"Excellent. My name is Nomus. I am the God of economy, wealth, and all things of that genre," the voice said as the beautiful lady transformed into a small ball of energy and disappeared into the darkness.
In her place appeared an elderly man. He looked wise with age and as ethereal as one would expect of a god, but somehow David felt the same vibes from him as when he was with some of his accountant friends.
"Yes, I am the accountant of the universe, and I have chosen you to be my mortal apostle," Nomus said.
"What?" David asked, shocked.
Looking at the elderly man—God—David couldn't tell whether he was joking or serious. First, he was dragged here without knowing if it was real or just a dream. Now, he was being told he'd been chosen as a god's apostle.
"You know, I really thought he would be jumping at that announcement," another voice said from the background.
"No!" David shouted, seeing the elderly God about to speak.
Whether it was a dream or not, David didn't care at this point. Technically, no one would care in his position. Everything felt real—even the water beneath him. His friends couldn't have set this up; they barely found food to eat the day before, so there was no way they'd have the money for such an elaborate prank.
"I accept... I was just confused. Why me, though?" David asked.
"Eh? We searched high and low for one who is worthy, and after searching your heart, we found you worthy," Nomus said grandly as lights turned off in a certain part of the darkness.
Before they did, David could make out a large wheel resembling the kind used on game shows.
"You guys spun for me?" David asked, looking at the god with eyes full of disdain.
He didn't care that they were gods—they had literally created a "Wheel of Fortune" show to select someone for such an important position. David couldn't even begin to describe how irresponsible that was—and above all, dangerous.
"Ahem," Nomus cleared his throat, trying to escape the awkwardness. "So, what is my duty?"
"You see, since the dawn of time, the concept of money has always existed as something to gain something else in exchange."
"Makes sense," David replied, nodding.
Even in a barter system, whatever object one offers in exchange could technically be termed as 'money.'
"However, in our universe, there is no such thing as 100% efficiency. Some money is always lost in transactions. We call that 'Lost Money.'"
"Okay, and where do I come in?"
"Your duty is to reintroduce that lost money back into the economy."
"Is this what I think it is? Is that why I have an envelope from the World Bank?" David asked, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
"Yes, it is," Nomus confirmed, smiling.
"Yes!!" David shouted, celebrating and dancing in the space.
"Now, wait—are there any rules? What can I and can't I do with the money?"
"We do not care what or how you achieve this, David. We only care about when. You have a deadline of two years. If not, all of this... everything... ends."
"What do you mean 'ends'? Do I die?" David asked as all excitement drained from his face.
"Technically speaking, everything ends. The whole universe ends."
"Because of money? That's a man-made structure! How could it affect the entire universe?"
"You really think we'd select an apostle over something only related to humanity or petty cash?" Nomus laughed.
"Then what do you mean?"
"Understand this: in our universe, everything is bought. The great God exchanged his power with the void to create the first light—his power, in this case, was 'money.' These transactions have been happening for untold years, though invisible to you."
"So I'm charged with reintroducing all of that back into the economy?" David asked, realizing the gravity of the situation.
"Excellent, it seems you fully understand. Now, as your patron, you will receive a handful of blessings, but I warn you—don't expect miraculous powers."
"You guys were lazy enough to just spin a wheel to select someone; I don't expect any power-up from you guys," David mumbled.
"I can still hear that," Nomus replied, snapping his fingers.
Almost immediately, David felt a burning sensation on his finger as a mark appeared. Even at a glance, he could tell it was some kind of mark left by Nomus.
Taking a deep breath, David decided to focus on the benefits of his situation instead of the consequences.
"So, all I need to do is spend money?"
"Yes. I deal with the supernatural; you handle the physical. We'll make quite the team."
"Then thank you for this opportunity," David replied sincerely.
"You're welcome."
"It's almost time for you to wake up," another god said.
"Oh, and remember to call the number on the envelope. Those people would do anything to be in your good graces," Nomus said as everything slowly faded away.
Before he knew it, he was back in his room. The envelope was still in his hand, and he was sitting exactly where he had been.
Looking around, everything looked as it had before he blacked out. It felt as though he had just blinked, even if he didn't know how long he had spent in that other place.
"Was I really hallucinating?" David asked himself.
"Is it because I tried to smoke?" he wondered again.
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Dropping the envelope for a moment, David immediately began to reevaluate his life choices.
He couldn't even understand why he attempted such a disgraceful act in the first place.
"What the… is wrong with me?!" David shouted, ignoring the time.
Looking around, he decided to pull himself together but thought first of the envelope. As he reached for it, he noticed something: a ring-like tattoo on his middle finger. Decorated nicely, it was identical to the one in his dream, with the same symbols and runes.
"It's real?" David asked himself, confused.
His smile quickly faded, replaced by worry, but excitement triumphed. From what he'd heard, the stakes were high.
Yet, the task was simply to spend money—as much as he wished. How hard could that be?
Looking back at the envelope, he understood why such a large organization had sent it.
Tearing it open, he found a few documents and, next to them, a bank card—a black card with platinum accents, bearing the World Bank's globe logo in the top right corner.
Turning the card over, he saw his full name engraved: David Abuchi Williams.
"It really is for me," he said, sitting down on the ground to examine the card.
He could hardly believe it. The card alone confirmed his suspicions. But was he truly up for the challenge?
If he knew anything, it was that whatever he did, he would draw attention at some point. Could he handle that?
As he went through the documents, he found something he didn't expect: an account statement. His eyes widened at the figures.
"What's KWD?" David asked, noticing the currency label.
A quick search revealed it was the Kuwaiti Dinar, apparently the strongest currency in the world, with an exchange rate of about 3.27 USD per KWD.
"God!" David shouted instinctively as he realized what this meant.
If 1 KWD was worth 3.27 USD, then the number of zeroes he was looking at meant much more than he'd thought.
"Twelve zeroes!" David shouted before quickly covering his mouth.
"A trillion?" he muttered, counting again.
This was a trillion KWD, meaning he had 3.27 trillion USD in his account. Who could be this rich?
Was this even wealth?
With this money, he had enough for generations. Standing up, David walked slowly into his bathroom, fully clothed. He turned on the shower.
"God, thank you for allowing me to wash away poverty from my life," David said, standing under the water.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just an hour ago, he was contemplating a slow death out of despair, but now he had enough wealth to rival a nation.
In his entire life, he had never seen such an amount, not even on the news.
Not even his country's GDP was this high.
Ringtone
The loud ringtone snapped him back to his senses. Quickly, he took off his clothes and washed properly.
If he was washing away poverty, he needed to let go of everything tied to it. He was now part of the top 0.01% of the world's richest.
After another minute, he walked out of the bathroom, standing taller.
"Where's that suit? A rich man should have expensive nightwear," David said, rummaging through his bag.
Puu
A loud siren was heard as the lights came back on. Smiling wider, David joked, "Even the power company recognizes I'm rich now."
Not finding his suit and not wanting to let the cold get to him, he chose his second-most expensive set of clothing: a simple pair of trousers and a shirt that had once felt overpriced.
"Hosanna Suite Two, I have finally defeated you," David said, rearranging his bag.
Ringtone
His phone rang again, and he answered it immediately.
"Hello?" David asked, slightly wary.
It was an unknown number. For almost a year, unknown numbers had only meant loan agents threatening him to pay back.
But now, there were other possible unknown callers.
"Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Williams?" the voice asked.
"Yes, it's me," David replied casually.
"Good day, sir. My name is Chibuzor Obi, and I'm calling on behalf of the World Bank. May I ask if you received the package sent to you?"
"Yes, I'm holding it right now," David replied.
"That's great. Inside the package is your new bank card and all necessary information about your new account."
"I can see that."
"Perfect. There are also some documents that need your signature in the envelope, as you cannot begin using the card without it. I'll collect them tomorrow."
"That's fine; I'll go through them and sign soon."
"Thank you, sir. One last thing—due to your current status with the World Bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been instructed to close all your civilian accounts."
"What? Then where will I get my morning food? I know for a fact this card isn't active yet, right?"
"In that case, allow me to treat you to a meal, sir. I'll send a car to pick you up in the morning, and you can hand over the signed documents then," Chibuzor offered.
"Alright," David replied.
"Thank you, sir. I'll see you in the morning," the man said before ending the call.
...
...
You can support me and my work on my Ko-fi
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You can support me and my work on my Ko-fi
https://ko-fi.com/king_frosh
Will update two(2) chapters per day at 5:30 pm CAT.
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