Idle Tycoon System

Noah Carter didn't mean to break reality. It just sort of... happened.

On a random, ordinary, dull day. The broke, software developer had spent three years trying to create an algorithm.

If this algorithm worked, his tiny startup might finally attract serious investors.

More importantly, he could pay off his mountain of medical debt from his father's hospitalisation.

"Come on, you stubborn piece of garbage," Noah muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he debugged his algorithm's latest version.

The table he was coding on was by no means tidy, let alone professional. It was filled with energy cans and piles of ramen cups.

Outside, rain lashed against the windows of his cluttered apartment-slash-office, the kind of place real estate agents optimistically called "cozy" when they meant "barely larger than a storage unit."

Lightning cracked uncomfortably close, making his old power strip flicker ominously.

"No, no, no!" He lunged for the backup switch, but...it was too late.

The lights blinked out.

For one heart-stopping moment, darkness took over. Then his monitors flickered back on, displaying not his code but a single blue message: