Suddenly, I Am Rich

”Brother! Are you still not done? I’m already hungry.”

Gray let out a breath as Lily’s voice echoed from the outside.

”You can eat without me, Lily,” he uttered and sighed, leaning back in his chair as he massaged the side of his temple.

”Okayyyy!”

After hearing Lily’s answer, he heard her footsteps move away, followed by the sound of a spoon clinking against a plate. He had already cooked lunch earlier, so he wasn’t worried that there was no food to eat.

Gray problematically sighed. He looked ahead and stared to what was in front of him. In front of him was the fourth binder Marcus had sent over. He’d been at it since morning, barely getting up except to drink water and stretch every once in a while.

His eyes scanned the page filled with supplier pricing history and seasonal demand shifts. Most of it wasn’t new, but the sheer volume of it was overwhelming.

Still, he read every line.

Even if it took all day, it was still better than juggling different jobs for a fraction of the pay. This was something that belonged to him now. So, it was just right for him to learn everything properly.

Gray glanced at the clock. It was already past 1 in the afternoon. He hadn’t realized how fast the day was moving. It was already Sunday. Yesterday, all he did was the same.

Read and read and read.

”Why are these unending?” Gray sighed as he leaned forward. He flipped to the next page, only to encounter more lines of words.

He had never remembered himself studying this much even when he was still in school. Still, he pushed through it all until the late afternoon, highlighting and making notes as if he were preparing for an exam.

And in a way, he was. Monday would be his first official day as the CEO of the Riverside Branch.

’Damn. I can’t believe I’m a fucking CEO now.’

He might be a CEO, but his fortune was still far away from that. He still needs to work even harder. And the first step of that was to do his job right. He had big plans for the grocery.

He wanted to expand it. Put on more branches. Make it one of the biggest grocery stores you could find in the whole country.

But before any of that could happen, he needed to know what he was doing. It wasn’t just about showing up and giving orders. It was about understanding every part of how business works—where the losses happened, how to prevent them, and, more importantly, how to grow what he had been given.

Gray leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face with both hands.

Gray chuckled dryly to himself.

Still, he couldn’t say he hated it.

It was tiring, yeah. But different from the exhaustion that came from taking five shifts a week at different places, barely making rent.

After a quick break and a glass of cold water to wake him up, Gray returned to his seat. He told himself he’d finish just one more binder today. The last one was about competitor research. Their pricing, product variety, and customer reviews.

He took a pen and began to jot notes in the margins.

Better layout ideas. Brands that customers preferred and common complaints.

He was getting the hang of it.

Once the sun began to dip lower in the sky, Gray finally stretched his arms overhead and stood up. His legs were sore. His back was stiff. But he’d done it. Half of his Sunday had been productive, and the other half?

Now he could spend it as he liked.

After dinner, Gray moved to his desk and opened up his laptop. It was old, but it was still working.

He opened up the trading site that he uses and looked at his current investment.

Velmora Tech Holdings: $30,238.90

The number had risen again.

There were dips here and there, especially with the tech market being as unstable as it was, but Velmora always bounced back stronger than before.

Gray clicked into the graphs, analyzing the recent trend. There were some whispers online about a possible product launch soon. That would explain the spike in investor activity.

”It’s still doing good,” he muttered, fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the trackpad. ”I don’t think this one would fall soon, so I still need to keep my investment.

”System give me the latest update of the mission again.”

[Ding!]

[Mission: Grow Your Wealth]

[Objective: Reach a total profit of $100,000 through investments.]

[Progress: $30,238.90 / $100,000]

[Remaining Businesses to Invest In: 4]

”Let’s sell half of my stocks to fund the others,” he said under his breath.

He entered the amount, reviewed the market price, and clicked ’Confirm Sale.’

A loading bar appeared for a moment, then a soft chime confirmed the transaction.

[Order completed. $15,101.45 available in funds.]

Gray leaned back and sighed.

He transferred the funds into his investment wallet. With that, he was ready to begin scouting his next opportunity.

”Four more to go,” he muttered with a small, determined smile.

Velmora had done well. But if he wanted to reach that 100k profit margin, he’d need more income sources.

He started reading through industry news, filtering through article after article. Local startups, growing food brands, online delivery systems—anything that showed promise without being overhyped.

Gray scrolled through his tabs, eyes flicking between charts, headlines, and company profiles. He’d been reading for nearly an hour now, slowly narrowing down his choices.

The system didn’t tell him what to invest in. It only gave him a goal. That meant everything else was up to him.

It sounded hard, and he was still uncertain, but sometimes, he just had to trust himself and his knowledge.

Gray continued searching for more. He didn’t even care if the night was getting deeper. After one more hour, finally, Gray took his eyes off the screen. He sighed and nodded, glancing over at his list one last time.

”Alright. Let’s do this.”