NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Sponsor System
"Boss, Second Brother... I think I saw a ghost today," Ryan said, trembling as he recounted the events.
Jacob gave him a strange look and said, "Come on, what era is this? You need to trust science. I think you might have been hallucinating, maybe from stress or exhaustion."
"Exactly! And even if ghosts exist, they'd probably avoid us. We're broke ghosts ourselves," Weston added with his smooth talking.
"No, seriously, I swear I'm not lying!" Ryan insisted.
To prove it, he took out his phone and opened the food delivery app, but as he looked at it, his face turned pale.
It still showed that he was just one order away from earning the task reward, but the last order listed wasn't the errand he had just delivered. Instead, it was an earlier spicy hot pot delivery.
It was as if the errand order had never existed.
Rubbing his eyes, Ryan muttered in disbelief, "No, no, this can't be right. How could it just disappear?"
Jacob exchanged a glance with Weston and said, "Third Brother, you're under too much pressure. You probably dozed off while waiting and dreamed it all up."
"Exactly. Let me get some drinks, and we'll have a chill session. You need to relax," Weston said and headed out.
The dormitory manager is very unhappy when students disturb her sleep, but she will be very happy if you buy something in her canteen.
Jacob wiped the floor, sat on the floor when drinking in the dormitory, and then chose a movie on the computer to watch together.
Ryan nodded absentmindedly and joined him.
However, the moment Ryan turned around, he was stunned to see a notification of a new message in the "Sender" section of the app.
When he opened it, his scalp tingled with unease. The profile picture was the kind old man, and even more unsettling was that the name displayed was also "Ryan Dressrosa."
There were only two messages, leaving him utterly baffled:
[First, I am not what you call a ghost, nor am I what you would consider a human, or even a traditional carbon-based organism in any sense.]
[Second, do not be afraid. Believe that you are fortunate—this is a gift from yourself.]
These words eased Ryan's fear slightly, but he still couldn't make sense of them.
If it wasn't a ghost, how could he explain the bizarre phenomena? And what did it mean that this was a gift from himself? It made no logical sense.
After both messages were marked as read, they suddenly vanished into thin air.
This time, Ryan didn't panic, but he felt numb, as if he was becoming desensitized to the strangeness.
Soon, Weston returned, carrying two small bottles of Old Monk, a bag of peanuts, and a few packets of braised chicken and other snacks.
Jacob pulled the still-dazed Ryan over and said, "Third Brother, stop overthinking this. Just get some good sleep, and everything will be fine."
Ryan whose mind was still in a fog, sat down and started drinking with them.
For an hour, they munched on snacks, watched a boring variety show, and drank until they were full and sleepy.
The three of them went back to their beds. Ryan undressed and lay down, only to feel something hard poke him in the back as he shifted.
Feeling slightly tipsy, Ryan instinctively picked up the object. One look, and his intoxication vanished completely—it was the box he had thrown into the trash earlier.
[Ding... Detection begins!]
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind, and Ryan felt his entire body freeze, unable to move a muscle.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Jacob and Weston were already in bed, sleeping soundly. There was no way he could call for help.
Under Ryan's terrified gaze, the box floated into the air.
The box opened, revealing a sleek, logo-less phone. Its metallic finish gleamed beautifully.
The phone was already powered on, and its camera turned to focus on Ryan's face. On the screen, his face appeared crystal clear, staring back at him in fear.
[Ding... Detection complete. Host Ryan Dressrosa confirmed.]
Then, as if controlled by some invisible force, Ryan hand lifted and gently pressed against the fingerprint scanner on the phone.
[Ding... Collecting genetic sample.]
Ryan felt a sharp pain in his finger, like being pricked by a needle. A few drops of blood oozed out, quickly absorbed by the phone.
[Ding... Detection complete. Host Ryan Dressrosa: Earthling, carbon-based organism with 2.1 billion base pairs.]
At this moment, Ryan watched in shock as his broken Redmi 6, with its cracked screen, began vibrating and floating into the air.
In an instant, the Redmi 6 disintegrated into countless fragments, all drawn toward the mysterious phone floating in mid-air.
[Ding... Big data analysis of the host world's dimensional information begins.]
[Ding... Information analysis complete. Now matching the host with a suitable system.]
[Ding... Match successful. The host has acquired the Sponsor System.]
A series of notifications echoed repeatedly. Ryan head buzzed, overwhelmed and unable to process the voices.
[Ding... The host's body has reached its limit. Forced hibernation initiated.]
Ryan's vision went dark as he lost consciousness, unable to do anything.
When he opened his eyes again, an unbearable thirst consumed him. He tried to lift his hand but felt unbearably weak.
"Third Brother, you're awake!"
Weston, who was sitting by the hospital bed playing on his phone, immediately dropped it and ran to call the nurse when he saw Ryan stir.
The nurse and doctor quickly rushed in, taking his blood pressure and temperature with a sense of urgency, as if dealing with a critical emergency.
After they finished their work, Ryan, who was still receiving saline solution, was helped to sit up. He felt much better after drinking some water.
"Second Brother, what happened to me?"
Ryan looked around and realized he was in a hospital ward.