Chapter 143: Make It Rain!
Hugo lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling with the kind of intensity usually reserved for dramatic movie scenes where the hero's life falls apart.
His bed creaked slightly beneath him, but he didn't move. The room was still, the kind of silence that made you hear your own heartbeat.
The dim glow of his desk lamp threw long shadows, adding to the oppressive solemnity of the moment. He sniffled, barely audible, but enough to punctuate the despair hanging in the air.
His face, however, was a battlefield of emotions. His lips pressed into a tight line, but every now and then, they quivered.
His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, and—most telling of all—his sniffles were soft but steady. Hugo sniffled again, quickly wiping his nose.
"I'm not crying," he mumbled, his voice barely audible. "This is just… dust or something."
But the weight of his thoughts pressed down on him harder than gravity ever could. With a deep sigh, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes hollow as they drifted back to the ceiling.
"This system," he whispered, his tone laced with bitterness, "it's not a gift. It's a curse."
He sat up abruptly, his hair sticking out in random directions from laying down for so long. He needed an haircut badly but had been too busy if recent to trim his buzz cut.
"A new death mission? Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to find a 10+ girl in three months? Do they think I have a VIP pass to some secret supermodel meetup?" He laughed bitterly, shaking his head.
The fact that he now had a new guillotine placed above his neck wasn't even the worst problem...
"And even if I somehow survive this mission," he continued, throwing his hands in the air, "what then? Another mission? And then another one? It's like some cruel, never-ending game on nightmare mode!
"There's no save point, no pause menu, and worst of all—no respawns!" He flopped back onto the bed with a groan.
It was like a deadly game where his life was the prize, and it never stopped!
It would never stop!
He laid down on his back with a dramatic groan, his arms spread out like he'd just been crucified by life itself.
For a moment, he tried to collect himself. "Okay, Hugo. Just breathe. Three months. That's plenty of time. No need to panic yet."
His first death mission had been only one month, yet he had passed it. Maybe this time he could do so as well?
He had time, right?
But his brain refused to listen. "Three months," he muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Yeah, sure. Like finding a 10+ girl is as easy as ordering pizza. Where do I even start? Should I hang out at a luxury spa? Crash a millionaire's party? Maybe there's a dating app for people this hot. Ugh!"
His thoughts spiraled again, and he buried his face in his pillow, letting out a muffled groan. "My life is trash," he mumbled, his voice barely audible.
The room fell silent again, and Hugo sank deeper into his self pity. But just as he was about to wallow for eternity, his phone buzzed on the bedside table.
The vibration was sharp and intrusive, and Hugo glared at it like it had personally offended him.
He grabbed the phone with zero enthusiasm, already bracing for the usual. "Probably Lily or Lisa sending memes again," he grumbled, swiping at the screen.
But when he saw the notification, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Cash App?" he read aloud, confused. "What the hell? Did my… oh crap, did my porn subscription renew? No, no, I was supposed to cancel that!"
Curiosity overtook him, and he tapped on the notification. His eyes widened as he read the message.
[Credit received: $50,000.00.]
Hugo blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. His jaw slowly dropped, but no words came out.
For a full ten seconds, he just stared at the screen like it might suddenly vanish. Then, like a man possessed, he hit refresh.
The number didn't change.
He hit refresh again. Still there.
"No freaking way!" he exclaimed, practically choking on his own disbelief. He stared at the screen like it might suddenly start laughing and call him a fool.
Before he could process the insanity, another notification popped up. This time, it was a message from Sanchez.
[Don't know how the hell you managed to sleep with Lisa, man. I tried and failed, but a bet's a bet. $50K is yours. Never betting with you again, you dark-magic-using bastard.]
Hugo stared at the message, his brain completely short-circuiting. "No way…" he whispered. Then, louder, "NO FREAKING WAY!"
He jumped up from the bed, pacing the room as if movement might help him process what just happened. His mind raced back to the day they made the bet.
Lisa had been standing there, confident and radiant, ready to teach him how to ride a bike. Sanchez, ever the cocky one, had laughed and said, "No guy alive can get a date with her, let alone sleep with her."
Hugo, feeling particularly reckless, had shot back, "Bet me fifty grand, and I'll prove you wrong." Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
At the time, it was nothing more than a joke. A throwaway comment. But now… now it was real.
"Sanchez actually paid up," Hugo muttered, his voice tinged with awe. "He actually sent me fifty thousand dollars!"
His disbelief quickly turned into uncontainable excitement. "I'm rich!" he shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm freaking rich!"
He started pacing faster, his thoughts spiraling into wild fantasies. "I could buy a car. No, wait, two cars! No, wait, a yacht! Do I even like yachts? Who cares—I'M BUYING ONE!"
"Wait till Collins hears about this!" Hugo shouted, leaping off the bed. "I'm gonna make it rain!"
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