Chapter One: Give Away One Thousand Dollars in Ten Minutes

A fresh cut marked his right eyebrow, courtesy of the sedan that had clipped him ten minutes earlier. Seventy-eight yuan for the ruined meal, four hundred to fix his scooter—eighteen hours of work erased. He rejected the call and opened the delivery app to appeal. A strange post filled the screen instead. IF YOU HAD ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, COULD YOU GIVE IT TO SOMEONE WHO TRULY NEEDED IT WITHIN TEN MINUTES? The account was named ZERO. Its avatar was an inverted hourglass. The replies were merciless. "New kind of phishing scam." "Give it to me. I need it most." Lin laughed once and tapped Like. His screen went black. Red numbers appeared on the glass. [TEN-MINUTE FORTUNE PROTOCOL BINDING COMPLETE.] [ROUND ONE AID FUND: USD 1,000.]