Chapter 5: Planning things out

His breathing quickened as he saw the balance he had from the stocks in Viper LTD.

"It worked, it worked!" He yelled and leaped to his feet. He stared at the screen for longer than normal, wanting to be sure that it was true. He refreshed the page over and over again until it became solid in his mind that he was really seeing the truth.

[You have gained 400,000 Credits cashback, 20,000 SP, 10 EXP]

[Do you wish to withdraw Credits?]

Leon stared at the system with actual fear forming in his eyes. He could barely control his mind at this point and he wanted to scream out from the depths of his heart.

"Four hundred thousand cashback? You have to be joking, you have to be joking." He hesitated for a few seconds, swallowed his saliva hard, and then proceeded to make a decision.

"Withdraw it," he muttered with uncertainty.

DING

His phone chimed. He looked at it and froze. It was an alert from his bank. He had received four hundred thousand Credits.

"I... I got the money." Leon muttered, breathing heavily and trying to keep himself composed. He was doing everything right now to ensure that he did not yell. By suppressing all the excitement, he caused tears to fall down his eyes, tears of joy, sadness, and all, a mix of everything that he could feel in that moment.

He collapsed to his knees and began tearing up even more, shaking and sobbing. He stayed there for over five minutes before he finally gathered himself.

"It really worked. I don’t know where this system came from or what I did to deserve this, but I’ll make sure I make the best of this.

I’ll build my empire with everything that it has given me. I’ll ensure that every single thing I touch turns to gold, and I’ll rule the world at the end of the day."

His eyes burned with an intense desire. This was his chance. He did not want to simply enjoy the money, no, he wanted to build, he wanted to create, and he wanted to do it himself at the very pinnacle of all existence.

Leon pushed himself from the floor. He picked up his phone and checked it again. A notification came from his class group. He had lectures today and it was an important class.

"Urghh, still have school today." He rolled his eyes and placed the phone down. He leaned onto his table and placed his hands down on it, staring at the screen.

"There is a lot I can invest in, a lot I can use to build wealth. But I should not rush into this right now. If studying business as an elective has taught me anything, it’s the fact that unusual movements cause a lot of attention.

Viper LTD will surely want to find out who owns twenty percent of their entire company. They will want to see if they can shake me off that twenty percent and get it back now that they have started growing."

Leon proceeded to use appraisal on Viper LTD again, and he saw that it still had a ninety-nine percent chance of growing continuously, and by the end of the week they would easily become worth ten million, and that would make him worth two million.

"Yeah, there is no way I am giving up my share of this company."

Leon muttered. He placed his hands behind his back and leaned back, stretching himself until he cracked a few bones and felt more free.

"Let’s get started."

He walked into his shower and took a quick bath. It was the best bath he had taken in a very long time.

When he walked out, he noticed that he had received more messages on his phone. He picked it up and checked, and it was actually a mail from the stock platform.

They were delivering a message from Viper.

They wanted to meet with Leon and have a talk with him.

"That was pretty fast," Leon muttered. He knew that they were going to do it, and they would try to make him feel like a kid and manipulate him. After all, they had all his information.

Leon got dressed, a grey hoodie, his best jeans, and sneakers. He even pulled out the best fragrance he had, the one he only used for date nights.

He stepped out of his apartment and was about to head to class, but then he stopped and looked at Sophia’s door.

Maybe, just maybe, this was the best route to go, fully investing in her to become someone under him and make her believe that her growth was as a result of him.

He walked over to the door, hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door twice. He waited for a bit, but no one came, so he thought she was out and turned to leave.

The door opened and she looked out. "Hello."

Leon turned to look at her. He was immediately stunned. She had on a crop top and some sports shorts, her face and chest shining from sweat. It was evident that she was working out.

"Uhm," he cleared his throat and forced himself to focus.

"Uhm, sorry, good morning. I kinda wanted to ask you something," he said, slightly nervous.

"Hmm? What’s that?" She asked.

"So, I’ve never had someone care about me enough to come check on me when I had an issue, so I wanted to thank you and ask if I can take you out for dinner or something anytime soon?"

He managed to get all the words out. She looked at him, a bit stunned. She did not expect that at all.

"Don’t you have a girlfriend?" She asked. She had seen his ex come visit a few times before.

"Yeah, not anymore. She broke up with me for someone else. Pathetic, I know." Leon said.

"Not pathetic, she probably didn’t deserve you." Sophia said with a soft, comforting smile. "Yeah, I’d like to go on a date with you."

"Great," Leon blurted out and then managed to control himself.

They exchanged numbers, and she went back inside to work out while he headed to school.