Logan sat in the bustling, ever busy office of Hudson Investments, going through social media on his phone as he sat in his booth sipping his coffee during his lunch break.
He was living the life of a basic stock broker, sitting in his stall each day, waiting for a job from potential clients.
“Sigh, I never have anything to do, look what getting that degree got me , a crappy life stacked with debt with no friends, family, and as usual horrible bosses,” he said in a tired voice.
His life wasn’t the perfect spectacle that most people would imagine as though he was an office worker and worked for *Hudson investments*, a financial giant at the time, he was experiencing a financial crisis.
He was in debt, a lot of debt and had no active income that he would make use of to clear his bills.
The stock market's unpredictable dance had kept everyone on their toes and actively expecting its next fluctuations, and even in these moments of constant anxiety, the air was charged with anticipation.
Logan was one of the people waiting for this fluctuation, looking for the slightest opportunity to invest in the next big thing.
He was especially expectant as he hadn’t had a customer in a long while.
His phone buzzed, and he noticed an unfamiliar number flashing on the screen.
‘It could be a new client’ he thought, beaming with excitement on the prospect that he could finally get some income.
However, he was surprised when he picked up and was greeted by a mysterious voice.
“Hello Mr Logan, who I am and what I want doesn’t matter. I merely have a proposition, I can promise you a large amount of income and in exchange, I want to invest in the stock market, I can’t go into too much detail as of now, but I can assure you a large profit if you trust me.” the voice said.
As the voice finished speaking, Logan's brows furrowed, ‘this is probably another one of those scam calls, we’ve been having a lot of those recently, I should just hang up but I’ll play along for now.’ He thought, feigning his disappointment.
“Wait a minute, I have a lot of questions that I need to ask first, who the heck are you and how did you get my number -and how do you even know my name?” Logan snapped back.
‘That should’ve scared him to some extent, maybe he’ll just give up and hang up right now’ Logan thought.
“My identity is irrelevant, just consider me a friend. I have offered you a proposition and I have evidence to back up my claims, it’s up to you to decide for yourself ” said the voice.
‘I guess this one’s a tough nut to crack, this might take a while.’ Logan thought.
After conversing for a few more moments the voice still chose to remain anonymous and Logan just couldn’t seem to get any information on who this anonymous caller was.
"What exactly do you want and what evidence are you talking about?" Logan asked, his frustrations starting to pile up.
“I possess some deep interest in the stock market and would like to invest in it, and I would like you to help me with it,” said the voice.
“Yeah well, it doesn’t work like that, these things have procedures and they take time, go through the normal process and don’t try anything funny like this again or else I will call the police on you, I’m hanging up,” said Logan.
Before he could hang up the voice spoke swiftly, “If you listen to me you can invest right now Logan, I can predict exactly what stocks would rise and fall, their dates and best times to invest in them” said the voice.
Logan laughs, “you’re not the first one with a get rich quick scheme, what makes you different?”.
“As of this time tomorrow, Ainos (AIMD) will have the highest return in 2002 by a US stock, and it will be returning by 9,399.9%.
You have have my word” said the voice.
Logan, seasoned in his profession, dismissed the claims as nonsense, explaining the regulated procedures involved in stock trading. The anonymous caller a.k.a the voice seemed unfazed and promised to call back the same time the next day.
As Logan ended the call, a colleague, Jake, approached, curiosity etched on his face. "Who was that?" he asked.
"Some guy claiming to predict stock movements," Logan chuckled, dismissing it as a probable scam.
However, the next day, reality struck Logan like a bolt of lightning. The stock predictions, dismissed as absurd, had all come true.
His disbelief transformed into stunned silence as he stared at the numbers on his screen.
His phone rang and not to his surprise, the mysterious caller called back for another round.
This time, Logan hesitated less. "How did you get that information?" he demanded, his skepticism now replaced by curiosity and genuine shock.
The anonymous caller, beaming with confidence, replied, "I have my methods and as promised I'll make you rich if you're willing to trust me and I could still give some more predictions if you’re still skeptical."
The discussion continued and was directed towards a potential partnership, the caller proposing promises of substantial wealth.
Logan was aware of his own financial struggles,and the significant debt that loomed over him clouded his thoughts, desperation swaying his judgment. "Alright," he said, "let's do this."
“Good, now here’s how this is going to go.” The voice began to explain the conditions of their transactions, concluding with how earnings would be split and what would be required of Logan.”
****
As the call ended, I smirked, removing the phone from my ear. The sinister smile crept across my face, a silent acknowledgment of the power that came with knowing the future.
‘Well that was easier than I expected, my knowledge of the past is really starting to pay off. Thankfully I had a photographic memory’ I thought to myself.
Staring at the name on the screen, I muttered to myself, "It would be nice to do business with you... old friend."
As I sat alone in my lonely apartment, I embraced the solitude of my room as my mind began to dance around my memories and thoughts of my past life.I could vividly recall who Logan was and the significance he held in my past life. He was a stock broker and my friend, in fact my only friend.He was genuinely a good person, but he’d made a lot of bad choices and financial misjudgments here and there which caused him to rack up a large amount of debt, a lot of debt which he had no active source of income to pay back with.You could say that the major prerequisite of our friendship was the fact that we both had financial issues and lived crappy lives, and Logan, my friend, became my intricate guide into the world of stocks and the possibilities it presented. And he was probably my main drive toward my passion for stocks in my past life. I threw myself into studying how it functioned, the fluctuations in the rates and I knew the most profitable investments at that time.I was practically
I increased my pace as I hurried to class, I was late. ‘I spent too much time playing around, I shouldn’t let this happen often’ I thought to myself.The large lecture hall was filled to the brim with other students attending the cram school and buzzed with anticipation, one could easily notice the conversations between students and shuffling of papers all coming together to create the sense of harmony that was university life.Each step I took, my heart felt heavy as I realized that classes had already started, meaning I would basically have to avoid the stares of every single student and face the unnecessary attention given to me by the lecturer who felt like she had this obligation to look after me as I opened and walked through the large doors of the lecture hall.I honestly couldn’t care less at that point and as I walked into the lecture hall, the large doors creaking loudly as I pushed them open, an uneasy silence fell across the classroom as everyone stopped their conversing
Fast forward to a week later, and I'm in the gym, getting my grind on.This is how I'd been living my life for the past week. I'd wake up, go to the gym for a workout, take my self-defense classes, go home, do some research on stocks, and then prepare for cram school for the rest of the day.My schedule wasn't all too versatile, and I was content with it as I had enough time for myself and for my goals.After finishing my sets, I went to the restroom to take a small break. Looking in the mirror, I was impressed with the amount of progress I'd made. It had been about 4 weeks, so I wasn't expecting anything too much, but I was finally gaining some weight and coming out of my lanky frame.This was good; I'd keep this up and continue to monitor my progress."Okay, it's back to the grind, I guess," I thought as I finally left the restroom.I was on my way to resume my sets when I noticed another guy working out on my spot. "Bro probably doesn't understand gym culture; well, I might as well
I got home that day more furious than ever. This was the first time I’d tasted defeat since my regression, and trust me, I didn’t like the feeling. I sent a message to my tutor and called in sick without going into too much detail.I was in no mood for class as all I had on my mind was revenge, and the rage I felt kept increasing by the minute.The rest of the day went on as a blur, and nighttime came calling pretty quickly. I lay on my bed, dejected. I tried closing my eyes to sleep, but it didn’t work.I’d practically wasted the day away. I didn’t go to class, I made no research on stocks and other money-making prospects, and I also missed my self-defense and martial arts session for that day.I was mad at myself for letting my bad experience at the gym put a wedge on my goal progression, but I just couldn’t help it.When I finally came to and realized I had wasted the whole day complaining like an angered baby, I chastised myself.Whenever a problem presents itself, instead of acce
I woke up with terrible eye bags the next day. My discovery of the SP shop and the possibilities I could obtain from it kept me up almost all night, and I paid the consequences now.I had the gym in a couple of minutes, so I had to get prepared. Once again, I felt like I was dreaming; it was all too good to be true. The SP shop provided a wide range of abilities that even made the gym secondary.The abilities section of the SP shop was just a fraction of what it actually contained. Using SP, you could upgrade physical attributes, height, attractiveness, sex appeal, hair – it was all there.I could also upgrade my stamina, my speed to run faster, my intelligence, my luck, by just farming SP.I could purchase any material item I wanted; it was just all too much.I realized I shouldn’t have been relying on the system too much because I didn’t know its origin, and it was still a mystery I was far from uncovering.But for now, I would maximize it to its full potential and begin my SP grind
I accompanied the receptionist to the office of the manager, and she stood at the door, beckoning me to enter without following me in.I nodded and walked in, taking a seat in front of the manager. I noticed the gang who the bully always rolled with were already in the office but paid no attention to them.“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call the cops,” he said with a pronounced frown on his face.“I think that’s my line; an altercation was undergoing in your gym, and your officials thought it feasible to stand by and watch while I could’ve possibly been assaulted,” I snapped back.“That’s some bullshit!” shouted one of the guys, and the other guys raised their voices in agreement. The manager stared at them in annoyance as they quieted down.“Why don’t you fellas take your leave, eh? I’ll handle this,” said the manager. The men were reluctant at first but eventually obeyed.It seems they’d been working out at this gym for a long while and had caused situations like this in t
I bailed on martial arts classes for the day and decided to head home.This week had been so eventful already, and I barely had any time to speak to Logan about business.I took a shower as soon as I got inside, and in a few more moments, I was seated at my work desk with my phone in my hand.Before calling him, however, I decided to take a look at my updated status window.‘Display my status window,’ I thought.[Status Window]Name: Malcolm ShadeAge: 18 yearsOccupation: StudentCurrent Status: Healthy/UnemployedHP: 100/100 (Fully recovered)SP: 150Stamina: 100 (Recharged)Skills: Foresight (D+ Rank){Additional Information}Repeated use of foresight has caused it to undergo a slight upgrade. Continue using the skill to increase its rank.[End Of Information]I guess the constant use of skills leads to them being upgraded. And an increase in rank? Another loophole.‘System, explain the concept of skill ranking to me,’ I thought.*SKILL RANKING*Skills are grouped into various rank
The next day, I woke up, and my normal routine unfolded. I went to the gym, attended my martial arts classes, which I'd been really undisciplined about recently, and chastised myself for it. I got home and delved into my research.Things finally got eventful when I reached my cram school. Eager to maintain my early run, I arrived early once again. Not shocked to see that only a few people had arrived, including the girl I thought was staring at me.I walked past her and positioned myself at the back seat, my usual routine, and rested my head on the desk. This was the first time since my regression that I'd been bored.I jolted myself back to life as I realized I had things to do concerning the system. It was about two weeks to my university exam, and although I was confident in my abilities, I thought of purchasing a skill that could aid me and make things much easier."System, open my status window," I thought.[Status Window]Name: Malcolm ShadeAge: 18 yearsOccupation: StudentCur