If there were any company or country in the world that openly declared they would take nine-tenths of their employees' wages as tax and leave them with only one-tenth, that entity would surely be branded as a dictatorship and a slave owner, and be collectively condemned.
Although in terms of the actual facts beyond the surface, the value created by individuals is indeed taken away by the company for the most part, at least that last one-tenth of condensed wages, no company would be so insane as to deduct another nine-tenths from it. Now, there was such a company, living inside Shin's head.
To be honest, when that damned system, with its extremely annoying tone, stated that it would exploit Shin, Shin was furious. His adrenaline surged, and his resolve as a successor of socialism immediately made him want to hang this damned capitalist on a lamppost!
However, this anger came and went quickly. Honestly, he had long since flattened himself on the ground, allowing this system to live in his head and do whatever it wanted to him. What difference did one more layer of exploitation make? He just had to bear it.
What else could he do but bear it?
But while submission was one thing, the problem facing Shin became even more severe. Ten times the income meant he had to find a job in Tokyo with a monthly salary of at least 2 million yen or more!
"I'll carry you all!" In a country where the average monthly salary for men was only around 300,000 yen, how could he possibly find a dream job with a monthly income exceeding 2 million yen? Transform into "Politician" and loudly proclaim, "Our Japan is truly great," to shamelessly make money?
Even if he could bear the shame, he would probably starve to death before he could gain popularity.
To Earn monthly income of 2 million yen, he could pretty much give up on the idea of earning enough money through legitimate channels to live comfortably. Selling Mysterious Items?
He had no connections, no proof of origin for the items. Only a super genius with deep cunning or a complete idiot would try such a foolish thing. So... earning money through illegal channels?
Impossible. Firstly, his moral compass wouldn't allow him to engage in shady dealings. Secondly, getting caught would be too dangerous for him. Thirdly, he had no connections or experience to do such a thing anyway.
"You can totally 'fight to support the fight'," the system said softly, chuckling.
"Mr. Shin, you can exchange for suitable Mysterious Items from us, and then use those exchanged items to gain more evaluation points. Although you only have 105 evaluation points, you can only exchange for the lowest E-grade Mysterious Items..."
"...You must have a recommended plan,"
Shin narrowed his eyes seriously. He'd rather compete with homeless people for food than 'fight to support the fight' as the system suggested. Was he really going to exchange for two laser guns and cause widespread destruction in the city center?
Whether he could do such a thing aside, if he actually did, it would mean Shin could never have a peaceful life again. In fact, if he wanted to, the 'Bondrewd' fantasy suit he already possessed could allow him to do many big things in the city. But he didn't want to engage in such deranged 'Reincarnator' behavior.
But if he didn't do such a thing, with only 105 evaluation points and only E-grade exchange qualification, he couldn't do much. There weren't many useful E-grade Mysterious Items, not to mention he would have to pay a 100 evaluation point 'tax' after twenty days, so he shouldn't use this 'emergency fund'.
"As your most loyal terminal partner, I must tell you that you actually have a free monthly opportunity to draw three 'defective products' from this system's terminal store,"
the system said with a faint smile. "Defective products, as the name suggests, are unexpected products that have certain flaws and deficiencies compared to their original counterparts. You can purchase them at a tenth or even cheaper price than the original version. However, what kind of damage, what kind of deficiencies, these are unknown."
"Roll it, it's free anyway," Shin shrugged. He didn't have any better options. The video had already been uploaded as per the mission requirements, and the system said it would earn him evaluation points based on the number of views and subsequent impact. But until now, the video's views were still 0. In this day and age, the adage "good wine needs no bush" was no longer believed. A video uploaded by an UP without promotion, without a foundation, and even without a premium membership, no matter how good the quality, still needed luck to become popular.
In short, leaving that aside, he still had some money to last through this month. At worst, he could sleep on a park bench. It couldn't get any worse than this. This system was already bad enough; it couldn't get any worse.
"As you wish~~~~" As Shin finished speaking, a spinning slot machine appeared on the light screen in front of him. With the pull of the lever, the slot machine spun rapidly and then slowly came to a stop. What popped up in the frame were three simple items, only their names displayed.
Extremis Virus (Immature Mutant Version)
Super Explosive Tag (Experimental Version)
"..." Shin was speechless. He didn't even need to think about the first two; he wouldn't exchange for them even if he were starving. However, the third product option made Shin freeze.
...The roaring train slowly pulled into the station. A dense, packed crowd jostled each other, squeezing into the sardine-can-like train. People living in this city had long grown accustomed to such congested commutes. Infrastructure was complete, but the relentless influx of people into the city was simply unavoidable. This was a truly helpless situation.
Capital flowed into Tokyo, making it more prosperous. The more prosperous city offered more opportunities and jobs, attracting more people. Consequently, rural areas and towns became less populated, while large cities grew larger and more crowded. In fact, many countries with soaring housing prices weren't lacking land; it was simply because people wanted to live in better cities, and their concentration in one area infinitely inflated land prices. China, Japan, and even every economically developed country in the world were like this; no country could escape this cycle. Everyone knew they could live more comfortably by leaving the city, but they were unwilling to give up the chance to climb higher, unwilling to give up higher salaries, and even more unwilling to give up the "urbanite" superiority.
However, frankly, these things had little to do with the people on this train. They were more concerned with finding a comfortable spot for themselves. There's a saying: when your monthly salary is 1,000 to 3,000, you talk about world wars all the time. When your monthly salary is 4,000 to 9,000, besides work, you talk about economic crises and global development.
And when your monthly salary is 10,000 or more, you talk more about work. Beyond that, you won't talk much about world politics anymore. After all, those things are irrelevant to most people; they are just topics for after-dinner conversation. When change arrives, they can only choose to grumble and accept.
Besides the commuters who had lost all motivation and dreams on a Monday morning, the train was also filled with many high school students. Energetic teenagers, filled with a youthful vibrancy that stood out against the jaded salarymen beside them, untouched by the harsh realities of society, laughed and chatted as they welcomed a new week's dawn.
In this confined space, like a miniature society, many criminal incidents also occurred. For instance, theft, assassination, brawls—but more often than not, it was undoubtedly something abhorrent.
Sexual harassment. Perhaps it was due to the overly oppressive social atmosphere in Japan that this country always produced some incomprehensible evil criminals and perverts who vented their desires. That murderous Sawanaga Kurojiri was one example; in the train environment, the most famous belonged to another group. Chikan (perverts).
In a corner of the train, a girl with long black hair, wearing a black and dark-blue school uniform, looked troubled and helplessly weak. "Please don't, please respect yourself..."
This girl had a gentle and lovely face, with excellent and delicate features that bestowed upon her the talent of being called a "beautiful girl" in human society. But more striking than her face was her figure. How to describe it?
It was a fiery figure completely unlike that of a high school student.
What should be prominent was prominent, what should be curvaceous was curvaceous, and coupled with the high school uniform, it added even more charm.
But what was even more striking... to put it more politely, it was the girl's large, perky, and aesthetically pleasing mammary glands, which met the male's desire for procreation. Such a perfect campus goddess was being cornered by a middle-aged, balding, greasy uncle, who was suggestively rubbing against her, trying to move her hands away and get closer. The girl's resistance only seemed to excite this Japanese "chikan" (pervert) even more.
Just as the girl's resistance weakened and she was about to be violated, a hand suddenly grabbed the uncle's molesting hand. Immediately, a refined, gentle voice, as if a spring breeze, resonated.
"Oh my, sir, doing such a thing to a lady in public is highly inadvisable." The balding, greasy uncle froze, then turned his head, seeing a handsome young man dressed somewhat oddly: a black trench coat and leather boots, a well-fitting pair of black gloves, and a slightly turned-out white collar at his neck, looking like a gentleman from the British industrial era, smiling softly.
"You're saying I'm a pervert? Do you know that's defamation?!" The bald uncle said menacingly, though his voice wasn't loud, he simply looked as if he had the young man figured out. After all, he knew that not many high school students his age truly had the courage to confront an adult, especially a seemingly mild-mannered young man like this. If he had kicked him just now, his attitude would have been different.
"No, sir, I actually have proof." The young man, maintaining his gentle smile, shook his phone. The video playing on it was undoubtedly evidence of this perverted uncle attempting his lewd acts. The bald pervert, who had just been so menacing, instantly collapsed, his face filled with fear and dread.
Once this video was exposed, he would be socially dead. He would be fired from his company, his record would be stained, he would be pointed at by neighbors, driven out of his home, and eventually end up as a homeless man in a park.
"Please don't, please, I beg you, don't..."
Seeing the pervert instantly become humble, the young man revealed a pleased smile.
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