The blue light from my laptop screen was the only thing illuminating the small room, casting weird, flickering shadows against the peeling wallpaper of our shared hostel. It was barely 7:00 AM, and the "Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Hunch" was currently vibrating in the back of my skull like a caffeinated woodpecker that absolutely refused to take no for an answer.
I stared at the domain registration page, my finger hovering over the trackpad while I looked at the name I had typed into the search bar: QuickLedger.io. It sounded like a incredibly boring piece of accounting software, which was exactly why I knew it was going to be worth a small fortune in about eighteen months.
"Ryan, if you do not stop that clicking sound, I am going to throw my left shoe at your head, and I have not washed those socks in three days." Ben mumbled the threat from under a massive pile of blankets that smelled faintly of laundry detergent and old pizza. He sounded like a very grumpy bear that had been woken up mid-hibernation, and his voice was muffled by at least two layers of cheap, pilled polyester.
"It is just one more click, Ben, and then I am going to go find us some actual breakfast that does not involve powdered eggs or questionable cafeteria ham." I said, finally hitting the big blue 'Purchase' button with a sense of quiet triumph. I watched the little spinning loading icon with a strange amount of tension, feeling like a man who was placing a bet on a horse that he already knew had won.
The confirmation email popped up a second later, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me, followed immediately by that familiar, golden warmth from the System. It was not just about the potential money; it was the feeling of finally taking control of a future that had previously just happened to me while I was looking the other way.
"Breakfast? Did you say breakfast, or am I just having a very vivid and cruel hallucination caused by extreme malnutrition and lack of sunlight?" Ben asked, suddenly sitting up with his hair looking like a bird's nest that had somehow survived a category five hurricane. He blinked at me, his eyes red-rimmed and confused, but the mention of food was clearly enough to override his desire to sleep until noon.
"I said breakfast, but you have to be ready in exactly ten minutes, or I am leaving you here to eat your own despair and regret." I replied, closing my laptop and stretching my arms until my back made a series of satisfying pops that made me feel twenty years younger. I felt more awake than I had any right to be, especially since I had spent most of the night mapping out the back-end architecture for my little utility app.
"Ten minutes is a physical impossibility for a man of my complexity, but for a breakfast burrito, I will perform a minor miracle." Ben said, falling out of bed with a thud and stumbling toward the bathroom like a zombie searching for brains. I heard him trip over a rogue backpack, followed by a string of creative curses, but he was moving, which was all that really mattered.
We made it out of the hostel in record time, the morning air hitting our faces with a crisp, cool edge that felt amazing after the stuffy atmosphere of the room. As we walked toward the campus center, I noticed the way the sunlight caught the dew on the grass, making the whole world look like it had been freshly polished just for us.
"So, what was that thing you were buying on your computer earlier? You looked like a mad scientist trying to launch a nuclear missile." Ben asked, his hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets as he tried to keep his teeth from chattering in the cold. He was not exactly a morning person, but he was curious enough to keep the conversation going while we navigated the empty paths.
"It is just a domain name, Ben. It is like buying a piece of digital real estate before the neighborhood gets popular and everyone wants to move in." I explained, keeping it simple because I did not want to explain the intricacies of future tech trends to a guy who still forgot his passwords.
"Digital real estate. Right. Because that worked out so well for the people who bought land in those weird virtual worlds back in the day." Ben snorted, shaking his head with a grin that suggested he thought I was being scammed by the internet. "Whatever, man. As long as you do not lose our rent money, I will support your weird little hobbies."
We reached the stone fountain near the main lecture hall, a place where the 'popular' crowd usually congregated to remind everyone else that they had better clothes. I saw them from a distance—a group of guys in expensive athletic gear and girls who looked like they had stepped out of a fashion magazine rather than a dusty college dorm.
In my first life, I would have probably adjusted my shirt and tried to look busy as I walked past them, hoping for a nod. But today, I just felt a mild sense of amusement as I watched them; they looked so young and concerned with things that were going to be completely irrelevant in four years.
"Oh, look, it is Ryan and his sidekick wandering around like they actually have somewhere important to be this early." A voice called out, and I felt a small ping of annoyance as Sarah stepped away from her group and blocked our path. She was the kind of girl who was used to being the center of attention, and in my previous life, I had spent way too much time wondering if her smiles meant anything.
"Hey, Sarah. Nice to see you are already out here making sure the fountain does not wander off while everyone else is sleeping." I said, giving her a polite but distracted smile as I kept walking without slowing down. I did not stop, which clearly caught her off guard because she had to take a few quick steps to keep up with our pace.
"Wow, someone is in a hurry. I have not seen you around much lately, Ryan. I thought maybe you had finally moved into the library permanently." She said, her tone light and teasing, but there was a sharp edge of curiosity in her eyes. She was definitely not used to people—especially me—not stopping to talk to her for at least ten minutes.
"Just busy, Sarah. You know how it is. Things to do, people to see, domain names to register." I said, and Ben let out a muffled snort of laughter next to me. I could tell Sarah did not like being part of a joke she did not understand, and she shifted her gaze toward the building we were heading for with a frown.
"I saw you sitting with that quiet girl in the library yesterday. Min-chae, right? The one who always sits in the corner like she is trying to merge with the wallpaper." Sarah said, her voice dropping into that confidential tone that people use when they are about to say something mean.
"Her name is Elena, actually." I corrected her, my voice staying calm but firm as I finally stopped walking and looked her directly in the eyes. I could see her blink in surprise at the lack of hesitation in my voice, and for a second, the popular mask she wore slipped just enough to show she was genuinely confused.
"Elena, Min-chae... whatever. I just think it is weird that you are spending so much time with someone who is so completely invisible." She said, flipping her hair and trying to regain her dominant social position. "People are starting to wonder if you have finally lost your mind."
"Well, maybe 'people' should spend more time worrying about their own grades and less time wondering who I sit with in the library." I said, my 40-year-old brain not finding any of this intimidating. "Elena is a great person, Sarah. You should try talking to her sometime; you might actually learn something that isn't in a social media feed."
I did not wait for her response, just turned and kept walking toward the student center, leaving her standing there with her mouth slightly open in shock. I could hear her friends whispering behind us, but it felt like background noise, like the hum of a distant air conditioner that you eventually stop noticing.
"Dude, did you just... did you just shut down Sarah? Like, the Sarah?" Ben whispered, looking at me like I had just performed a successful backflip on a moving train. He was grinning from ear to ear, his earlier grogginess completely replaced by a sense of pure shock.
"I did not shut her down, Ben. I just told her the truth about the situation." I said, though I have to admit, it felt pretty good to see that look on her face. It was the kind of small victory that my younger self would have celebrated for weeks, but now it just felt like a necessary correction.
We found Elena sitting at a small table in the corner of the student center, her head buried in a notebook as she moved her pen. She looked up as we approached, and I saw that familiar flicker of hesitation in her eyes before she saw it was us and gave a small, tentative wave.
"Morning, Elena. I brought a human-shaped vacuum with me today, so I hope you were not planning on eating anything in a five-foot radius." I said as I sat down. She let out a soft, melodic laugh that made the 'Sense of Security' bar in my mind nudge up just a tiny bit further.
"I am safe then, because I have already finished my breakfast and packed everything away." She said, closing her notebook and looking at us with a curious expression. "You two look like you have been through a lot this morning. Did something happen? You both look a bit more energized than usual."
"Ryan just committed social suicide by being mean to the queen bee, and I am just here to witness the fallout." Ben said, pulling out a chair and eyeing the menu. "It was glorious, Elena. You should have seen it. He did not even blink while he was telling her off."
Elena looked at me, her brow furrowed in a slight, concerned frown that I found incredibly endearing. "You did not get into trouble, did you? I do not want people to be mean to you because of me, Ryan. It is not worth the drama."
"It is definitely worth it, and nobody was being mean, Elena." I said, reaching out and gently tapping the edge of the table. "I just told her that she was missing out by not knowing you. And besides, I am not worried about what a bunch of kids think."
She looked away, a soft pink tint creeping into her cheeks, but she did not pull back. "You're very different from everyone else here, Ryan. Sometimes I feel like you are not actually nineteen. It is like you are just visiting from somewhere else and observing us."
I felt a small jolt of surprise at how perceptive she was, but I just laughed it off. "Maybe I am just a very mature teenager who likes libraries. Or maybe the coffee is finally getting to me. Either way, I am glad I am here with you two."
We spent the rest of the morning talking about nothing in particular, the conversation flowing smoothly between the three of us in a way that felt grounded. Ben eventually got his breakfast burrito, which he ate with a level of intensity that was impressive, while Elena and I discussed the history project.
As the morning eased into the start of the first lecture, I felt a familiar golden pulse behind my eyes. The System panel drifted into view, hovering over the crowded room with a quiet, reassuring presence that reminded me I was on the right path.
[FATED LOVER SYSTEM – STATUS UPDATE]
[Event Triggered: Social Defense of the Fated One.] [Result: Elena's 'Sense of Security' has increased by 10%. She now views you as a reliable anchor in her world.]
[Entrepreneurial Move Confirmed: Domain 'QuickLedger.io' successfully registered.] [Market Alignment: 98%. The 'Hunch' was correct. Estimated value increase in 12 months is significant.]
[Reward: Advanced Focus (Active for 4 Hours). Use this time to build the foundation of your future.]
I closed the panel with a mental flick, feeling the 'Advanced Focus' kick in like a clean, silent engine starting up. The world around me seemed to sharpen, the noise of the student center fading into a manageable hum, and I knew exactly what I needed to do next.
"Alright, guys, I have to go and actually be productive for a while." I said, standing up and giving Ben a pat on the shoulder. I looked at Elena, and for a second, I saw a flash of genuine, quiet affection that made my 40-year-old heart skip a beat.
"See you in class, Ryan." She said, her voice sounding clearer and more confident than I had ever heard it before in either of my lives.
"See you, Elena." I replied, turning away and heading toward the library with a sense of purpose that felt like it could move mountains. I was not just surviving my second chance anymore; I was building something beautiful, one small move at a time.