"From Broke to Baller: Thanks, System?"

The following Saturday, the group agreed to meet again at the same café near campus. This time, not for a project deadline—but just to organize their parts calmly before midterms began piling up.

Jin arrived first, grabbing the quiet corner booth. He ordered a cheap brewed coffee, black. Just enough to sip while working.

He pulled up the slides he had organized the night before. Neatly arranged, with placeholder texts for everyone's parts.

> "System Prompt: Efficiency increased by 12% Mood: Focused Brain Fog: Cleared (Temporary Buff: 30 mins)"

Yssa arrived next, tossing her tote bag onto the bench with a sigh. "The line was brutal. They're giving away free tumblers if you buy two drinks."

Jin smiled. "Did you?"

"Obviously." She held up two drinks and handed him one. "Here. You looked like you weren't gonna buy another."

He blinked. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You did half the work already anyway."

Soon after, Mika and Calix arrived—Calix munching on a hotdog sandwich, and Mika already flipping through her notes.

They dived straight into it, calmly reviewing transitions, assigning who would explain which slides.

Midway through, Jin paused. "Hey… don't forget to double-check your references. If it's not credible, we might get points docked."

"Dang," Calix said. "You'd make a scary prof someday."

Jin chuckled. "I'm just trying to avoid stress later."

---

After they wrapped up, the others left one by one. Yssa was last to leave, lingering for a second.

"Hey, Jin."

He looked up.

"You're really good at this, you know?"

"At what?"

"Being reliable. Kinda weird how chill you are all the time though."

Jin shrugged. "I just take it one day at a time."

She gave a small smile and waved. "See you Monday."

---

That night, Jin sat in front of his computer, watching charts.

One of his latest trades was about to hit target—or stop loss.

The candle moved sharply.

> TP hit. +₱622.43 added to wallet

A slow smile crept across his face.

> "System Message: Passive Progress Detected You are no longer just surviving. You are starting to build."

End of Chapter 24