Damian stood completely still.
The people around him continued walking.
Cars passed along the street.
Someone laughed nearby.
A bus rumbled past the intersection.
Yet none of it registered.
Because floating three feet in front of him was a massive translucent screen.
It was unlike anything Damian had ever seen.
The surface was dark and almost transparent, like smoked glass suspended in mid-air. Thin golden lines traced its edges, while glowing letters slowly formed across the center.
And there was absolutely nothing supporting it.
No projector.
No wires.
No device.
Nothing.
Damian instinctively looked behind the screen.
There was nothing there.
He looked around.
Nobody reacted.
A woman walked directly past him without even glancing at the impossible object hovering in front of his face.
Damian swallowed.
"Okay."
He whispered the word.
"Okay..."
The golden letters shifted.
«[WELCOME, HOST.]»
Damian’s eyes widened.
Host?
He took one step backward.
The screen remained perfectly in front of him.
He stepped sideways.
It followed.
Damian’s heart began pounding.
"What are you?"
Another line appeared.
«[THE 10X CASHBACK SYSTEM.]»
He stared at it.
"So I’m hallucinating."
«[NEGATIVE.]»
Damian blinked.
The system had answered him.
"You’re not supposed to answer that."
«[THE SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF RESPONDING TO THE HOST’S QUESTIONS.]»
Damian rubbed his forehead.
"Right."
He looked around again.
Still nothing.
Nobody seemed to notice the enormous golden screen floating in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Can anyone else see you?"
«[NEGATIVE.]»
"Can anyone interact with you?"
«[NEGATIVE.]»
Damian exhaled.
At least he wasn’t going to be explaining a floating screen to a police officer.
He looked back at the interface.
The original notification was still displayed.
«[EVERY LEGITIMATE PURCHASE MADE BY THE HOST WILL RETURN 10X ITS VALUE AS CASHBACK.]»
Damian’s eyes narrowed.
"Every legitimate purchase?"
«[AFFIRMATIVE.]»
"So... the laptop?"
«[PURCHASE AMOUNT: $45.00]»
«[CASHBACK MULTIPLIER: 10X]»
«[CASHBACK RECEIVED: $450.00]»
Damian stared at the number.
He already knew.
He had seen the money in his bank account.
But seeing it displayed again somehow made everything feel more real.
His eyes slowly drifted toward the cheap laptop tucked under his arm.
Forty-five dollars.
Four hundred and fifty dollars returned.
Ten times.
He swallowed.
"Can I test it?"
«[THE HOST MAY TEST THE SYSTEM AT ANY TIME.]»
Damian looked around.
There was a small convenience store across the street.
He walked toward it.
Inside, the smell of freshly baked food hit him almost immediately.
He grabbed a bottle of water.
Then paused.
He looked at the price.
$2.00.
Two dollars.
Damian walked to the counter.
The cashier scanned the bottle.
"$2."
Damian tapped his card.
"Have a good one."
"You too."
He stepped outside.
Nothing happened.
Damian waited.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Then—
DING!
The golden screen appeared.
«[PURCHASE DETECTED.]»
«[ITEM: BOTTLED WATER.]»
«[PURCHASE AMOUNT: $2.00]»
«[CASHBACK MULTIPLIER: 10X]»
«[CASHBACK RECEIVED: $20.00]»
Damian immediately pulled out his phone.
He opened his banking app.
His balance had changed.
$470.63
He stared at it.
Then at the water bottle.
Then at the screen.
A laugh escaped him.
It started quietly.
A small breath of disbelief.
Then another.
Soon Damian was standing on the sidewalk, laughing under his breath like a man who had finally lost his mind.
"$20..."
He looked at the bottle.
"I just made twenty dollars buying water."
The screen remained motionless.
Damian’s laughter slowly faded.
His expression changed.
The excitement was still there.
But now something else had entered his eyes.
Calculation.
He sat on a nearby bench.
"Okay."
He leaned forward.
"If I spend ten dollars..."
«[CASHBACK: $100.00.]»
"One hundred?"
«[AFFIRMATIVE.]»
"One hundred dollars?"
«[AFFIRMATIVE.]»
Damian’s fingers tightened around the water bottle.
"What about a thousand?"
«[CASHBACK: $10,000.00.]»
His heart skipped.
"What about ten thousand?"
«[CASHBACK: $100,000.00.]»
Damian went silent.
The city suddenly seemed much louder.
He stared at the screen.
Ten thousand dollars.
A hundred thousand returned.
His mind immediately started racing.
What about a hundred thousand?
One million.
Ten million.
A hundred million.
The numbers became ridiculous almost immediately.
Damian leaned back.
"Is there a limit?"
«[THERE IS NO UPPER LIMIT TO THE CASHBACK.]»
His heart hammered against his chest.
"No limit?"
«[AFFIRMATIVE.]»
Damian looked down at his bank balance.
$470.63.
Less than five hundred dollars.
Just a few hours ago, that number had represented his entire financial world.
Now it suddenly felt insignificant.
Not because he had become rich.
He hadn’t.
He still had less than five hundred dollars.
But he had discovered something far more valuable than money.
He had discovered a way to make money.
And there was a difference.
A very big one.
Damian stood.
He walked back toward his apartment.
His steps were faster now.
He needed to think.
He needed somewhere private.
He needed to understand exactly what he had been given.
By the time he reached his apartment, he had already made a decision.
He wasn’t going to tell Ethan.
Not yet.
He wasn’t going to tell his parents.
Not yet.
He wasn’t going to tell anyone.
Damian closed his apartment door and locked it.
Then he stood in the center of his living room.
"System."
The golden screen appeared instantly.
«[YES, HOST.]»
"Show me everything."
The interface changed.
The original notification disappeared.
A new panel appeared.
[10X CASHBACK SYSTEM]
Host: Damian Cross
System Level: 1
Cashback Multiplier: 10X
Current Balance: $470.63
Cashback Earned: $470.00
System Functions: Cashback
Special Abilities: None
System Missions: None
Damian stared at the screen.
"System level?"
«[THE HOST’S CURRENT SYSTEM LEVEL IS ONE.]»
"How do I increase it?"
There was a brief pause.
Then:
«[SYSTEM LEVEL REQUIREMENTS ARE CURRENTLY LOCKED.]»
Damian frowned.
"Locked?"
«[ADDITIONAL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS WILL BECOME AVAILABLE AS THE HOST PROGRESSES.]»
"So you’re telling me there’s more?"
«[AFFIRMATIVE.]»
Damian smiled.
That was interesting.
Very interesting.
He looked at the line beneath the system level.
Special Abilities: None.
"So eventually I’ll get abilities?"
«[AFFIRMATIVE.]»
"What kind?"
«[THE HOST HAS INSUFFICIENT AUTHORITY TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION.]»
Damian sighed.
"Of course."
The system was apparently determined to be mysterious.
He walked toward his desk and sat down.
The laptop he had just purchased sat beside him.
Forty-five dollars.
The first purchase that had changed his life.
He opened it.
It booted slowly.
Damian barely noticed.
His mind was somewhere else.
He opened a browser.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
He began searching.
Luxury watches.
Cars.
Real estate.
Technology.
Businesses.
Private jets.
The prices became increasingly absurd.
A luxury car could cost $100,000.
A house could cost several million.
A private jet could cost tens of millions.
A company?
Hundreds of millions.
Billions.
Damian leaned back.
A strange realization settled over him.
The system hadn’t given him a mountain of money.
It had given him something potentially far more dangerous.
The ability to turn spending into wealth.
And suddenly, the question wasn’t:
How much money can I make?
It was:
How much money can I spend?
Damian smiled.
For the first time in a long while, his financial problems didn’t feel like walls.
They felt like doors.
He looked at the golden screen.
"Tomorrow..."
His smile widened.
"Tomorrow, we find out just how far ten times can take me."
The system responded with a single sound.
DING!
A new golden panel appeared.
«[SYSTEM MISSION GENERATED.]»
Damian’s smile disappeared.
His eyes narrowed.
«[BEGINNER MISSION: SPEND $1,000.]»
«[TIME LIMIT: 24 HOURS.]»
«[REWARD: ???]»
Damian stared at the final line.
Then slowly grinned.
"Well..."
He leaned back in his chair.
"That’s convenient."
The countdown appeared beneath the mission.
23:59:59
And just like that—
Damian Cross’s first day as the host of the 10X Cashback System had begun.