The Anti-Simp Tycoon System

I had waited a month for Ascendant Group's college recruitment offer. When it finally arrived, Yvie Smith walked over arm in arm with another man while she smiled at me. "Carl, you should let Kevin take that offer instead." As I turned to her, everyone around me was holding back their laughter, waiting for me to cave and agree, like I had always done. It had been ten years. I would give her anything whenever she asked, from competition qualification spots and postgraduate recommendations to ten grand worth of hard-earned money… She was used to it, and I had since made peace with it. And now, she was looking at me loftily, speaking as if she were giving alms. "It's the same thing every time. How is it different now?" I looked at her haughty leer and suddenly laughed. "Who the hell are you to make decisions for me?" Chapter 1 Hearing my retort, Yvie Smith's smile turned stiff as she stared at me blankly for three seconds like she couldn't recognize me. Then, she laughed a shrill laugh that hurt the ears while reaching out to painfully poke me in the chest. "Did you lose your mind, Carl?" she snapped at me as she gave me a once-over. "How dare you talk to me like that! Remember how you gave me your competition spot or that graduate school recommendation just because I pouted? What, does some lousy offer suddenly mean so much to you? "Why don't you look in the mirror first? Dead parents, unable to afford anything… Even if you land a job at Ascendant Group, do you think you can afford a Birkin bag even with a year's salary?" Beside her, Kevin Zims snickered as he pulled out a sheet of paper and slapped it down in front of me. It was an Ascendant Group offer letter, and the recipient's name, Kevin Zims, was clearly written on it. "See here?" He reclined against his chair, crossing his legs. "That interview project you worked three months for? Yvie had given it straight to me a long time ago. It should have been mine anyway, since my father paid their HR director five hundred thousand dollars." Then, eyeing my faded T-shirt, he smirked. "Oh, and by the way, Yvie is my girlfriend now. Honestly, is a bum like you trying to compete with me?" I stared at the offer letter in silence, because I was waiting for the voice inside my head. It was the Forbearance System that had stayed with me for ten years. Every time I resisted, I'd permanently lose twenty strands of hair, and just remembering that prompted me to touch the bare scalp on the back of my head. But this time, I kept feeling around, yet not a single strand came loose. And before I could even guess what happened, the System notification came. Ding! [Ten-year forbearance period completed! Wealth System activated!] [Host: Carl Lloyd] [New Status: The nation's richest individual] [Disposable assets: #12.7 billion] [70% controlling stake in Ascendant Group] [Real Estate: 230 units nationwide] The notification had barely finished when Yvie walked up and shoved me. "Hey! Kevin's talking to you! What, are you too stunned to respond? Apologize to him right now, and he might play nice and give you a job as a janitor." Beside her, Kevin spun his Bentley key on his finger while smirking at me. "Did you hear that? Yvie's trying to get you a nice job. Go on, start groveling!" I simply smiled as they gloated and slowly leaned slowly back in my chair. Ten years. Aside from the System, there was also the attachment I had to Yvie as we had grown up together. Yvie's parents were terribly conservative and refused to pay for her education, so I gave her the money I earned from part-time jobs for her tuition. She lost at an online competition and came to me in tears, so I revised her code and worked for 72 hours without sleep, helping her win first prize at the national level. As for the graduate school recommendation, she said women who had low academic credits would suffer discrimination, so I didn't hesitate to let her take mine while applying through Ascendant Group's campus recruitment program. Chapter 2 But all of that was ending now. Picking up the notice and sliding it back to Kevin, I stood up and looked downward at him. "Kevin Zims, was it? You sure are generous, buying a job offer for five hundred grand. Remember to bring this along when you head to Ascendant Tower tomorrow." Kevin was left stunned for a couple of beats, but he soon slammed his hand on the table and laughed, spilling coffee everywhere. "Did you get kicked in the head? Why are you pretending to be a big deal? Look in the mirror first!" He grabbed the offer letter and slapped me across the face with it, its stiff edge scraping painfully against my cheek. Then he planted his foot on top of my sneaker. It was the only decent pair of sneakers I owned and I had kept them even after the heels had worn down Yvie, nestling in his arms, shook with laughter. "Carl, did poverty fry your brain? The way you talked… It's as if you own the place! But you see, you're born to be a dog! Don't even think of getting on our level!" I hung my head, quietly pressing the record button on my phone and deliberately keeping my tone meek to capture the conversation. "What do you want? I just want a job…" "I'll tell you the truth. Every interviewer from all three rounds was paid off by my father. Even if you make a scene, no one will believe you." Pausing, he then kept bragging, "Oh, and by the way, remember that programming competition which you won last year? It's now mine too, thanks to my dad once again. It's now listed on my resume, making it look even prettier." Yvie giggled as she joined in the gloating. "Oh, and thank you for your graduate school recommendation. If you hadn't given it to me, then I wouldn't have been able to pay the department head to alter the published result." Then, she waved her new bracelet at me, gloating as if she had every right. "And thanks to that, I've just withdrawn that money you'd given me for a Birkin bag. You don't have a problem with that, right? Your money is mine anyway." She was talking about the hundred grand I had worked night and day for, suffering three episodes of stomach bleeding. Clutching the phone as it grew hot in my pocket, I asked even more softly, "You can have the money and the job offer… Can I go now?" Kevin chuckled as he took two hundred dollars out of his wallet and flung it at my face. "There. From now on, if you see me with Yvie, turn and leave." Yvie then patted my cheeks with her cool fingers. "But if you behave, I can let you be my lackey. Kevin could even get you a security guard job—it pays around a grand per month, so you can at least afford canned sardines." I picked up the two hundred dollars from the floor, folded the notes neatly, and tucked them into my pocket. "Thank you." Seeing that I was utterly meek and compliant, Kevin left with Yvie in his arms, satisfied. Passing a waiter, he deliberately knocked over his tray and swore as he strode off. When I looked up again, my meekness was gone, and I stopped recording. 18 minutes and 27 seconds. Every word spoken was captured with perfect clarity: stealing my interview project, bribing the interviewers, altering records, misappropriating my startup fund… The confession to every crime, loud and clear. Just to be extra sure, I made sure I wouldn't lose anything by backing up everything on three different platforms: an encrypted folder, cloud storage, and a backup phone registered under an anonymous number. Joshua King, the CEO of Ascendant Group, soon texted me. [Mandy Teller, the HR director, has been detained and questioned. She confessed to receiving a $500,000 bribe and other benefits from Yvie Smith to deduct your interview score.] [There's also proof of a switch in the recommendation for postgraduate studies. Your name was crossed off with a red ballpoint pen and replaced by Yvie's.] He also sent photos of the altered records and a document of Mandy's confession. My eyes were cold as I stared at my name my name crossed out on the paper on the paper and looked up at Ascendant Tower's logo shining in the twilight clouds. I then replied: [Kevin Zims will be arriving tomorrow. Prepare the evidence. I will be there personally.] With the recording and two hundred dollars, all debts—new and old—would be settled tomorrow. Chapter 3 At half past eight in the morning at Ascendant Tower's main entrance, it was rush hour, and many people were filing into the building. I was standing under the tree shade as I checked the evidence gathered yesterday, just as a Bentley loudly screeched to a halt outside the entrance, almost knocking into an intern. Kevin got off first, wearing an ill-fitting suit, while his hair was slicked back until it gleamed. He reached out, helping Yvie out of the car. With her Chanel suit and Birkin bag in hand, she held her head so high that she wasn't looking at the floor. When an intern brushed against her Birkin bag, she leaped backward, scowling in disdain as she patted the surface of the bag and snapped, "Are you blind?! Can you afford this?!" Kevin put a hand around her waist as he kicked the intern. "Go away, bum. You can prostitute yourself, but you'd still be unable to afford my girlfriend's bag." The intern hung his head, teary-eyed as he hurried away, while I fiddled with my phone, taking my time to walk toward them. Yvie spotted me first, her eyes widening before she burst out laughing. "Oh, if it isn't Carl Lloyd!" She gave me a once-over. "What, did you really come for that security job? I told you—beg me, and I might ask Kevin to arrange for it. There's no point in showing up here, since they'd see how skinny you are and refuse to hire you." Kevin saw me too and waved the offer letter at me. Laughing, he stepped forward and looked down at me. "What, you have the balls to show up? Wasn't yesterday humiliating enough? Do you want more or something? Well, fine—I'm starting work here today, so I'm in a good mood. Now kneel so I won't tell security to throw you out." Everyone around us paused to look, whispering and pointing at us curiously. I ignored them and checked my watch. It was forty minutes past eight. Joshua said he would be here on time. In fact, at the very next moment, the glass doors were pushed open from inside, and Joshua stepped out with a handful of senior executives, all of them wearing formal suits. Another two security guards were there too, holding the ashen-faced Mandy by the arms as they followed Joshua. As the group of bigwigs marched toward me, everyone around watched as they all bowed to me. "Greetings, board chair." Suddenly, every whisper stopped, and one could actually hear the wind. Kevin's smile turned stiff, while Yvie's mouth widened so much that it could fit an egg, as she just couldn't process what was happening. Eventually, Kevin recovered and was smiling as he offered Joshua a handshake. "M-Mr. King? I'm Kevin Zims. I'm here to start work today. My dad is CEO of Zims Construction, and we've met at a dinner before…" Joshua never bothered looking Kevin's way as he received a document envelope from his assistant, his voice clear as he spoke. "I'm hereby announcing two issues. First of all, former HR director Mandy Teller abused her position to manipulate interview scores, take bribes, and issue an offer letter in violation of company policy. "She is hence terminated with immediate effect, and her misconduct will be reported throughout the industry, and Ascendant will never rehire her. Legal will be handling the details and punishment for her involvement in bribery." And with that, two security guards dragged Mandy away, even as she kept wailing. Joshua paused and turned toward the deathly-pale Kevin. "Secondly, Kevin's offer letter is hereby revoked. He is hence permanently blacklisted by Ascendant Group as well as any subsidiaries and affiliated companies, while any partnership with Zims Construction will cease right away. Any accounts will be frozen as our legal team will pursue Zims Construction's liability for the bribery." Kevin's knees buckled, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor. Chapter 4 As that offer letter fell out of Kevin's hands, a gust of wind abruptly blew it away. "No! That's impossible!" he shrieked. "My dad… He paid Mandy five hundred grand! This offer is mine!" He lunged toward me, but the security guards strode forward and subdued him. Yvie reacted fast and let go of Kevin's hand, tears immediately streaming down her face as she reached for me. "I'm so sorry, Carl! Kevin made me do it! I love you… Just forgive me, okay? We can start over!" I sidestepped her and whipped out my phone, playing the recording from the day before from yesterday. "You're born to be a dog! Don't even think of getting on our level…" "I've just withdrawn that money you'd given me for a Birkin bag. You don't have a problem with that, right? Your money is mine anyway." Kevin's voice rang too. "I won't lie. The HR director who's going to interview you? My dad has bribed her to hell and back. You can keep crying, but that won't do a thing!" "Oh, and by the way, remember that programming competition which you won last year? It's now mine too, thanks to my dad once again…" I stopped the playback, looking at Yvie as she turned pale. "In three days," I began, "I want everything back—all the money I ever gave you, my first-place prize, the graduate school recommendation, and damages for slander. The total comes to five hundred thousand, and I want to see that money in my bank account soon. "That also includes everything you bought with my money. It must either be given to me physically or pawned off. Either way works." Pausing, I then finished, "It's either that, or I'm pressing charges. When that happens, you'll be expelled and get a criminal record on top of that—which means you won't ever land a proper job." Yvie's knees buckled, and she collapsed on her bottom, dropping her handbag and leaving it covered in dust. Her mouth was open, but no words came out. That was when Joshua approached me with a sealed document envelope, whispering under his breath, "We found something regarding your parents' deaths. It was no accident." Pausing, he then explained, "The driver who rear-ended your parents' truck is Kevin's distant uncle. And a week before that accident, your parents had signed a major contract with the Smiths." My fingers clenched so hard around the envelope that my knuckles turned pale. I looked up to see Kevin, still on the floor, calling his father to ask for help. Yvie was beside him, her shoulders trembling as she cried, messing up her makeup completely. I watched them in turn. So, it wasn't just my graduate school recommendation, my job offer, or my money—they even had something to do with my parents' deaths. Still, my lips curled up as I looked at the envelope in my hand and back at them. The old scores had only just been settled, and now there was a new score to settle. Great! Let's take our time with this! Suddenly, the envelope felt so heavy that I could barely keep my grip on it, even though there were only a few sheets of paper in it. Yvie was still crying on the floor when she saw me staring at her and crawled over to reach for my leg. "Carl! I know you still love me! You can have your money back… as well as that handbag! You can have anything! Just don't press charges—I don't want a criminal record…" I simply took one step back while security rushed up, holding her arms as they dragged her away. I looked down at the face I had known for ten years. When she was hungry, I bought her food. When she was cold, I gave her my jacket. When she cried, I spent the whole night comforting her. Now, seeing her bawl, I had to wonder: What kind of person had I been in love with all these years? "Three days," I said very quietly. "Pay me back, and I won't sue. If you're even one day late, I'll proceed with legal action."