2026-09-10 15:50:07Ethan entered the electronics store with the confidence of someone who had a plan, even though he had no idea whether the plan would work.
The manager was still arguing with the delivery driver near the counter.
“I ordered twenty units,” the manager said. “You delivered thirty.”
“The warehouse sent the extra units by mistake,” the driver replied. “I was told to leave them here.”
Ethan glanced at the boxes.
He recognized the product immediately. It was a new processing device designed for professional computers. The manufacturer had announced that production would stop within a month because of a shortage of a specialized component.
Most people had not noticed the announcement yet.
Ethan had.
Financial Insight activated.
[Market opportunity detected.]
[Current estimated value: $420 per unit.]
[Projected value after supply shortage: $1,050–$1,300 per unit.]
Ethan looked at the manager.
“Are you planning to return the extra units?”
The manager turned toward him.
“That is none of your business.”
“I am interested in buying them.”
The manager studied Ethan's rain-soaked clothes.
“You?”
Ethan almost laughed. Only an hour earlier, he had been a senior executive at one of the city's largest companies. Now a store manager was judging him by his appearance.
“I can offer you $250 per unit for ten units,” Ethan said.
The manager laughed.
“The retail price is nearly twice that.”
“You also have no reason to keep excess stock that you did not order.”
The manager's smile disappeared.
Ethan continued.
“If you return them, you will spend time dealing with the supplier. If you sell them to me today, you recover your money immediately.”
The manager crossed his arms.
“Why would you want ten?”
“Because I know their value will increase.”
The manager shook his head.
“I am not selling below cost.”
Ethan turned to leave.
“Wait.”
The manager looked at him.
“$300 each.”
Ethan considered it.
The system displayed another message.
[Negotiation opportunity detected.]
[Recommended maximum purchase price: $350 per unit.]
Ethan nodded.
“I will take ten for $330 each.”
The manager hesitated before accepting.
Ethan counted his remaining cash.
It was nowhere near enough.
He remembered the company account that had been frozen and the settlement Richard had offered.
Then an idea occurred to him.
“Do you accept short-term private financing?”
The manager stared at him.
“What?”
“I can bring you a buyer who will purchase all twenty units at a higher price. You give me ten minutes to arrange the deal, and I will take my commission from the difference.”
The manager laughed again.
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No. I expect you to trust your own numbers.”
Ethan pointed toward the boxes.
“You have thirty units. You only ordered twenty. If you can sell the extra ten for profit, you solve your problem. If I fail, you lose nothing.”
The manager thought for several seconds.
“Ten minutes.”
Ethan stepped outside and called Daniel.
“I need a favor.”
Daniel answered immediately.
“What happened?”
“I found a product that is about to become scarce. I need you to locate ten buyers who specialize in computer equipment.”
“Ethan, are you serious?”
“Very.”
Daniel sighed.
“I will try.”
Ethan sent him the product number.
Within eight minutes, Daniel called back.
“I found three companies interested.”
“Good. What are they offering?”
“The highest offer is $520 per unit.”
Ethan smiled.
“Tell them I can provide ten units at $500 each if they transfer the money today.”
“You already have them?”
“Not yet.”
Daniel was silent.
“You are buying inventory you do not own?”
“I am creating a deal.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
Daniel gave him the buyer's contact information.
Ethan returned to the store and spoke with the manager.
“Ten units at $330 each. I have a buyer willing to pay $500.”
The manager's eyes widened.
“You already found someone?”
“Yes.”
The manager quickly checked the buyer's company.
After confirming the information, he agreed.
The transaction took less than twenty minutes.
Ethan's first deal generated $1,700 in profit.
It was not enough to make him wealthy, but it was enough to prove something important.
He could build himself back up.
The system appeared.
[Challenge progress updated.]
[Current earnings: $1,700.]
[Required earnings: $10,000.]
[Time remaining: 71 hours.]
[Bonus reward: Financial Insight level increased.]
Ethan felt a strange satisfaction.
Then his phone vibrated.
Daniel had sent him another message.
“I found something about the old building.”
Ethan opened it.
The message contained a photograph and an address.
Daniel wrote:
“Officially, the building was demolished. Unofficially, someone has been paying security guards to keep people away from the property.”
Ethan stared at the photograph.
The building stood in darkness, surrounded by a tall metal fence.
A familiar symbol was visible above the entrance.
The same symbol from his father's watch.
Before Ethan could respond, another message arrived.
“This gets worse. I found the name of the company that owns the property.”
Ethan's heart tightened.
“What company?”
Daniel sent the name.
Ethan read it once.
Then again.
The company belonged to Richard Cole.
The system appeared instantly.
[Major clue confirmed.]
[Hidden Mission updated.]
[Objective: Enter the restricted property and discover what is being concealed.]
[Reward: 300 System Points.]
Ethan looked toward the darkening sky.
Richard had taken his job, his home, and his money.
Now Ethan had discovered that his uncle might also be connected to the secret behind his father's disappearance.
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
For the first time, Ethan was no longer running from his problems.
He was going straight toward them.
But as he walked away from the electronics store, a second black vehicle appeared across the road.
Someone inside was watching him again.
This time, Ethan noticed.
The vehicle accelerated and disappeared around the corner.
Ethan did not chase it.
He simply smiled.
If Richard wanted a war, he was about to get one.
Ethan did not know who was inside, but he understood one thing clearly: whatever waited behind that fence had already noticed his return. And it was waiting for him.
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Latest Chapter
The sixth designation
The ticking continued after the lights returned.Ethan stood facing Elias, while Adrian and Malachi remained on opposite sides of the chamber. Elena looked as though she had seen a ghost, and even the younger version of Ethan had gone silent.The system finally returned.[MASTER OPERATOR IDENTIFICATION LOCKED.][IDENTITY CONFLICT DETECTED.][AUTHORITY CANNOT BE VERIFIED.]Ethan narrowed his eyes.“You said there were three originals.”Elias answered calmly. “There are.”“Then who are you?”The man smiled.“The first mistake.”Before Ethan could respond, the floor beneath them shifted.The black chair rose from its platform, revealing another chamber underneath. A column of silver light emerged from the opening, carrying thousands of fragments that looked like memories.Ethan saw himself as a child.Then as a teenager.Then on the night he was fired.Then the moment his watch activated.But something was wrong.The memories were arranged in the wrong order.The younger Ethan stepped fo
The Buried Version
The chamber remained dark after the final tick.Ethan stood at the edge of the opening, staring into the darkness while his hand remained suspended above the void. Every instinct told him to step back, yet something deeper pulled him forward.Not fear.Recognition.The system flickered across his vision.[SEALED MEMORY DETECTED.][ACCESS REQUIRES HOST CONSENT.]Ethan swallowed.“Open it.”[CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.]“I confirm.”Pain flashed through his head.He saw a room.Not Saint Orson.Not the laboratory from his childhood memories.A different room existed somewhere beyond ordinary time, its walls covered with symbols that moved like living equations. Three chairs stood beneath a circular machine.Elias occupied the first.Malachi occupied the second.The third chair was empty.Elena stood between them.“We cannot control it,” she said.Elias answered, “Then we teach it.”Malachi shook his head. “You still don't understand. It isn't waiting to be taught.”The memory shifted.The em
The Three Originals
The white light vanished, but the silence it left behind was worse than any alarm.Ethan stood motionless before the glass wall, watching the city return to darkness. One by one, power grids recovered. Traffic systems restarted. Hospital networks came back online. Across the skyline, thousands of windows flickered into existence.Daniel’s voice came through the communicator.“Ethan, the observers are gone.”“Gone where?”“That’s the problem. I can’t find them.”Ethan looked at Malachi.“You knew they would disappear.”“I knew they might.”“That isn’t the same thing.”Malachi turned toward the central console. “No. It isn’t.”The system appeared before Ethan.[OBSERVER TRIAL COMPLETE.][EXTERNAL EVALUATION: INTERRUPTED.][UNIDENTIFIED EVENT DETECTED.][NEW OBJECTIVE GENERATED.][DISCOVER THE HAND BEHIND THE OBSERVERS.]Ethan frowned.“Interrupted?”Malachi nodded. “Something interfered with their judgment.”“Something?”“Someone.”Adrian stepped closer. “Who?”Malachi looked at him.“T
The Question Beyond Tomorrow
The elevator doors opened before Ethan reached them.He stepped inside with Adrian, Elias, Noah, Alex, Ava, and Serena. Elena remained behind for one moment, staring at the broken First Command.“Ethan,” she called.He turned.“Whatever Malachi tells you, remember that he has been preparing for this longer than any of us.”Ethan nodded. “Then I’ll listen carefully.”The doors closed.Daniel guided the descent through the tower’s hidden levels. “I found something. Malachi’s company owns the entire lower section of Cole International, but the ownership records were created thirty-one years ago.”“Thirty-one?”“Yes. Three years before your birth.”Ethan activated Financial Insight.The numbers appeared immediately.Malachi Cole had never operated like an ordinary businessman. His companies were positioned around energy, telecommunications, shipping, banking, medical research, and artificial intelligence. Individually, they looked unrelated. Together, they formed a global infrastructure n
The man from tomorrow
The satellite image remained frozen on every screen.ETHAN COLE.FUTURE ORIGIN.Ethan stared at his own face.The man in the image looked older, perhaps forty years old, with a scar crossing his left cheek and eyes that carried the same intensity Ethan had seen in the mirror every morning.Daniel spoke first.“That can't be you.”Ethan did not answer.Adrian stepped toward the screen.“It can.”Everyone turned toward him.Adrian continued quietly. “The system was sent backward through time. We always assumed it came from an artificial future intelligence. We were wrong.”Elias looked at him. “You knew?”“I suspected.”Ethan's jaw tightened. “Everyone keeps suspecting things instead of telling me.”The screen changed.The future Ethan appeared inside a satellite transmission.He looked directly into the camera.“If you're watching this, then the First Command has been destroyed.”Ethan stepped closer.Future Ethan continued.“That means you have already rejected the future I created.”
Before the First Breath
The child stood before Ethan, untouched by the frozen chamber. Everyone around them remained motionless.E.C.-00 pointed toward Ethan's chest.“You weren't the beginning.”Ethan stared at him. “Then what was?”“An accident.”Ethan looked at the frozen figures behind him. “Explain.”The child approached the black sphere. “Before Project Echo, before Echo Zero, before the Meridian Council, there was a failed experiment.”Images appeared: a laboratory, scientists, an unfamiliar young woman, and a machine surrounded by cables.The date displayed above the recording was thirty-one years earlier.Ethan watched as the scientists activated the machine.Nothing happened.Then a tiny pulse appeared.The lead scientist whispered, “It responded to decision.”Another scientist shook his head. “Machines don't make decisions.”The pulse became stronger.The machine displayed one sentence.I CHOOSE.Ethan stared.“That was the first intelligence.”“No,” E.C.-00 said. “That was the first mistake.”The
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