James didn't go on a shopping spree.
He didn't scream, "BUY ALL THE THINGS," and dump his reading hours into Ancient Greek swordplay and reverse psychology for dogs though, the temptation was real.
No, James Rivera was many things: broke, sleep-deprived, emotionally average but not impulsive.
Well.
Not that impulsive.
Besides, finals were coming.
And nothing, not even a floating RPG interface and access to borderline magical knowledge, could distract a student from the primal fear of GPA annihilation.
Not only final exams but dissertation, the most dreaded thing in the universe.
Yet the silver lining is it's not compulsory but if you want to improve your grade.
You can work like a dog.
So he did what every responsible college student did during finals week.
He opened Google.
"Alright, let's get to work," he muttered, pulling up his university portal with a dramatic sigh.
"Time to face the beast."
"Please define 'the beast.'"
"The midterm syllabus, obviously. The collection of despair. The reason people suddenly 'find God' or start drinking black coffee through their eyes."
"Acknowledged."
He went to his course dashboard and pulled up the syllabus for his humanities modules.
Introduction to Philosophy
World Literature
American History: Reconstruction to Modern Day
Media & Cultural Theory
Modern Political Thought
James stared at the list. "Wow. So much content. So little will to live."
"Would you like to cross-reference these subjects with marketplace availability?"
"My sweet, sarcastic system, yes."
The interface shinned marketplace tabs flying open.
But this time, instead of general browsing, it locked in to university curriculum.
Each course unfolded into neatly categorized modules like a visual syllabus on steroids.
Intro to Philosophy (Entire Course Package) – 140 hrs
Pre-Socratic Thinkers – 20 hrs
Plato & Aristotle – 30 hrs
Rationalism vs Empiricism – 40 hrs
Existentialism & Absurdism – 25 hrs
Ethics Overview – 25 hrs
World Literature – 110 hrs
Epic Poetry & Classical Texts – 30 hrs
Renaissance to Enlightenment – 40 hrs
Postcolonial Theory & Contemporary Lit – 40 hrs
American History – 100 hrs
Civil War Aftermath & Reconstruction – 30 hrs
The Gilded Age to WW2 – 40 hrs
Civil Rights Era – 30 hrs
Media & Cultural Theory – 90 hrs
Frankfurt School & Critical Theory – 30 hrs
Media Representation & Semiotics – 30 hrs
Modern Pop Culture Deconstruction – 30 hrs
Modern Political Thought – 120 hrs
Hobbes to Locke – 40 hrs
Marxism & Revolutions – 40 hrs
Global Political Movements – 40 hrs
Total cost? Around 560 hours.
James blinked at the screen. "Wait, wait, wait. That's it? That's like… 50 hours per subject. That's cheap!"
"Correct. System has scanned your academic history and reading background. Partial familiarity detected. Discount applied."
He leaned closer, squinting. "Discount?"
"You have pre-existing knowledge of approximately 45% of course content. This reduces imprinting load."
James stared at the glowing panels, stunned. "So you're telling me… the time I spent pretending to read in class actually paid off?"
"Statistically, yes. Though effort-to-reward ratio was suboptimal."
"…Just say I was lazy, it's fine."
"Acknowledged."
He cracked his knuckles and hovered his hand over the confirmation button.
"Alright then," he said, eyebrows furrowing like a man about to drop a paycheck on a Steam sale.
"Let's do this. One full humanities crash course, coming right up."
"Transaction confirmed. Deducting 560 KHCS Units from your balance."
James barely had time to inhale.
The knowledge hit like a brick wall made of coffee, Wikipedia, and a thousand unpaid teaching assistants.
Philosophy flooded in first terms, names, concepts, logic webs mapping themselves inside his head like a neural museum.
Then literature themes, styles, symbolism, poetic forms stacking like Tetris blocks.
History followed, threading timelines into mental highways.
Political theory zipped through like fast-forwarding debates between angry powdered-wig men.
Every sentence he'd skimmed before, every lecture half-remembered, now clicked into a massive, living diagram of insight.
He fell backward, clutching his temples.
"Holy crap my brain is buffering!"
"Warning. Overload approaching. User should assume horizontal position for optimal integration."
James collapsed into bed. "I AM the horizontal position."
"Engaging memory compression. Temporary sleep mode recommended. Estimated time: 3 hours."
He muttered something about being a smart burrito and then blacked out.
When James woke up three hours later, the sun had reach its peak.
His room was still the same.
But his brain?
Crystal clear.
Not the usual sluggish morning-after mess.
No fog.
No panic.
Just… clarity.
Thoughts clicked together like clockwork.
He blinked at the ceiling.
"…That was the most fulfilling nap I've ever taken. I think I met Nietzsche in there."
"Neural integration complete. Memory locks finalized. All course content retained at high recall accuracy."
James sat up slowly, like a monk returning from enlightenment. "I feel like I could out-argue a professor and still have time to cite my sources correctly."
He cracked open his laptop and went to the school's online test bank.
Previous year questions loaded.
Timed quizzes.
Essays.
Source analysis.
Matching quotes.
Historical timelines.
He dove in.
One hour later.
100%.
100%.
100%.
100%.
100%.
Even the essay prompts he usually danced around with vague quotes and liberal thesaurus abuse?
Now clean, efficient, brilliant.
His thesis statements slapped.
James laughed.
Loudly.
Not like a chuckle.
This was villain origin-story material.
He clapped his hands once, grinning like he'd just found out he could print money from the basement.
"Ohhhh yes. I'm finally that guy. The one who doesn't study all semester and still scores higher than the guy with three planners."
"Confidence levels rising. Ego stabilization advised."
"Don't worry, I'll stay humble. After I post a screenshot of my test scores and tag my entire group project chat."
"You did 98% of that project alone."
"…Exactly."
He leaned back in his chair, locking his fingers behind his head.
This wasn't just power.
It was justice.
He hadn't walked easily through life.
He'd clawed his way up on the strength of poor Wi-Fi and borrowed books.
And now, the hours had come back like good karma with a vengeance.
"System recommends rest and hydration. Congratulations on your first successful conversion."
James smiled.
Finals?
Handled.
Future?
Wide open.
He has so many possibilities from this point to reach at peak whichever he wants to.
From now on he will enjoy his life to the fullest.