The next morning loomed over the campus, charged with a palpable electricity.
Max, however, remained in an oasis of calm within his room.
He wasn’t anxiously checking the stock ticker every five seconds.
Instead, he was engaged in a much more productive task: using his time to research the known members of the “Alpha Investors Circle.” He studied their family lineages, their areas of interest, and their past successes and failures.
He was profiling his future partners and rivals.
He checked his status in the System interface.
He had 4 SP available.
Entering the Circle wasn’t just about having a sponsor; it was about projecting an image of power and competence from the very first second.
First impressions would be everything.
He made a strategic decision.
Innate charisma is for politicians and con artists like Leo,Max thought.I am a builder.
I need tools, not charm.
His mind navigated through the Level 2 Skill Shop.
[Do you wish to spend 2 SP to acquire the active skill: Persuasive Voice Lv.
1?]
[Do you wish to spend 2 SP to acquire the passive skill: Eidetic Memory Lv.
1?]
Confirm both.
[Skills acquired!]
[Persuasive Voice Lv.
1 (Active)]: For 30 seconds, your voice gains a resonance that makes your arguments 10% more persuasive.
Daily uses: 2.
[Eidetic Memory Lv.
1 (Passive)]: Allows you to memorize pages of text, charts, or sequences of numbers with perfect clarity at a single glance.
His arsenal had just received a significant upgrade.
The rest of the morning passed with methodical calm.
At 2:59 PM, he had his investment platform open.
The Feather-Light chart was a flat line—the EKG of a comatose patient.
At exactly 3:00 PM, the financial world convulsed.
“ConnectSphere announces exclusive strategic partnership…” the headlines screamed.
The green rocket shot up the screen.
Max watched the climb with a surgeon’s precision, refusing to let greed take over.
When the profit counter hit a solid 215%, he executed the sell order.
[Profit: $5,040]
[Previous Balance: $20]
[Current Balance: $5,060]
Just then, his phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
“You did it,” Victoria’s voice said on the other end, tinged with a cold sense of awe.
“I never doubted it,” Max replied.
There was a pause.
“Meet me at the entrance of the Economics building in an hour.”
An hour later, he found her waiting.
She wore a deep blue cocktail dress that screamed “money,” and her gaze was a mixture of resentment and fascination.
Before she could speak, Max remarked in a soft, mocking tone, “I’m glad to see you dressed up for our date.”
A sharp intake of breath was her only response before Max smiled.
The game was already afoot.
Just as he expected, his comment had rattled her.
Without a word, she handed him a form with the Circle’s logo.
At the bottom, Victoria Mont’s elegant signature shimmered under the light.
“The meeting is about to start,” she said, her tone clipped.
“Let’s go.”
She personally escorted him into a luxurious boardroom.
Inside, about fifteen privileged-looking students turned in unison.
Silence fell when they saw Victoria accompanied by the “7-1 scholarship kid.”
Unfazed, Max activated his [Eidetic Memory] and scanned the room.
In an instant, the faces and names he had researched that morning linked up in his mind.
His gaze stopped on Clara Pons, a potential tycoon, and Isabel “Isa” Lovelace, an analytical genius.
Both were watching him with intense curiosity.
[Clara Pons]
Level 4: Potential Tycoon
Status: Intrigued.
Analyzing the new variable (Max).
Surface Thought: Victoria Mont sponsoring a scholarship student?
This is new.
Either he’s her new toy or he’s actually special.
I need to know more.
[Isabel “Isa” Lovelace]
Level 3: Hidden Genius
Status: Surprised.
Calculating probabilities.
Surface Thought: Him.
The boy from the bet.
What is he doing here?
This doesn’t fit any logical model.
His presence is a statistical anomaly.
Carlos, one of Leo’s most loyal lackeys, stepped forward with a superior smirk.
“Vicky, what is this guy doing here?
Is he lost?”
Victoria responded coldly, “Max is my new protégé.
Is there a problem, Carlos?”
Before Carlos could respond, Max intervened, his voice quiet but audible to everyone nearby.
He placed a hand on her shoulder—a gesture that was simultaneously possessive and protective—and looked at Carlos.
He activated [Persuasive Voice].
“Relax, Victoria,” he said, his voice resonating with a calm and authority that surprised everyone, including her.
“It’s only natural for him to be upset.” His tone was soft, almost sympathetic, but every word was a dagger.
“It can’t be easy for him to process the fact that I made his boss lose a fortune on a stupid bet.”
The humiliation was public and devastating.
Carlos turned beet red and backed away, speechless.
Max saw Clara Pons raise an eyebrow, a tiny smile forming on her lips.
Isa Lovelace was typing furiously on her tablet, undoubtedly recalculating the variable he represented.
The meeting began.
While a student presented a complex market analysis with charts and projections, Max simply listened, taking no notes.
Thanks to his [Eidetic Memory], every figure and every graph was burned into his mind.
When the meeting concluded and the other members began gathering their things, a ding echoed in his head.
[New Main Quest Unlocked!]
[Quest: The First Ally]
Description:A lone wolf may be strong, but a pack is unstoppable.
To navigate this new world of power and wealth, you need loyal allies.
Objective:Convince Isabel “Isa” Lovelace to agree to a private business meeting with you within the next 7 days.
Reward for success:+10 SP, [Pack Leadership Lv.
1] Skill.
Penalty for failure:Negative Title [Lone Wolf].
Max closed the System window just as Victoria approached him, unaware of the new directive he had just received.
“Well done, Oracle,” she said with a wry smile.
“You got your club.
Now, about my ‘commission’…” She stepped closer, her voice a provocative whisper.
“Let’s go shopping.
You desperately need something to hang on those depressing walls.”
Max nodded, accepting the next round of their complex game.
As they walked out of the building together, his mind was already working on two fronts: how to handle the dangerous queen at his side and, more importantly, how to recruit the ambitious strategist they had just left behind.
His new life had suddenly become much more complicated.
And much more interesting.