Thinking about social status, Christian knew that with enough money, even those things could be bought. Since nothing in the world is truly priceless, only things with very high value exist, and no one has offered a high enough price for them.
This was the hard, cold truth that Christian believed.
As he considered how to acquire this kind of money, his mind immediately turned to trading—whether in stocks, cryptocurrencies, or other forms of trading. He had been thinking about it even before he got the system and had been saving money for the start-up
He had even opened an account a couple of months ago, but because he didn't yet trust himself not to lose his money, he hadn't started trading. And his balance remained the same: $2,500.
His introverted living style made it easier for him to save money, as he didn't have many expenses. Especially with all the pirated sites offering free experiences, albeit with some advertisements.
However, his study for starting in trading was not going well. It had been nearly two years since he first said he would begin studying it, but he always ended up postponing. Each time he would say, "I'll start this evening," but when evening came, he'd push it to the next day with, "I'll go to bed early tonight and start tomorrow."
This cycle repeated itself over the two years—a closed loop with nothing changing. Of course, he studied a little, but it was a pitiful amount and still not enough to start anything.
After deciding what he would start learning, he looked at the five unassigned points. And after some thought, he allocated all five points to his comprehension.
As his comprehension points increased, he felt his mind become a bit clearer, nothing groundbreaking, but it still brought him a sense of joy. He then focused on the most important thing: the Idle Practice Slot.
Thinking deeply about how he wanted to use the Idle Practice Slot to start learning Trading , a system message suddenly appeared.
[The Idle Practice of Trading has started]
[Trading - 00:00:02/24:00:00]
[The skill Basic Trading has been created.]
[Currently the skill Basic Trading is Lv.2(11%)]
Seeing that the system had started the idle process for learning trading, Christian felt he was finally on the right track. Then when he noticed the next message included a timer, he realized that he couldn't accumulate more than 24 hours of idle practice.
But seeing that a trading skill was created and his two years of effort were rated as only basic, then level two, Christian felt a bit disheartened. And he was once again convinced that self-studying was really not suited for him.
"Chris, the food is ready."
Taking him from his reverie was the knock on his door and his sister's voice.
Sitting at the table with his sister in front of him, Christian couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as he looked at her tired appearance.
He wanted to tell her that everything would change going forward, and their lives would become a lot different, a lot better. But after a moment's thought, he decided to wait until he had some tangible results to show. And it won't be too late by then anyway.
Eating his fill, Christian opted to say, "Thank you so much, Sis. That was delicious!" to show his gratitude for now.
"You're always welcome!" And Annabelle just replied with her sweet voice.
Returning to his room, Christian, for the first time in his life, wanted time to pass quickly. So he tried to go straight to sleep.
But tossing around in his bed, his excitement for what awaited him tomorrow, unlike usual, prevented him from falling asleep.
Christian felt his childishness awakening, like he become one of those kids who, looking forward to their first field trip, would not be able to sleep the night before it.
But after some effort and recalling the famous sheep counting method, he began counting, hoping he wouldn't still be at it by tomorrow.
And thankfully, he fell asleep before reaching a thousand. Perhaps he didn't realize it, but the lightning strike and the influx of information about the Idle Practicing had exhausted him more than he thought.
Waking up and groggily opening his eyes, Christian rubbed them and immediately remembered his system, feeling a rush of excitement. However, when he looked out the window and saw that it was still dark, with only a faint ray of light, he feared he hadn't slept much.
He hurriedly grabbed his phone from the side of his bed to check the time. And luckily, it was 6 AM. It was just that he wasn't used to waking up so early. And looking more carefully, he noticed that the sun was beginning to rise.
It was his first time waking up this early, and without his sister's help.
Deciding not to go back to sleep, Christian went out of his room, washed his face, and brushed his teeth.
Then, returning to his room, it was the important moment. He willed in his mind to open the Idle Practicing window.
[Trading - 10:40:23/24:00:00]
Seeing the number, he didn't hesitate and willed his system to receive the accumulation in the Idle slot.
[You received 8 Experience]
[The skill Basic Trading had become Lv.2(20%)]
Closing his eyes as he received the information about Trading, he felt the influx of information this time was much more mellow, and thankfully didn't give him a headache. As it would be a problem if he experienced a headache every time he received new information.
Opening his eyes and reading the system messages, he was happy to see that he had gained eight experience points and would be able to level up later today after coming home from school.
But seeing that the basic trading skill had only increased by 9 percent, he felt a bit disappointed, having expected more. Then he compared it to his two years of study, during which he was still at level 2, and realized that maybe it was actually a lot. It was just his high expectations that were causing him to feel this way.