Money can't buy happiness.
Actually, money can buy happiness. I don't know who started the whole "money can't buy happiness" nonsense, but they were completely wrong.
Happiness is different for everyone. For some, it's love. For others, it's success. But for a lot of people, happiness is just having enough money to live without stress.
I should know—I don't have any.
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My name is Allen Cross. A university dropout, jobless, and barely scraping by. Life hasn't exactly been kind to me, but I've learned to deal with it.
I used to believe in hard work and perseverance. That if I just kept pushing forward, something good would eventually happen. But reality doesn't care about effort. No matter how much I tried, I was still stuck in the same miserable situation—no degree, no job, no future.
My story isn't special. I wasn't some genius who got screwed over, nor was I a reckless idiot who ruined his own life. I was just… unlucky.
I tried university, but tuition fees drained me faster than I could keep up. My part-time jobs barely covered rent, let alone food or books. I juggled three jobs at one point, working myself to exhaustion, but it wasn't enough. Eventually, I had to make a choice—continue drowning in student debt or cut my losses. I chose the latter.
Dropping out was supposed to make things easier. Less stress, fewer responsibilities. Instead, it made things worse. Without a degree, decent jobs wouldn't even look at my resume. I ended up working in retail, customer service, and delivery—anything that would keep me afloat.
Every day was the same. Wake up, go to work, deal with rude customers, come home exhausted, repeat. I wasn't living. I was surviving.
My apartment? A tiny, one-room dump where the walls were so thin I could hear my neighbors arguing every night. My meals? Instant noodles and discount supermarket food. My savings? Nonexistent.
It wasn't like I had big dreams, either. I didn't want to be a millionaire. I didn't need luxury. All I wanted was to be comfortable—to not stress over rent, to eat decent food, to maybe take a day off without worrying about losing money.
But even that was impossible.
Then, today, something strange happened.
I woke up to find a glowing screen floating in front of me.
[Congratulations! You have been chosen for the Happiness System!]
[Complete tasks and earn cash rewards!]
I blinked. Maybe I was still dreaming. I rubbed my eyes, but the screen didn't disappear.
[Task: Smile for 10 seconds]
[Reward: $10]
A joke, right?
I stared at the floating screen, my brain still foggy from sleep. Maybe I was hallucinating from hunger. Or maybe this was my mind's way of breaking under stress.
Still, if there was even a tiny chance this was real… what did I have to lose?
I hesitated for a moment before forcing a smile. It felt weird—my face wasn't used to it. But I held it, counting the seconds in my head.
Ding!
[Task Completed!]
[+$10 deposited to your account]
My phone vibrated.
Frowning, I reached for it and opened my banking app.
My balance, which had been painfully close to zero, had an extra $10.
I froze.
The money was real.
My hands trembled as I refreshed the page over and over. The number didn't change.
"…No way."
I wasn't dreaming.
I wasn't hallucinating.
I had just made money by smiling.
For the first time in a long while, I laughed.
It wasn't even about the money—okay, maybe it was a little about the money—but more than that, it was the sheer absurdity of it all. I had spent years struggling, working myself to the bone, just to scrape by… and now, I had made ten dollars by doing nothing.
I needed to test it again.
"…Hey, system," I said hesitantly, feeling ridiculous for talking to thin air. "Give me another task."
As if responding to my words, the floating screen changed.
[New Task: Drink a glass of water]
[Reward: $15]
I blinked. That was even easier than the last one.
Glancing around my tiny apartment, I spotted a half-empty water bottle on my nightstand. I grabbed it, took a sip, and waited.
Ding!
[Task Completed!]
[+$15 deposited to your account]
I grabbed my phone and checked my bank balance again.
It had gone up.
I let out a slow breath, my heart pounding.
This was real.
A system that literally paid me for doing simple things.
A system that wanted me to be… happy?
For a long time, I had felt like I was stuck in an endless cycle—just barely surviving, with no way out. But now, for the first time in years, I had something I never thought I'd feel again.
Hope.
I stared at the floating screen, my mind racing.
This didn't make any sense. It was like something straight out of a novel—one of those overpowered system stories where the protagonist suddenly gains the ability to change their life overnight.
Except this was happening to me.
I hesitated before speaking again. "System… what exactly are you?"
No response.
The screen just floated there, silent, as if it had no intention of explaining itself.
I frowned. "Can you at least give me another task?"
The text on the screen shifted.
[New Task: Take a deep breath]
[Reward: $5]
I let out a small chuckle. Was this thing serious? Smiling, drinking water, and now breathing?
It was almost laughable how easy these were.
Still, I followed the task, inhaling deeply and slowly exhaling.
Ding!
[Task Completed!]
[+$5 deposited to your account]
I checked my phone again. Sure enough, another $5 had been added.
I clenched my fists, my mind already racing with possibilities.
If these tasks were this simple, how far could I take this?
Could I really use this system to turn my life around?
The answer was obvious.
I had nothing to lose.
If this system wanted to throw free money at me, I wasn't going to question it.
Money had always been this impossible, exhausting thing to earn. I had broken my back working minimum-wage jobs, dealing with rude customers, horrible managers, and soul-crushing hours—only to barely scrape by.
And now?
Now I was getting paid for breathing, drinking and water.
It was almost insulting how easy this was.
But I wasn't about to complain.