Position Optimization Notice."
Aryan Tiwari stared at the screen of his phone, unmoving, as if the words might disappear if he looked long enough. His fingers tightened around the device until his knuckles turned pale.
The rented room was silent.
Dust clung to the windowpanes, muting the afternoon sunlight that slanted in at exactly 3:00 PM. The light fell on a half-open carton of instant noodles stacked in the corner—emergency supplies he had bought last week to survive late-night server deployments.
His laptop was still on.
In the "Operations Team – All Staff" work group, the red notification dot remained, but his profile picture had turned grey. His display name had quietly changed:
Aryan Tiwari – Former Employee
A message popped up.
Rohit:"Bhai, HR is asking you to complete the exit formalities. They said N+1 compensation will be credited next week."
Aryan exhaled slowly and closed the chat.
He was 28 years old.Three years in this company.No warnings. No mistakes.
Last month, he had worked overtime for fourteen consecutive days to complete a critical server expansion. He still remembered the praise email from his manager.
And yet—
He couldn't escape the blade of "organizational restructuring."
When he stood up, the chair legs screeched sharply against the floor. Aryan grabbed his employee ID card and walked out.
As he passed the director's cabin, laughter spilled through the glass door.
"This time we optimized senior employees," someone said casually."Higher compensation, but the headcount saved lets us hire two freshers. Much cheaper."
Aryan paused.
Then he walked on, without turning back.
The exit process took forty minutes.
Three signatures.One resignation letter.Zero dignity.
By the time he stepped out of the office building, evening traffic had already begun choking the road.
His phone vibrated.
Rent Alert:"Your flat rent of ₹9,500 is overdue by 3 days. Late fees apply after 7 days."
Aryan opened his banking app.
Balance: ₹2,987.63
Another notification sat unread.From his mother.
"Papa's BP medicine is almost finished. Buy it and send when possible."
He rubbed his temples.
Opening a food delivery app, he selected the cheapest egg fried rice. His finger hovered over Pay—then stopped.
Instant noodles would do.
Every rupee mattered now.
That was when his phone froze.
The screen went black for two seconds.
When it lit up again, a new app icon had appeared.
Dark blue.Lens-shaped.Unfamiliar.
Below it were two words:
KaalDrishti
"No way…" Aryan frowned.
He tried to uninstall it.
The moment his finger touched the icon, the app opened by itself.
A minimal interface appeared.
A search bar.
Below it, a single line of text:
"Query one stock's exact market movement for the next 72 hours."Data refresh: 00:00 daily
Aryan scoffed.
"Predict the future?""If this were real, the creator would rule the world."
He closed the app and shoved the phone into his pocket.
Downstairs, the brokerage office's electronic board flashed red and green numbers behind glass. The market had been falling for days. Retail investors were trapped everywhere.
Aryan stopped.
He remembered losing money in stocks during college. A few hundred rupees—gone. He hadn't touched the market since.
But now…
Less than three thousand in his account.No job.No safety net.
His heart beat faster.
"…I have nothing left to lose."
He turned back.
Back in his room, Aryan opened KaalDrishti again.
After scanning market news, one headline caught his eye:
"Surya Biotech Ltd expects 30–50% profit growth."
A small-cap stock. Not popular.
He typed the name into the search bar.
Search.
One second later—
A line graph appeared.
July 10 – July 13
Clear data. Clear prices.
Below it:
Suggested Action:Buy at market open tomorrow.Sell before 14:00 the following day.
Aryan stared.
Zoomed in.
Scrolled.Checked every detail.
No blur. No glitches.
His pulse thundered in his ears.
He opened his trading app.
Balance: ₹108.72
Without giving himself time to think, Aryan transferred ₹2,800.
Total capital: ₹2,908.72
He set an alarm for 8:50 AM.
That night, he barely slept.
What if it's fake?What if it's real?
Morning came.
At 9:30 AM, the market opened.
The stock price matched exactly.
Aryan didn't hesitate.
He went all in.
As the numbers moved exactly as the app predicted, Aryan felt something shift inside him.
For the first time since the layoff—
Hope.
He looked at the glowing screen and whispered,
"…My life just changed."
End ------