Cari pushed through the heavy glass doors of the university cafeteria.

Her stomach cramped with sharp hunger pains. The smell of grilled cheese burgers filled the air, making her mouth water.

She walked over to a self-service reloading machine against the wall.

She dug into her pocket and pulled out the original owner's campus card. The edges of the plastic were worn and peeling.

Cari slid the card into the slot. The screen prompted her to enter a reload amount.

Out of pure habit from her past life, she typed in the number one hundred.

The moment her finger hit the green confirm button, the machine let out a piercing, high-pitched red alarm.

The screen flashed violently.

The cashier, who had been dozing on a stool nearby, jerked awake. His eyes went wide with panic as he looked at Cari.

Two large campus security guards sprinted across the cafeteria.

Their hands rested heavily on the batons at their belts. They looked at Cari like she was holding a bomb.

The students waiting in line backed away quickly, staring at her in fear.

"Step away from the machine!" one of the guards yelled. "Are you trying to hack the financial grid?"

Cari raised both her hands in the air, her heart pounding against her ribs.

"I just wanted to put a hundred dollars on my card to buy lunch," she said, her voice tight.

The cashier sucked in a sharp breath.

"A hundred dollars?" the cashier screamed. "A hundred dollars could buy a massive luxury estate in Beverly Hills!"

Cari felt like she had been hit by a truck.

She stood frozen. The blood drained from her face. A wild, impossible thought struck her, but she immediately pushed it away. "Ten thousand times? That's completely absurd... But if it's true... then my savings?" She backed away from the machine, her hands shaking as she pulled out her phone. She needed proof. She had to verify this insane theory before she lost her mind. As she stared at the screen, all the absurd pieces of information finally snapped together in her brain. The prices and the value of money in this world had been compressed by exactly ten thousand times.

While the guards checked the machine for a system error, Cari grabbed her card from the slot.

She turned and ran out of the cafeteria as fast as her legs could carry her.

She did not stop until she reached a secluded wooden bench by the campus lake.

Her chest heaved. She gasped for air, her fingers shaking as she pulled her cracked phone from her pocket.

She took a deep breath to steady her racing heart and tapped the familiar Bank of America app icon.

The facial recognition scanned her features.

The screen loaded, displaying the original owner's account balance in bold black numbers.

$854,000.00.

Cari stared at the number. Her eyes burned.

In this world, that balance gave her the purchasing power of eight and a half billion dollars.

Her hands trembled with excitement. She immediately tapped the transfer button, trying to move one single cent to buy a burger.

A bright red pop-up blocked the screen.

[FUNDS STATUS: ESCROWED]

Cari's smile vanished. Her stomach dropped like a stone.

She slammed her hand against the wooden bench in frustration.

Suddenly, the phone screen went completely black.

A golden, high-tech interface slowly faded into view.

Large letters in the center read: WEALTH UNLOCK PROTOCOL.

Below the title was a detailed escrow agreement.

Cari read the terms quickly. Her eyes darted back and forth across the screen.

The only way to unlock her frozen funds was to complete specific gig economy tasks.

The protocol stated that the wages earned from these gigs would unlock her escrowed money at a one-to-one ratio based on her original world's currency value.

If she earned a daily wage of twenty dollars in gig pay, it would unlock two hundred thousand dollars of her available balance.

Cari let out a breath.

This golden finger gave her billions, but forced her to work at the bottom of society to access it.

She immediately opened the app store and downloaded a local gig app called GigMatch.

She registered an account.

The first urgent, high-paying job on the home page caught her eye.

It was a banquet server position at the Cloud Crest luxury hotel.

The job required her to start immediately. The daily pay was twenty cents.

In her current reality, twenty cents meant unlocking two thousand dollars of cold, hard cash.

Cari did not hesitate. She hit the accept button.

Her eyes locked onto the screen, burning with a desperate hunger for wealth.

Cari stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the towering, gold-tinted glass of the Cloud Crest hotel in midtown Manhattan.

She followed the navigation map around the side of the building and pushed open the heavy metal door to the employee entrance.

A wave of air hit her face, smelling strongly of industrial bleach and cheap coffee.

She walked down the narrow hallway to the supervisor's office to check in.

Trina Sharp sat behind a metal desk, slowly painting her fingernails bright red.

Trina looked up. Her eyes dragged up and down Cari's faded t-shirt and scuffed sneakers.

A loud, mocking scoff left Trina's lips.

"We don't need anyone," Trina said flatly, waving a hand to dismiss her. Trina wanted to give the shift to her own cousin.

Megan Keller, another server carrying a stack of folded uniforms, stopped in the doorway.

"Trina, the GigMatch system already confirmed her," Megan said quickly. "If you reject her now, the platform will hit the hotel with a massive cancellation fee."

Trina rolled her eyes hard.

She reached under the desk and threw a bundled uniform at Cari's chest. It was clearly a size too small.

Cari caught the fabric. She didn't argue.

She gave Megan a small nod of thanks and walked into the locker room.

When Cari came back out in the tight uniform, Trina pointed a sharp fingernail at her.

"You take the VIP private dining room," Trina ordered. It was the heaviest, most stressful section.

Cari loaded a massive silver tray with heavy metal cutlery and three bottles of champagne.

She balanced the tray on her shoulder and walked steadily through the maze of kitchen hallways.

She reached the heavy oak doors of the top-tier VIP room at the end of the hall.

Just as she raised her hand to knock, a busboy hurriedly pushed past her to exit the room, leaving the heavy oak doors slightly ajar in his rush. A familiar voice drifted through the resulting gap. Cari's hand froze in mid-air. Her eyebrows pulled together. She leaned closer, peering through the open space before the heavy door could swing completely shut.

The room was dimly lit with crystal chandeliers. A group of wealthy kids sat around a long mahogany table.

Cari's eyes instantly locked onto the young man sitting near the head of the table.

Her stomach twisted violently.

It was her boyfriend, Hamlin Ross. The guy who always claimed he was a broke student and made her split every penny with him.

Right now, Hamlin was wearing a perfectly tailored designer suit. A thick Rolex watch caught the light on his wrist.

Hamlin held a glass of red wine, leaning forward with a sickeningly eager smile.

He was toasting Harper Zamora, who sat at the head of the table.

Cody Boggs, one of the rich followers, slammed his hand on the table and laughed.

"Hamlin, you really worked hard pretending to be poor just to get into the Zamora circle," Cody mocked loudly. "Did the fake daughter ask you for grocery money today?"

Hamlin let out a short, cruel laugh. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Cari is a desperate beggar," Hamlin sneered. "Looking at her makes me sick."

Hamlin turned his attention back to Harper.

"I only dated her to get close to your family, Harper," Hamlin said, his voice dripping with loyalty. "I gathered all her embarrassing secrets just for you."

Harper covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking with a delicate laugh.

"You did well, Hamlin," Harper praised him. "Like a very obedient dog."

Outside the door, Cari stood completely still.

The heavy silver tray dug into her shoulder. Her fingers gripped the edge of the tray so hard her knuckles turned stark white.

A sharp, stabbing pain hit her chest as the original owner's lingering emotions flared up.

But Cari's eyes were dead and cold.

A brutal, icy smile slowly formed on her lips.

She took a deep breath, shifting the heavy tray entirely to her left hand.

She freed her right hand and gripped the heavy brass handle of the door.

Down the hall, Trina walked around the corner. She saw Cari standing still and immediately opened her mouth to yell.

Inside the room, the laughter paused at the sound of Trina's approaching footsteps.

Cari ignored Trina completely. Her eyes stayed locked on Hamlin through the crack.

She pulled her right leg back, shifting all her weight, and prepared to strike.

Cari drove her right foot forward with explosive force.

Her boot slammed into the heavy mahogany door.

A deafening crash echoed through the room as the double doors flew open, slamming violently against the inside walls.

The soft jazz music playing in the VIP room was instantly drowned out. The air in the room froze.

Every head snapped toward the entrance.

They stared in shock at the girl standing there in a uniform that was too small for her.

Hamlin's hand jerked.

The dark red wine in his glass splashed out, staining the front of his expensive white shirt.

When Hamlin realized it was Cari, the blood drained completely from his face. His knees buckled, and he almost slid out of his chair.

Harper Zamora raised her eyebrows in surprise, but quickly covered her mouth to hide a malicious smirk.

Cody Boggs was the first to react. He slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"Are you crazy?" Cody yelled. "You have no manners, you psycho!"

Cari kept her face completely blank.

She walked into the room with steady, heavy steps. She moved like she owned the building.

She walked straight up to Hamlin and slammed the heavy silver tray down onto the center of the table.

The impact shook the wood. Several crystal glasses tipped over, shattering into pieces.

The girls at the table screamed and pulled back from the flying glass.

Hamlin stuttered, his eyes darting around the room.

"Cari, I... I'm just here working part-time as a wine promoter," Hamlin lied, his voice shaking. He pulled at his suit cuffs nervously.

Cari let out a cold, sharp laugh. Her eyes dropped to the Rolex on his wrist.

"A wine promoter wearing a Rolex?" Cari asked, her voice cutting through the room like a knife.

She didn't give him a chance to speak. She repeated exactly what she had heard through the door.

She exposed his lies, word for word, detailing how he acted like a dog licking Harper's boots.

Hamlin's face turned a dark, furious red.

He reached out, trying to grab Cari's shoulder to force her to shut up.

Cari's eyes narrowed.

She swung her hand back and slapped him across the left cheek with all her strength.

The sharp crack of the slap echoed loudly in the silent room.

Five bright red finger marks instantly appeared on Hamlin's pale skin.

The room went dead silent. No one could believe the weak, pathetic fake daughter just hit someone.

Cari looked down at Hamlin, who was holding his face in shock.

"We're done," Cari said, her voice like ice. "Take your fake life and get out of my sight."

Harper stood up, playing the victim.

"Cari, you are poor and violent," Harper said, shaking her head. "You never deserved Hamlin."

Cari turned her cold stare to Harper.

"You enjoy eating garbage and feeling superior about it?" Cari mocked. "You two are a perfect match."

Harper's face twisted in anger. Her body shook.

"Security!" Harper screamed, pointing at Cari. "Throw this trash out!"

Trina finally ran into the room, breathing heavily. She saw the shattered glass and spilled wine.

Trina screamed.

"You ruined the hotel's reputation!" Trina yelled, pointing her finger in Cari's face. "You are paying for all of this!"

Cari looked at Trina with pure disgust.

She reached up, untied the cheap bow tie around her neck, and ripped the server apron off her waist.

She threw the apron directly into Trina's face.

"I quit," Cari stated loudly.

She turned around and walked out of the room with long, powerful strides, leaving the group staring after her in stunned silence.

The moment she stepped into the hallway, her phone let out a sharp ping.

She pulled it out. The GigMatch app showed her shift was terminated and the twenty cents were deposited.

A second later, the golden Wealth Unlock Protocol banner flashed across her screen.

[COMMAND COMPLETE. $2,000 AVAILABLE FUNDS UNLOCKED.]