady cross the street or something.”
[System Response]Aww, Bestie! A heart that gives is a heart that totally prospers! Spread that kindness like rainbows and hugs!
Maluck glared at nothing. “I swear, if tomorrow you wake up as Greedy System again and start telling me to hoard money, I’m gonna sue for emotional whiplash.”
He decided, even though he had the Prudey System today, at least it had given him some hints.
If Chastity knew he had nicknamed her Prudey System, she might have given control to Justice so she could smite him! She just wanted him to be pure!
“Welp. Guess I’m spending the day doing wholesome stuff. Better start looking up soup kitchens.”
Maluck groaned.
Being a good person was going to be so much work.
***
