Sunday Night. 02:00 AM.
The dormitory was silent, save for the rhythmic breathing of Sam and Dave.
I sat in the dark, the blue light of my laptop screen reflecting in my eyes. Nox was perched on my shoulder, watching the cursor move with intense feline curiosity.
"Okay, System. Let's see what [Untalented] can really do."
I opened a dozen tabs: Advanced Economics, High-Frequency Trading Algorithms, Python, C++, and Cybersecurity protocols.
I started reading.
To a normal person, this would be gibberish. To me, it was like remembering a song I used to know.
Click. Scroll. Absorb.
The [Untalented] skill turned my brain into a sponge. Within an hour, I understood the stock market better than a Wall Street veteran. Within two, I could code in three languages fluently.
"It's not gambling," I whispered, my fingers flying across the keyboard. "It's just patterns. Chaos theory applied to human greed."
I didn't have much seed money—just the $10,000 from the rookie gift package. In the grand scheme of things, it was peanuts. But with leverage? It was a weapon.
I wrote a script. A simple, elegant trading bot. But unlike standard bots that reacted to news, mine used my [Mental Strength] to predict micro-fluctuations in the market before they happened. I linked my mind to the algorithm.
I pressed ENTER.
The numbers started moving. Green. Green. Green.
$10,000 became $15,000 in ten minutes. $15,000 became $28,000 in thirty.
It was hypnotic. I surfed the digital waves of the global economy, snatching profit from the inefficiencies of the system. I targeted volatile tech stocks and shorted failing pharmaceutical companies.
By 04:00 AM, the account balance read: $245,000.
"That's enough for tonight," I murmured, closing the laptop. "Greed attracts predators."
I didn't want to crash the market; I just wanted to milk it.
I leaned back, exhausted but satisfied. Financial freedom was the first step to true freedom.
What I didn't know was that while I was being careful, I had walked through a digital door that had a silent alarm.
~ Somewhere in Manhattan ~~ Stark Tower, Server Room ~
"Sir, I have detected an anomaly," a polite, British voice echoed in the empty lab.
Tony Stark, who was currently tinkering with a new repulsor gauntlet at 4 AM, didn't look up. "Unless it's an alien invasion or Pepper telling me I missed a meeting, ignore it, J. I'm busy."
"It is a financial anomaly, Sir," JARVIS continued. "A new trader ID appeared on the market two hours ago. It executed 400 trades with a 100% success rate. The profit margin is statistically impossible for a human, and the reaction time is faster than my standard predictive models."
Tony paused. He put down the screwdriver.
"100% success rate? That's not trading, that's clairvoyance. Or hacking."
"I traced the IP address," JARVIS said. "It bounces through servers in Singapore, Russia, and... a high school dormitory in Queens."
"Queens?" Tony scoffed, wiping grease from his hands. "What, is some genius kid playing Wolf of Wall Street? Or did someone hijack a kid's laptop?"
"Unclear, Sir. The encryption is... surprisingly sophisticated. It adapts. It feels organic."
Tony looked at the holographic screen displaying the trading pattern. It was beautiful. Efficient.
"Keep an eye on it, JARVIS. Don't intervene yet. If it's a kid, I want to hire him. If it's a spy, I want to arrest him. If it's an AI..." Tony's eyes narrowed. "Well, let's just hope it's not another Ultron in the making."
"Protocol 'Watcher' initiated, Sir."
Monday Morning. Midtown High.
I walked into the school feeling lighter. Knowing you have a quarter-million dollars in the bank changes your posture. It changes how you walk.
The hallways were the usual chaos.
"Hey, Matt!"
Peter Parker jogged up to me, looking excited. "Did you see the news? Stark Industries stock dipped by 0.5% last night and then bounced back instantly! It's super weird, right?"
I smiled innocently. "Is it? The market is a fickle beast, Peter."
'Sorry, Tony. I might have shorted you for a few seconds there,' I thought.
We walked towards our lockers. That's when I saw him.
Harry Osborn was leaning against his locker.
But he looked... different.
The dark circles under his eyes were still there, but his shoulders weren't slumped. His hair was a bit messier, less perfectly styled by a stylist and more... natural. He wasn't wearing his usual stiff blazer; he had the sleeves of his expensive shirt rolled up.
He looked like he had breathed for the first time in years.
"Harry?" Peter asked, noticing the change too.
Harry looked up. When he saw us, a genuine smile broke across his face. Not a polite smirk, but a real smile.
"Hey, guys," Harry said.
"You look... good," I commented, leaning against the lockers next to him. "Did you sleep?"
"Better," Harry said. "I did what you said, Matt."
"Oh?"
Harry lowered his voice. "My father... he called me this morning. Before school. He wanted to yell at me for leaving the office early yesterday."
Peter looked terrified. "What did you do?"
Harry's eyes gleamed with a strange new light.
"I didn't answer."
Silence.
"You... didn't answer?" Peter whispered, as if Harry had just confessed to murder.
"I let it go to voicemail," Harry said, a hint of pride in his voice. "And then I turned my phone off. I ate breakfast alone, without looking at stock reports. And then I came here."
It was a small act of rebellion. Tiny, even. But for someone like Harry, it was a revolution.
"It's a start," I said, giving him an approving nod. "Small victories, Harry."
Harry looked at me, gratitude clear in his eyes. "It felt terrifying. But also... free."
Just then, the bell rang.
"We should get to class," Peter said, always the responsible one.
Harry grabbed his bag. "Yeah. Let's go."
As we walked down the hall—the Genius (Peter), the Heir (Harry), and the Anomaly (Me)—I noticed people staring. Not just at Harry, but at the trio. We were an odd group.
But as I looked at Harry's rolled-up sleeves and Peter's bright enthusiasm, I realized something.
I wasn't just surviving in this universe anymore. I was building a team.
And judging by the notification blinking in my mind, the universe had noticed.
[Ding~ Achievement Unlocked: 'The Trinity'.] [Ding~ Warning: High-Level Scan detected from Stark Industries Network. You are being watched.]
I smirked.
'Watch all you want, Stark,' I thought. 'But you better buy a ticket if you want to see the show.'