Chapter 11
One Week Later
One week later.
The weather in New York had become slightly colder.
Autumn winds moved through the streets, carrying fallen leaves along the sidewalks while the city continued its usual rhythm.
Inside a small rented apartment near the outskirts of Manhattan, Anshul sat in front of a desk covered with notebooks, electronics, and an open laptop.
Compared to the day he first arrived in this world, his situation had changed dramatically.
The laptop screen displayed several lines of code moving rapidly across the terminal window.
Anshul watched the data calmly.
The program was running exactly as intended.
His AI assistant was not finished yet, but the first functional modules had already been created.
It could now perform basic tasks:
Collecting financial data.
Monitoring online databases.
Sorting large amounts of information automatically.
For most programmers, writing something like this would take months.
For Anshul, it had taken only one week.
NZT had pushed his learning speed far beyond normal limits.
During the past seven days, his daily routine had been simple.
Study.
Program.
Analyze.
Sleep.
Then repeat the cycle again.
Entire textbooks had been finished within hours.
Programming languages that once looked complicated now felt almost natural.
Even complex cybersecurity concepts became clear after only a few minutes of research.
Anshul leaned back in his chair and stretched slightly.
His eyes moved toward another screen placed beside the laptop.
A small window displayed several pieces of information.
Name: Daniel Carter
Status: Active
Driver License: Pending approval
Bank Account: Verified
His first identity was nearly complete.
The digital records had been carefully constructed over several days.
Public databases had been updated.
Financial accounts created.
Utility records connected to the apartment he had rented using temporary documentation.
Everything matched.
From the perspective of government systems, Daniel Carter was now a real person again.
Which meant Anshul could finally move through this world without constant risk.
He opened the World Theater interface again.
Traveler Level: 1
Current World: Limitless
Story Progress: 12%
Anshul studied the number thoughtfully.
The progress had increased significantly during the past week.
Which meant something important had probably happened.
If the timeline followed the movie closely, the protagonist of the story should have already taken NZT by now.
That meant the next stage of the story would begin soon.
Eddie Morra would start rising rapidly.
Stock market success.
Political connections.
Corporate influence.
Eventually he would even gain control of the company that originally produced NZT.
Anshul had already considered interfering with that process.
But after careful analysis, he decided against it.
There was no reason to fight the protagonist.
In fact, letting Eddie continue his rise might be beneficial.
Because according to the movie's ending, Eddie eventually developed an improved version of NZT.
A version without side effects.
That was something Anshul wanted very much.
The original drug was powerful, but dangerous.
If a perfect version existed, the limitations would disappear completely.
Anshul closed the system interface.
For now, there was no need to interfere with the story.
Instead, he could focus on building his own advantages.
His AI assistant was still running in the background.
The system had already started monitoring financial markets.
Charts and numbers moved across the screen as real-time data flowed into the program.
Anshul studied the information carefully.
Under the influence of NZT, the patterns within the market were surprisingly clear.
Trends.
Price movements.
Statistical probabilities.
His brain processed everything automatically.
Several potential investment opportunities immediately appeared in his mind.
Anshul opened a trading platform connected to the Daniel Carter bank account.
His fingers moved across the keyboard quickly.
Within minutes he had placed several small investments.
Nothing too large.
But enough to test the accuracy of his predictions.
He leaned back and watched the charts quietly.
Seconds passed.
Then one of the numbers changed.
Profit.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Good."
The system worked.
With NZT-enhanced analysis and the AI collecting market data, predicting short-term movements became much easier.
This was only the beginning.
If he continued like this, his financial resources would grow rapidly.
And money was extremely useful for someone traveling between worlds.
Equipment.
Technology.
Information.
All of it required funding.
Anshul stood up and walked toward the window.
Outside, the city lights had already begun appearing as evening approached.
The skyline of New York looked almost peaceful from this distance.
But Anshul knew the reality was very different.
Somewhere in the city, Eddie Morra was probably beginning his own journey with NZT.
Two different people.
Two different paths.
Both connected to the same drug.
Anshul smiled faintly.
"Let's see how this story unfolds."
Because while Eddie followed the events of the original movie…
Anshul was already preparing for something far bigger.
A journey that would eventually take him far beyond this world.
Into countless other stories waiting inside the World Theater.