Chapter 80: A Billionaire’s Intuition Is Solid Gold!
Adrian read through the notification twice.
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◆ SYSTEM ANALYSIS ◆
Host has demonstrated wealth characteristics.
Natural investment intuition is an established attribute of the billionaire profile.
Compatibility confirmed.
Reward calculating... Processing...
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A reward for thinking.
Adrian looked up from his phone, then back down at the screen. He wasn’t entirely sure how thinking had qualified as an achievement, but questioning a reward wasn’t going to make it disappear.
He’d take it.
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◆ REWARD GENERATED ◆
Host has received: +500 Wealth Points
Host has received: x1 C-Rank Gacha Pull
Note: Analysis incomplete. Prove intuition to qualify for a system upgrade.
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Five hundred Wealth Points and another gacha pull.
His mouth moved slightly as he looked at the notification. The last C-Rank pull had given him Nutritional Multiplier, which was useful in the same way eating an unreasonable amount of food every day was useful. The one before that had at least been easier to live with.
Apparently, C-Rank was broad enough to contain both.
His attention returned to the final line.
Prove intuition to qualify for a system upgrade.
That was new.
He looked around for somewhere to sit and noticed a bench beneath a tree a short distance away. There was enough space at one end, so he walked over and sat down.
He opened the System again.
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HOST QUERY REGISTERED
Host has operated within the preliminary phase only.
Demonstrating sufficient capacity will unlock the next tier.
Tier name: Terminal Phase.
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Adrian stared at the last two words.
"Terminal Phase."
He’d heard of systems giving names to their different stages before. Usually, the names were dramatic enough to make the next stage sound like the end of the world.
He wasn’t sure Terminal was particularly reassuring.
"What does that mean?"
The question disappeared into the noise of students passing nearby.
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❗ INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE ❗
Terminal Phase details are locked until analysis is complete.
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He closed his eyes for a moment.
Of course.
The System had given him just enough information to make him interested and then stopped.
At least that part was consistent.
He leaned back against the bench and looked at the screen again. Whatever the Terminal Phase actually was, reaching it would mean the System had changed somehow. More importantly, it meant there were still parts of it he hadn’t seen.
That was probably the part worth paying attention to.
He navigated to his balance.
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CURRENT BALANCE
Wealth Points: 530
Billionaire Points: 1,500
Gacha: x1 C-Rank Pull
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His eyes settled on the gacha pull.
He checked the time.
7:57 a.m.
Class started in four minutes.
Adrian looked from the time to the pull.
He was already sitting on a bench instead of going to class, and now he was considering gambling on a virtual wheel before walking into a lecture.
There was no particularly good argument for doing it.
He tapped the pull.
The gacha screen opened, lights flashing around the wheel.
Then his phone vibrated.
He stopped.
☎ Missed Call: Maya
Adrian looked at the name. He didn’t immediately move.
Maya had called him. That was unexpected.
He’d started getting used to bumping into her at this point mostly because she somehow still had a place in his life, despite how little he wanted that.
A call was different.
A text could happen because someone had something to say. A call meant she’d picked up her phone, found his number, and decided talking was easier than typing.
He didn’t know what she wanted.
He also didn’t know why that bothered him enough to keep looking at the screen.
Adrian dismissed the notification.
Whatever the reason was, he’d find out if he needed to.
He stood, slipped his phone into his pocket, and started toward the lecture hall.
It wasn’t jealousy. He knew what jealousy felt like, and this wasn’t that. He still cared about Maya in the ordinary sense that came from having spent a long time caring about someone. That didn’t disappear just because the relationship had ended.
But that wasn’t the same thing as wanting her back.
He wasn’t going to confuse the two. The question was simply why she’d called. He straightened and kept going.
By the time he reached the lecture hall, he had other things to think about.
Classes passed slowly.
By the time the final lecture ended, Adrian was still seated while everyone else began filing out. There wasn’t much point in joining the crowd immediately. He waited until the doorway had cleared, then pulled out his phone.
Maya’s missed call was still sitting there.
He opened the call history. His thumb hovered over the entry. He could call back.
Or he could leave it.
He considered it for a few seconds before deleting the missed call from the list.
Her contact remained.
Adrian looked at her name.
Deleting the call didn’t actually solve anything. It only removed the reminder that she’d called. Her number was still there, and if she wanted to talk, she’d probably call again.
He locked the phone.
There was no reason to make a decision before knowing what she wanted.
He stood, swung his bag over his shoulder, and walked out of the hall.
Jenna was the next thing he needed to deal with.
He pulled up her number and called. She answered after two rings.
"Hey. Where are you?"
"Just got out of class. What’s the situation?"
"I finished an hour ago."
There was enough irritation in her voice that Adrian could picture her expression without seeing it.
"Where?"
"Administrative building. By the fountain."
"Okay. I’ll be there in five."
"Four."
The call ended. Adrian lowered the phone. He checked the time again and started walking. The fountain wasn’t far.
Rose was the part that required more thought.
He’d told her he’d contact her before they headed out. If he went straight to Jenna without saying anything, she’d probably wonder where he’d gone. And after everything that had happened recently, giving Rose another reason to wonder about his plans wasn’t particularly useful.
He opened their chat.
His thumb rested over the keyboard for a moment.
There wasn’t much to explain.
He typed:
Adrian: Heading to the fountain by the admin building now. Meeting Jenna.
He sent it.
The message showed as delivered, then read.
No reply yet.
Adrian pocketed his phone. At least he’d warned her. Whatever happened next would be slightly less his fault.
He turned toward the administrative building and started walking.