I squinted my eyes as the rays of sunlight creeped through my curtains hitting my face, illuminating my room as I stirred awake.
It was time to face reality –all this was not a dream. I reached for my phone on the shelf as I felt it vibrating, realizing that I’d gotten a text from none other than my father.
His text stated thus: "Remember, Malcolm, use your allowance wisely."
‘As cold as ever,’ I thought.
I blinked my eyes to try to get the remnants of sleep away.
Checking the calendar, It was a new month, the date being the 17th of August 2002 and there, staring back at me, were the stark numbers.
49 days until my final entrance exam into Columbia university– just a bit over a month and a half.
The responsibility weighed down on my shoulders , and I was brutally reminded of the task ahead.
I directed my attention back to my phone as my allowance had been sent, my fingers swiping across the screen.
"$10,000," it read.
An amount that would seem like a lot to the average student but to me on the other hand, who knew the full extent of my family’s wealth, it was a mere fraction.
My father, Lucien Shade, was the head of the Shade Corporation, one of the giants in the electronics industry that year, and he wielded immense resources.
However, when it came to my allowance, I collected mere scraps, especially when juxtaposed with the extravagant spending afforded to my little brother.
Despite the gap that lingered between us, I found that the $10000 was more than enough for me.
I knew what to do with the money to make more money and how to properly utilize – my knowledge of the future acting as a guide for me.
A wry smile played on my lips as I contemplated how to effectively utilize the resources at my disposal.
I stood looking around my room, it was a very messy environment. A contrast to how untidy I was.
The shelves were lined with gaming consoles, gaming accessories, merchandise, and action figures that stood as a constant reminder of my not so glory days, but all that was in the past and I was ready to trade that for a brighter future.
After some moments of contemplation I finally made my decision – I would sell everything.
I moved around the room picking up the first thing that caught my eye, my Nintendo game cube.
I stared at it for a long time and thought about what the estimated selling price would be.
Just then, as if on cue a system panel popped up.
<WOULD YOU LIKE TO APPRAISE THIS ITEM?>
[Yes] [No]
‘Oh wow, appraise? I wonder what it meant by that, let’s give it a try I guess’ I thought.
Without thinking I said yes and another panel popped up.
~DING!~
*APPRAISAL*
[Additional Information]
A nintendo game console purchased by Malcolm in his early teenage days which he shares a lot of memories with.
[End of Information]
“Wow! This is a lot to take in” I said to myself.
I’d made new discoveries already. First of all I didn’t have to always swipe for the system to pop up as it operated on voice command.
Secondly, I could appraise items and discover information about them, this would come in very handy in future.
To test my theory I walked up to another gaming item, let’s see how this goes.
“Appraisal!” Not to my surprise the same thing happened again. As the system popped up presenting information about the item.
With this new discovery my work would be so much easier, then I had an idea.
‘What if I could ask the system to simultaneously appraise multiple items at once? That would certainly come in handy and save me a ton of time. Might as well try it out’ I thought.
“System?”, I said in a low voice.
And like I thought a panel popped up.
<HOW MAY I BE OF ASSISTANCE?>
“Scan my room for all items related to gaming and conduct appraisals on each one of them.” I said not trying to sound disrespectful. Feeling weird as I was practically talking to myself.
In another instant another window popped up.
*ITEMS APPRAISED*
<WOULD THE HOST LIKE TO TRANSFER ALL APPRAISAL INFORMATION TO MEMORY?>
[Yes] [No]
“Yes”, I muttered. All of a sudden I groaned in pain pulling my hair as I felt a sharp ache in my head.
It felt like my brain was about to burst and I lay on the floor for a few seconds screaming in pain.
The pain was only momentarily though as in a few seconds it subsided and was like it was never there.
‘What the heck was that about’, I thought.
After contemplating for a while and not being able to find a decent explanation I decided to check the results of the appraisals.
*TRANSFER COMPLETE*
<Information of all the items concerning gaming in the room have now been transferred to the host’s memory.>
‘Was that the system?’ I thought. But this time there was no panel.
I just happened to hear the voice of the system in my head.
I wondered if I could communicate with the system through my thoughts, still contemplating this factor, I picked up another item and suddenly I had information on it that I’m sure I never knew before then.
The value and status of the item, its warranty, estimated size, I had access to both information I knew and didn’t know about.
This would come in very handy for me as I no longer needed to perform singular appraisals for each item, saving me a lot of time and effort.
I decided to go through the rest of the items and sort them out in boxes.
As I started the process of sorting them out, placing them in cardboard boxes, each item had a story to tell, bringing back memories.
The gaming console that gave me countless sleepless nights, the action figures who once seemed like my only friends – all became mere objects.
The routine was simple, I would pick up an item, stare at it for a while and then place it in a box based on its price.
It felt like I was throwing away memories of my past, but they would not go to waste as the I gained from selling them would be put to good use by me.
After the last sale, the room felt different, emptier but strangely it felt liberating. I’d just let go of my distractions deciding to focus on more important stuff.
As the last box was hauled away by the delivery guy, I realized how empty and spacious my room actually was.
Picking up a vacuum cleaner I cleared all the dirt and performed a quick room cleanup. Folding and arranging my clothes, getting rid of all the cobwebs, throwing away the countless boxes of pizza and fried chicken.
I realized I’d been living really unhealthy as most of my diet consisted of fast food. I used to be too lazy to cook and would just order food and go back to gaming.
‘Sigh, I was a mess’ I thought.
To my surprise the item sales didn’t that long as in a few moments I began to receive credit alerts.
+$300 here, +$149 there, +$227 elsewhere, the money just kept flowing in and I couldn’t help but feel this sense of power.
I calculated the total amount I’d received from my sales, approximately a $100,000. It was substantial to an extent, I’d expected more to be honest.
It might have seemed absurd as to how someone would amass so much money from just selling items but most of my previous allowances were spent on me gaming and purchasing items for gaming.
Pokémon cards that would’ve gained more value over time, limited edition items, these were just a few of the items that i sold so I expected at least this much.
Now it was time for me to focus on what to do moving forward and plan ahead.
I decided the first and most important step was to gather information and I sat at my computer and began to make research on various financial advancements at that time.
Hours went by and yet I didn’t seem to notice as I was too busy with my new task.
There were so many opportunities and it was laughable how I already knew what the major advancements would be, when they would happen and how they would happen.
Cryptocurrency, the stock market, the global launch of smartphones, I would capitalize on them all.
I couldn’t miss this opportunity and after my research, I began to plan my next course of action.
In all this I couldn’t help but worry about the unknown factor -the system, it seemed convenient, too convenient.
Either way I would capitalize on it and farm as much SP as I could.
‘Sooner or later I would find out its origin’ I thought.
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.L
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
“Genesis, I don’t intend to engage them in a prolonged battle. My plan is simple: I’ll transport them to a specific location in another world, use Starforge to unleash an all-out attack, and then transport myself back to my world before they can retaliate. I won’t give them a chance to regroup. It will be swift and decisive.”I stood firm in my conviction, determined to see this through, despite the risks.Genesis remained silent for a few moments, processing the information.Genesis let out a long sigh, almost as if the system itself was struggling to come to terms with my proposed plan.[Damon, with the potential for so many things to go wrong, I must give you a more honest assessment of the situation. Based on my calculations, I estimate your chances of success at only 10%. This is an extremely risky endeavor. If even one variable does not go as planned, you could be facing a formidable enemy without my support, and your odds of survival would diminish drastically.]I took a deep b
As the garments glowed, Genesis's voice rang out once again, its appraisal clear and concise.[Holy Garments of the High Pontiff (Legendary, Level 70)][Effect: +300 Intelligence, +5% Holy Damage, +15% Resistance to Dark Magic, Spell: Holy Shield, Blessing of the Pontiff]I considered the garments carefully, recognizing the potential they offered me. While I couldn't use the Grimoire, these robes could prove invaluable in my journey.It was from one high level equipment to another, but I couldn't keep this up for long.Considering the amount of damage they could potentially cause to my world, as well as the constant sneak attacks, I knew I had to get moving…quickly.However, there was still one more thing I needed to confirm."Genesis, the skills I obtain each time I'm attacked, are they permanent?” I conveyed my thoughts toward it expecting a response.[Damon, the skills you obtain through the Counter skill are indeed temporary. Cognos provided you with the ability to create these t
[Skill Created: Celestial Shield (Lv. 1)][Skill Activated: Celestial Shield (Lv. 1)]A shimmering, silver-white energy shield manifested around me, just in time to deflect the beam of light with a resounding CLANG!Though I still felt the intense heat, the shield held, protecting me from the destruction of the safe house. My whole line of sight was enveloped in smoke, and my vision was hazy.Suddenly, another panel manifested before my eyes.[Skill Created: Celestial Gust (Lv. 1)]I raised my hands, channeling the power of the wind to clear the smoke around me. With a simple gesture, I activated the new skill:[Skill Activated: Celestial Gust (Lv. 1)]A burst of air rushed through the safe house, scattering the smoke and revealing the aftermath of the destruction.The whole surrounding area was left in ashes, and right next to me was a horrible sight.Remains of Vlasdilav’s body lay there on the floor, a pile of bones nearly burnt to ashes.I felt the anger well up within me, whoeve
As Vladislav shared his experience with the Player Wars, I couldn't help but grin, a spark of recognition in my eyes. "I've been through it too," I admitted, nodding in solidarity."So you know what it's like then," he said, a sense of camaraderie growing between us."Yes. The Player Wars are no joke. They're brutal, but I survived. I'm still here." I said, a sense of pride and resilience in my voice."Looks like we have more in common than we thought," Vladislav replied.Curious about the skills that made him such a formidable assassin, I asked, "So, what are your skills? What's your main specialty?"Vladislav's eyes narrowed as he considered my question. "Assassination, obviously. My skill set includes Shadow Cloak, which lets me become invisible for a limited time. Silent Stalker, which muffles my footsteps and masks my presence. And, of course, Bloodlust. The more enemies I kill, the stronger I become.""Not to mention my enhanced senses. There's also Silent Strike, which allows
I still felt some sort of apprehension at the fact that the other person in pursuit had escaped, but that was beyond my power now.All I had to do now was focus on what came next, and honestly, I had no idea what to do.‘Genesis, if only you were here,’ I thought to myself. ‘You'd know what to do.’Just as I finished that thought, I was startled by a sudden notification in my mind.NOTICESystem upgrade completed. Rebooting.A progress bar appeared, counting from 0% to 100%.The progress bar steadily crept towards 100%, and I couldn't shake the thought that Genesis would once again be available to me. ‘It'll be back, I'm sure of it,’ I thought, and I felt a surge of optimism and relief washing over me. The assassin, sensing my distraction, cleared his throat. "Do you have a plan?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice."For now, we return to the safe house. I'll need some time to think things through." My response seemed to placate the assassin, and he nodded in agreement.We mad
He then explained the quest log that they all received to me.The assassin, still trembling, began to reveal the contents of the quest log that had been shared among all players. His voice shook as he explained that I had been marked as a target, and every player had been transported to this world with the sole purpose of eliminating me. According to the quest, until my demise, none of the players would be able to leave my world. They were granted unrestricted access to their skills, allowing them to utilize their full potential in their pursuit to end my life. The rewards for succeeding in this quest were immensely valuable, with each contributing player being granted a single wish.This revelation shed light on the relentless pursuit I had been facing from them, as well as the desperate lengths that the players were willing to go to claim their rewards. It became clear that, to them, my life was nothing more than a means to an end, a stepping stone to fulfilling their deepest d
“Now it's my turn,” I said.The two men stared at me in horror, before making their moves.The assassin threw out some pouches to the floor which generated a dark mist, preventing me from seeing them.I brought out my wings and flapped them with so much might that it generated enough wind to disperse the mist.However, they were nowhere to be found.I closed my eyes and heightened my senses, searching intently for any hint that they might have decided to give away.By combining my Draconic senses with Thought Acceleration, I was able to comb the vast expanse of land in mere moments.Suddenly my ears picked something up to my left, it was the assassin, using yet another camouflage skill.I flew toward him at top speed and crashed into the ground right in front of him.I got up and paced angrily toward him. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now,” I said.The assassin, realizing he had been discovered, quickly activated a skill that shrouded him in an aura of dark e
A wave of confusion swept over me as I watched the two men recoil back in fear of me. "What's going on? Did you feel that too?" the assassin asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice."Yes, I did," the other man replied, and he locked his eyes onto mine. "I don't know what he did, but he feels like an entirely different person from when I first faced him."I couldn't help but ponder their reactions. ‘Huh? Why did they suddenly back away from me? I don't feel any different from before, so what's wrong?’ I thought, perplexed by the situation.I decided to try contacting Genesis again, hoping to shed some light on the matter. ‘Genesis,’ I thought. However, once again, I received no response.The silence was as puzzling as the men's reactions, and I couldn't help but wonder what had changed. ‘This all began after my meeting with Cognos, what did he do?’ I thoughtDespite the lack of communication from Genesis, I knew I had to press on.“Tch, you snooze you lose, I'm about to steal my p
Cognos looked at me with a mix of understanding and concern. "You must understand, young one, with great power comes great responsibility. The pursuit of power alone often leads to a dark and destructive path."I felt impatient, my mind was simply fixated on the quest he'd entrusted me with. "How am I supposed to carry out the quest you gave me then?" I asked, and the frustration was clear in my voice.Cognos paused, then reluctantly nodded. "Very well. If power is what you seek, I shall grant it to you. I will give you the power to counter anything that stands in your way."I stepped closer, with a look of curiosity mixing with anticipation. "How?" I asked."Come closer," he said. I complied, and he placed a hand on my head. A comforting warmth spread through me, soothing and invigorating at the same time. It felt like pure energy was flowing into me. When he finally removed his hand, the sensation remained, leaving me feeling stronger and more capable than ever before. I didn't kn