“Here should do.” I placed the 2 bodies up against the base of a tree. The driver and the kid were still unconscious so it gave me a good opportunity to examine them using my Value Meter.

“Let’s see here.” I started off inspecting the kid’s Wealth Chart which accumulated a total of 1.6 billion Crowns. I locked this in as the fundamental target for the complicated retrieval functionality that would transfer all this wealth into a manifested Rubik’s Cube formed from the essence of the host.

“I will have to open a hole in this brat’s chest to claim all his wealth.” Indeed I had to kill him for the Rubik’s Cube to manifest, but as my thirsting fingers traversed the contours of his chest, a certain memory of my childhood flashed before my eyes.

This boy reminded me of my younger self. I detest that version of me, yet it had such a pull in my body of emotions that it made me reconsider killing the lad.

“Tsk, for fuck sake. Why am I acting so soft? I’ve killed plenty of people before and never shed a tear or had any remorse about it. Now that I think bout it, I’ve never actually murdered a brat in cold blood before. Why haven’t I done this? Was there some shred of good inside me that prevented my hands from becoming stained with child’s blood? Well, whatever the reason there has to be a first time for everything.”

Once again, my hands reached for the kid’s chest, itching with the strength to rip it open. As I was about to apply more pressure, a wave of hesitancy came over me that made me procrastinate once more. This conflicting feeling didn’t escape the all introspective analyser of the Rubik’s System. Some messages popped up proposing an alternative measure.

“The Tether Vault?” I expanded the info page containing what I needed to know about this functionality. After my mind had been enlightened with more knowledge of the Value Meter, I activated the Tether Vault functionality.

Whoosh!

Before my very eyes, I witnessed the swift materialization of a miniature golden vault. At first, I mistook it to be on the same vibrating frequency as regular matter, but I realized this wasn’t so after I tried interacting with it using my physical hands.

“So this is the Tether Vault.” It could only be manipulated to some extent by mental operation. Spying through the eye of the Value Meter, I observe an astral string connecting the kid and the driver’s Wealth Chart to the golden vault.

When prompted about whose wealth to transfer, I followed the directions and sent the kid’s wealth into the Tether Vault. Next, it closed then shrunk into the man’s chest. This entire procedure took about 50 minutes to process because the Rubik’s System was being careful not to damage the primary host during transference.

When the wealth had been exchanged successfully, something jolted within the man’s chest that spurred him awake. “Huh, what happened? Where am I?”

I could tell that he was puzzled by the details of what was taking place within him. Therefore, I briefly explained to him, “You are about to become the conduit for my affluence.”

“What are you talking about?” His face portrayed the living embodiment of terror mixed with confusion.

“There’s no point explaining that to a dead man.” After I said this to him, I waited until I spotted a crimson radiance from his chest before I took action to claim his life.

“Looks like my item is ready. I hope you’ve said your prayers.” I used my left hand to brace his face against the tree while my right hand punctured his chest.

“Wait no!” His cry for help lasted until my fingers grasp the inner tissues of his swollen heart.

Pop!

I ripped out the manifested Wealth Rubik’s Cube and stood there observing for some time its radiating beauty which was valued at 1.7 billion Crowns. I directed my focus back at the dead man and uttered joyously, “I’m rich and you’re dead.”

After I stored the golden nugget in my inventory, I immediately fled the park. I couldn’t wait to unlock the Wealth Rubik’s cube so I could bask in its affluence.

“Forget about renting some mediocre apartment, I can buy a mansion with all this money. And you know what… I’m not even going to bother wasting money buying a mansion when I can get it for free.”

An idea came to my mind in regard to the death of Big Red. He was an influential gangster who had a gorgeous mansion in the Valley. Now that he was dead, I could simply claim it as my own. “Yes, this is exactly what I’m going to do. A dead man has no use for such a lavish estate.”

The Valley was located far away from the centre of Clown City. It was known as the Valley for it was near the edge of the region. No skyscrapers were there. The Valley was more of a residential area where most wealthy leaders of society resided.

Due to the late hours, not many taxis were operating that would take me to the Valley. So I doubled back to the smoking vehicle. Surprisingly, no cops had shown up yet. I was lucky. After removing the tracker, I drove that vehicle to the outskirts of the Valley where a beautiful waterscape was present. Big Red’s mansion was just a couple of miles from it.

As I approached the lane leading to the main entrance of the mansion, my eyes perceived a handful of vehicles parked in the expansive driveway.

“What is going on here?” Loud music was banging against my car window and I identified some drunken individuals coming and going through the front door. “Somebody is having a party in my mansion? Whoever is so audacious?”

I wanted to know who was responsible for all this noise. When I drove to the outer gate entrance, a security guard who was on duty pulled me over and asked me what business I have doing there.

“Stop right there, sir. This is private property. Are you a friend of Mistress Campton?”

“Who?” At first, I wonder who this security guard was referring to but then it came back to my memory that Big Red’s real name was Darius Campton. But he said mistress, not mister.

“I had no idea Big Red had a wife. This could complicate things. Who is she?” I questioned the security guard who responded,

“I believe you are mistaken, sir. Mistress Campton is the daughter of Darius Campton who passed away recently.”

“His daughter?” My memory had some information regarding this context. “I remember Big Red showing me a photo of her a while back. Her name was Razi, correct?”

“That is correct sir. Were you invited to this private event? Please tell me your name so I can check with the guest list.” The security guard went for his tablet and came back waiting for me to give him my name. He refused to open the gates to let me through unless my identity was verified.

“There is no need for that,” I told him, pushing away the tablet from my face. “This entire mansion now belongs to me.”

“I don’t follow sir.” The guard was puzzled. He started asking me a bunch of questions. “Who are you, sir? Are you an affiliate of Darius or perhaps a family member? Do you need me to get in contact with the mistress? I’m sure she would be able to clear all this up. All I need is your name. Do you have any identification on you?”

This security guard was beginning to piss me off with all his bullshit questions. “Who are you a fucking detective?”

I grabbed his collar and brought him closer. Staring at his soul with my menacing eyes, I revealed, “I am the man who killed Big Red. If you don’t want the same fate to befall you, I suggest you open that gate and piss the hell off!”

The moment I released my grasp on that man, he backed away from the vehicle while reaching for the gun he had tucked into his waist.

I sighed and shook my head. “Here we go again. Why do these bastards have to be so difficult?”