The screen went white. Then the laptop fan roared. Outside, the sky turned the same strange white. A high-pitched hum filled his apartment. Leo stumbled to the window—and froze.
Leo fell backward into his chair. The balance kept climbing. A news alert popped up: “BREAKING: Global digital currency reserves have inexplicably emptied. Central banks report catastrophic ledger failure. All non-active accounts zeroed out.” His phone rang. Mom. Then his ex. Then a number he didn’t recognize—area code Washington, D.C. Payday-money-tool -1-.rar
Inside was a single executable: Payday.exe . No readme, no instructions—just an icon of a grinning dollar sign with bloodshot eyes. His antivirus didn't even blink. “Probably too broke to detect malware,” Leo muttered, and ran it. The screen went white