As soon as I clicked on the notification icon a list of tabs appeared in front of me.

{ [Local News] [Financial News] [Global News] [National News] }

I pressed on the Local News tab and immediately heard a ringing sound followed by the prompt-

[Pay $100 dollars for Tomorrow’s Newsletter?] [yes/no]

“I had to pay for this newsletter thingy? This must be a scam.”

I picked up the old smartphone from the dining table and looked at the date. It was 2nd April, 2023.I opened the lock screen which I somehow knew and looked for a baking app and much to my relief it was there.

Account Balance: $1200.

It was all that I had in my one personal account. Alex had spent years saving up pocket money and new year's red packets to save this much and to be honest it was quite a lump.

Gritting my teeth, I said to myself, "Here we go" and pressed the [Yes] option.

A holographic 2-page shortened newspaper appeared in front of me which made me yelp in surprise. The date on it was 3rd April,2023.

My mind went blank.

"What the hell is going on" I thought to myself as I tried to read the newspaper. There wasn't much on it. The news only described some petty crimes in the surrounding neighborhoods and a few mishaps here and there but nothing serious.

"I have to verify this tomorrow. If this is actually true, this might be my opportunity I have been searching all my life for."

I quickly tried to memorize as much as I could from the letter but my mind was not the brightest so I could only remember bits and pieces, but it would be enough to match with tomorrow's news.

I clicked on the other tabs, but it was to no avail since the prices were quite outrageous.

Financial News- $5000

National News- $50,000

Global News- $100,000

YEAH! A whopping 100 grand. One could only imagine what would be in these papers. But it was too far away for me to think about.

It was 10 am, quite early in the day and I had to figure out how to sort out my new life that I had been stuffed into. It was daunting. I had the memories of Alex, but I wasn't Alex in the true sense.

“What if someone found out, then what would happen to me?” such thoughts popped in from time to time.

I went out to get some food as the fridge was empty from what I saw after snooping around the apartment for a bit. The neighborhood was in a good part of town. Not rich but a far shot from the slums I lived in.

I decided to treat myself to some fine microwaved ramen and eggs. It was delicacy by my standards.

After finishing my meal, I began surfing the net trying to find out information about such incidents happening to other people where they received special powers after dying but i was hoping for too much.

The only source of info was light novels with something called ‘SYSTEMS’.

“This must be what I have. Haha. My Gold finger is here”, I was ecstatic.

I also tried experimenting by buying more Newsletters, but I couldn't buy more than 1 per day according to the prompts.

The day went by like a fever dream waiting for the next morning. Surprisingly, no one else called the phone the entire day.

“Wow, the guy must have been a pure loner," I said to myself lying down on the couch staring at the lonely ceiling.

But I doubt I am the one who should be talking about such topics since the only friends i had were a 2 from my orphanage since when i was little.

Soon it was the next morning.