Chapter 7: Zero to Rebate Millionaire
A couple of hours later, A guard arrived and tapped on Nathan’s door. They handed him a sealed parcel.
"From Moe," came a voice, a man. One of the guards that were with him when he stepped into the doctors office.
Nathan opened the parcel. Inside were one thousand dollars in cash, an android phone and a power bank.
The guard coughed, making a gesture with his fingers.
Of course. The tax.
Nathan counted a hundred dollars but as he was about to hand it over, he stopped.
If I want any chance out of here, I might need a guard or two on my side.
He counted out seven hundred and handed it over. The guard’s eyes widened as he saw it.
"This is more than the usual tax," the guard said, looking sideways as if someone was watching him.
Nathan smiled. "I know. It’s all yours," Nathan responded casually. "It can’t be easy handling death row inmates all day."
The guard collected it. "Oh, well, thank you. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Nathan recalled the prison acct balance increase earlier this morning. "Yes. Could you help me check if I received any deposit today and from whom?"
"I’ll be sure to make it worth your while," Nathan added.
"Alright," the guard replied. They exchanged Critter handles. The guard closed the hatch and left.
Nathan noted the exchange didn’t trigger a rebate, he kept that aside.
He turned on the device
"Theo," he called through the wall. "What’s the wifi password?"
Theo’s voice came back, a low chuckle in the dark. "You gotta give me fifty bucks first."
Nathan frowned. "I was under the impression you were doing this out of the goodness of your heart."
"I am. You gotta give me fifty bucks first," Theo replied with another chuckle.
Nathan furrowed his brow. "Are you messing with me?"
"Am I?"
Nathan brought out fifty dollars and handed it through the gap in the walls of their cells.
Theo laughed harder this time, which prompted an eyebrow raise from Nathan.
"What’s funny?"
"Nathan. The password is ’yougottagivemefiftybucksfirst’, no spaces, all lower caps."
"Oh..." Nathan retracted his hand and typed it in.
[Connected.]
"...thanks," Nathan replied.
"Enjoy," Theo said, still laughing.
Nathan created an email account and downloaded a game, Tour of Duty.
He navigated to the in-game currency section and tapped a bundle that cost, $99.99. A payment form pop-up appeared.
Nathan willed the system card to appear and typed in the details then waited for a few seconds for it to process.
[Card Accepted.]
A confirmation pop-up appeared for him to make the purchase. He tapped to confirm it.
[Purchase Successful.]
The currency balance reflected in the game and almost immediately, the system screen appeared.
[Spent: $99.99]
[Rebate : $199.98]
[System Balance: $100,099.99]
In game currency works just as the system said.
He bought nine more of the same bundle($899.91).
Each purchase returned a 2x rebate totalling $1,799.82.
[System balance : $100,999.9]
But Nathan felt it was slow.
The system said crypto won’t work but it wouldn’t hurt to test.
He downloaded a wallet app and purchased $100 worth of crypto using the card. The transaction didn’t trigger a rebate.
I guess that settles it... but what about NFTs?
Nathan never liked NFTs. Zach had taught him the ins and outs. But in the end, he couldn’t fully process why people bought digital images for absurd amounts of money.
He didn’t understand the reasoning but Zach did and made money from it. Something he hadn’t been able to do.
Skill issue.
He opened an NFT marketplace and bought a pixelated image of an ape that cost a hundred bucks.
The purchase confirmation pop up appeared and a few moments later, he saw the golden screen of the system.
[Spent: $100]
[Rebate (2x): $200]
[System Balance: $101,999.8]
His heart skipped a beat.
I take it all back. NFTs are the shit.
He funded the wallet with one grand, then bought another NFT that cost $1,000
[Spent: $1,000]
[Rebate : $2,000]
[System Balance: $101,099.9]
Go big or go home.
He funded the wallet with fifty thousand and started spending.
He bought cheap ones at first then expensive ones, until he spent the entire thing.
[Spent : $50,000]
[Rebate : $100,000]
[System Balance: $151,099.9]
The increase sent a surge of joy straight to his chest. He repeated the process a few more times with various amounts and other services like subscriptions and gift cards.
Each purchase triggered a rebate. Nathan kept at this for hours.
[System Balance: $303,199.9]
[System Balance: $690,404.9]
[System Balance: $908,709.9]
[System Balance: $1,203,079.9]
Nathan frowned at the balance. He was a million dollars rich, more money than he had ever seen in his life.
He grinned.
Why stop here?
...
A few hours later.
[System Balance: $10,404,690.9]
Nathan set the phone down for a moment and did his best to steady his shaky hands.
His breath grew uneasy as he looked at the values three times to confirm. The realization dawned on him.
Ten million dollars. I’m rich!
Nathan thought about the series of choices that had led him to this moment. He thought about his family’s struggles, but above all, he thought about the system.
He didn’t know what it was. A superpower? Advanced technology? An alien artifact? Magic? Or perhaps...even a god?
He didn’t care. Whatever it was, it had changed his life. He was millions of dollars richer than he had ever been.
He got up and bowed in no particular direction.
’Thank You System’
[Ding! You’re welcome, Host.]
Nathan smiled at the screen. He let his eyes drift around his cell. The concrete ceiling, the thick walls and the locked doors.
He recalled the days where him and Catherine would compare lottery tickets as they ate. His father, a man abandoned by his wife the moment the money stopped coming.
His thoughts also drifted to his friends who had left him to die.
A smile tugged on his lips as he pondered all of it. The golden glow of the system illuminated his face, its balance reflected in his eyes.
That same moment, his phone chimed with a notification sound. The guard had sent him a message.
[Guard: Hey.]
[Nathan: Whats up]
[Guard: You received a deposit of five hundred dollars. The sender’s name is Catherine D. Ledger.]
[Nathan: Got it. Do you know how she got the details?]
[Guard: She came to visit you yesterday but that wasn’t possible so she asked if you had an account.]
Nathan smiled, typing a response.
[Thanks for the help. Do you have a crypto wallet?]
[Guard: Yes I do but you’ve already paid the tax.]
[Nathan: Don’t worry about it. Send the address.]
The guard typed the address. Nathan sent $2,000 worth of crypto and typed a reply.
[Sent.]
A couple of minutes passed and the typing indicator in the chat popped up for a few moments.
[Guard: 👀 Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?]
[This is more than the usual tax]
[Nathan: No I didn’t. It’s all yours. Have a good day.]
[You too Sir.]
Nathan reacted to the message with a thumbs up emoji and sank into his bed.
Sir? Is this power of money, Nathan wondered.
A small chuckle escaped him. He sent a message to Moe and requested his wallet address and paid for the items he got.
[Spent: $2000]
[Rebate (2x): $4000]
[System Balance: $10,406,690.9]
Nathan frowned at the screen. Then made a series of purchases and withdrawals with the card until he was satisfied.
[System Balance: $11,000,000]
Nathan snapped his fingers.
Perfect.
He checked the gift cards, subscriptions, NFTs and other items he bought.
He shrugged. He could always sell them later.
A couple of hours later the speaker announced dinner time. Nathan stood up and received his food. It was rice with sauce but it looked far better than yesterday’s meal.
He set the food on one side of the bed and stood up.
He spread his arms, tilted his head back, and looked up at the concrete ceiling.
For the first time in years, money wasn’t an issue.
No way I’m dying here.
Now then... How do I escape Stone River?