After a single bus stop and some walking, you arrive at the usual place, Garden of Drinken. Yeah, a pretty cheesy name suited for an equally cheap pub.¹It doesn't exist while I write this.

That said, a cheap pub is what you and your equally poor friend need.

After entering the noisy small pub half-filled with people, you immediately spot a young Hispanic man with a spiky haircut sitting by the counter, waving at you. You smile back and go and sit next to him.

"Hi, Iver!" - Mateo says while stretching his arm to you.

"Mateo, good to see you, homie." - You reply and do the usual hand-sign with him.

While speaking, a fat Hispanic bartender with a large mustache and gold chain, Mr. Sanchez, approached you from across the counter.

"Mateo, Iver, the usual?" - The fat bartender asked.

"Yeah, the usual." - Mateo nodded.

"Same for me, Mr. Sanchez." - You nod.

"Right away, champs." - The bartender nods and continues his busy work.

You and Mateo then casually chat while tap beer, nachos(For you), and tacos(For Mateo) get served.

"Man, I think I'm in trouble." - Mateo suddenly says while drinking his beer.

"What happened?" - You put down your beer and ask, turning serious.

You have known Mateo since you were kids in first grade. He isn't a guy who would say he is in trouble lightly. He is about to experience a life crisis if he claims to be having trouble, something worse than losing his job.

Mateo looked left and right and then leaned over. Getting the cue, you also lean over to listen.

"Loan sharks, man." - Mateo whispered.

"Loan sharks?! What the heck happened?!" - You whisper back, hiding your shock.

"Remember that time my mama got breast cancer and got hospitalized four years ago?" - Mateo said.

"Yeah, what of it? Didn't your insurance cover it up?" - You ask.

"Most of it, not all of it. Most of my papa's savings went to cover the rest of the hospital fees." - Mateo said while rubbing his face tiredly.

"Because Mama turned weak after the chemotherapy, she couldn't work, so we had to rely on Papa, me, and little sis to earn money for the rest of the family. It was originally fine, our family restaurant earned enough money, and we could survive, but problems started when COVID hit three years ago." - Mateo continued, his face glum.

"Business went bad, and you needed to loan money?" - You guessed.

The ones that got hit hard the most were the shop owners during the pandemic, especially restaurants.

"I didn't. Papa did, and without us knowing anything. However, the banks were unwilling to lend, so he borrowed money from bad places last year." - Mateo explained.

"From loan sharks?" - You sigh and rub your nose bridge.

"Yeah, loan sharks. The bad kind." - Mateo sighed.

"How bad is it?" - You ask in concern.

"Originally, my Papa borrowed $20,000 with a 5% interest rate a week, but it's already over $50,000, and they want their money back, one way or another." - Mateo said bitterly.²1.05(5% interest rate)^48(weeks) = 10.4. Insane, I know. If you take a loan, don't let it get inflated, pay for it as soon as possible.(

"When did you find out about this?" - You ask, your face turning ugly.

"Two weeks ago, man. They came in the evening to our restaurant and threatened my Papa with a gun to the temple. If I did anything, they would hurt my family." - Mateo clenched his teeth in frustration.

"Fuck... Did you call the cops?" - You lower your voice unconsciously, feeling the pressure.

"Nah, man, I'm not crazy. The police can't do jackshit about it, and it will just make the loan sharks angrier." - Mateo said helplessly.³Yep. The lesson is, don't take a loan from loan sharks. It only makes things worse.

"They want me to be a dealer, man. They want my sister to work in one of their stripper clubs. They even started approaching my smaller siblings, even little Pedro! His ten man, ten! I'm also scared that they will go after you if I don't do as they say. Sniff* I don't know what to do, man. Sniff*. I'm scared, Iver. I'm scared." - Mateo started breaking down, sobbing.

You never saw him cry before. Even when his mother got cancer and was under financial pressure, he still had a smile.

Now, you saw your best friend, a loyal guy willing to stand up for you against bullies with knives, breaking down and sobbing in front of you.

An uncomfortable feeling welled up in your chest.

"I wish I had a superpower, man. If I had a good superpower, Sniff* I could get a good job. I could have gotten enough money to support my family. None of this would have happened then." - Mateo rubbed his eyes and complained of the unfairness of life.

"..." - You remain silent while rubbing his back, not knowing what to say.

"Mateo stuck with me all these years, he's like a brother to me. I wish I had some way to help him..." - You tried thinking of a way.

Although you now have a superpower, an entire world to explore, and you can probably become a multimillionaire, you are just a poor-ass guy. It will take you time to get wealthy.

Although you are willing to help Mateo, you know that giving him money won't solve the problem. The only way to handle this is to take out the loan sharks, put them behind bars and prevent them from selling the loan to someone else.

But how? The police are unreliable, and you are just one guy with no background.

"Should I sell my services to the government and risk it?" - The thought crossed your mind.

You know how much you are worth. In simple words, you are worth a lot. In more complex words, you are worth over 100 years of technological advancement.

If the government accepts you, forget about some damn loan sharks, the government would probably be willing to destroy an entire drug syndicate for you.

On the other hand, the government might see you as a super bio-hazard and threat to humanity and kill you on the spot. They might also be afraid of your potential and control you through your family and friends.

It isn't some optimistic cartoon; It's reality, and you had to face it.

The thought of being killed by your own country was unpleasant, but if you had no choice, you would risk it for your best friend.

While you were thinking, you suddenly had a wild idea.

"Maybe Rosa can help? She said she is good with hacking..." - You think to yourself.

"Mateo, who lent the money to your father?" - You ask.

"Sniff*, I think they are called King Loan⁴Random name. Why?" - Mateo asked suspiciously.

"Just wanna check them out on social media and see if I can find some dirt on them." - You lie.

"Don't do it, Iver. Sniff* You might anger the gangsters behind them. Not worth it." - Mateo pleaded.

"Don't worry. I know my limits." - You reassure him.

You then spent another half an hour comforting your best friend with thoughts brewing in your mind.

 

 

Sometime later, back in your apartment, you retrieve Rosa back from the other world.

[Iver, you won't believe what I heard when I was there.] - Was the first thing the sassy AI said.

"Hah? What did you hear?" - You ask.

[Growls, howls, some even monstrous. A lot of them. My world is dangerous at night, Iver, don't go there at night.] - Rosa's voice was tinged with fear.

"Did you record it?" - You worriedly ask.

[Yeah, here.] - Rosa said, and a recording started playing.

Growl* Howl* Wooo*

A cacophony of animalistic noises sounded, with some fights in the background.

"...Yeah, let's not go there at night." - You decide.

[So, how was your meeting with your friend?] - Rosa asked.

"Not good." - You say grimly.

[Hah? What happened?]

"Well, loan sharks are hounding him and his family." - You say with a grimace.

[Loan sharks? Can you tell me the details?] - Rosa asked.

"Yeah, well, it goes like this..." - You start describing the details.

 

 

After a few minutes—

[Damn, seriously? In my world, these kinds of things stopped by 2079.] - Rosa said in disgust.

"Well, not in my world. Can you help my friend? Like deleting his debts?" - You ask hopefully.

[That's a tall task, Iver. It greatly depends on how they keep their documents and if they have paper copies of any contracts signed. That is to say, I can wipe their computer memory and cloud memory, but they can still use papers as backup proof. And that's not all. The lenders might have data backups stored with a third party, like the bank. In other words, I can only cause them some trouble.] - Rosa explained.

"Damn... Is there no way to help?"

[Actually, there is.] - Rosa surprisingly said.

"What is it?" - Your eyes lit up.

[Just leave it to me.] - Rosa stated.

"You're not gonna make things worse, are you?" - You ask worriedly.

[Not for your friend and his family, at least. So, want me to do it?] - She answered, still full of mystery.

"...Fine, do it, but don't make me regret it." - You say.

[You won't. Trust me. Talk with your friend tomorrow to hear the good news.] - She said confidently.

"Seriously? That simple?" - You dubiously ask.

[Yeah. That simple. While big mama Rosa does her magic, you have fun studying for your stupid college entrance exams. Now shoo.] - Rosa said cockily.

"You know what? Fine, I'll do just that."

You brush your teeth, remove most of your clothes, go to bed, half cover yourself with the blanket, and put on the VR headset. Then, after selecting the |Iver's stupid college entrance exam prep| option, you log in to the simulation world, leaving Rosa by herself on the nightstand.

[Mhehehe— Time to get evil~ ψ(｀∇´)ψ] - Rosa deviously laughed.

 

 

 

4 hours later, in the King Loan company's main office. 

The two night-shift employees on duty drank coffee while playing solitaire on the computer. Suddenly, the computer of one of them glitched.

"Goddammit! Piece of junk. The boss shouldn't have gotten a fucking refurbished computer." - One of the employees slammed the table angrily.

"Yeah, tough luck convincing him to buy new computers so you can play GTA V." - The other employee snickered.

"A guy needs to dream, man. Oh, it stopped. Damn, but my game crashed— What the fuck?!" - The first guy exclaimed.

"What?" - The other guy asked lazily.

"The background screen changed, and there is text and an arrow to a folder. It says 'Dear Loan shark, if you don't want the contents of this folder to spread to every gang in the city, you should probably open it and check it out. :D'  The heck?" - The guy exclaimed.

"Lemme see that! Oh, shit! I think we've been hacked, man! Someone is blackmailing us!" - The other guy said.

"Should I open it, though?" - The first guy asked.

"Remove the internet cord, first, and then check it. Worse comes to worst, we lose a junk computer." - The second guy said.

"Good idea." - The first guy crouched down and disconnected the computer's ethernet cable.

"Okay, now open it." - The second guy said.

"Yeah, on it." - The first guy opened the folder, and in it was a series of other folders and a note.

When the two workers saw the titles of the folders, their faces turned ashen.

"Call the boss, now! Our lives depend on it!" - The second guy shouted in a panic.

"Already on it!" - The first guy took out his phone and made a call.

 

This night was fated to be a long and painful one for the King Loan company.

 

 

 

The next morning.

You wake up and remove the VR headset carefully, feeling fresher than ever before.

"Damn, I could get used to this. Not only did I finish two weeks' worth of studying in one night, I even got the best sleep I had in years!" - You say while stretching.

You decided to stay in the simulation for the remaining ten hours, and the results were overwhelmingly good. You felt more concentrated, and your memory and mind were sharper, so your studying became more efficient. Rather than three times the efficiency, it felt like five times the efficiency, and the results were better than studying for five times as long.

"If I do this for a month, I think I will be able to ace the ACT and SAT exams!" - You say, your eyes glowing.

Acing the ACT or SAT exams is enough to get you accepted to any college you want with a scholarship. By then you could also choose any course you please.

[Iver, your ambitions are as stupid as ever.] - Rosa's annoying voice sounded from the side.

"Shut it, Rosa. Let a man have his dreams!" - You say with a distant look.

[Says the guy who proclaimed my world as his while laughing like a maniac just yesterday.] - Rosa retorted.

"...Touche." - You raise the white flag.

"So, what's the situation? Did you take care of it?" - You change the subject, your face turning serious.

[Yeah, took care of it. They won't try to rip off your friend's family anymore. Or anyone else.] - Rosa said confidently.

"What the heck did you do?" - You ask worriedly.

[Oh, nothing, nothing~ I just blackmailed them a little. (*^▽^*)]

"You did what?!" - You ask, horrified.

Just then, your phone rang. You look at the caller. It's Mateo.

 

You answer the call.

 

"Bro, what's up—"

{Gulliver, did you do it?} - Mateo asked seriously.

You blink your eyes, not understanding what's going on.

Whenever Mateo calls you Gulliver, it means he is dead serious.

"Bro, what are you talking about? What happened?" - You ask curiously, but you had a hunch.

{...You truly don't know?} - Mateo asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, I have no idea what you are talking about, now tell me what happened!" - You demand.

{Well, this morning after mass, my Papa received a call from the loan sharks, apologizing to him and giving him back all the interest money he paid, telling him that the debt is void as compensation for the trouble they caused, and the money loaned is a gift.} - Mateo said, sounding surreal.

"...What? Holy shit, dude, that's great!" - You exclaim, happy for your friend.

{Yeah, I'm also happy, but Iver, are you sure you didn't do anything?} - Mateo asked, uncertain.

"I'm sure. Why?"

You didn't lie. You didn't do anything. Rosa did.

{...If you say so, man. My Papa and Mama invited you for dinner at 7, by the way.} - Mateo said.

"Oh, sure. I'll come over." - You smile and say.

{Cool, see you.}

"Bye, man!"

 

The call then ended, and you turned to Rosa on the nightstand.

"What did you do?" - You ask sternly.

[I told you, just a tiny, little blackmail~] - Rosa replied innocently.

"Rosa, I'm serious! What did you do?!" - You ask angrily.

[Okay, okay, sheesh~. I just sent some fabricated evidence to the loan sharks of them snitching to the cops on all the other gangs in the city, and that if they don't return all the money they took from their current victims, I will release it to all the gangs in the city.]

She said casually.

"... Your evil." - You barely manage to say, somehow feeling sorry for the loan sharks.

[Damn right I am~（￣︶￣）↗] - Rosa proclaimed proudly.