Beginner's Luck
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I woke up, my head throbbing repeatedly. My breath came in shallow gasps as my skin was damp from the rain. The strange room around me was covered in shadows.
The only source of light coming in was from my phone's screen. I ran a hand over my face, trying to shake off the dizziness I felt.
But something inside me told me that all was not right.
Then I saw it.
A floating interface, right in front of my eyes, casting a neon-blue light that glowed extremely. My stomach twisted at the sight of this.
"There's no way in hell this could be real," I murmured. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, hoping for the vision to fade as it was nothing but a dream.
But it remained there, pulsing as if it was alive.
"You have been chosen. Wealth is a game. Are you ready to play?"
Was I still dreaming?
Was this some twisted prank?
The logical part of my brain screamed at me to ignore this, to dismiss it as nothing but a trick being played on me by my exhausted brain. But deep down… there was this gut feeling I couldn't shake off.
"What the hell is this?" I whispered, how…how the hell am I even in my apartment right now? My voice was barely audible in the dead silence of my apartment.
A new notification immediately popped up on my phone, the glow on my phone screen intensifying.
Mission One: Invest $100 in the right place and watch it grow 10×!
Before I could fully process what I was seeing, a countdown timer immediately popped up on my phone, its red numbers ticking down.
00:05:00.
I only had five minutes.
A wave of adrenaline crashed over me. My pulse pounding in my ears as the intensity of the moment made my skin prickle.
This was a challenge—rather than a test. And I had only five minutes to act.
My fingers trembled as I reached for my phone, unlocking it with a swipe. Was, this some kind of carefully planned scam?
What if it's a virus? But even those questions could not be answered by my brain. Something inside of me pushed me forward.
It felt…. Unavoidable. Like..like I was meant for this.
I opened my brokerage app, my heart pounding like a drum. If this was real, I need to find a stock… fast.
My balance read $157.89, a small sum, but more than enough to take this risky step.
Then I spotted it immediately.
A nearly dead stock, trading at Pennies per share. A company that was on the verge of collapsing, abandoned by investors. Left to rot in the competitive world of the market.
No smart person would dare touch that share. But at that moment, this was not about smartness any longer. I needed to act fast.
The timer went down.
00:01:12.
Fuck… just one minute. This was totally insane. If I lose this money, I will not have anything left. But what if… this was worth the risk?
Screw it. I'm going all in.
I tapped the buy button and confirmed the trade.
Instantly, the air around me immediately changed. A strong wave of energy descended through the room. The hairs on my body stood due to the impact.
My phone vibrated silently in my hand, my phone screen going off for a second before stabilizing.
Something impossible happened.
The numbers on my screen jumped without hesitation.
$150
I blinked my eyes. No…. I had to see things for real.
$150!
The numbers increased again. The green arrow beside them goes even higher. I leaned closer, my pulse racing.
This can't be normal. Stocks didn't just magically climb like this—at least not in the real world.
$230.
The percentage gain next to it spiraled up, climbing faster than my mind could even process. My cursor hovered over the refresh button.
The numbers leaped higher again before I could even press it.
$400.
I exhaled sharply. What…. What the fuck am I seeing? The Market didn't move this fast. No, not unless something insane was happening.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—but I had never even heard of such. No news alerts, no insider tips.
$560.
My hands were shaking as I gripped the edge of my bed. I scrolled through the trading forums, looking for an explanation for this, but every post I saw was just as confused as I was.
"What the hell is happening??"
"Is this a glitch?? Someone confirm!!"
"$750!!!
Is this real?!"
The numbers surged even higher than my imagination.
$820.
My heart slammed against my ribs. This had to be something else. There had to be a logic and reason with the inhuman speed of these stocks surging this way.
$900.
I could no longer breathe. My hands scrolled up and down my phone as the stock price glowed like a light against the dark background of my trading app.
$1,000.
I fell off my bed, adrenaline running through my veins like wildfire.
This was impossible.
Not only was it impossible, but this had to be the best trade of my life!!
I exhaled sharply, my hands shaking. In just five minutes my investment had multiplied by tenfold. My 100$ transforming into a full grand.
A sharp ding From my phone immediately drifted off my thoughts, echoing in my ears as another notification flashed before me.
"Congratulations! Mission Complete. Balance: $1,000."
I let out a shaky breath. Still trying to process what just happened. My screen hovered, the interface revealing yet a new challenge.
"New Mission: Bet on yourself or lose it all."
I stared at the words. My mind raced with different thoughts as I tried to figure out what type of challenge this was.
What did it mean by "bet on yourself"? Did it want me to gamble the money? Invest again?
Or was there something even more dangerous hidden under this luck?
My fingers hovered over the screen, my breathing coming in short gasps. I had a choice to make. Either to walk away and pretend that none of this ever happened.
Return to my ordinary miserable life— or dive deeper into the unknown, into this world where I was no longer the one making the rules.
"Run Liam!" My brain is screaming at me to run, to abandon all these and make do with the money I had just made.
But the fire in my guts told me to do otherwise. I already won once.
And I was never going to back down or stop playing this game.