Chapter 3

Almost at the same time, my brother’s phone received a text. He glanced at it quickly, and his face instantly went dark.

I knew that was a bank deduction notice.

His face had gone white, but he still forced out a smile and reached out to pat my shoulder.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just that my joke was too cold! I’ll tell you a warmer one...”

I didn’t give him the chance.

I sidestepped his hand and said in a distant tone, “There’s an urgent matter at the company. I have to go back and handle it.”

After saying that, I turned and left without looking back.

Behind me, I heard him mutter a curse under his breath.

I didn’t turn around.

But I didn’t go to the company either. Instead, I took another road and drove to the house of a writer a friend had introduced me to.

He was a well-known online author who specialized in system-novels.

After hearing my story, he calmly pushed up his glasses and exposed the truth in one sentence.

“You’ve been bound to a ‘Cringe-Joke Fortune System.’ Your brother is the host.”

“This kind of system has to rely on the positive emotions of the closest blood relative to steal huge amounts of fortune.”

My thoughts drifted back into the past.

When I was little, I fell and split my knee open, crying so hard I could barely breathe.

My brother told me a joke about a little pig, and I laughed until snot bubbled out of my nose.

The next day, he got the limited-edition game console he’d been wanting.

In school, I failed an exam and got scolded to hell and back by my parents.

My brother pulled me aside, imitated a teacher, and told a little skit that had me laughing so hard I nearly doubled over.

Not long after, he somehow won a brand-new computer in a raffle.

I always thought that was family affection, that blood was thicker than water, that he was encouraging me in his own way.

Now that I thought about it, every time I laughed freely, it had only been a sacrifice to let him steal my good luck.

It was downright chilling.

“You get it now?” the writer’s voice pulled me back to reality.

“He makes you laugh, steals the fortune of the closest blood relative, and that’s the big payout—the capital that lets him rise straight up the ladder.

As for making random passersby laugh, that money is just pocket change.”

Remembering what had just happened, I hurriedly asked, “Does this system have a punishment mechanism too?”

The corners of the writer’s mouth lifted. “Of course. Any system has to maintain energy conservation.

Since he can profit by making you laugh, then naturally you can make him lose money by not laughing.

You can turn this rule against him completely.”

His words struck like lightning through the chaos in my head.

A bold plan instantly took shape in my mind.