Infinite Cashback System

Kumiko blinked, seeming to remember where she was and who else was in the room. "Oh! Um, maybe two more hours for complete assembly and OS installation? Then we’ll need time for OBS configuration and stream testing, so probably four hours total?"

"Four hours." Chloe set down her coffee mug with deliberate care. "Of watching you explain computer parts to my shirtless boyfriend."

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Kumiko’s eyes went wide with panic as she finally registered the danger signals that had been building for the past hour.

"I can work faster! Much faster! We can skip the cable management optimization and just focus on basic functionality!" Words poured out of her in a desperate rush. "Or Jordan-kun can put on a shirt! That would be fine! Completely fine! Shirts are good for preventing distraction and maintaining professional boundaries and—"

"Breathe, Kumi." Jordan reached over and patted her shoulder. Her breathing hitched, then came out in short, uneven bursts. "I’ll go grab a shirt. No big deal."

He pushed himself up from the floor and moved toward the door. Chloe’s face showed pure satisfaction as he passed her position on the couch, like she’d just won a game he hadn’t realized they were playing.

Behind him, Kumiko’s voice dropped to barely above a whisper. The Japanese syllables came out rushed and apologetic. He caught something that might have been "gomen nasai" before Chloe cut her off.

"Just remember whose boyfriend you’re staring at."

The words carried across Unit 403 with crystal clarity. Jordan grabbed the bedroom doorframe, steadying himself as he processed the possessive edge in her voice. Not angry, exactly. Something more primal than that.

He pulled a plain black t-shirt from the dresser in his room and tugged it over his head. The cotton settled against his chest and abs, covering the results of his daily gym sessions. Results that apparently worked well enough to make a girl forget her native language mid-sentence.

The System had transformed his body through that first gacha pull, the Tune Up trait doing in minutes what should have taken months of dedicated training. Muscle definition where there had been soft flesh. Shoulders that filled out shirts properly. A physique that could stop conversations and scramble thought processes.

He stared at himself in the mirror for three seconds, then turned back toward Chloe’s apartment.

The tension had dialed down several notches when he walked through the door. Kumiko had buried herself in cable organization, her hands moving with mechanical precision as she sorted SATA cables by length. Chloe had relocated from the couch to the floor, positioning herself close enough to the workspace to maintain visual oversight without making it obvious.

"Better?" Jordan lowered himself back to his previous spot on the carpet.

"Much." Chloe’s gaze tracked across his shoulders anyway, following the line where fabric met skin. "Now we can focus on the important stuff."

"RAM installation is next!" Kumiko’s voice came out louder than necessary, the kind of forced enthusiasm that screamed overcompensation. "These are DDR5 modules with RGB lighting for enhanced aesthetic appeal during streaming!"

She produced two memory sticks that belonged in a science fiction film. Metallic heat spreaders ran along the top edge, while rainbow LED strips waited dormant beneath frosted plastic diffusers. Jordan took them from her with both hands, noting how she angled the transfer to avoid any possibility of contact between their fingers.

His attention shifted to the motherboard. "These slots?" He indicated two empty RAM channels with his free hand.

"Second and fourth slots for dual-channel configuration," Kumiko confirmed. "Press down firmly until you hear the clips engage on both sides. The modules should seat completely flush with no visible gold connectors remaining exposed."

Jordan lined up the first RAM stick and pressed down with steady pressure. The memory module slotted into place with a satisfying click, followed immediately by its partner in the fourth slot. The RGB lighting activated automatically, cycling through a rainbow of colors that reflected off the metallic components.

"Perfect installation!" Kumiko clapped her hands together. "You have excellent technical instincts, Jordan-kun!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "He’s installing computer parts, not performing brain surgery."

"Computer assembly requires precision and attention to detail!" Kumiko protested. "Many people lack the patience for proper component handling! Jordan-kun demonstrates natural aptitude for technical work!"

"I’m sure he demonstrates natural aptitude for lots of things." Chloe’s tone carried multiple layers of meaning that made Jordan’s face heat up.

"Graphics card next," Jordan said quickly, before the conversation could veer further into dangerous territory. "That’s the big expensive one, right?"

"The RTX 4070!" Kumiko pulled the massive graphics card from its antistatic bag with reverent care. "This represents the heart of any serious gaming or streaming setup. Eight gigabytes of GDDR6X memory, third-generation RT cores for real-time ray tracing, and enough processing power to handle 1440p gaming at maximum settings."

Jordan accepted it with both hands, surprised by the weight and bulk of the component.

"This thing is huge. How does it even fit?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"PCIe x16 slot, top position." Kumiko pointed to a long connector near the top of the motherboard. "Remove the expansion slot covers from the case first, then align the card with the slot and press down until the retention clip engages."

Jordan worked slowly and carefully, aware that he was handling something worth more than his old car. The graphics card slid into position with mechanical precision, and the retention clip snapped into place with an audible click.

"Excellent work!" Kumiko bounced slightly in her excitement. "Graphics card installation complete! Now we connect the PCIe power cables from the power supply and—"

A sharp knock at the door interrupted her technical explanation. All three of them froze, looking toward the entrance like it might explode.

"Expecting someone?" Jordan asked.

Chloe shook her head. "Nobody knows I’m here except—oh shit."

The knocking repeated, more insistent this time, followed by a familiar voice calling through the door.

"Chloe! Open up! I know you’re in there!"

Jordan’s blood turned to ice water as he recognized Alexis Van Der Berg’s voice, sharp with authority and barely contained irritation. Of all the people who could have shown up during their innocent computer building session, Alexis ranked somewhere between ’awkward’ and ’potential disaster’ on the scale of complications.

Well fuck. This is about to get interesting.