The morning sun drifted into his bedroom through the half-closed curtains. The light rays didn't quite wake him up, but they didn't need to, he was already awake.
He couldn't sleep for most of the night; He kept thinking about the system's task and barely got any rest.
His eyes drifted toward the sunlight. "It's morning already?" he groaned.
He slid down the bed with the little strength he had left. "I probably should've slept and not stayed up all night... I'll definitely have brain rot if I continue like this," he muttered, walking toward the mirror.
He stared at the mirror. His reflection revealed the dark circles under his eyes. "Invest in White Bunny's bakery," he repeated.
"I hope it goes smoothly today," he said, then started taking off his clothes.
He could see some scars from the beatings. "This guy seemed like he works out," he muttered, hand touching his abs.
Liam was muscular, but it was the kind that didn't show through clothing. Only after he took off his clothes could one notice it. He had dyed his short, curly, black hair jet-black. He was about 5'8", or maybe taller.
"I didn't notice these features before," Liam said, before heading toward the bathtub.
The well-designed bathroom had a bathtub, a shower, and a toilet on the other side of the cardboard wall.
"Nice."
After a while, he came out of the bathroom, drying his hair. "I wonder how I'll convince the manager to accept my investment," he said.
"I've got to keep a good percentage for myself," he continued, picking up his clothes from the cupboard.
"Huh... what should I wear?" he said, his hand hovering over his jaw.
He picked out a turtleneck polo with designer jeans and black canvas shoes. Don't judge, he hadn't worn something this good before, and therefore, had a bad taste.
He put it on, and in his imagination, he looked so fine he could pull a 10. "Alright, got to go," he muttered, then headed toward the living room.
He checked the phone, no news from the system. "Must be all it wants from me for now."
He searched the location of White Bunny's Bakery. It was located in town, not far from where he lived.
He picked up everything he needed and walked out of the house, making sure to lock it on his way out.
In mere minutes, a cab pulled over, and he stepped in.
"Take me to White Bunny's bakery," he said, then settled down at the back of the cab.
The drive wasn't so long, but to him, it felt like an hour because of the amount of thoughts running through his head.
"We're here, sir," the driver said, snapping him back to reality.
"Oh, right? My bad," he said, stepping out of the cab and paying the driver.
The cab drove off, and the bakery stood there... the sunlight glittering over the poorly painted building. The sign was worn out, with a door that had only one side working.
"I see why it needs investment now," he said before walking into the bakery.
The bakery wasn't so bad on the inside. The tables were a little worn out, maybe that's the reason for bad ratings and lack of customers. Some chairs were broken and remained unreplaced.
There was a lack of workers because of insufficient payments, or at least that's what he guessed from the environment. The old tiles looked dirty, even though someone had swept them clean.
"Definitely needs work," he muttered, glancing over the structure.
A voice snapped him back to his senses. "Sir? You can have a seat and pick your order from the menu," a female said.
He turned toward the voice and saw a woman with pink hair and pink makeup that matched her beauty. Her skin-tight outfit exuded her hourglass figure, curving in places he didn't know had curves.
His face flushed red with a feeling he didn't know he had. "Wow."
She wore an apron that had the company's name inscribed on it, with bunny ears. She seemed to be the only one working here. He didn't approach her because of the staring customers, he didn't want to draw attention on his first time.
He strode towards the nearest table and sat, waiting... He glanced through the menu, there were a couple of foods and drinks, but all he wanted or needed was coffee.
She walked over to his table minutes later.
"Have you chosen your order, sir?" she asked.
"I'll have coffee, please. No sugar, just milk," he said. He hadn't tasted coffee without sugar and wanted to know how it tasted.
"Okay, sir," she said before walking back to the kitchen.
He waited for a while before she brought his coffee. "Thank you," he said as she dropped it in front of him.
She walked back, and he began sipping his coffee as slowly as he could to pass time, but he didn't want it to turn cold.
In a bit, the bakery was empty, at least for now, so he took his chance and walked over to her.
"Here's my cup," he said.
"You didn't have to, sir. I would have collected it," she responded.
"It's not a problem," he muttered casually. "I noticed the lack of staff here... or are they on holiday?" he asked.
"Sorry for that, sir. It's a personal business, and so I haven't been able to make enough money to hire staff," she said.
"I see. So, you run this place alone?" he asked.
"Currently, yes, I do," she responded, now sitting in a chair behind the counter.
He rested on the counter. "Sorry for starting a conversation without introducing myself. My name is Liam," he said, extending a handshake.
She stared at it for a while before reacting. "My name is Mia," she responded, shaking him softly.
"How would you feel if I said I want to invest in your business?" he asked, his eyebrow raised a little.
She stared at him in confusion. "Why would you do that? What will you gain from it?"
He smirked, then answered, "Partnership," he said. "I get 30% of the profit share."
"30%? That's way too big. How much are you planning to invest?" she asked.
"As much as your bakery needs," he responded confidently.
There was a brief silence between them before she responded. "I don't know... it sounds a bit too unreal," she said.
"It's alright. Take as much time as you need to think about it," he said, dropping a card with his phone number on it.
"Thank you," she said. He dropped her money for the coffee, along with a tip, before turning and walking out of the bakery.
Her response was totally understandable, no normal human would casually say yes to a stranger, so he would understand if she said no.
"But I do hope she says yes, or I don't know what else to do," he said, standing by the road.
After a while, he was back home, another day gone.
The night came faster than he expected, with him gaming and watching movies to pass the time. He gave occasional glances at his phone to see if he'd receive a call from her, but no calls so far.
He was lying on his bed, staring at the phone, the time reading 11:02 p.m., slowly drifting off to sleep before his phone vibrated.
He jolted up, staring at the caller ID. It read, "Unknown number."
"It must be her," he said before answering the call.
"Hello?" he spoke first.
To his luck, it was indeed her. So little time she took to decide, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was her response to his idea.
"Yes, is this Liam?" a soft voice asked.
"Yes, this is Liam," he responded, standing up and drifting toward his window.
"Sorry for calling so late," she said.
"Nah, it's fine. I was awake already," he muttered, even though he was about to sleep when she called.
"Okay, about your deal. I've thought about it, and my response normally would've been no, but..." she continued, "... I don't have enough money to continue running this business, and it will soon have to close. So, I guess I'll consider your deal, but 30% will be for you only when the business starts making money. Till then, 10% will be your profit share," she concluded.
He stared at the moonlight. "Well, that's fine by me," he responded. It seemed like a good business deal, better than nothing.
"Okay, good. So, are you coming over tomorrow?" she asked softly. Seemed like she was feeling sleepy.
"Yes, I will be there tomorrow," he answered, he didn't have anything else to do at home, so...
"Okay, good night, then. See you tomorrow," she said before ending the call.
He released a relieved smile. "One step closer," he said, pulling up his account balance.
"Soon, I'll be crushing you all," he said, walking back to bed.