As they were browsing for more products, the owner of the place soon rushed toward them while slightly panting.
A bright smile was etched onto his lips. "Hello, I'm Charlie, the owner of GadgetGrid," he introduced.
"Oh, also, please take these apple shakes," he said and handed Augustus the two drinks.
Augustus narrowed his eyes, then grabbed the chilled shakes with an easy smile. "Thank you," he muttered and offered one to Max.
Max nodded curtly and happily accepted the shake with a light smile.
Augustus sipped casually and mumbled, "Anyways, I think we've looked at most of the things. Please, prepare the bill, Manager," he said.
The customers sneaked a few glances, seeing how he was treated differently, but no one cared much and minded their business.
The manager easily calculated most of the things before Augustus could even finish his shake.
The manager began, voice cracking, "T-the total bill is $801,000," he said hesitatingly.
His eyes flickered, fearing that Augustus might exclude a few items since the bill had come up to an astronomical number, and this feeling was also reflected in the owner's eyes.
"Great. Did you add the laptop repair charges?" Augustus asked, sipping the last bits of his apple shake. "The apple shake was really great, by the way," he added with a satisfied smile.
The manager and owner blinked and exchanged glances with puzzled expressions.
Surprised, the owner smiled. "Sir, please come to my office. We can discuss the payments there. About the laptop's repair costs? Let's say they are on the house," the owner said and offered a weak smile.
"Oh, no need for formalities," Augustus waved dismissively. "I'll pay using the card, and please add the laptop repair cost," he stated firmly.
The owner nodded, not pressing him any further, and looked at the manager. The manager understood and paced away for a brief moment.
The surrounding customers, after hearing about the bill, looked at him with shocked and amused reactions.
The manager promptly returned. "Here, sir, please use this machine for the payment," he said, raising the machine with both his hands in a respectful manner.
Augustus nodded with a bright smile. This will be my first step into actually building something, he thought, and swiftly swiped the card.
However… the payment didn't go through this time. Happy faces faltered, and everyone looked at Augustus, the owner and manager, patiently waiting for his response without assuming things.
[Don't panic. Even NASA's servers lag once in a while.]
"Pfftttt… hahaha." A loud laugh came from the side. The owner gave a side-eye, while Augustus didn't pay much attention. "Let's try one more time," he maintained calmly, showing his strong will.
The manager nodded with a stiff smile and raised his hands again.
Augustus swiftly swiped the card again and...
Ting… Payment of $801,899 is successful!
The small ting echoed… loudly, which seemed to have silenced everyone.
"He paid it…? Who is that guy?" a customer questioned.
The owner, manager, and Augustus smiled pleasantly, while a soft smile appeared on Max's lips, unknown emotions swirling within him.
He glanced at Augustus… Maybe with him as a boss, I can be successful and don't have to worry about money anymore, Max thought, relief washing over him.
"Thank you for trusting and doing business with us, sir. This is my personal number. Just give me a call, and I'll make sure to bring you any gadget there is in the world," he boldly stated with a grateful smile.
Augustus smiled back. "Thank you, I'll soon message you the delivery address," he said and began walking toward the exit, seemingly in deep thought about tomorrow.
However, Max snapped him out. "Could you give me your number and office address? I'll join you from tomorrow," he asked calmly, walking side by side.
Augustus glanced, raising his brows. "Oh, sorry, I almost forgot. Hmm… give me your number. I'll send you the address."
Max agreed. Augustus nodded and shared the office address with him, while also forwarding it to the store owner.
Max casually pulled out his phone and looked at the message. "Empire Building?... 23rd floor," he read, eyes widening with shock.
"Yes." Augustus nodded calmly
"T-that's where my top client works," he said, shocked.
Augustus let out a knowing smirk. "Haha, then you will be floor colleagues," he said nonchalantly.
"Huh?" Max furrowed, then smiled wryly, understanding what he meant. His eyes twinkled with excitement.
***
Augustus exhaled slowly and plopped onto his small bed in the room. Though exhausted, a warm smile played on his lips. "Life is beautiful," he mumbled.
After uttering the word 'beautiful,' Janice's innocent smile flared in his mind. "Oh, right, she said she would start streaming around this time,"
He mumbled and quickly pulled out his phone, but before he could open the app…
Ding…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Task #16:
[×] – Gift 3 Creators, Be the Reason They Don't Quit.
| Penalty: Your recommendations and feed will flood with bad content until the task is done.
Real talent doesn't need permission—it needs support. Greatness often starts with a small boost.
| Reward: $250,000 + Influence.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A delighted smile appeared on his face. He quickly sat up and leaned toward the wall for support.
Since he didn't have an account, he excitedly created one. It asked for his username. "Hmmm…" he hummed thoughtfully and typed his name.
However, that username was already taken. It suggested a few alternatives. Among them, he easily selected 'AugustusAura11' without giving much thought.
Whatever, who cares? He thought.
Once the account was created, he went to Janice's stream. However, her stream was yet to start. "Hmm… let's check other streamers in the meantime," he mumbled and began scrolling through the app.
Amused by the title, he stopped on a video and clicked on it:
***
— Donating Bags for Underprivileged Kids (2545 Viewers)
A young man stood in a small classroom packed with smiling children.
"Sorry, guys, this will be my last donation. I'll save up and come back stronger. Please support," he said, looking at the camera, forcing a smile.
Behind him, the kids shouted, "Thank you, Big Brother!"
Augustus watched as the man stepped outside of the small classroom.
"There are five more classrooms… but I could only help three," he said softly, voice laced with regret.
Augustus's gaze softened in warmth. With an approving nod, he went toward the gifting options and donated: 5,000 school bags and books + $30,000.
"Hold on, guys," the streamer blinked.
"Wait… Augustus donated… I don't even know what to say… T-thank you!" he said with a grateful smile.
Then, with a determined expression, "I don't know who you are, but I promise you I'll deliver every single bag to these children's myself," his voice cracked, with a focused gaze.
The chat flooded:
| #Humanity is still alive.
| "I'm donating too. Let's all help so that these children's can study."
Augustus smiled from behind the screen, warmth filling his heart with comfort.
He sent a thumbs up emoji and watched for a few minutes.
Then pressed back and began searching for a few more streamers, however he didn't have to search for long, as another video popped up right before his eyes.
With the same smile, he clicked on it...