The screen is there at the edge of my vision. It is blue. It does not move. I have been sitting on the floor for a while now. I do not know if it is ten minutes or an hour. Time is not something I can understand now. The rope is lying next to me. I forgot about it. The chair is on its side. The system is waiting for me.
I am looking at the words on the screen. My throat is dry. My hands are not shaking anymore. I am calm now. I feel like a man who has already died today.
Jin Ashiro is not moving. He is sitting on the floor of his apartment. His phone is dead. The rope is dead. He feels like a man. Something has changed. He is not sure what it is.
I ask the system again. "What are you?" My voice sounds strange. It sounds like I have not used it in a time.
The system says it is a version one intelligence. It is connected to my brain.
I ask it how that is possible. The system says that is not important now.
I laugh. It is a laugh. I say "my goals". I was going to hang myself a while ago. Now I have goals.
The screen changes. There is text. It says my mind has been looked at. I am very depressed. I want to kill myself. The system says I need to do something
I read the words twice. I ask the system if it is a therapist now.
The system says it is what I need it to be.
I get up from the floor. My legs are not steady. I walk to the window. I open the curtain. The city is gray. It is the same as it was yesterday. It will be the same tomorrow.
I am not the same.
Jin Ashiro puts his hand on the glass. He looks at the cars moving. He looks at the people walking. They do not know a dead man is watching them.
I ask the system what it can do.
The system says it can calculate things with perfect accuracy. It can look at a lot of information at the time. It can predict what will happen in the markets and with people.
I turn away from the window. The screen is still there.
I ask if that makes me powerful.
The system says power comes in steps. The first step is money.
I say "money".
The system says yes. Without money I am nothing. I have learned that already.
I flinch. The words hurt. They are true. I am nothing.. The system says I can change.
Jin looks at himself in the window. He is thin. His eyes are dead. He has been nothing for a time.
I ask the system how I can get money.
The system says the best way is to gamble.
I almost laugh. I say I only have seventeen dollars.
The system says that is enough.
I stare at the screen. I ask what I can do with seventeen dollars.
The system says I can bet on basketball games. There are three games. The odds are high.
My heart does something. It skips a beat. It might be hope. It might be my heart dying.
I ask the system if it is telling me to bet all my money.
The system says yes. It says I will have fourteen thousand dollars tomorrow.
Fourteen thousand dollars. It is not a lot of money.. It is more than I have had in years.
I stand in my apartment. The blue light is on the walls. I realize something. I believe the system.
Jin Ashiro believes in a voice that came to him when he was trying to kill himself. This is not sane. This is something
I ask the system what if it's wrong.
The system says it is not wrong.
I ask what if thiss all in my head.
The system pauses. The screen goes black. I feel something
Then the screen comes on. The system says does it matter.
I open my mouth. I close it.
The system says if this is all in my head I am already dead. If it is real I have a chance to be something. Either way I should keep going.
I should argue. I should find a problem with the systems words.. I do not. I am too tired. I am too broken.
I say "fine". I say show me what to do.
The screen changes. There is a lot of information. There are numbers and charts. There are things I do not understand.
Then it simplifies. There are three games. There are three bets.
The system says place the bets
I pick up my phone. I open the betting app. My fingers are over the screen.
I ask the system what if I lose.
The system says I will not lose.
I place the bets. I use all my money.
The screen says my bets are confirmed. The games will be over in eight hours.
I sit on my bed. The rope is still on the floor. The chair is still on its side.. I am not looking at them. I am looking at the glow.
Jin Ashiro does not sleep. He sits in the dark. He watches the screen. He watches the numbers change.
The first game is over. My team wins. The second game is over. My team wins. The third game is on. It is close. My heart is pounding.
The game ends. The screen says I win. I have fourteen thousand dollars.
I look at the number. My hands are shaking.. It is not from being tired or sad. It is something
Jin Ashiro looks at the number, on his phone. He smiles. It is not a smile. It is the smile of a man who knows he can break the world.
I say "system".
The system says it is ready.
I ask what is next.
The screen says the next step is to make money. I have to turn fourteen thousand dollars into one hundred thousand dollars. I have seven days.
I read the words. One hundred thousand dollars. Seven days.
I would have laughed a months ago. I would have cried.. Now I just nod.
I say "show me".
The system says the first step is to play poker. It will help me make decisions. I will be the face.
I get up. I walk to the bathroom. I look at myself. I am thin. My eyes are dead. My hair is a mess.
I turn on the water. I wash my face. I look at myself. I make a promise.
I say "we are going to burn it all down". I say it to myself. I say it to the people who laughed at me. I say it to the people who looked away.
The system says that is a goal.
I dress in my clothes. I pick up my phone. I step over the rope.
I walk out the door.