Urban System in America-Chapter 149 - 148: Charisma

Rex leaned back, silent, fingers curling around the edge of the desk.

"So no," he murmured. "Emma can’t just buy her way out. Not without paying a price that might include everything—her career, her name, hell... maybe even her life."

"If she wants out of the system... she’ll need more than money."

He clenched his jaw, staring at the dim glow of his screen.

It pissed him off. Not just because it was unfair—but because he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Not yet. No influence. No power. Barely any money. All he had were memories of a world that ran on similar rules, and the bitter understanding that in games like this, talent alone meant nothing. Power dictated the outcome.

He swiped over to the message app, his finger hovering over Emma’s chat. There was so much he wanted to say—Hang in there. You’re not alone. You’ll win this fight.

But her last message was still marked unread.

Something twisted in his chest.

In the end, he locked the screen again.

Because she didn’t need empty words. She needed change. And if he really wanted to help... he had to become someone who could make that change, he had to grow.

With a frustrated sigh, he flopped onto the bed, arms stretched out, eyes closing. Thoughts swirled in his head—fragments of two lifetimes colliding. Memories from the past, questions from the present. It wasn’t like he and Emma were close. In fact, they’d only met once, by sheer coincidence. Barely even a conversation. And yet... He didn’t know why there was this sharp, bitter taste in his mouth, as if her pain was somehow personal.

Anyways, it was just the start of conflict, and they are far away from real blown-out conflict, maybe it’s not that serious, maybe the result will be different, because this world is different, After all, this world didn’t even have Michael Jackson, so maybe it’s just him overthinking.

Ding!

[Daily sign-in is available]

[Claim it]

"Oh, it’s already midnight?" hearing the system’s chime, he cracked open an eye, blinking at the system interface glowing in the darkness.

The sight of the system brought a subtle lift to his mood. He sat up slowly, gazing at the translucent interface floating before him. Somewhere deep inside, he could feel it—that quiet, simmering determination starting to harden.

Anyway, he may not be strong, powerful, rich or influential enough right now, but with the system he has confidence that he will eventually possess all of them.

And he wasn’t just dreaming. His assets were already in the hundreds of millions, and at the current pace, he’d reach billions soon enough. Tens of billions might take longer—but it was still within reach. As for anything beyond that...

Well, he smirked, that depends on fate.

And in a world like this—driven by capitalism and puppeteered by power—there was almost nothing that couldn’t be solved with enough money.

*Phew*

Turning his attention back to the interface, he chose to directly "Claim" it.

Ding!

[Congratulations! You have received: Charisma (Basic)]

[Effect: People will have a slightly positive impression of you, even upon first meeting.]

Rex blinked in surprise. "Huh... not bad."

You have to know that like aura, Charisma was one of those vague, intangible traits. Just like described in its effect, charisma can make It can make Not about looks, not really. You could meet someone plain-looking, even rough around the edges, and still feel drawn to them. Something magnetic. Something you couldn’t explain.

Just like you have met someone for the first time, but just by taking a look you can tell that this person is good, someone worth trusting.

This was that.

"Oh yeah, this is good," he muttered with a lazy grin, flopping back down.

*yawn*

Anyways, he was in good mood, receiving such a good thing, *yawn* but now it’s time to sleep, even though his body and mind has been greatly repaired due to effect of Recovery potion, but being in system space for decades, he really wanted to have a good night sleep, because in system space, he was in kinda spirit mode, and as such there were no such thing as hunger, exhaustion or sleep.

And tonight, for the first time in what felt like ages, he looked forward to dreaming again.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift off—finally sinking into the soft embrace of sleep.

—

Next Day.

The faint chirping of birds stirred him awake.

He stretched with a quiet yawn, sitting up slowly as soft golden light filtered through the curtains. The breeze pushed the fabric gently, and sunbeams played a quiet game of hide and seek across the room.

It put him in a good mood.

sliding on his soft home slippers, he made his way to the window, the gentle rays of sunlight touched his face, warm and familiar, instantly revitalizing and making him feel alive, he missed such sensations very much in system space.

After changing into his running gear, he headed downstairs, humming a tune.

And as expected, Victor and Kaelan were already there, "Morning guys."

"Good morning, Boss," they chimed in unison.

Victor glanced at him and grinned. "Boss, you seem like you’re in a good mood today."

"Of course. With weather this good, it’d be weird if I wasn’t," Rex replied casually.

"Let’s move! I’ve been missing that burn," he added, already jogging off.

Seeing this, both Victor and Kaelan also picked up the pace and quietly followed him, like his most loyal shadows.

Rex smiled as he passed familiar faces, nodding in greeting, exchanging casual hellos. It felt good. Normal.

Soon, they arrived at their usual workout spot, and as usual there weren’t many people in this area.

Rex stopped under a large tree, leaned on the trunk, and took a few short breaths.

"Not bad," he muttered. "Even after skipping a few days, I’m still in decent shape."

After a short warm-up, they got into the real workout. Today was tougher than usual—he’d specifically asked Kaelan to up the difficulty.

Ten minutes in, he was drenched in sweat.

But he didn’t mind at all.

In fact... he was enjoying every second of it.

(End of Chapter)