The next few days settled into a steady and controlled rhythm. Aditya didn't rush into things, nor did he let his early success cloud his judgment. Every action he took was measured, deliberate, and quiet. The excitement from his first day had faded into something calmer—discipline. Each morning, he would wake up, freshen up, and sit by the table with his notebook open, reviewing the rules he had written for himself. His eyes would carefully scan each line, reinforcing them in his mind before he even thought about taking NZT.
No impulsive trades.No large entries.No repeating patterns.Avoid attention.Never get greedy.
Only after grounding himself in these rules would he take a single tablet.
The effect remained just as powerful as the first time. The moment NZT entered his system, his mind expanded, sharpening his senses and thoughts to an extraordinary degree. The world slowed down—not physically, but perceptually. Data became clearer. Patterns stood out. Noise disappeared. The stock market, which once seemed chaotic and unpredictable, now appeared structured, almost logical. Yet even with this overwhelming clarity, Aditya never allowed himself to become careless.
He remembered one thing clearly—this wasn't permanent.
And overconfidence would be his downfall.
On the second day, he approached the market cautiously. Instead of placing large trades, he split his capital into smaller portions, entering and exiting positions with precision. He observed how prices reacted, how trends formed and broke, how volume influenced movement. By the end of the session, he had made a clean profit.
Total Profit: +$3,200
He noted it down without any reaction.
On the third day, his execution improved. His entries became sharper, his exits more precise. He began predicting minor fluctuations with increasing accuracy, but he still kept his trades small and controlled.
Total Profit: +$4,850
He leaned back after closing the platform, exhaling slowly.
"Steady… keep it steady."
On the fourth day, he made a mistake. A slight miscalculation—nothing major, but enough to remind him of the risks. The market dipped unexpectedly after one of his entries.
For a brief moment, he watched the loss grow.
Then he exited immediately.
Loss: -$700
There was no hesitation, no emotional reaction. He simply adjusted and continued. The rest of the day went smoothly as he recovered the loss through smaller, calculated trades.
Total Profit: +$3,900
He closed the laptop and sat back in silence.
"Good… risk confirmed."
The fifth day was his cleanest execution yet. His understanding had deepened, not just because of NZT, but because of repetition and discipline. He wasn't guessing anymore—he was reading the market.
Total Profit: +$6,300
By the end of the fifth day, his capital had grown significantly. It wasn't explosive growth that would raise suspicion, but it was consistent enough to build a strong foundation. Anyone looking from the outside would see nothing unusual—just another cautious trader making gradual gains.
That was exactly what he wanted.
Sitting alone in his room that evening, Aditya stared at the numbers displayed on his laptop screen. The soft glow reflected in his eyes as his mind processed everything in silence. After a few seconds, he closed the laptop gently and leaned back in his chair.
"This works."
His voice was calm, almost neutral.
Then he paused.
"But…"
His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest as his thoughts began to shift.
"This is all reaction."
He looked up at the ceiling, his mind moving rapidly, connecting ideas beyond just trading.
"I wait… I analyze… I act…"
A brief pause.
"And I repeat."
His expression hardened slightly.
"This isn't control."
The realization settled in quietly but firmly. No matter how skilled he became, trading would always depend on external factors—market trends, news, movements created by others. He could predict, adapt, and benefit… but he wasn't in control.
He stood up and walked toward the window, pulling the curtain aside slightly. The city outside moved as usual—people walking, cars passing, life continuing without pause. No one knew what he was doing. No one was watching him.
And yet, he understood something important.
"Money is coming in…"
He muttered softly.
"But I'm still depending on something else."
He let the curtain fall back into place and turned around, his gaze shifting toward the laptop again.
"I need something that works for me… even when I'm not watching."
That thought lingered.
Slowly, his thinking moved away from charts and numbers.
Toward systems.
Toward creation.
He sat down again and opened his laptop—not to trade this time, but to search.
Programming.
Software.
Applications.
The screen filled with results instantly. Articles, tutorials, forums, guides—an entire world opened up in front of him. His eyes moved rapidly across the information, absorbing, filtering, understanding.
He didn't jump into coding immediately.
Instead, he studied.
Carefully.
"How are these platforms built…?"
"How do they process data… handle transactions… execute commands in real time…?"
His curiosity deepened.
The more he read, the clearer it became.
"This…"
He whispered under his breath.
"This has no ceiling."
Unlike trading, where profits depended on timing and discipline, software could scale infinitely. A single application could generate income continuously without requiring constant attention. Systems could run in the background. Automation could replace effort.
"If I understand this properly…"
His eyes sharpened as a new direction formed in his mind.
"I can build something that earns… even when I'm not present."
For the first time since entering this world, his thoughts extended beyond immediate survival and profit. This wasn't just about making money anymore—it was about building something sustainable.
Something scalable.
He leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. There was no rush in his movements now, no urgency pressing down on him. Just clarity.
"Trading will stay…"
A small nod followed.
"It's useful."
He paused again.
"But it won't be my only path."
Pulling his notebook closer, he flipped to a new page and began writing, his pen moving steadily across the paper.
New Plan:
Trading → Short-term capitalLearning → Skill foundationSoftware → Scalable incomeBusiness → Long-term control
He stopped for a moment, staring at the words as if committing them to memory.
Then he added one final line beneath it.
Build… don't depend.
Closing the notebook, he leaned back and allowed himself a faint smile. It wasn't excitement or arrogance—it was something quieter. A sense of direction. A sense of control, not over the world yet, but over his path.
His gaze shifted briefly toward the NZT pouch resting on the table.
"No side effects… yet."
His voice was calm, almost thoughtful.
He knew this phase wouldn't last forever. But for now, he wasn't under pressure. He had time. Time to learn, to build, to grow stronger step by step.
He stood up, stretched lightly, and walked toward the bed. The tension in his body had eased compared to the previous days. His mind, despite everything, felt… satisfied.
"Tomorrow…"
He said quietly, turning off the lights.
"I start building."