Augustus blinked. Bet? With a surprised expression, then his attention shifted as a new task panel hovered before his eyes.
Ding!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Main Task: Save Crunch Studio]
– Mini Goals:
[×] Gain Majority Control, 70% shares – $200,000
[×] Secure a Better Work Environnt – $500,000
[×] Invest in Equipnt & Staff – $100,000
| Penalty: Public opportunity lost. Future startup-related rewards reduced permanently by 25%
| Reward: $1,000,000 Allies Confidence
| The decision is yours. Build your empire—or walk away. [Accept/Deny]
Note: This is a rating-based task. Final Reward may increase based on your rating. Accept the task to view the current rating.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Main Task? Save the startup and...What the fuck one, two, S-six zero’s that’s in millions... Augustus froze processing the mont Looks like the system ans business now. he thought,
but his attention soon snapped back as another employee shouted, "How!? We have been at it for over a week? And with team effort we just solved it yesterday," he said with a stunned expression.
The Crunch Studio was a ga developer startup, but most of its earnings ca from taking small projects and solving nial problems for established companies who wanted to outsource so ga chanics.
So their inco wasn’t anything great; everyone worked here for learning and passion while earning what small amount ca to them.
"Augustus has always been smart, the only reason he didn’t join earlier was because the pay here wasn’t that good," Keith clarified with a proud smile as if he was the one who solved it.
"Impressive. As promised to Keith, after his many requests that you needed money, I’ll pay you $200 every month plus what others get too. I know it’s not a lot, but that’s the best I can do," David said.
He had been running this small startup for over a decade but regrettably, it never took off. "Don’t worry about others, they all agreed to this if you pass this small test," he spoke with assurance.
"Yeah, Augustus, my man, don’t worry, and congratulations on joining Crunch Studio," another employee said, accepting him easily and added, "But Keith, you sure he is poor?" looking at Augustus’s clothes. Keith gave a silent nod.
"Boss, what do you think of celebrating a new star employee’s addition? It’s been quite so ti since we went to the alley mug, and we’ve also completed a project from NextByte Gas. I think it calls for a small party," another employee suggested with a soft smirk.
The room was filled with welcoming vibes. Everyone was young and eager. There was no office politics or deceit. Rather, instead of putting others down, they wanted to learn from each other, including Augustus.
"Augustus, teach so tricks dude. How did you do that?" Chris mumbled.
"Teach you? Bro, you just figured out copy-paste last week," Keith said, shaking his head.
"Kek."
"Hahahahah!"
The room burst into laughter, even Chris. Though in truth, everyone knew Chris had always been the sharpest and most eager before Augustus showed up.
I’ll almost cry now. What is this feeling? I’ve never felt like this, Augustus thought, letting out a suppressed laugh.
After rembering the events from being depressed to getting the system and until now where people welcod him with open arms while making him feel included, this was a distant feeling that almost made him tear up.
But his wary mind couldn’t point it out. Was it because he looked much better or they were simply good? Who cares, I’m happy and that’s all that matters.
"Fine, but please go easy on your poor boss," David approved with a happy sigh and shook his head.
"Woohoo!"
"A new friend and a party. I couldn’t ask for more."
"Less gooo!"
Everyone burst open with joy. They walked to a small restaurant that served alcohol and food. It was just 2-3 streets away from them. And everyone was of legal age, so there were no issues with that.
***
"Haha, drink more, my new friend, don’t shy around," an employee said in a drunken voice.
"Haha, Yes, yes I’m drinking," Augustus replied with a wry smile not knowing how else to react while sipping and grabbing a small chicken piece on a plate.
Everyone drank and ate with joy while growing closer to each other.
Where is the boss? I can’t see him here, Augustus thought and nudged at Keith. "I don’t see boss here. Let’s go look for him," he said.
"Sure, let’s go," he smiled and stood up, then added while glancing at his colleagues, "We’ll get so fresh air. You guys enjoy."
They both walked out and looked around to find David.
After searching for a few minutes, Augustus noticed soone in the corner of an alleyway, after a closer inspection it was David lying down unconscious.
He sucked in a sharp breath "Keith, get so water and quickly co here!" and yelled while running toward David.
"Boss, boss!" Keith swiftly followed while carrying a water glass glass. Augustus grabbed it and sprinkled so water on David’s face while turning on the torch as it was dark.
And only after turning on the light did they notice all the bruises on his face.
"He’s been badly hurt."
David slowly opened his eyes while Augustus and Keith gave him shoulder support to stand up.
"What happened, David?" Keith asked in a grim tone.
"argh...N-nothing. Just book a taxi. I’ll go ho. There’s so money in my pocket use that to pay the bill," David’s Voice cracked nervously. "And please don’t tell anybody about this" he requested.
"Were they the sa loan sharks, boss?" Keith asked, having seen David argue with so people behind the office.
"H-how did you know? Ouch... Whatever, book a taxi. I’ll go ho first."
"No, I’ll take you to the hospital. Let’s go," Augustus said and began to walk slowly.
"No! Aah, ah, stop. That’s too costly. I’ll recover in my ho easily," David tried stopping himself.
***
"Don’t worry. After a thorough checking, Mr. David will recover soon," the doctor stated with a firm voice and walked out of the room.
"Sigh, I said I was good. Now, there’s more expenses," David said letting out an exasperated sigh.
Augustus didn’t fully know how bad it was with the loan sharks, but he had gotten a general idea. "Boss, please listen to carefully," he began, aiming to complete the first task while also easing David’s worries.
"If things are this difficult, please consider selling 70% of Crunch Studio to . I’ll buy it, move the office to a more spacious floor, And while at it, upgrade all the systems and facilities so that everyone can work happily in a better environnt," Augustus concluded.
Keith, sitting beside him, pulled his clothes. "Stop joking, man. You know giving false hope is very bad, right?" And as he said those words in a hushed tone...his phone rang.
"Oh shit! Yes, yes, I’m coming," he panicked and looked at Augustus. "Sorry, bro, it’s my parents’ anniversary today. It almost slipped my mind. I’ll see you tomorrow."
"Take care, boss," he said and left the room in a hurry, since nothing was serious with David he didn’t worry much.
David looked at Augustus and grumbled with a bitter smile "Yeah, like he said, stop giving false hope, kid."
"Haha, David, I’m not joking. Take your ti to decide until tomorrow. Rest well, and you should be recovered by tomorrow. I’ll also pay the hospital bill, so don’t worry about anything and just rest well," Augustus said and stood up, but before he even reached for the door...
"If you’re serious, I’ll take you up on that offer," David quickly decided in a desperate tone.
Augustus smiled. "Don’t worry boss. You will still be the one to handle everything. Rest well now. We will et tomorrow in your office," he said noticing his desperate tone.
David smiled with furrowed brows and then nodded at his response, Augustus nodded back and stepped out of the room.
Then began walking toward the billing counter "Hello, bill for patient David Hamilton, please," he asked the lady sitting at the counter.
"Give a minute, please," she said and searched for a file and handed it to him.
Ergency Room Charges: $950
CT Scan & X-rays: $1,200
Doctor & Specialist Fees: $690 ... ... Total Billing: $4,785
He read the total bill, and what once seed a hefty amount, he now paid it with a soft smile.
"Since this place has a good work environnt...System, accept the task," he instructed with a steady gaze...and to be honest he was going to accept it anyhow, who could resist 1 million freaking dollars right?
But what Augustus didn’t know was that this 1 million dollars was only the beginning of a spiral into deals, power, and decisions no amount of code could debug.
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