38 The Crisis
This morning woke up with a smile as he knew that from now on his speed of learning computer science will dramatically increase.
´Just to be sure! Open Skill list.´
Knowledge Skills:
-Science
-Parkour
-Survival
-Perfect Evasion
-Computer Science
Special Skills:
-HSAM
-Vision of slow motion
Like always Ben took his breakfast alone. Today, Emma descended the stairway and took her breakfast with her brother.
„Good morning, Emma! How was your night?" Ben asked with a smile on his face.
„Good morning. I slept like always, not enough." Emma answered.
„Yesterday night, I was worried that you forgot Mother's birthday. But your face tells me that you already planned something. What did you plan?" Emma asked curiously.
Her brother was like most people a morning grouch. He is very sparse with his words in the morning and would even sometimes tell his family that he wasn't ready for their interactions.
Seeing her brother so happy, Emma assumed that he is happy about gifting his mother.
In truth, Ben had completely forgotten about Birthdays and the moment she informed him, he was very shocked and felt a great sense of crisis.
´F*ck. How could this day become a bad day in a matter of seconds? I need to think in school about what present I buy. After school, I will have to go downtown. I hate these days. I just wanted to do my training and study C#. How could I forget that day? Now, I lose so much time.´
In fact, Ben's brain memorized this day correctly. His HSAM allowed him to practically know the events of every day passed. In his last life, he also forgot the birthday till this moment. Ben's subconscious made him forgot about it as Ben didn't put any importance on none-future relevant memories. Ben, barren of intent, has caused himself to repeat his mistake. The only alteration was that his sister misunderstood his happiness for having a present for Karo.
„No need to worry, big sister. I have organized my present." Ben lied, not looking in her eyes.
After the clattering of crockery and cutlery, which Ben caused by putting everything in the dishwasher, Ben asked curiously:
„What did you buy for mother?"
„If you tell me what you have, I will tell you my present." Emma said with a grin.
„Then it will have to wait till dinner!" Ben said and went back, preparing himself.
Ben wanted to know if his rebirth caused a change in this present. It wouldn't be a big deal, but it was important to know how easy it was to change the future.
Before going to school, Ben naturally greeted his mother:
„Good morning, my beautiful mother. Wishing you a very happy birthday filled with love and laughter."
In school, Ben was tormented by guilt and thinking about the birthday present.
´How could I forget it? My parents gave me more than enough love and I can't even remember their birthdays. What kind of horrible son am I? I can't change this fact for now. I need to at least preserve my image in my family's mind. Why do I have it so hard with thinking of a birthday present? It shouldn't be that difficult. In my last life, I went to the bookstore and gifted a crime novel to her. She never really read it. The problem was that I don't know what she needs or don't have time or money to buy it. Now, I have the same time. But now I am rich, I am not as limited.
Still, my parents won't be pleased with an expensive present. I need something that she will definitely like and can be bought easily.´
In the last lesson, Ben progressed in his search.
´My mother is always stressed. She sometimes goes to a massager. How would it be to buy a gift voucher for a more expensive place? Yes. There are so many massage types. She will enjoy a new massage type.´
His thinking process showed how much his subconscious influences him. He was on the way to look for a gift in downtown but then ended with a present, which he could buy at home.
Ben could sacrifice his time for his family, but he unconsciously still tended to focus on the shortest way.
On the way back, Ben researched what type to buy. He ended with a voucher for a Thai massage as the place was nicely decorated and the massage improved health.
At home, Ben firstly went on the laptop and printed the gift voucher. He wrote a lovely letter for his mother and put the voucher in it.
Having finally solved his crises, Ben went outside to jog in the forest. As he didn't have enough time to train at the storehouse, he wanted to do enough sport, so that he wouldn't lose any stat points. He jogged to the calisthenic park in the forest and only went back after he couldn't do any more exercise.
Coming back, it was 6 pm. Ben had to take a short shower, before the apéritif.
The apéritif went well. His father gifted digital glasses. Tilo knew that most of her colleges had them and she was a bit jealous about it. It didn't change from Ben's older timeline.
His sister made a video collage of the best family moments and gifted some cosmetic products.
Ben was quite surprised. In his last life, Emma bought a book about a famous philosopher.
He was thinking, which of his action caused that. As it was his turn, he ended with the explanation that it was a change, which he couldn't predict due to not knowing all the events in his sister's life.
The reason was actually quite simple. The biggest change was that Ben fell into a coma for over 7 days, which made his whole family be afraid that he would never wake up.
The fear of losing a family member, lead Emma to make a video collage about all their good times. As the collage was for everyone, she decided to also gift make-up.
It was finally Ben's turn, he gave his envelope to Karo.
Karo opened the envelope and started to read the paper in it.
„Today being a special day for you, I'm wishing a sweet and very colorful birthday to you, for you're the world's most extraordinary Mother. May there always be a smile on your face. Mom, you have brought so much happiness to my life. I am very grateful to you."
At the end of the paper was the voucher.
The rest of the evening could be shortly described as happy and peaceful.
Only at 10 pm did Ben finally go back to his room. Like every night, out of habit, Ben went to his laptop.
Just as he wanted to log in his Empire Market account, did he think about if he should do it?
„The fact that it is a habit, shows that I should stop worrying about AND-189. It is probable that he will not even respond. Should I still take a look? No, it will only dampen my mood. On the other side, I only needed a click to be log in. It could even be that he accepted. No. Even he should know that his formula is a lot more worth than a little million. I need to stop looking every day if a new message came. Maybe, he will give an acceptable price. No, stop speculating!"
Ben closed his laptop and brushed his teeth.
After that, he went back to his laptop and logged in. The constant thinking made him mad and would only shorten his sleeping time, so he decided to just appease his mind.
Surprisingly, there was really a message from GameAddict189:
„Hey bro,
no need to be pissed. I just joked. I actually am in need of money, so I would love to give you the formula. The problem is that I need a lot more than a million.
As long as you transfer 2,5 million, we are in business. I need the money as fast as possible, if you don't take the deal, you won't ever be able to negotiate with me again.
The deal is only to give the formula and the ownership. It will be too late to send you all my AND-189 flacons.
If you accept the deal, you have to transfer the 2,5 million to my account.
You can trust me that I will send you everything.
DON'T TAKE TOO MUCH TIME!!!"
Ben's heartbeat was going crazy.
´What is the meaning of that? Is he trying to scam me? Does he really believes that I will transfer him 2,5 million without assurance? His message was only sent three hours ago. If I transferred the 2,5 too late, wouldn't that mean he wouldn't send me the formula? What should I do? Truth or Lie? Too late? I can't risk losing 2,5 million for nothing. It isn't in my blood. Even if 2,5 million is nothing for me, it still is a high sum I can use in the future. I don't even have the sum in my bank account. After buying Neurolink shares, I only have around 50k. I am sure I can ask Efron to loan me the 2 million, but this won't be done in seconds. I should first ask Efron and then write a GameAddict189.´
Ben called Efron.
„Hey Ben, how are you?" Efron greeted friendly.
„No time for courtesy. I need an advance of the right to profit-sharing. More exactly I need to 2 million as fast as possible on my account." Ben said agitatedly. Even though he wanted to calm down, the idea of monopolizing AND-189 for only 2,5 million was a life-time chance.
„Ben, are you alright? I already loaned 26 million from the bank for you and now you want another 2 million. You shouldn't invest your loaned money in risky things." Efron responded with a trace of worry and mistrustfulness. Ben didn't explain any of his actions.
In Efron's perspective, Ben had a lucky investment with LifeUp and now invested in unprofitable companies, which resulted in this situation.
„Efron! I ask you, if LifeUp has 2 million liquid Euro, to transfer it to my account immediately.
And should I learn that you lied to me, don't forget that I have more shares than you.
If I was you, I would not make an enemy of the person you are talking to." Ben said threateningly with his coldest voice.
He might make a quick bucket, but a person, which he invested in, was hindering it. Ben would kick Efron out of LifeUp if needed. He only interacted with him in real-life one time, the friendly talking was only to facilitate communication between them, nothing more.
„E-Eh? I-I think that we have a little over 3 million in liquid. Do you want everything?" Efron stammered, visibly intimidated by Ben's threat.
„I only need 2 million. The rest is your business. Don't forget that I want to win a lot more than I invested, so you should use it to expand LifeUp. I want the 2 million as fast as possible. Stop with what you are doing now! It is important!" Ben ended the call after his answer.
Having finished the call, Ben wrote a message.
„Thank you for your answer. I won't take your joke to heart and accept your deal.
Asking to transfer first is clearly too much asked. If it is true that you are in hurry, then you should send everything over first. 2,5 million is not much for me, so you don't need to worry that I scam you. I have the money prepared and I will wait till midnight for your answer. If you can't answer till that time, I will be online again at 6 am.
Hope you are still alive. ;)"
After sending the message, Ben waited till his account received it and converted it to his account on Empire Market.
Having prepared the money, Ben used the time to learn C#. It was a whole other feeling to learn and do exercises with a skill. It was what good students would describe as fun.
Doing almost every exercise in minutes without problems and learning everything on the first or second try. Normal people would forget it after just 10 min. All the commands, which most student would need a list to remember, was learned after the first sight.
Learning something new, practical, and fast would always result in the body releasing dopamine.
10 min before midnight, Ben's laptop showed a new message.
Ben directly opened the message. The message included 12 pictures and a short reply.
„These 12 pictures are everything I can give you. Now, it is your turn to accomplish your side of the deal. PS: Please send over the money till midnight. I need it now."
Ben was looking at the picture.
´It seems he is sincere. The formula seems plausible and the ownership doesn't have any loopholes. I could scam him now! But it isn't my nature. If even a happy person like me can't stay true to his promises, then nobody would be sincere.´
Ben didn't wait any longer and transferred 2,5 million over.
He printed the picture as there is always a risk of losing it. He also saved the picture on a USB-stick and even encoded them. ´Better be safe than sorry.´
Having finally finished his business, Ben's tiredness took over, resulting in a deep sleep.
