Alex leaned forward, the glowing System interface floating before him like a digital altar.
Four options. Four paths. All fundamental. All powerful.
[Mathematics]
[Biology]
[Chemistry]
[Physics]
He exhaled slowly.
This wasn't about curiosity. It wasn't about picking the coolest-sounding subject or the one with the flashiest applications.
This was about survival.
Once his money ran out, he'd be back at square one—and Alex had seen what square one looked like.
Freezing. Starving. Alone.
And he had no intention of going back.
"This choice… it needs to give me leverage. Fast."
Alex considered his options and the first is math.
They say math is the language of the universe. That everything can be reduced to patterns, formulas, numbers.
The deeper Alex thought about it, the more he realized how much mathematics governed every facet of modern life.
Finance. Cryptography. Data science. Stock trading algorithms. Simulation modeling. Artificial Intelligence.
Everything humanity used to dominate the world—was built on numbers.
Mathematics scaled into powerful subfields:
Computational Math
Quantum Algorithms
Economic Forecast Modeling
And thanks to the old Alex Palmer's education—and high intelligence—he understood just enough to appreciate what this branch could do.
With the right math knowledge, he could build:
A predictive financial model
A self-learning AI trading bot
Or even disrupt entire financial sectors with quantitative edge
It wouldn't be flashy. But it would make him rich.
.....
Then, biology.
Biology was tempting in its own right.
This branch unlocked everything from:
Genetics and bioengineering
Pharmaceutical startups
Biohacking and anti-aging
Even body enhancement
The biotech field was booming. And as the son of a billionaire dynasty, starting a medical research company wouldn't raise eyebrows.
He could create miracle supplements, age-reversing skin serums, or immune boosters that would put current pharma giants to shame.
He'd gain physical advantages too—faster healing, better stamina, resistance to disease.
His own body would become a work of science fiction.
But biology came with major problems:
High visibility
Ethical scrutiny
Governmental regulation
And a long product development timeline
"It's powerful, yes. But risky. Too risky for my first move."
....
The next is chemistry.
Chemistry promised tangible invention.
New materials. Clean energy. Superconductors. Explosives. Smart adhesives.
If it could be synthesized, modified, or combined—chemistry had the answer.
With the right subfields, Alex could create patents, build secret labs, or become a silent supplier to defense contractors and aerospace companies.
He could sell innovations to Apple, Tesla, Lockheed Martin.
"It's a path to billionaire inventor status… if I survive long enough to build something."
But it required:
Lab, facilities, licensing.
And sometimes, a little corporate espionage
Alex sighed and turned his attention to the last of the core knowledge: Physics.
Physics was perhaps the most dangerous and promising of them all.
Quantum mechanics. Nuclear technology. Energy manipulation.
It offered world-changing discoveries in the long term.
But that was the problem—long term.
He didn't have the luxury of ten years and a physics lab. Not yet.
"If I unlock this too early, I'll drown in knowledge I can't apply."
....
Alex stared at the four glowing categories.
"This isn't about what sounds cool," he whispered. "It's about what lets me survive. Build. Scale."
He had limited funds. A family watching and enemies lurking.
And only one Starter Pack to carry him forward.
Alex leaned back and exhaled slowly.
Step one was done.
Now came step two—funding it.
The System had said it would cost $10 million to unlock a core knowledge.
His Starter Pack covered the Primary Branch and its subfields—but the core unlock still cost $10M.
His current account balance?
$2,083,830.
Not bad for a nineteen-year-old.
But still $8 million short.
"Okay… time to see what I've got to work with."
He closed his eyes and dove into the memories of the previous Alex Palmer.
The assets came flooding in.
2024 Lamborghini Revuelto – mint condition, customized black-gold finish
Estimated resale: $500,000–$600,000
Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT – performance SUV, barely driven. Estimated resale: $200,000
Mercedes S580 Maybach – the flagship luxury sedan. Estimated resale: $180,000–$250,000
Altogether, he could net just over $1 million by selling these cars.
Painful, maybe. But he wasn't a playboy anymore. And every vehicle he sold gave him more runway to climb.
Then came the trust.
Technically, the Palmer family had cut him off.
But thanks to legal loopholes, the original Alex had a personalized trust account—an isolated portion of the Palmer inheritance pre-allocated to him at age 16.
While the terms of the trust restricted withdrawals, there was a clause:
He could borrow against future quarterly distributions with a 10–15% penalty.
With that clause, Alex could trigger a one-time early withdrawal loan.
Amount: $1 million (post-penalty)
That brought his running total to $4 million.
Still $6 million short.
He remembered his watch collection—Rolex, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille. Some were gifts from women, others personal indulgences.
If sold quietly through elite auction houses?
Estimated return: $500k–$800k
There was also a Bored Ape NFT, now worthless, and some high-end art pieces—mostly sculptures and abstract canvases, still in storage.
The art could be harder to liquidate quickly, but might bring in another $300k–$500k through the right brokers.
"Okay. Sell the cars. Pull from the trust. Start pawning luxury. That'll bring me to just over $5M."
It was still not enough yet. But it was close.
He will still need $5m more. A gulf of money that, for most people, would be insurmountable.
For Alex, it was a wall between failure and ascension.
"Damn it," he muttered. "There has to be something I missed…"
He leaned back on the bed and grabbed his phone off the nightstand.
He unlocked the phone and started combing through its contents. Photos. Contacts. Passwords. Hidden folders.
"There has to be something else. A stash. A fund. A forgotten account."
The previous Alex was a walking disaster, yes, but he wasn't entirely stupid. Somewhere in that degeneracy and impulsive behavior… was cunning.
And sure enough, as Alex scrolled through his folder titled "Money Things," his eyes landed on something unexpected:
{Wallet: CRYPTO_02_ALTPUNKS.WEB}
Alex's brow furrowed.
"Crypto wallet? The hell is this?"
He tapped into the app, and it prompted for a facial scan. The recognition passed instantly.
A moment later, the screen loaded.
[Wallet Balance – AltPunks Web Wallet]
Token: $DICKBUTT
Balance: 12.3B $DICKBUTT
Current Value: $6,108,223.17 USD
Alex's jaw dropped.
He stared.
Blinking.
Then stared again.
"You've got to be kidding me."
$6 million. In a memecoin called… DickButt.
He didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream.
"This guy… this guy really bought a meme token as a joke and forgot about it."
He scrolled further and saw that the purchase had been made four months ago—back when the token was worth next to nothing.
The previous Alex had thrown $60,000 into it after a wild night with two OnlyFans models and a crypto influencer.
He had probably forgotten about it the moment the party ended.
But somewhere along the way, the memecoin had skyrocketed—likely pumped by influencers, trending tweets, or TikTok hype.
Now, here it was.
Sitting in Alex's digital wallet like a joke that aged into gold.
"You beautiful, degenerate bastard," Alex whispered, shaking his head.