Cirebon's midday sun beat down on the rooftops, but in a dimly lit room cluttered with anime figures, game posters, and an old fan rattling in the corner, Phuby lay motionless on his mattress, one hand holding his phone, the other stuffed under his pillow. At 28 years old, jobless, and clinging to the last threads of his streaming hobby, he felt like his life had entered an endless loop.
He wasn't lazy—just tired. Tired of rejections. Tired of pretending he wasn't disappointed in himself.
Years ago, he had been full of dreams. He'd once imagined running a bakery like his late grandfather. Their family shop, Toko Kue Palm Sari, had been the pride of the neighborhood since it opened in 2001, nestled in his grandfather's house. The scent of pandan, butter, and warm bread once drifted from its kitchen, carrying the laughter of family and the love baked into every cake.
But COVID-19 had hit them hard. In 2020, the house—and the shop with it—was sold by his grandmother for Rp2.000.000.000 to keep the family afloat. The bakery closed. The family scattered, then regrouped.
After his grandfather passed away on May 5th, 2022, everything changed. Phuby, his mother Mrs. Wulan, his stepfather Om Luky, and his mom's younger brother all moved into his grandmother's home.
Even before that, life hadn't been easy.
His parents divorced when he was in second grade, and his biological father—who had drifted out of the picture—passed away the day before Phuby's high school final exams (UAS). Phuby remembered staring blankly at the test paper, his mind spinning between grief and questions that would never be answered.
Still, he pushed forward.
With no job, no degree worth mentioning, and a mountain of self-doubt, he had turned to livestreaming—mostly anime reviews and gacha game commentary. It wasn't lucrative, but it paid for prepaid cards and the occasional snack. His phone's balance in the Dana app read a meager Rp145.000, barely enough for bubble tea and a few data top-ups.
He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Maybe I should just give up," he muttered. His voice echoed off the empty walls.
He reached for his tablet and tapped open a Japanese livestream. He understood most of what was being said—he could understand Japanese fluently, thanks to years of watching subbed anime—but speaking it? That was a different beast entirely. His tongue tied itself in knots when he tried.
As the stream played in the background, his phone buzzed.
He glanced over.
[Streaming Bonus: +Rp50.000 from Superchat]
"Hah…" He smiled faintly. One kind viewer from Jakarta had dropped a tip. It was barely anything, but in his situation, it felt like finding a coin in a dry well.
He switched to his Dana app again.
Balance: Rp195.000
Still not enough.
Still stuck.
He closed his eyes and drifted into a nap, thoughts swirling like the ceiling fan blades above him.
---
When he woke up an hour later, the screen of his phone was lit up with a strange message.
> [System Activated: Cashback of the Heart]
You are eligible for rewards based on emotional value and purchase integrity.
Current Balance: Rp2.145.000
He bolted upright.
"What the—?"
He opened Dana. The balance now read Rp2.145.000. A two-million-rupiah jump. No alerts. No transfers. No sender information.
Phuby blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Blinked again.
There was a new label in his transaction history:
> System Reward – External Source
+Rp2.000.000
His heart raced. "Is this… a glitch? Some kind of hack? Or… did I just get hacked?"
No money was taken. No accounts linked. His passwords were intact. His antivirus detected nothing strange. There was no app named "System" in his installed apps. Just… that notification.
He stared at the screen, confused and cautious, but underneath it all… curious.
Something had changed.
Something had begun.
---