CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 35: A NEW UPGRADE OF SYSTEM

Two days had passed since Raj stitched the SR2 glove.He hadn’t expected much after handing it over to the design mentor.

He wasn’t chasing praise.He just wanted to build something useful.Something that felt right.But now, that one glove was being talked about in places Raj never imagined.

It all started with a short email.

The subject line read: "Gear Usage Trial – Positive Response (RC-SR2)"

The message was short.

"Raj,

Three players from the east zone trialed your SR2 prototype. They reported high comfort and grip.

Please prepare two more samples for regional gear showcase next week.

– Coach Manohar."

Raj reread it twice.He didn’t smile.But he folded the message carefully and placed it in his notebook right behind the original sketch of SR2.

Three players.

Three players just played better because of something I made.

That thought stayed with him all morning.

After breakfast, he headed straight to the stitching room.No one followed him.No one disturbed him.But something inside him had changed.

His hands didn’t shake anymore when he picked up the needle.His mind didn’t wander while cutting the padding.

Every stitch felt like a step forward.

Every pull of the thread felt like building something real.By noon, he had already prepared the inner lining for the next glove.

He was now building a variation

SR2-L, meant for left-handed players.

That was something no one had even asked for.But Raj had already started thinking like someone who planned ahead.

At 1:30 p.m., as he sipped water under the neem tree near the side nets, his phone buzzed.It’s an unknown number.He answered quietly.

"Hello?"

"Pavan Raj?"

"Yes."

"This is Mr. Dayanand from JH Sports & Gear Distributors. We met Coach Arvind last week. He mentioned your glove designs."

Raj stood up slowly, the paper cup still in his hand.

"Yes, sir."

"We’re exploring a new training kit package for Tier-2 academies. Low-cost, high-function. We’d like to include your glove. Can you produce 20 units by next week?"

Raj asked:Twenty?

His mind raced.

"Yes.... I can," he said carefully.

"Great. Send us a sample to this address. If it fits, we’ll talk contracts."

The call ended.Raj stood there in the shade, staring at his phone.Then slowly sat back down.

They want 20.Not 1,Not 3.

Twenty.

This wasn’t just stitching anymore.This was business.

[System Alert: Distribution Offer Detected]

▸Bulk Order Threshold Reached

▸Initiating System Evaluation...

▸Upgrading Mode...

Raj froze.His vision flickered.Not in real life, in the system overlay.A new color began to pulse behind the familiar interface.

Gold,not blue.

Gold.

[System Mode Change Initiated]

TYCOON MODE UNLOCKED

Welcome, Raj.

You are no longer just a builder.

You are a now a BRAND.

New Features Unlocked:

– Staff Management (Lv.1)

– Production Tracker

– Brand Vision Tree

– Reputation Metrics

New Currency:

– Brand Points (BP)

New Questlines:

– Scale with Purpose

– Network of Trust

– Legacy Beyond You

Raj stood there under the tree, phone in hand, glove design file tucked under his arm, heart pounding.He wasn’t ready for this.But somehow he was.He looked down at his own hands.The same ones that once stitched with nervous fingers.

Now those hands were being asked to lead something.To grow something beyond the edge of foam and cloth.

This isn’t just a glove anymore, he thought.

This is RajCraft.

Raj sat alone in the old maintenance room, the same place where he stitched SR2 with his bare hands just a few days ago.

Now, that glove had brought him something bigger.Something that felt heavy in a different way.

He read the system message again:

TYCOON MODE UNLOCKED

You are no longer just a builder.

You are a brand.

A soft gold outline now glowed behind the system interface. It wasn’t bright. Just enough to let him know something inside his world had changed.

New Features Activated:

– Staff Management (Lv.1)

– Production Tracker

– Brand Vision Tree

– Customer Feedback System

– Scalable Crafting Support (Locked until Quest)

Raj blinked.

Staff?,Production?

This wasn’t what he expected.He looked down at his hands callused, marked with dried glue and stitching burns.

I’m not a boss. I’m just a boy who stitched one glove that worked.

But the system didn’t care how he felt.Because the world had already moved on.

New Task:

▸Prototype Batch: 20 Units

▸Time Limit: 7 Days

▸Reward: Brand Points (BP), Scouting Visibility

▸Optional Path: Assign assistant (1 slot available)

Raj exhaled slowly and leaned back in his chair.

Twenty gloves.

Seven days.

It was possible barely.But only if he didn’t sleep and didn’t eat properly and maybe broke himself again.Just like last time.He stood up, walked out of the room, and headed toward the courtyard.It was silent.

Only a few players rested on benches, sipping juice after their late drills.Among them sat Priya, reading something on her phone.

Raj walked over and sat beside her without saying anything.After a few seconds, she looked up.

"Did it happen?" she asked.

Raj raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"The thing," she said.

"The moment where everything changes."

Raj smiled faintly.

"Yeah. It happened."

She didn’t ask what.Instead, she waited.

After a long pause, Raj spoke."They want twenty units in seven days."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You can’t do that alone."

"I know.",Raj replied.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I don’t know yet."

She nodded.Then added, "You could ask for help."

Raj gave a half-laugh. "You know I’m bad at that."

"Then get better.",She suggested.

They both looked ahead, watching a few kids run laps across the field.The silence between them was no longer heavy.It was understanding.

[System Prompt – Opportunity Path Triggered]

▸Would you like to assign a support role to assist with production?

▸Recommended Candidates:

– Priya (High Trust / Basic Craft Awareness)

– System Assistant (Lv.1 Automation – Limited)

Raj selected Priya.A message appeared:

▸"Support Role Assigned: Priya – Morale Boost / Time Reduction: 12%"

▸"Assistants with emotional sync improve outcome quality."

The next day, Raj began work.This time, he wasn’t alone.Priya helped sort materials.

She didn’t stitch.But she learned how to cut foam, prepare thread, label sizes, and quality-check each glove before it was packed.

It wasn’t a factory.It was still a corner of a dusty room with two chairs and a squeaky table.But it felt more real than anything Raj had done before.

By the end of Day 2, they had six gloves ready.That night, Raj sat on the rooftop, legs crossed, watching the stars.He didn’t hear her approach.But he knew who it was before she said anything.

Spandana.

She didn’t sit this time.She stood beside him, looking at the same sky.

"You’re going somewhere," she said.

"I think so."

"Are you scared?"

He thought about it.Then answered, "Only if I forget who I was before this."

She nodded slowly.Then took out a folded note and placed it beside him."I saw this design before," she whispered. "A long time ago."

Then she walked away.Raj opened the note.

Inside was a simple sketch.One he had drawn in his past life , a logo idea he never showed anyone.

A flame inside a glove.A symbol of courage that never made it into production.He had thrown that sketch away back then.How did she have it?

[System Shock Event Triggered]

▸Memory echo has overlapped across timelines.

▸Spandana retains design awareness beyond this life.

▸Bond Level: 100%

▸Past Thread: Verified

▸She knew you before you ever became this.

Raj sat in silence for a long time.Then smiled softly.Because the fire inside him wasn’t alone anymore.

Day three moved faster than expected.Raj and Priya had already finished ten gloves by sunset,nearly halfway through the order. The stitching room felt warmer now, not because of the weather, but because of the flow they had created together.

While Raj stitched, Priya organized fabric, handed thread, pre-measured foam, and labeled the size tags. Neither of them needed to talk much anymore.They worked like they had always been doing this like this was always meant to happen.

A system notification pooped out.

[System Update – Active Production Assist]

▸Minor Automation Activated: Foam Shaping Lv.1

▸Process Efficiency Increased by 8%

▸Brand Points Earned: +10

▸Total: 10 / 100 (Tier 1)

By Day 5, they were at glove number 18.That’s when Raj felt the difference.His hands didn’t just stitch anymore.They flowed.

He wasn’t thinking about angles or pressure.His fingers simply remembered.As if they already knew how to bring this idea to life.

"You’re in a zone," Priya said that evening, wiping sweat from her forehead.

Raj smiled. "It feels like the glove is guiding me now."

"That’s because it is," she said. "You’re not stitching gloves anymore."

Raj looked at her, puzzled.

"You’re stitching courage into cloth," she added softly.

That night, glove #20 was completed.They packed the box, sealed it with tape, and wrote on the top:

RajCraft – Trial Batch (20 units)

For grip without fear.

Raj placed his palm on the box for a second.He didn’t say anything.Neither did Priya.But both knew what this meant.It wasn’t just a delivery.It was the beginning of something bigger.

[System Message: Milestone Achieved]

▸Prototype Batch Delivered

▸Brand Points: +30

▸Tier 1 Reputation: Unlocked

New Quests Available:

– Gear for the Crowd

– Coach-Endorsed Quality

– Emotion Inside Every Stitch

The next morning, Raj carried the box to the campus delivery center.To his surprise, Coach Arvind was already waiting there,speaking to someone in a crisp white shirt and dark trousers.

"Raj," Coach called out, "meet Mr. Jaiswal, regional scout for JH Gear."Raj blinked.The man turned, shook Raj’s hand, and smiled.

"So you’re the one who built these?"

Raj nodded, slightly breathless.

"Your coach said you do it all by hand."

"I did."

"And this box?" Jaiswal asked.

"Twenty units. As ordered."

The scout inspected the packaging.Then said, "We’ll test this batch across two academies next month. If the response is good, we’ll consider adding your model to our seasonal lineup."

Raj didn’t even know what to say.So he simply said, "Thank you."

After the man left, Coach Arvind placed a hand on Raj’s shoulder."You didn’t chase this. You earned it."Then, in a lower voice, he added, "Be ready, Raj. The next knock on your door won’t be about gloves. It’ll be about scale."

Raj looked at the closed box and then down at his hands.For the first time, he felt it.

Not fear,not nerves but purpose.

That evening, a simple message appeared in his system window.

[System Note: Path Confirmed – Tycoon Mode Active]

This is no longer a project.

This is your first step toward an empire.

To be continued.....

The quality of Chapters will be increased in the future Chapters, so please don’t stop reading,Thanks for the support and keep on supporting RAJ with gifts please.