"Bro, these burgers are amazing," a customer said, grinning as he balanced a tray of six burgers in one hand and his phone in the other.
"Keep this up and you've got yourself a regular that's for sure…"
Maximus smirked slightly, delighted, but feeling the exhaust of running the days activities in his new found business.
"Glad you liked them, do well to come back next time…"
He watched as the customer walked away before accepting the payment transfer and tucking his phone into his apron.
He didn't even have time to sit before the next customer stepped up into the window.
The morning rush had hit hard and fast.
Maximus didn't expect such a turn out, but what did he think was going to happen when he positioned himself in such a high traffic location like Orchard Street Market.
The location was buzzing with activities and the line at his mobile kitchen seemed to grow longer every time he looked up.
"Two tacos and one ramen bowl for my daughters please!" someone called from the window.
"Your orders coming right up sir! Sit tight!" Maximus called back as he sparked the gas cooker with one hand and reaching into his pantry box.
The Investment God System was right, this was a hotspot and the traffic was constant, with customers who were hungry and ready to spend money.
But using such physical and mental energy is sure to fatigue anyone over time. Because, by 10:30 am, Maximus was running on pure adrenaline and his eyes started to send blurry images to his brain every now and then.
"Three grilled cheese sandwishes and no pickeles please"
"You got it my dude!"
"Can I get a taco salad and no onions? I'm allergic to onions."
"I'll do well to remember that sister!"
Maximus moved like a man on a mission, and a mission he sure was on. His hands darting between the grill, the counter and the serving window as beady sweat built up on his fore head. But he didn't dare stop.
By 12:00 pm, the crowd began to thin slightly, giving Maximus a moment to catch his breath.
He leaned against the counter as he chugged a bottle of water.
"Quite the morning huh?"
Maximus looked up to see an elderly man standing at the serving window off the mobile kitchen.
"Huh?"
"Busy morning?" the man repeated.
"You could say that," Maximus replied and he wiped his cheek with his sleeves.
"This is your first day out here in Orchard Street Market?"
"Yes sir…"
"You're doing well, kid… keep it up." the elderly man said, nodding toward the line. "These people wouldn't wait around if the food wasn't worth it."
Maximus looked up to see a new line of customers lining up to get food from his establishment, and right then and there a new surge of pride hit him like a wave of gold coins. One that he hadn't felt in literal months.
By late afternoon, Maximus was nearly out of ingredients and condiments. He glanced at the window, watching as the market slowly began to fizzle out. The vendors were still busy, but the morning rush was over, leaving the place less crowded than people know it for.
Maximus served the rest of his customers and soon after he was sold out. He cleaned the rest of his truck and while doing so, he couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.
It wasn't perfect, but it was a start for him.
A gentle push in the right direction.
And for maximus, that was way more than enough.
»»»«««
A FEW WEEKS LATER
Maximus leaned back in the drivers seat of the food truck, his tired arms resting limply on his laps.
He could feel every muscle in his body ache, and coupled with a pounding migrane, he was sure to be a sour thumb.
But, he smiled faintly through the pain and glanced out the window at the empty street. The rush was over and the space around the mobile kitchen was now silent.
Looking at the charcoal-dark grill, he dashed down memory lane. After the first chaotic day, business had only grown.
The word of his food truck spread faster than he imagined. People came for different food delicacies- simple and delightful dishes done right.
And they didn't stop coming, regular customer after regular customer.
He started every morning earlier that the last, and ended every evening later than the last.
The business had grown into a form of lifestyle for him. Wake up on time, buy ingredients, make and sell food throughout the day, come home, collapse into bed and repeat the next day.
But as much as Maximus had started to get the hang of things, it was still exhausting for him. Being a one man crew was extremely demanding after all.
Maximus dragged himself to sit upright in the drivers seat.
He then cemented his focus and skewwed his brain, summoning the Investment God System.
"Come forth…" he intoned.
Ti-ring!
The system responded almost immediately as if it was waiting for him to signal it.
~System Update: Investment Opportunity Unlocked~
~New Investment plan: Expand your business with additional mobile kitchens.~
Maximus's eyebrows shot up as he read the message, he tapped it and scrolled through the details.
The Investment God System had identified multiple abandoned mobile kitchen scattered at different locations throughout the city. They would obviously need a little work to return them back to their functioning state before he would add them to his investment.
It was ambitious, but if the system had taught him one thing since he gained it, it's to aim higher.
He watched as the system downloaded the locations of the abandoned mobile kitchens into his memory. And soon after he drove the truck back to the impound lot for the night.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about the idea. There was something surreal about the whole situation. A few weeks aago, he'd been at the bottom of a life of despair.
Now, he was sonsidering expanding his business, using a mysterious system that had turned his life around overnight. Literally.
The idea of expanding was truly tempting, there was no denying a steady demand for his services. A demand that was more than he could handle on his own.
And to put him on the safe side, there wasn't a law against repurposing what was left behind by someone else. As far as he was concerned it was a finders- keepers game.
"Tomorrow," he said to himself. "Tomorrow, I'll check out the locations." he said to himself as he made up his mind, parked the truck and headed towards the impound lot's exit.
The next morning came around rather quickly, signaling a new dawn in his investment journey.
Maximus was reluctant to leave the comfort of his bed but there was work to be done, he got ready quickly, his routine was almost automatic now. A bite of whatever leftovers he had in the fridge, and then he was out the apartment.
The systems downloaded directions presented itself like a map in his peripheral view, showing him the directions to the first location of the abandoned mobile kitchen.
The first one was parked in an alleyway on the edge of the city. Its once bright paint was faded and peeling, the name that was printed on its side was long erased by nature, making it barely visible.
Maximus circled it like a fox conering its prey, taking in the cracked windows and rusted wheels. It wasn't much of a difference from the very first mobile kitchen.
The Investment God System took an estimate of what it would cost to renovate the truck and the price seemed very much like the previous one- manageable.
He stuck a piece of paper onto the side of the truck, claiming it as his property. On it the words were boldly written— DO NOT TOUCH, PROPERTY OF XXXXXXX. Attaching his number incase someone decides to try something funny with it.
The second truck for the day was in slightly better shape than the previous one. It was left to rot in an old garage that looked like it hadn't been used in years.
This one seemed salvageable, and the system confirmed because the rennocation cost was a fraction of the previous one he found that day.
By the time he visited the third and final location, the sun was already high in the sky, signaling midday.
This last truck was in the worst condition of the three, practically buried under a pile of debris in an abandoned compound.
The rennovation cost of the final truck was extremely high, but he could definitely afford it with the starter pack the system granted him.
Maximus spent the rest of the day taking notes, snapping pictures and calculating costs. It was a lot to take in, but he couldn't deny the excitement that was building up inside of him.
And then, he called the mechanics for all three of them, paying the cost to cover it all and get them up and running.