Beast Mode: A System's Guide To Heroics

After an hour and a half, Arsenal finally woke up on a hospital bed. His eyes followed the trail of wires which were attached to his skin until his gaze fell on the nurse who was taking notes on a large file.

"You are awake," she said with a frown, staring at Arsenal like a burden other than a patient.

"Finally I can get out of this place." She heaved a sigh of relief and walked out of the ward without batting an eye.

Now Arsenal was not an illiterate, such behaviour from a nurse or any medical practitioner was unacceptable, and whatever reason she had for being so rude had to be logical.

But Arsenal didn't care so much about it, he has other things to focus on like his aching head, his college dignity, and the hospital bill for this treatment.

The thought of spending his incoming salary on the hospital bill made his skin crawl, causing him to hate the person who brought him to the hospital.

"Why didn't they just let me die in peace?"

While these thoughts occupied his mind, the door opened and a young elegant lady walked into the ward wearing a worried look.

"I was told that you had woken up," said Bethany as she took her seat at the edge of the bed.

"Are you alright?"

Seeing that it was Bethany that brought him to the hospital, Arsenal took his words back, after all, it's only out of genuine concern that someone busy as Bethany would take him to be treated without minding the cost.

"I'm alright," He lied,

"And a fool too."

"Yeah, I heard," Bethany uttered before he could finish speaking,

"I don't think that there is anyone on campus who doesn't know about it yet. But… did you try to…

Bethany trailed off when Arsenal's brows furrowed,

"Are you kidding me?" He asked her with a frown,

"I'm not that horny, why would you even assume that…

"Relax," she interjected, knowing Arsenal, was going to take the situation too personally.

"I know you didn't, I'm just asking because…Well… I could be wrong. You never know."

"I didn't. Lisa is just a liar! But that is the least of my concerns right now, I need to pay for this treatment, heavens know how many thousands it'll cost me."

Arsenal sat up and began to check his pocket for his phone, the needle inside his hand made it difficult to navigate, and he was tempted to pull it out already.

"Here you go," Bethany handed his phone over to him,

"It has been with me since."

"Thanks."

Arsenal took the phone with a long sigh, even without seeing the hospital bills he just wanted to know how much he had left.

Just then, the nurse walked back into the ward, and Arsenal dropped his phone beside him. The bank app was taking too long to open and he needed to let the nurse take the needle off of him.

Once she had done that, she asked him a few questions to know if there was anything else she'd need to check. And Arsenal replied nonchalantly.

If the nurse was going to be rude to him then he had no choice but to match her energy.

"Anyway, you are good to go, you can pick up your medication at the dispensation station and complete your payment at the front desk. I've had enough for today." She concluded, picked up her files and left the ward.

"What's up with her?"

"Daddy issues, literally." Arsenal scoffed and got out of bed. Bethany helped him get to his feet, before leaving to walk on his own.

In no time, they were both at the front desk, waiting for the lady to quit typing on her desktop and attend to them.

"That will be one hundred and sixty-two dollars, sir," she finally said,

"The drugs are discounted."

Arsenal was slightly relieved, even though it was more than half the money he thought he had. Anything more than that will leave him drained.

He opened his bank app once again to do the transfer, and once it loaded, Arsenal's eyes widened in shock, and was second away from placing his hand over his lips to stop himself from yelling.

"What?" Bethany asked, but Arsenal could barely speak.

He quickly composed himself and completed the transfer, and on their way out of the hospital he turned to Bethany and said,

"I think I won the lottery."

"…"

"I know right? I was speechless too, but that is the only explanation to…" He quickly lowered his voice to avoid being heard by others,

"That's the only explanation for how I have a million dollars in my account right now, I'm yet to confirm who sent it, but I'm sure it's from the bet… See? the one time that I did something bad like gambling, it paid off."

There was so much excitement in his tone as he already imagine what he'd do with the money. Bethany on the other hand was happy for him, having known his financial struggles over the years, she considered this to be his lucky breakthrough.

"Let me confirm it now," Arsenal unlocked his phone once again to check the credit notifications and as he read through the details, he was lost for words.

The money came from an anonymous account known as the 'Beast Mode System' and the account number was also unlike any other he had seen.

"It can't be," He mumbled.

"Who sent it?"

At this point Arsenal did not know how to respond, he was confused as well and wasn't sure whether or not he was still stuck in that crazy dream.

"From the gambling place," He lied,

"I knew it."

Arsenal hated the fact that he had to lie, for someone he trusted as a friend, shouldn't he tell her of his encounter with the strange system while he was unconscious?

Several thoughts ran across his mind, but one of them stood out amongst the others.

"Could the system be real?"