Code Collector

Allen was walking around the Code shop. His face would cringe at every single item he passed through. One Basic grade Code could go up to tens of thousands of dollars. From the money Jake Summers gave him as an allowance for a month, he could only buy an okay Basic grade Code.

The Rare grade codes weren't displayed in the store like the Basic grades. Only pamphlets of the Codes were on display. This was like a jewelry shop where the most expensive jewelries were hidden somewhere away.

As Allen strolled around the store, he couldn't help but feel someone staring at him. He felt chills run throughout his body as the gaze seemed to get more intense. He looked around and saw that it was a worker of the shop.

"May I help you sir?" the woman asked. She was wearing a white suit with a fitted skirt paired with black high heels. Her hair was tied to a bun and she wore a gold pin on her head.

Her looks, for Allen, was average. He could see through her thick makeup that she was hiding a lot back there. Her facial expression didn't make her prettier either. It made her look older, something that no guy likes.

"I'm just looking around," Allen replied, trying not to meet her gaze.

"If you're looking for something, I could always assist you," the woman offered.

"No, than you. I'm fine," Allen said politely. He slightly tilted his head down to bow before he walked away from the woman.

He looked around once more and felt the gaze again. The boy turned around and saw the woman behind him. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"No, there's no problem here," the woman shook her head. "It's just that you have been wandering around the shop for half an hour and doesn't really seem to be interested in anything. So, I wondered why are you here?"

"Seriously, I'm just looking around," Allen said. "Wait, did you think I would steal or something?"

The woman opened her mouth like a fish out of the water. She regained her composure and cleared her throat, "I did not say such things, sir. You were the one who said that."

Allen scoffed and rolled his eyes. He placed his hand on his pocket to find the card Jake gave him. It was a black metal debit card with a line embedded with diamonds on the bottom third of the card. The card was in his name, and Jake would use someone else's name to send money in the account.

They weren't too worried about Jake's father finding out about their transaction since the only files the Summers Corp's power couldn't penetrate to were banks. The banks were monopolized by the Primordial Boar Bearer and he was the greediest when it comes to money.

His name is Andrew Glitz, the third most powerful human, just behind Drake Nelson and the Rat Bearer. He bows to no one and only worships money. He values his customers, therefore his wall to hide their personal information and transactions were impregnable.

"Well, excuse you, miss," Allen waved his card in the air, making sure to garner attention.

"T-That's…" the woman trailed off, hiding her gasp with her hand.

"A black card," Allen finished for her. "You know how much the minimum amount for the black card is. I could buy half this store with one swipe of this card."

"I am very sorry sir," the woman bowed to him, making a smirk crawl its way on his face.

This is how powerful people feels? Allen thought in his mind. I could get addicted to this.

And the thing what amused Allen the most was how this woman blindly reacted to the card after she saw it. Jake didn't gave him enough money yet. He only had the card, but the minimum balance was still credited to Jake's dummy account. Allen barely had any money to buy three Codes in this store.

With a sigh of disappointment and a shrug, Allen left the store with people still shocked after what happened. Only a handful of people in Haven has the black card, so it wasn't odd how they were all surprised.

From store to store in the camp, Allen strolled around. What happened in the Code shop didn't happen again, but the people around him held weird gaze. Allen initially thought it was because he looked more handsome now, but no. It was something different.

One more hour until he meets Philip, an more intense gaze from the woman made him shiver. He was sitting outside a cafe when he felt the gaze almost activate his passive instinct skill.

His eyes found a cloaked man right outside an alley. The man gestures his hands for Allen to follow, which Allen did. He walked out of the balcony of the cafe and went to the alley where the cloaked man turned, only to be greeted by a large phone with Jake Summer's face zoomed in anger.

"What in the hell did you just do?!" Jake groaned. "Did you know how risky the stunt you made at that shop?"

The cloaked man was holding a tablet that was in a video call with Jake. The man had his face near the camera, angry for some reason.

Allen tilted his head. "What?"

"There are only nine people in Haven who has the same card as you," Jake said. "And all of them– including me, are children of conglomerate. We were born rich and our faces are often in magazines. And you showed up, a man within any background, waving the card around like an idiot and now what will you do?"

Allen stared at the void. He was so consumed of making other people kneel in front of him, that he forgot about this possibility. The black card was reserved for the privileged. That's why he has been getting all the stares. They were questioning his entire existence.

"You have to get out of there right this second," Jake said. "When the authorities sees you, they'll arrest you and when that happens, our deal is over. I will cut all ties with you and you're a stranger to me."

This is how the powerful acts. The thought entered his mind.

Jake and him didn't have an actual partnership or even acquaintances. They were nothing but people who help each other out by satisfying one another's needs. Jake needed Codes, and Allen needed the connection Jake could provide.

It now dawned him how easily it was for one another to bail out. Especially for Jake who has Allen by his fingers.

"Don't worry," Allen said. "Once I finish my task here, I will move to another camp."

Jake groaned and threw his phone. Allen thought it was the end of the conversation but Jake picked it up again. He had an unimpressed face while looking at Allen, "That man will give you a phone that has a secure private line. I will give you the map of the forest and the route to the other camp. You'll have a new identity which will be given by another man in that camp."

"Thank you, Jake," Allen smiled. His shoulders relaxed after realizing that Jake couldn't just dispose of him that quickly. He was the only person that would save him of his pride. And from the looks of things, rich people had so much pride.

"I'm not doing this for you," Jake scoffed. "I did this because I already invested a lot in you. It will be a pain to prepare reports on where the money goes, so don't act like you're special. I will not do this again."

"Thanks," Allen grinned. "I won't do this again. And I'll leave in four hours."

"Three," Jake said with a deadpan. "You will leave in three hours."

"I actually only needed to, but I figured you'll decrease it," Allen chuckled. "I'll see you in a bit."

Allen turned around and ran from the man after taking the phone when the voice rang inside his head.

'New quest available.'