Jason awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Victoria really had taken good care of him growing up.
Back in middle school his school had been way too far from home. Sarah worried about leaving him alone all the time, so Victoria had pretty much taken him in.
For six years. Six whole years.
In his previous life, after Sarah died and Olivia Hayes stabbed him in the back, Jason had fallen into a dark stretch. Everything felt pointless. One day he was so checked out that he almost walked straight into traffic.
When Victoria found out, she dragged him home and chewed him out for nearly an hour. That was one of the few things that finally snapped him out of it.
Seeing Victoria gearing up to spill even more embarrassing stories, Jason quickly threw up the white flag.
"Okay, okay, Victoria. That’s enough." He stood up right away. "If I don’t get going, all the good stuff at the market’s gonna be gone."
He didn’t wait for an answer. He just headed out of the ward. Victoria and Sarah traded amused looks. Once Jason was gone, Sarah let out a quiet sigh.
"Jason’s a good kid."
Victoria nodded. "He is."
Sarah smiled a little. "Hardworking. Kind. Responsible."
"But he’s too innocent," Victoria said.
Sarah blinked. "Innocent?"
"He’s shy around girls. Barely knows how to talk to them. Every time a pretty girl smiles at him he looks like he’s about to pass out."
Sarah shook her head, half amused, half worried. "I was planning to teach him how to handle himself around women. How to spot the bad ones. How to keep from getting used." Her voice softened. "But now..."
She looked down. Victoria understood right away. Sarah was scared she wouldn’t be around long enough to do it herself.
"Victoria." Sarah took her friend’s hand. "If anything happens to me..."
"Nothing’s going to happen," Victoria cut in firmly.
Sarah kept going anyway. "Please teach him."
Victoria sighed, then gave a small smile. "Fine. I’ll teach him."
Sarah visibly relaxed.
Neither of them noticed the strange look that crossed Victoria’s face for a second. Teach Jason about women? The idea almost made her want to laugh.
She’d watched him grow up. In her eyes he was still the polite little kid who used to trail after her asking a million questions.
But lately... something felt different. He seemed more mature. More confident. More put-together. And somehow... better looking.
The thought hit her out of nowhere. Victoria froze. Her cheeks warmed a little.
’What the hell am I thinking...’
She shoved the idea away hard. Jason was her best friend’s son. That was it. Nothing more. Absolutely nothing more.
Meanwhile, Jason walked out of the hospital. Afternoon sunlight washed over the busy streets. Cars moved steadily through traffic. People hurried along the sidewalks with their heads down, phones out, the usual city rhythm.
The whole scene looked both familiar and strange at the same time.
He paused for a second and took a deep breath. The air of 2070. It hit him with a weird wave of nostalgia.
A silver sedan sped past. Jason glanced at it on pure instinct. In his previous life cars like that had been long outdated. Right now they were still considered luxury vehicles.
Times really had changed.
His eyes shifted to the motorcycle parked outside. Thankfully it was still there. Back in 2070, vehicle theft was a lot more common than it would become later.
Jason swung a leg over the bike and kicked the engine to life. First priority: confirm the system reward was real. Second priority: survive.
At the moment his wallet had less cash than a high-school kid’s lunch money. Without some actual money he couldn’t even buy groceries.
The motorcycle rumbled underneath him.
A short ride later he pulled up at a nearby bank. A few minutes after that he was standing in front of an ATM. He slid his card in, checked the balance, and smiled.
The money was there. Every single cent. The system wasn’t lying.
His future had just gotten a whole lot brighter.
After pulling out some cash he climbed back on the bike. But instead of heading to the market he turned toward an internet café. Something important had just clicked in his head. Something huge. A business opportunity worth billions.
As he rode, his thoughts raced.
What was the biggest opportunity in 2070?
Stocks? Not enough capital. Real estate? Too slow. Startups? Too risky without the right connections.
Then his eyes widened.
"Beetcoin."
He nearly laughed out loud. How the hell had he forgotten?
In his previous life Beetcoin had launched quietly in 2070. Almost everyone dismissed it as a joke currency with no real use. For the first year it traded for pennies. Then, out of nowhere, a payment network adopted it as a settlement layer and the thing exploded. By the time Jason was in his twenties, early holders had turned a few hundred bucks into millions.
He remembered the headlines. The regret from everyone who’d ignored it. He remembered thinking back then that he should’ve bought in early.
Now he could.
His heart started beating faster.
’No way. If my memory’s right...’
He twisted the throttle a little harder.
The coin had only just launched. That meant it was still trading for next to nothing. If his memory held, Jason had just found his first real bucket of gold.
Ten minutes later he pulled up outside DreamNet Internet Café.
The second he stepped inside a familiar smell hit him. Energy drinks, cheap pizza, and about twenty different people yelling at their screens.
The noise dragged him straight back in time.
"Dude! He’s cheating!"
"Who stole my kill?!"
"Someone heal me already!"
Jason couldn’t help smiling. This was what internet cafés used to feel like. Chaotic. Loud. Alive.
Behind the front desk a heavily tattooed woman was half-asleep.
He tapped the counter. "One computer."
She yawned. "One dollar."
Jason handed over the cash. A moment later he sat down at computer number seventy-nine.
The outdated machine took forever to boot. The familiar Windows XP loading screen crawled across the display. Back before he died computers had started in seconds. This thing felt like it was powered by a hamster on a wheel.
Finally the desktop loaded. Jason opened the browser right away.
The internet crawled at a painful speed. Every page felt like it took a lifetime. He didn’t care.
His fingers moved fast across the keyboard. He opened a crypto exchange and created a new account. His heartbeat picked up with every second.
If his memory was right. If luck was even a little on his side. Then today might end up being the most important day of his second life.
The page finally loaded. Jason stared at the search box. Then he slowly typed a single word.
BEETCOIN.
His finger hovered over the buy button. The price sat at less than a cent. Barely anyone was trading it.
A future worth millions might be sitting right on the other side of that click.
Jason swallowed. Then he pressed Buy.
The order confirmed instantly.
A grin spread across his face. He could already picture it. A few hundred dollars today, worth more than his mother’s entire medical bill within a year if his memory held.
Then the system’s voice cut through the excitement.
[Notice: Capital alone does not trigger rebate growth.]
[Wealth compounds fastest through qualified targets.]
Jason’s grin faltered.
"Are you seriously pitching me dating advice right now? I’m about to become a millionaire."
[Correction: Host has purchased an illiquid, unproven asset. Value may not materialize for years. Rebates pay immediately upon conquest.]
He opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. Annoyingly, the system had a point. Beetcoin would take time to pay off, and there was always a chance his memory was wrong. The rebate system paid the moment he closed a deal.
But there was another problem he hadn’t considered yet.
Even if Beetcoin exploded the way he remembered, people would start asking questions about where the money came from. Sudden wealth with no clear source was a fast way to attract the wrong kind of attention. He needed a legitimate cover. Something clean. Something that made sense on paper even if he never touched most of the crypto profits.
Jason leaned back in the creaky chair and stared at the screen.
The money was only the first step. Staying under the radar was the real game.