The thrill of his first successful lottery spin had faded, replaced by a new, more practical problem. Kaelen sat on his bedroom floor, the ancient-looking cultivation manual open in his lap. The diagrams were complex, and the text described a flow of energy he couldn't feel, a state of inner peace he couldn't achieve. His mind, accustomed to the constant chatter of school, family, and his own anxieties, refused to settle. The path to power was laid out before him, but he lacked the focus to take the first step.
He looked at the small, corked vial on his nightstand. The Minor Focus Elixir. It was a temporary solution, a crutch. What he needed was a steady, reliable source of Rage Points to fuel more spins, to win more resources, and perhaps even find a permanent solution to his scattered mind. His previous successes had been born of opportunity and accident. Chasing Zara around the house was not a repeatable experiment, and he certainly wasn't going to wish for his little sister to have more nightmares. No, he needed a system. A real one.
His strategy began to take shape. He couldn't be a direct antagonist; that would lead to detention, suspension, or worse, a fistfight with someone like Brayden Rourke. Direct confrontation was messy and unpredictable. He needed to be a ghost, an invisible force of irritation. His new philosophy was simple: create minor, baffling inconveniences that would generate maximum frustration with minimum personal risk. He would be the reason someone's pen runs out of ink during a crucial exam, the reason a perfectly tuned instrument is slightly off-key, the reason a locker door mysteriously gets stuck. He would become a specialist in strategic annoyance.
And there was no better subject to practice on than the walking RP fountain himself, Brayden Rourke.
The perfect opportunity presented itself the very next day, in the most unlikely of places: Meditation and Mindfulness class. It was a mandatory course at Veridian Academy, designed to help students manage stress. For Kaelen, it was usually twenty minutes of agonizing boredom, trying not to fall asleep while sitting on a floor cushion. Today, however, it was a laboratory.
The meditation hall was a serene space with polished wooden floors and large windows that overlooked a quiet garden. A faint scent of sandalwood incense hung in the air. Their instructor, Professor Elara, a woman with a calming presence that could soothe a hurricane, instructed them to remove their shoes and place them neatly in the cubbies by the door before taking their places.
Kaelen watched as Brayden kicked off a pair of flashy, brand-new sneakers, the kind that cost more than Kaelen's entire wardrobe, and shoved them carelessly into a cubby. Brayden then swaggered to his cushion, plopping down with a theatrical sigh of boredom, clearly unimpressed by the concept of inner peace.
Kaelen placed his own worn-out shoes in a cubby several feet away. As he did, he noticed a pair of much smaller, plain brown loafers in the cubby right next to Brayden's. They belonged to Samuel Vimes, a quiet, studious boy who was probably Brayden's polar opposite in every conceivable way. An idea, brilliant and wicked, sparked in Kaelen's mind.
Professor Elara began the session, her soft voice guiding them through breathing exercises. "Breathe in calm… Breathe out chaos… Let your worldly concerns drift away…"
Kaelen tried to follow her instructions, but his heart was beating a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He waited for ten minutes, letting the room settle into a deep, meditative quiet. Most students had their eyes closed. Brayden was fidgeting, already bored. This was his chance.
Kaelen let out a small, staged cough. Then another, slightly louder. He raised his hand.
Professor Elara opened one eye. "Is everything alright, Kaelen?"
"Sorry, Professor," he whispered, his voice raspy. "I have a tickle in my throat. May I please get a drink of water from the fountain outside?"
"Of course," she said, her voice a gentle murmur. "Quietly, please."
Kaelen rose to his feet as silently as he could. Every eye in the room was closed, except for Professor Elara's, which were now shut again. He tiptoed towards the door, his steps muffled by the soft meditation mats. Once he reached the cubbies, he was out of her direct line of sight. His hands trembled as he worked. With the speed of a professional thief, he plucked Brayden's large, flashy sneakers from their cubby. He then took Samuel's small, neat loafers and placed them where Brayden's shoes had been. He tucked the big sneakers into the now-empty space that Samuel's shoes had occupied. The entire switch took less than five seconds.
He then proceeded to the water fountain, took a long, slow drink to maintain his cover, and tiptoed back to his cushion. He settled down, closed his eyes, and focused on his breathing, his face the very picture of serene innocence. Inside, his mind was a raging storm of anticipation.
The session ended fifteen minutes later. "Slowly return your awareness to the room," Professor Elara said softly. "When you are ready, you may quietly retrieve your belongings and proceed to your next class."
There was a collective sigh and the sound of stretching limbs. Kaelen got up with everyone else, feigning a slight meditative drowsiness. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Brayden lumbered over to the cubbies. He saw Brayden reach in; his brow furrowed in confusion. He pulled out the small brown loafers. He stared at them, his brain slowly processing the impossibility. They were at least three sizes too small and looked utterly ridiculous compared to his own expensive footwear.
"What the…?" Brayden's voice was a low growl of disbelief. He looked around, his eyes scanning for the culprit. His friends, Leo and Marco, came over.
"Dude, what's taking so long?" Leo asked.
"These aren't my shoes!" Brayden snarled, holding up the tiny loafers as if they were a pair of dead rats.
Leo snorted with laughter before catching the furious look on Brayden's face and quickly stifling it. The quiet calm of the meditation hall was shattered. Students began to gather, drawn by the commotion.
The first notification chimed in Kaelen's head, and it was glorious.
[+120 RP gained from Brayden Rourke's explosive anger and confusion!]
"Who took my shoes?" Brayden roared. His eyes landed on Samuel, who was now looking at the empty cubby where his loafers should have been, his face pale with panic. "You! Did you do this?"
"N-no! I wouldn't!" Samuel stammered, terrified.
The chaos was escalating perfectly. Brayden's friends were getting annoyed, wanting to get to lunch. Other students were frustrated by the holdup. Samuel was on the verge of tears. The notifications began to flood in, one after another, a cascade of golden points.
[+25 RP gained from Leo's frustration!]
[+20 RP gained from Marco's impatience!]
[+35 RP gained from Samuel Vimes' fear and distress!]
[+5 RP gained from an anonymous student's annoyance!]
[+... ]
Kaelen watched, his expression a carefully crafted mix of mild curiosity and secondhand embarrassment for Brayden, all while his internal system panel lit up like a slot machine hitting the jackpot. In less than a minute, he had earned over 200 RP. This was the strategy. This was the future.
Professor Elara finally intervened, her calm voice cutting through the noise. She quickly solved the mystery, locating Brayden's shoes in Samuel's cubby. Brayden snatched his sneakers, shot one last murderous glare around the room, and stormed out, his friends trailing behind him. Kaelen slipped on his own shoes and blended into the departing crowd, his face betraying nothing of the incredible victory he was celebrating internally.
That evening, Kaelen felt like a king. He had a healthy balance of RP and a newfound confidence in his abilities. To celebrate, and to help him decipher the cultivation manual, he decided it was time to use his prize. He went to his room, locked the door, and withdrew the Minor Focus Elixir. The shimmering liquid seemed to hum with potential. He uncorked it, the scent of mint and rain filling his nostrils, and drank it in one quick swallow.
The effect was instantaneous. It wasn't a jolt like caffeine, but a profound, crystal-clear sharpening of his mind. The background noise in his head simply vanished. The words in his history textbook, usually a jumble of boring dates and names, suddenly arranged themselves into a compelling narrative. He could see the connections, understand the motivations, and absorb the information effortlessly.
He was so engrossed in his chapter on ancient dynasties that he didn't hear his parents come to his door. His mother, Liana, knocked softly before entering.
"Kaelen? I brought you a snack," she said, placing a plate of sliced apples and a glass of milk on his desk. She looked at his open textbook and the pages of neat notes he had been taking. "Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you this focused on your homework."
His father, Aris, leaned against the doorframe, a rare, warm smile on his face. "Keep this up, son, and you'll be at the top of your class. We're proud of you."
Their praise was like a warm blanket, but it was woven with the threads of his deception. They were proud of a focus he had acquired by orchestrating the humiliation of a classmate. He felt a strange pang of guilt mixed with his pride.
"Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad," he said, forcing a smile.
They left him to his studies, closing the door softly. Kaelen looked from his textbook to his own reflection in the dark window. He saw two people staring back: the diligent, praised son his parents saw, and the secret, calculating Annoyance Specialist who had made it all possible. He was learning that the Ultimate Fortune System wasn't just about gaining power, but about balancing the two lives he was now forced to lead. And for the first time, he felt he was up to the challenge.