The Upgrade Chapter 1

My eyes fluttered open to a new world and an old notification.

[Dead yet? If not, get over here and apologize. If Spencer forgives you, I’ll consider not dumping you.]

I mentally grabbed the System by its digital collar and demanded an explanation.

…Right. So, the original owner of this body completed the 100 tasks for the female lead and has returned to his own world to save his lover. Then I brought you in.

I clutched my head, a silent scream echoing in my mind. “I asked you to find me a world with women, not a world with a toxic nightmare!”

Calm down. I never said you had to stay with her. This place is full of beautiful women. Besides, the last guy left behind an eight-figure bank account, completely untouched. I brought you here to live a little. Or a lot.

Tens of millions?

Suddenly, I was feeling much better.

My phone buzzed again. A new text from the same number.

[You have thirty minutes. Get to this suite. And you’d better mean the apology. Don’t be stubborn.]

My fingers flew across the screen.

[Previous owner of this number is deceased. This is his ghost. You’ve been blocked. Boo.]

* * *

[?]

[You’re dead? So a ghost is texting me back?]

[Don’t play these childish games, Leo. You know my patience is thin.]

Tsk.

Technically, if the System hadn’t pulled me in the second the original soul left, this body would be dead. I wasn’t even lying.

But whatever. I’d seen this script a thousand times. The “100 tasks” she’d set were undoubtedly a parade of humiliations. At best, it was kneeling in the rain at midnight. At worst, it was donating a kidney on a whim. Classic martyr-complex fiction. The System’s taste was truly depraved.

The thought of dealing with a woman like that turned my stomach. And why should I? I was rich now!

Tens of millions!

“System, buddy, pal. Check my accounts. What are we talking, exactly?”

One sec… Eighty million… What’s with that look? You’re going to spend it right now?

I nearly launched the pillow into the ceiling. “Spend it? Of course, I’m gonna spend it! Money you don’t spend is just paper! Find me the biggest, most decadent, over-the-top luxury club in this city. I want the one with the highest-quality models!”

“I’m ordering eight at once!”

I’d been poor my entire last life. It was finally my turn to be the guy who buys the bar.