Suddenly, I Am Rich

Dante, Marco, Luis, and Ricky all sat down, their eyes fixed on Gray as if waiting for something serious.

Gray leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the desk.

"I've got to ask a favor from you four…" Gray's tone was kind of hesitant as he began. He looked at the 4 and sighed, "It's not about deliveries this time."

The four exchanged curious looks.

"What do you mean, Boss?" Marco asked, leaning forward.

Gray's lips curved into a faint smile.

"I want you to spread the word. Everywhere. Tell people about our online store, tell them about our offers, and make sure they know how easy it is to order from us. Friends, neighbors, family, maybe anyone you meet."

Dante blinked, almost surprised.

"That's it, Boss? That sounds too easy."

"I know, right?" Luis grinned too before clapping his hands. "Leave that to us, Boss!"

"Yes!" Ricky nodded vigorously. "Tomorrow, you'll see, Boss. We'll bring in so many customers you won't even know where to find a delivery driver!"

"Yes!"

"Don't worry, Boss! Consider it done by us."

Gray exhaled softly, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. Their confidence wasn't just reassuring, it was also contagious.

"Alright, I'll look forward to it then." Gray chuckled.

- - -

The next day arrived faster than Gray expected.

Gray had to stop at his office first before going into the grocery store. When he arrived, it was already late in the afternoon. He was barely seated in his office when Joel excitedly barged into the room.

Joel pushed the door open without knocking. His face was practically glowing with excitement.

"Boss! Boss!" he blurted out loud, almost breathless. "We're getting so many orders today. It hasn't stopped since this morning!"

Gray, who was still halfway through settling into his chair, raised his brows. "Orders?"

Joel nodded eagerly, stepping further inside.

"Yes, Sir. Online orders. The app's system has been buzzing non-stop since we opened! Every time we finish packing one batch of orders, another comes in. The staff at the counters can barely keep up!"

Gray froze. For a second, he thought Joel was exaggerating or maybe was just getting carried away by his usual enthusiasm. But something in his tone and the urgency in his voice made Gray's chest tighten.

"Really… that many?" Gray asked slowly.

Joel bobbed his head up and down. He was that excited.

"Sir Gray, it's crazy. I've never seen the system move like this."

Gray pushed his chair back quickly. His heart skipped a beat loudly while his legs were already moving him toward the door. "Show me."

The two of them hurriedly went out of the office. As soon as they turned to the corner to the side section where online orders were packed, Gray hastily stopped in his tracks.

"…" Gray's breathing hitched. His eyes roamed around, looking at the chaos. He was almost in disbelief.

The space was occupied by staff who were running around and tying boxes. Some staff members were moving at the speed of light. They scanned items, placed them in the box, and double-checked the lists.

And in the middle of that chaos were stacks of labeled bags and boxes with receipts taped on them. They were lined up, waiting to be picked up by their respective delivery riders.

"This…" he muttered under his breath.

It wasn't just busy. It was overflowing with orders.

Joel stood beside him, grinning like he couldn't believe it either.

"I told you, Boss. Look at this."

Joel pulled out the tablet that had their online system sitting on the counter. His fingers were a little stiff as he navigated through the order dashboard. His eyes locked on the number displayed.

"Look at this, Sir."

[Total Orders Today: 73]

And it wasn't even evening yet.

That was just for half the day.

"73 orders…"

Gray almost cursed when he saw it. His grip on the tablet tightened as he felt his chest rise and fall.

"All of this…" he whispered in a low voice that Joel could barely hear him, almost to himself.

"And it's just half a day."

He couldn't take his eyes off it.

Just then, the mission tab appeared right before his eyes.

[Mission: Achieve 700 completed online orders for a week. (666/700)]

[Reward: $20,000 | +2 influence.]

[Time Limit: 7 hours left.]

"Just 34 more…"

"Huh? What 34 more, Sir?" Joel's eyes darted at Gray.

Gray's eyes momentarily widened. He shook his head and chuckled awkwardly.

"Nothing. I was just saying that we need 34 orders to beat our highest count of orders in the day."

Joel blinked at Gray, then suddenly let out a hearty laugh.

"Ah! Right, Sir! You're right. We really need 34 more orders to crush our previous record. Haha!"

Gray forced a smile, his eyes flicked back to the tablet and the disappearing holographic screen before returning his gaze to Joel.

Joel leaned a little closer, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret.

"Truth be told, Boss, the staff's been going crazy since we opened. Everyone's been rushing nonstop. At first, we were all surprised too. We thought maybe it was just a sudden surge. But then…" Joel scratched his cheek, smirking, "We realized it was because of the four."

"The Four? You mean Dante, Marco, Luis, and Ricky?" Gray questioned, though there was a ghost smile on his lips.

'As expected of those 4…'

Joel nodded quickly.

"Yes, Sir. Turns out… they're actually pretty popular around town. More than we thought."

"Popular?" Gray tilted his head. Now his attention was completely caught by it.

"Yeah," Joel chuckled. "Apparently, they've helped a lot of people here in small ways since they started doing their deliveries. They helped carry heavy groceries for old folks, even just chatting and making people laugh. The people were happy with it."

"So yesterday, they went around and told people to spread the word and support their new work here, and order groceries online. And people actually listened." Joel went on, his voice tinged with admiration.

He initially thought that the 4 were up to no good. However, he was so wrong about them.

Gray's chest tightened slightly. He was happy and proud at it.

"And now? The four of them have been out delivering food since this morning. They've been riding nonstop."

Gray's lips parted. He didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. Still, he was happy that the 4 were able to do that. It seemed like the trust he placed in them was right.

"I guess we found reliable workers, then," Gray murmured, though a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.