Sleep came reluctantly, Ethan's mind still churning through strategies and contingencies. But when exhaustion finally dragged him under, the System was waiting.[INITIATING REGRET REPLAY PROTOCOL][WARNING: This simulation draws from your deepest desires for reversal and dominance][PSYCHOLOGICAL REINFORCEMENT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED][RATED: MATURE CONTENT]The dream coalesced with unnatural clarity, more vivid than any dream had a right to be. Ethan stood in a penthouse apartment he didn't recognize—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, modern furniture that screamed wealth, the kind of place that cost seven figures minimum.This was the future. His future. The one he was building.The door opened behind him, and he turned to see Sophia Chen entering, but not the confident woman he'd left confused on the sidewalk. This version was different—a designer dress that probably cost thousands, heels that made her legs look endless, makeup impeccable but her eyes were red-rimmed. She'd

The morning after the dream hit Ethan like a freight train. He dragged himself to his Business Strategy seminar with three hours of sleep and a mind that wouldn't stop replaying vivid fragments of Sophia on her knees, the intoxicating taste of dominance, the cold satisfaction of watching her beg.Professor Mitchell droned on about market positioning while Ethan sat in the back row, Enhanced Perception quietly cataloging every student's micro-expressions and power dynamics. That's when he spotted Chad Whitmore two rows ahead, trust fund brat, designer everything, the kind of guy who thought daddy's money made him untouchable.In the original timeline, Chad had publicly humiliated Ethan during a group presentation. Mocked his "poor kid Walmart wardrobe" in front of thirty students while Derek laughed the loudest. Ethan had gone home that night and cried into his pillow, because even back then he'd known Chad was right he was broke, ordinary, nothing special.But this wasn't the original

Ethan studied her face for a long moment, and Isabella had the distinctly uncomfortable feeling of being the one assessed instead of doing the assessing. Then he nodded."Okay. But I picked the place.""Deal."They ended up at a small café three blocks from campus, the kind of place that didn't care about I*******m aesthetics and actually made decent espresso. Isabella ordered a flat white, Ethan got black coffee. They sat by the window."So," Isabella said, wrapping her hands around her cup. "Tell me about yourself, Ethan Hayes. The real version, not the campus legend that's being born right now."Ethan took a sip of his coffee and when he met her eyes again there was something ancient in his gaze, something that made Isabella's breath catch because it didn't belong in a 22-year-old's face."I'm someone who's decided to stop being collateral damage in other people's stories," he said. "I'm building something that matters, and I'm going to burn anyone who gets in my way."The words sh

Derek palmed it smoothly, making it disappear into his jeans pocket like he'd practiced the motion. They talked for another three minutes Derek probably reassuring Marcus this was safe, nobody would know, they were just helping each other out.Marcus left first, walking quickly with his head down. Derek waited five minutes, then followed.Ethan stayed seated for another ten minutes, giving them plenty of distance before leaving. When he got back to his apartment room, he immediately downloaded the video footage from the spy pen to his laptop.The quality was better than he'd hoped. The pen had captured Derek counting out five one-hundred-dollar bills, Marcus's guilty expression, the USB drive exchange, everything. With audio enhancement software he'd downloaded for free, Ethan could even make out fragments of their conversation."...the midterm questions... nobody will know...""...five hundred like we agreed...""...file is encrypted, password is..."Perfect. Irrefutable. Damning.Eth

Ethan remembered this timeline intimately. AMD would surge to $15 within eighteen months thanks to their Zen processor architecture and AI chip contracts. Anyone who bought now and held would see a five-hundred-percent return.But options would deliver even more leverage.Ethan pulled up his laptop and created a Robinhood account using the fake ID he'd purchased in his previous life for bar access ,still valid, still usable. The account verification took fifteen minutes. He transferred four hundred dollars from his poker winnings, keeping one hundred in reserve for living expenses.Then he bought AMD call options contracts betting the stock would rise above $4 by December. Cheap as dirt right now at forty cents per contract, each one controlling one hundred shares.Four hundred dollars bought him ten contracts controlling one thousand shares of AMD stock.If AMD hit his target price of $15 within eighteen months, those contracts would be worth around $110,000.But Ethan wasn't greedy e