《Cosmic Editor》 Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction

August 3, 2020 Gwarimpa, Nigeria. The year of the pandemic was a year that we weed into our lives with one of the most dangerous illnesses mankind has ever known, COVID-19. Millions lost their lives to it, and many more were hospitalised in istion because of it. It was truly an illness on a scale the world had never seen. It affected everyone; people''s source of livelihood was cut short since few people worked in an industry deemed important enough to keep running. However, while this was going on, there existed a certain human who didn''t even notice the effects of the pandemic. David was a 22-year-old man. an introvert who enjoyed his time indoors and thus spent most of his time indoors. His source of ie wasn''t also affected that much considering he didn''t have any mainstream jobs; instead, he was a writer and a gamer. Both earned him a bit of money that was more than enough to take care of himself and livefortably. The young man couldn''t say that he was happy about the pandemic, but he could say that it only brought some good news to him, friends who he hadn''t yed with in a long time returned. There were even more readers for his books, which also meant more money. Life was going great if all things were considered. His health was also up to par, and he hardly went outside, so he wasn''t going to get infected anytime soon. Instead, David spent his time ying video games and live streaming them for other gamers to watch. "No, no, no, don''t go in there; there''s an entire squad waiting there!!" David screamed as the words ''Game Over'' appeared on the screen. "My guy, are you a newbie or what?" David asked into his headset. "Well, even if you deny it, you y like one. how about this, you follow me and listen to my instructions then maybe you can level up and be better" David said feeling a bit too generous and happy today. "Good, first since you''re still starting, I would suggest you equip a gun that doesn''t slow you down, shotguns, snipers, and every Marksman rifle is out of the option. Use any other one but always check if the control and damage stat is green before you select it, Okay?" David said a few secondster, as he guided the new yer. "Excellent and as for your secondary weapon, if you think, your fingers are fast enough, I suggest a melee weapon, they offer instant kills" David continued for a while before the Newbie was finally done. Even he was surprised at how patient he was, normally he or practically any other gamer out there would have simply kicked the Newbie out of their team, but here he was guiding the newbie for some reason. "Are you ready now?" David asked after nearly three (3) minutes. "Good, let''s go," David said then began the match. Though he has no idea why he was guiding a newbie, he did know that it would surely get him even more viewers if he somehow managed to win the game which would be incredibly difficult considering that the other yers were on his level, and he was guiding someone who just began ying. *Team Death Match* The game was announced as the game began, the rules of the game were simple, deploy from your base and kill the enemies. David, who had yed the same game over and over again for months now, expertly began to maneuver his character around killing the other yers while instructing the Newbie on what to do. He followed the Newbie ensuring that he or she was safe as they attacked the other yers. Basically, David was ying like a real soldier covering his partner''s six (6) or back. His role was simply protecting the newbie, so he could win the MVP of the match. *Winner* The game was announced after nearly thirty (30) minutes of gamey. Despite all his efforts though the MVP title was given to him instead of the newbie, so David and the Newbie continued to y so that the Newbie would get good enough to get the MVP title. "Yes!!" David shouted after nearly an hour, or probably even more. The MVP title was given to the Newbie, who he could hear celebrating over the headset. It was a joyous moment, but David looked outside only to see that it was already dark... Really dark. He immediately checked his phone, only to see that it was already midnight. "Hey, I''m sorry, it''s already midnight in my country, I have to sleep? you''lle online tomorrow, right?" David asked as he began tidying his desk. "Well, then good night or afternoon for whatever country you''re in," he said before exiting the game and turning off his PC. He may not have anywhere to go the next day, but it was better to wake up the next day without a massive headache due to sleepingte. He still had a novel that was serialized toplete, but that wasn''t something he wanted to do with a headache, so he immediatelyid down on his bed and after plugging in his phone, he forced himself to sleep. Or at least that''s what he hoped for since no human had control over sleep, ites when it wants and when it does, you need outside help to ovee it if you''re in a situation where you don''t want to sleep. David stayed awake for some time until everything eventually went dark. He had fallen asleep. "Oh good, I caught you before Morpheus did" an ancient-sounding voice was heard as David sprung up from his bed. "Who''s there?!!!" David shouted in shock. The environment was still dark, very dark. even darker than things would normally be at night. The bed was still there, but there was nothing else, the window that used to be directly beside his bed was gone, and the TV was gone. Everywhere was just dark and seemed to have suddenly grown in size. Chapter 2: WTF?!!

Chapter 2: WTF?!!

"I am an administrator in charge of your sector of space and time and all its alterations; in your terms, I am a regional manager just on a veryrge scale," the voice said again. "Why do you guys have to oveplicate everything? Just say you are God," David said while rolling his eyes. For some reason, he was calmer than he expected. He didn''t know if it was because he couldn''t feel any intent to harm from the voice or that he felt the voice was familiar for some reason. He didn''t truly know; all he knew was that he was a lot calmer than he felt he should be in this situation. The logical exnation should be that the being was making him calm, but he felt he was like this more because he had imagined this same scene multiple times in the past. "How is this your first reaction when talking to a supernatural being? Wait, have you done this before?" the voice asked. "Of course not. This weird level of calmness should be your doing, isn''t it?" David asked. "Am I... oh, sorry, but it helps. Anyway, I dide here in order to say thank you as well as give you a gift; your kind may need to survive what is toe." "What does that mean?" "Exactly what it means, though I can''t borate further... I want to assume that your intuition as an author will allow you to guess the plot that is toe." "Just go ahead," David said after taking a deep breath. At this point, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen. He didn''t know exactly how it would happen, but he could guess that either Earth or the entire universe itself would undergo some sort of awakening to bring us to a higher stage of some kind. It was amon trope in Korean Manhwas, just that he wasn''t sure if this one would be like the Manhwas. "Excellent! This event could either lead to your race''s extinction or ascendancy, so I hope you do take this seriously," the administrator said. "Of course I will; I am one of the dumbasses that could possibly go extinct; however, I swear to God if I do find out that this is some sort of machination by you administrators or whatever you call yourselves." "Don''t worry; despite our omnipotence, we do not possess such authority. Even the much freer gods below us don''t possess such authority. Now, would you like to be given the gift, or do you want to ask questions?" "Don''t worry, I can draw my own conclusions when the timees, so gift, please," David answered. Being an author, especially a fantasy writer, means that you must have a very active imagination. Think of every possible ridiculous scenario you can imagine, then put it in a way that the readers would enjoy. Whatever scenario was ying out now, he could guess where it would lead him, but only if he yed things smart. In simple terms, this administrator, in his words, was a being that ruled over an entire section of the multiverse. Basically, the god in charge of our sector of space and time, which could possibly mean the universe or part of the Multiverse, was so high up that the gods were below them, and apparently the world was about to go through some sort of change. The only problem here was that the administrator refused to tell him what sort of change was to be expected. Would it mean an invasion from higher-world forces or just a simple introduction of a new element to the world? He had no idea what was to happen. "With a mind as active as yours, a lot of gods would want you on their side. If the future event will be like the one in Sector 1647," The administrator said as a soft chuckle was heard. "Were they made to gain patron gods or what?" "Something like that? Now focus on your gift." the administrator said as a massive wheel appeared before him. As the wheel appeared, the bed beside him vanished, leaving him alone inplete darkness with the wheel, which somehow produced enough light to make the dark space not feel dark. David walked up to the wheel to scrutinise it a bit, only to find it just like the ones one would find at any game show. However, unlike the ones in the game shows, this one was so massive that he couldn''t see the top, and the administrator seemed to have taken that into consideration as the needle pointing out the selected option was ced at the bottom of the wheel where he could see it. As for the options written on the wheel, David read through all that he could see, and the more he read, the wider his eyes got as he saw some absurd abilities, items, and other things that he doubted he would need to survive any event. Some of the options here would make him so overpowered that this wouldn''t even be a trial at all. "Author Authority? Armour of invincibility? Heavenly RV, Guns of Chaos? Omnipotence! What sort of event will we have to go through?" David asked in shock. He may not know what some of the options on the wheel did, like the guns of chaos and the heavenly RV, but he did know what author authority and omnipotence were. Those were abilities that would basically make him a god on Earth; they would render the event useless... He could just erase its source and be done with it. "I never said the gift given would be equal to the event faced. It could be more powerful than you need or way less powerful, or it could be just what you need to lead a happy life without suffering in the event." "That does make sense." David said as he walked towards therge wheel. Chapter 3: I have the Power!!!

Chapter 3: I have the Power!!!

"With how much I''ve been winning in ranked matchestely, I don''t think I have much luck left, but God Abeg!" David prayed in pidgin as he spun the wheel with all his might. The wheel was too big for him to spin fast enough, but as soon as he spun it, it began speeding up on its own as thoughpensating for hisck of strength, and after a few seconds of spinning, the wheel began to slow down as David''s heart began to beat even faster. Nervousness gripped his heart as he watched. He predicted the endpoint of the wheel, and it wasn''t looking too good. David watched as the wheel slowly moved to the predicted endpoint, which had the words ''Dispatch Sensei'' written on it. He didn''t know what it meant or how powerful the thing or ability was; he just didn''t want it. "No, No!, No!" David screamed as the wheel slowly began to stop. "Oh!... thank God! ... yes!" David screamed in joy when the wheel skipped over the ability and ended on another one that sounded a bit powerful, and he could guess what it did. "Reality Editor? A powerful but incredibly tricky one," the administrator said as the wheel disappeared, but a small orb of light remained behind. "What''s that?" David asked skeptically, especially when he noticed the orb was moving towards him. David tried to dodge it, but the orb just zoomed its way into his body at speeds his eyes couldn''t follow. ========== Reality Editor Tier 1 A being known to have the final say in the making of things. They possess the capability to change any aspect of reality, space, and time as they wish. All edits made by the editor bew and shall be deemed natural by thews of the cosmos. Limitations: *. Due to the lower tier of power, the editor can only currently make an edit once a month. This is to allow for a speedy recovery, as each edit takes about two years off its lifespan, depending on the edit made. *. The editor cannot use his or her abilities on themselves directly; however, the use of an edited item is allowed and up to the editor to decide. *. Though the editor can use any item he or she deems necessary, they cannot make use of any item that grants them infinite power. It will result in their death. ========= "Damn!" David shouted in shock. The ability he had gotten was even more than he had expected; he didn''t even know this was any different from omnipotence. It had a fancier name, but in simple terms, this was still the change of anything without any repercussions because the universe deems it natural. As for most of the limitations, he could understand that getting too powerful in one go would never help him because he would surely misuse said power, and he doubted that his current body could handle infinite power, so he understood thest limitation clearly, the same with the second one but the first. "Hey? What''s with the once-a-month rule? I''m the editor; I make the rules," Davidined. "You get the ability to change anything you don''t like about the universe? Anything you want, and your first thought is why it''s only once a month." "What about the Tier nonsense?" "That speaks for itself; you may have the power of a god, but you still reside in a mortal body, and until you can grow enough to fully utilise your powers, you will have to deal with the tiers and ranks and all the other bullshit thates with it." "Well, isn''t that convenient?" "That''s why I said it was tricky; you will have to find a way to protect yourself during each wait period, and with your powers, that should be fairly easy." "Well, then I''m guessing it would soon be time for you to go, right?" "Naturally, you will hear from me again after the event. I hope you survive it." "With this ability, I will definitely survive," David said confidently. "Then I wish you luck," the administrator said as the darkness began to recede. In the next instant, the entire ce returned to normal. The bed returned, the windows that showed the sky returned, and some light could finally enter the room. However, that wasn''t all. David, who had been standing, was now lying on his bed with his nket covering him. The bed returned, and the windows all came back. He could now see the television and all the other parts of the bedroom. David sat on his bed, looking around while feeling crazy about what had just transpired. "Was that all a dream?" David asked himself as he sat up on the bed. He was so sure that he had stood up from this same bed, but here he was, on it again. "Administrator? Editor?!" David called out skeptically since he wanted to confirm his theory. The ability he got was the only thing that could prove that what had happened was real, but unfortunately, he had no idea how it worked. He hadn''t even bothered to ask how said ability worked, so now he was stuck; if everything was actually real, then he would die because he didn''t ask the administrator how he would use his abilities. David took a deep breath in order to calm down long enough to think. He picked up his phone to check the time since he still had things nned out for the next day. It was still midnight. Well, forty-five (45) minutes past midnight, but that also meant that he could sleep now and still wake up on time. ========= Editable Object: Vivo Y15s Durability: E- Description: A device produced by the Vivopany. It possesses a 2.3 Hz Octa-core processor and 3 GB of RAM... ========= "What''s this?" David asked when he noticed the blue screen that was floating behind his phone. "It''s real!!" David shouted in excitement. He still didn''t know how to actually use the ability, but this was a start; it allowed him to edit things, so it made sense that it would give him some information concerning most things. David tested the theory by looking at some other objects around the house. Chapter 4: What to do? what to do?

Chapter 4: What to do? what to do?

All of which showed up with a small blue screen, meaning that he could truly edit anything he wanted. The bed, the TV, hisputer, his clothes, etc. Everything had one. ======== Editable Object: The Earth Durability: S Description: A formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago orbits the fairly young star of System 287693. Its surface houses many races, some sentient, while others live by instinct alone. Well, known among all these are the bipedal beings who call themselves humans... ======== "Holy sh*t, I can edit the earth itself? Does that mean I could give it a red sky if I wanted to? How do I even do that?" David asked curiously as he touched the screen, only for a cursor to appear. The screen turned into a holographic monitor, and a small keyboard appeared before him. This was how he could edit it all, either by deleting the existing or by simply adding his own, or even both. "Shit, cancel!!" David hurriedly canceled the editing page so he wouldn''t identally change something vital to humanity''s existence on Earth. "Oh my god, I can really edit anything I want; that would probably include concepts, right? Which means omnipotence once a month," David said as his eyes widened in excitement. There was no other way to define what his ability was; if you could change anything about anything, no matter what it was, then you are definitely omnipotent. Well, considering that he can only change what already exists and not create from scratch, David concluded that his ability was more like semi-omnipotence. Like the DC Comics character Lucifer. The guy is capable of manipting all existing matter in any way he wants, but he couldn''t create his own matter. Nheless, David was still excited, which could be evidenced by his periodic short dances as he circled his small apartment. His ability was actually real, and not only that, but he could also truly edit anything. Well, the cost was his lifespan, but he could mitigate that weakness easily. David celebrated as he danced around his small apartment before realizing something pretty important. What to edit? ... It may sound like a dumb question since the answer should be obvious, but unfortunately, he was in an unpredictable situation, so he had to adapt to fit it. He could technically grant himself some form of immortality that would help mitigate the cost of an edit, but then again, his tier was still low, and he didn''t know the criteria to increase it. Above all, he also didn''t know when the event was starting, so if he simply made himself immortal, he would suffer for itter. Though immortality would be an excellent choice for an apocalyptic event, who was to say that the event would involve things that could kill immortals or some sort of rule that prohibited immortality? It was an obvious and smart move, but he felt that it would be much better if he created something that could not only grant him an increased lifespan but would be epted basically everywhere. Or you could go anywhere without problems. "But what if I am not the only one?" David thought he was the only problem with this event. If there were others that were given gifts as well as in the future, they would eventually butt heads, and David didn''t want that. The administrator made the event seem like something that would shatter civilization as we know it, meaning that eventually there would be fights everywhere and someone with any of the OP abilities on the wheel could easily go to the top. He didn''t want to be the only one with abilities, obviously, since that would mean that it would be his sole responsibility to save humanity from extinction, but the possibility of others having powers meant that one day he would have to fight some of them, which meant that he had to choose his edits wisely. "Back to square one; what to edit?" David asked himself out loud. The obvious answer was to find something that could give him an infinite lifespan so he could edit as he wanted, but with such an ability, immortality should be one of the easiest things to get. He could directly edit some drug to grant him immortality, edit the air so that each time he breathes in 10 years is added to his lifespan, or create an object that could create something that would grant him immortality. The means were endless, but David didn''t feel right going through that route; there was a chance that the event could begin next month or even tomorrow, so he would only have immortality and no actual way of defending himself. In fact, he didn''t know the best route to follow here, just that it wouldn''t be something that grants only immortality. "Considering we are in the digital age, my phone or myputer would make more sense," David deliberated. On one hand, he had the chance to be the world''s most unkible man, and on the other, he had the chance to possibly create a supremely powerfulputer or possibly artificial intelligence that could help him not only figure out immortality but also maybe figure out the best defense against whatever was toe. Both would be incredibly useful in the long run, but one could grant him immortality and still serve other uses, so David was more inclined to choose the technology route, and it could also help him greatly if the event wasn''t going to start anytime soon. He could use it to get rich and use that money to prepare for the event. Considering all his options, David decided to do the most sensible thing he could think of at this moment. Leave the option to the people on the inte. He could do as he said, and nothing would be wrong, but if he needed the best course of action now, then it was best to let a lot of people decide. After all, it wasn''t like the event would take ce the next day. David posted the question, "If given the ability to edit anything you want, be it conceptual, physical, or biological, you can only do it once a month. What would you edit first". After a bit more exining, he posted it on every social media tform he knew that had pages for such things. Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Reddit, etc. He posted it everywhere and hoped that the people on the inte would give him a suitable answer by tomorrow. Chapter 5: First Edit

Chapter 5: First Edit

"That should do it, but just to be sure, I better n what I want just in case." David thought as he picked up a paper and pen and began to write down everything he would edit if he was going to follow either route. If he followed his technology route, then what prompts would he put in to achieve maximum effect, and if he was following his biological route, then what abilities and how would he give them to himself? Hours passed with David just lying around his bed, thinking. Things would have been easier for him if only there were some books out there with such ability as a part of their plot or maybe a movie, but so far, he has found nothing. Either way, he still wrote down nearly three (3) pages worth of things to edit. Meanwhile, online, many people saw the post; after all, it was a public post and was posted on a tform that supported such content. Many saw it and, clueless of David''s situation, immediately began toment on their ideas. His writing group thought it was probably for a new book he was working on, so they helped too. Within a few hours, many of his posts had garnered hundreds ofments. Each person gave his or her reasons to defend their opinion; many others went under thosements to tell the person the ws in their ns. After all, the inte has been known to love to correct others. By the morning hours, David had long since slept, but many people in many other countries had yet to sleep, and they still continued toment. Some went as far as making ns for an entire year. The end point of it all was that David now had arge wealth of ideas to draw from. ======== August 4, 2020 11:27 AM David woke up feeling extremely refreshed. He knew he would surely wake upte, but it didn''t matter; he didn''t have anywhere to go; it was just him and his apartment. There was also nothing much to do since the ns for today only involved tidying up and then gaming. "Oh yeah, chores!" he said, then immediately stood up to begin tidying up the small apartment. He lived alone in his little apartment, so if the house was dirty, it was up to him to do something about it. The apartment in question wasn''t actually dirty considering that the majority of the dirt was hisundry, and that would be what he would be doing for a few hours now since he didn''t have a washing machine. Two hourster, the apartment was clean again, his clothes were all washed and spread to dry, and he had finally cleaned up his desk, which included hisputer, so he was feeling pretty good about himself. David smiled as he looked around the tidy apartment before jumping into the bathroom to tidy up in order not to be the only dirty thing in the room. A few minutester, he was clothed and ready for the day. Well, the day was already over since now he had to repeat the same procedures he had been going through for the past few weeks. David, without any hesitation, jumped on the bed to continue what he had been doing for thest few days: sleep. "Hmm, this feels unnatural," David thought, then stood up from the bed and dragged its sheets to rumple it up and soonid down back. "Now that''s more like it,"he said as he rxed into the bed and grabbed his pillow. *Ding* "Oh, that''s true; now let''s see what you guys have for me," David said as he picked up his phone and began going through thements. After reading for some time, he began to notice a pattern. Many people, just like him, preferred the technological route. Though their methods differedter on, many of them still chose to edit their phones,puters, or whatever was avable at the moment in the first month. "It''s pretty obvious what I have to do then, but these are some really great ideas." David noted as he picked up his notebook fromst night to write down all the ideas he found interesting. "Hmm, I don''t think losing my humanity is the way to go about this. Well, at least for now, but that is an interesting method," David thought when he came across ament. The usermented that he will edit a small pack of drugs into some sort of elixir or serum that grants Kryptonian powers or will give him Kherubim-like abilities. David appreciated the method of editing, but the kryptonian or kherubim transformation part he didn''t appreciate for now. He will eventually, when he knows exactly what sort of event he will be dealing with. Under saidment was ament chastising the user on the fact that they could just create a drug to cure COVID. It was an excellent idea, but exactly how does he bring it out? COVID was a bad thing, but there were definitely some people in high ces who benefited from it. He didn''t have the ability to go against such people as yet, so that was out of the question. "My phone it is then," David said as he picked up his phone and the book and began going through everything he had thought of the day before, and just the first line alone had given him ideas. Crazy and incredibly ridiculous ideas. ======== Editable Object: Vivo Y15s Description: A device produced by the Vivopany. It possesses a 2.3 Hz Octa-core processor and 3 GB of RAM... ========== Seeing the familiar window, David tapped on it and immediately began editing. The main goal here was to edit the phone into a device with unparalleled processing power and unlimited storage that is basically indestructible. A device that would allow him to do as he liked. Chapter 6: I’m Overpowered

Chapter 6: I''m Overpowered

======= Editable Object: Vivo Y15s? Durability: ??? Description: A device created by the Editor. A device capable of untold things, possessing an unquantifiable amount of processing power, unlimited storage, and other unknown capabilities Features: Nous: an omniscient being capable of the unknown and all things. Artificial intelligence created by the editor houses knowledge known and unknown. Life bringer: grants eternal life to whoever equips the device. Never Lost: It will always return to its owner if lost or misced. As a creation of the editor, the device and all itsponents are fiercely loyal to the Editor. Any attempts at insubordination shall result in automatic deletion from reality. Cost: 20 years. ======= Yes, David nned to create an omniscient artificial intelligence. If there was anything he knew he needed the most, or he would need the most during the event or even before the event, it would be information. Information that an omniscient A.I. would have in abundance, as well as the fact that it granted immortality. It''s simple; he was the editor. Who said that he couldn''t mix things up and give himself both abilities? Now, whenever he was on his phone, he was immortal. "20 years?" David stated this while looking at the cost of editing. He wasn''t one bit surprised that it would cost him that much; in fact, David had expected the cost to be higher considering that the features of the new device wouldn''t just give him an Omniscient ve. It will also grant him immortality. Without any hesitation and with a wide smile on his face, David clicked the ''ept'' icon as he felt something leave his body. He felt as though someone had sucked away all the energy in his body, and he immediately fell on his bed. Though all the energy or stamina in him was lost, he didn''t lose consciousness; he simplyy there and watched as the phone floated into the air by some magical means and everything... Every single thing within view slowly came to a halt. The ceiling fan froze, and the dust particles that were usually too fast for the naked eye to see even under direct sunlight now stoodpletely still. It was weird, but it was what it was; the only things moving were possibly him, the phone, which had been disassembled, and possibly photon particles since he could still see. The disassembled phone slowly melted into some ck liquid-like substance and began squirming around as it assumed form after form and continued changing until it finally settled on a ring shape. His phone had somehow turned into a ring. "Well, that''s not what I expected," David thought as he looked at the ring, which looked a bit too normal for his liking. As soon as the ring was fully formed, the environment returned to normal, the des of the ceiling fan began to move again, and the frozen dust particles in the ray of sunlight began to move again. Everything was back to normal. The ring in question slowly flew into David''s finger, and almost immediately he felt life return to his body again as he immediately sat up properly on his bed. The extreme fatigue he once felt was miraculously nowhere to be seen. "Am I really allowed this sort of power?" David said it out loud as he looked at his body over and over again. It had cost him twenty (20) years of his life, but he now had immortality and an A.I. that would probably make it seem as though he had some sort of easier startpared to the others. Turning to his mirror, David looked at himself to see if there were any changes, and surprisingly, there were none. "Wait? Doesn''t this make removing the ring my weakness?" David reasoned, since even he was afraid of removing the ring from his finger. "At least I know it will always return to me if misced," David thought as he began to examine the ring. There was really nothing abnormal about the ring. It looked just like a normal ring, and it felt like one too, even on his finger, which also led to the problem he was facing now. How to activate the ring? "Activate!" David shouted while striking a pose. He immediately covered and hid his face from the mirror after such a shameful act, but was still happy he did it anyway. Who didn''t want to be a power ranger? [Wee] A massive screen suddenly appeared before him, with the words written in bold and spread across it. David, seeing the screen, jumped in surprise but calmed down almost as quickly. He reached out to touch the screen, but he couldn''t feel its presence in the space before him. His hand just passed right through the screen, blinking, and the screen disappeared. When he rubbed his eyes to see if he was seeing things or not, the screen reappeared. "Wait? Is this augmented reality?" David asked, noticing how somewhat familiar the screen and situation were. With that thought in mind, David hoped to interact with the screen, and surprisingly, his finger didn''t pass through this time; instead, he managed to tap on the ''next'' icon on the screen. [Would you like to proceed with calibration and tutorials?] The second screen read, and David clicked on ''Yes'' In doing so, David began going through a series of tests to calibrate his eye and hand movements with the ring''s system. It took him through a regr set of screens that basically everyone with a phone or a VR headset had done before. There was truly nothing special about it; however, David noticed something even before calibration. The ring was already way too good at tracking his movement; it had literally performed ording to his intentions just now. In simple terms, the ring was incredibly easy to use. "Well, the measure of any advanced technology is how easy it is to use," David thought as he gave a shrug and then focused back on the screens. Chapter 7: Nous

Chapter 7: Nous

With the tutorial done, David was faced with a standard home screen. His wallpaper was still the same. It was underwhelming, but then again, he didn''t edit the phone for this part. He edited it for something else. [Would you like to activate our virtual assistant, Nous?] read a screen that just popped up out of nowhere. Without any hesitation at all, David selected ''Yes'' and immediately the screen disappeared as everything went quiet. David could swear that he heard ancient chanting and drums beating as arge amount of mysterious green particles appeared out of nowhere. The green particles began to slowly gather on the same table beside his bed; they formed a pair of stands and then began to build from there. The chanting and the drumming became even louder as the building continued, and soon David could tell exactly what the particles were building. "Holy sh*t, I have my own Cortana!" David said as the green human''s body was finallypleted. The green being that had just been created stood at a height of at most five (5) inches tall and dressed in a bodysuit, but covered it all up with a cloak. Looking at it even closer, David couldn''t tell if it was male or female. [Good day, Master. How may I be of help to you today?] A non-binary voice was heard for the first time in basically his entire life. David heard a voice; he couldn''t tell which gender it belonged to. The LGBTQ+ were on the rise, but one could easily tell which gender they belonged to or initially belonged to before they imed to be something else. A non-binary male will sound male, and so will the females. A homosexual male or female would sound like a male or a female, then there was the transgender group, which was where the confusion started; however, it was simple. A transgender male would sound male until a certain point in their transition; the same is true for a trans female. Of course, there were the asional exceptions where a male sounded like a female, but even then, the two main voice types were still there, just switched up. However, this A.I. had somehow generated a voice that belonged to neither side. David couldn''t tell exactly how impressive this was, but he knew that it was definitely impressive. "Ah, yes, what do I call you exactly?" [Nous, your Lordship] "What''s with the lordship, master? I get the lordship? What''s with that?" [You are the editor? A being equal to the administrators in function and above the gods in power] Nous replied "Thanks for shedding some light on that, but I don''t want you calling me Master or Lordship. A simple ''sir'' would be enough, you understand?" [Yes sir] "Good, I know you probably wouldn''t tell me much, but what can you tell me about theing event?" [I am afraid such information is ssified enough for me to not tell you.] "Okay, how long do I have before the event? Then, do I have a few months, a year, or some days?" [Following the guidelines provided, all I am allowed to tell you is that you have this entire year to yourselves.] "So, I shouldn''t expect any sort of supernatural event during this time." [I wouldn''t say a supernatural event; however, the event wouldn''t start anytime this year. It could start at the stroke of midnight on the New Year, or it could be postponed to the next] day. "Okay, then, so I have four (4) months to prepare for what''s toe, right?" [Maybe... Maybe not] "Okay then? The first move would be to get rich somehow. I would prefer a legal method, so let''s start brainstorming." [Here is a list of industries that are doing especially well during this quarantine.] Nous said as it brought up a screen, and on it were some names and how much they made monthly during this yearpared to other months. "Entertainment was the obvious answer, but damn! 3.2 billion dors in just one month," David said, even though he could see that the number given was for the entire country of the United States of America. He looked at us and smiled. If he wanted to get rich illegally, there was absolutely no one who could stop him. All he had to do was take $100 from each millionaire out there and $1000 from each billionaire. In the end, he would be a millionaire without having any problems. Said amount was big enough to boost his wealth but small enough not to even be noticed by these people. Even if they do notice it, they may dismiss it easily, and if they do n to push further, David doubted that they could catch the Omniscient Nous. However, since he wanted to go through legal means, All he had to do wase up with a good idea, and Nous would surely sell it enough for him to be a millionaire through it. Since entertainment was the most popr thing, he had to target the thing that everyone would surely spend money on: games. Gamers were loyal, and if they loved your game, then they would surely pay. He could attest to that since even he paid when necessary. He was good at the game, but if you wanted to be better, you spend that cash. Apart from that, there was also the initial sale, which would set up everything for thepany. If the game''s presentation and everything else were good enough, then people would flock en masse to buy it, and with that money, you could improve your game further. "Nous, which industry... Do you suggest I enter?" [Even with good marketing and all, the streaming industry is too saturated, and there is only a 40% chance of you getting as much money as you want through it. [At least within these four months] "I expected that," David thought, since between Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, and all the others out there, he would never be able to make his own streaming service stand out. Chapter 8: Renovatio

Chapter 8: Renovatio

[However, the gaming industry is for all and honestly can never be saturated because it tries to satisfy people''s desires; hence, I would suggest you pick this industry. With good marketing and a good game, you could create apany as big as the current big names in just four months. "Now It''s just what type of game to create... Do you have any ideas?" [I do; however, my nature doesn''t allow me to do this part of the process for you, sir] "I understand. Do I need to go into much detail or just vague exnations? Do I need toe up with a story by myself?" [Those are not required. You simply have to pick the settings for the game. Should it be an open-ended game or a first-person shooter (FPS), what background do the characters have? "I get it now, so then you will create the story and everything." [Yes sir] "Okay, then, how about you mix all the genres? Well, maybe remove all the fantasy-type things just enough to make it rooted in real life but still incredibly entertaining to y. It should have a multiyer option if the yer wants; it''s basically an open-world game with elements from all the other genres," David said, pushing his luck. He didn''t know if such a game was even possible; if it was, then manypanies would have surely produced it by now. He trusted the AI to create something incredibly entertaining; however, he was afraid of how the game would turn out. [Generating video game now] A screen appeared as soon as he finished talking. It even had a cute animation of a chibi version of Nous dragging the loading bar across the screen, and since it was fast, the chibi Nous could be seen acting proud as it dragged it until the loading waspleted. [Game creation isplete; however, due to its high requirements and size, some optimization is required. [Should I proceed?] "Go ahead," David replied without even a single thought. The animation appeared again as David chuckled at the chibi''s slight strain in dragging the bar this time. This showed that whatever optimization Nous was performing on the game was important and powerful enough to strain Nous even a little bit. [Optimizations done. Should I send the application to yourputer?] Nous asked "Um? Sure," David replied as he turned on hisputer, confused as to how Nous nned to transfer a file without having any USB ports or even being connected to any Wi-Fi. As soon as the system was turned on, David saw the standard transfer loading screen appear on it. At this point, he couldn''t say he knew anything that was going on with Nous; its operating system was just way beyond him. [Transfer isplete] Nous announced it as soon as the transfer was done. David could see a new file named ''Renovatio'' on the desktop, and something told him that this was the new game; however, he had never seen any games, even small ones like nts vs. Zombies, transfer from one ce to another this fast. "Eh? Are you sure this is the game? What''s the game size exactly?" [Original size: 84.8 terabytes; optimized size: 4.3 gigabytes] "What?" David said in shock, This would mean that Nous had somehow managed topress tens of terabytes of data into nothing but four gigabytes. That was a lot; normalpressing methods would only reduce it to a few thousand gigabytes. For it to be this low, Nous had to have removed a lot ofponents from the game. David opened the folder and installed the game, then checked the size of the game, and just as Nous had said, it was exactly 4.3 gigabytes. To confirm if the so-called ''optimization'', Nous had done, affected the game, David immediatelyunched the game. "Nous Studios? That makes sense," David said, then he saw the opening title. As the game began, like GTA, which he had been thinking of when he suggested the game, Renovatio featured a simr opening scene with pictures of models, in-game cities, and all showing up before it started. A few secondster, the opening screen disappeared as David sat up properly and immediately began paying attention. The people could be seen walking around peacefully and talking about their day when a car pulled up in front of a bank. Four people walked out of the car and straight to their car''s boot or the trunk of the car, where they could be seen removing some guns, a ski mask, and several other pieces of equipment they needed. After ensuring that all weapons were hidden, they walked into the bank just like any normal person. As soon as they met the security guard. They fired their weapons as the guards at the front door dropped dead on the floor, and screams filled the air as panic reigned through the street and the bank. "Hey, Bones, you''re on the lookout... Get the hostages to the front desk and by the door!!" One of the robbers shouted, "On it!!" The Bones replied as he did as the other party said. "You all,e over here. I want you all to transfer 2,000 dors each from everyone here into these ounts!!" The leader ordered the employees of the bank "But sir?" "Shut it and do as I say!" The leader ordered David watched as the scene continued to progress with incredible details and graphics, as though he were actually watching a movie. The scene continued until some citizens called the police, and a SWAT team was sent to rescue the hostages. Variousplicationster, shots were fired and exchanged between the robbers and the SWAT team. After a while, the camera switched from the third-person view to a first-person view,nding on the robber named ''Bones''. Without any hesitation, David began to follow themands given to learn the controls. As for his mission, it was fairly obvious that he was to escape from the bank and the police, who would probably chase after him. David, who had yed several games with this sort of beginning, proudly took charge, believing it was the same as the others. Chapter 9: Renovatio II

Chapter 9: Renovatio II

It was not. Without realizing it, David remained on hisputer for nearly three hours, just trying toplete the first mission. The mechanics of the game were somewhat different; its graphics were so good that he felt like it was a weird movie shot with a high-definition camera. "Why is this thing so difficult? Why is it soplicated?" Davidined in frustration. [The game isn''t difficult, however, it was designed in a manner that allows each character to make decisions depending on the situation, and each one is designed with a backstory.] "So basically, I should y it like these are actual human beings, right?" [In simple terms, yes... It makes the game moreplicated and entertaining. It also means that no yer will have the same ending. If you do have the same ending with another person? It can be interpreted as you and said person having the same personality] "You managed to fit all that into 4.3 gigabytes... Wait, each character in this game has a backstory and, basically, a life. Does that mean the yer''s missions are based on the people they meet and the decisions they make?" [Yes] "All that decision-making would surely take up too much space in the future, right?" [Normally, yes, but due to the optimization process, the storage the game would take up at the end should be about 10.2 gigabytes, which is still nothingpared to some games.] "That''s good then," David said, even though he didn''t understand how that would work. He just left it for the Omniscient, known as Nous. She was the one who created the game and understood how it truly worked. If every character could make its own decisions like a human, then that meant that there were no NPCs in the game, just background characters or extras. With the belief that he was ying against other humans, David''s decision-making process changed, and soon the first mission waspleted. However, since he felt he could do better, he reyed it, only for the ending to bepletely different from the original one he just got. The other team members who were to withdraw the money were transferred to the bank, betrayed, and ran away with the money. In the other ending, they stay behind. He had no idea why these drastic changes were made, but he knew that it had to do with something he had done, so he reyed the mission again, but this time he was betrayed by his team members as they shot him after they had managed to escape the police. "Okay? This game is addicting, so how do you n to advertise it?" [I can create a website for the game to be downloaded from, but there are already several existing websites that will allow for much better sales; however, a $100 fee will need to be paid.] "Just create our own website. I think you should be able to make it work right; I don''t have that kind of money" [Naturally, then can I have permission to create apany ount on all social media tforms?] "Go ahead? Just make sure to avoid exposing our location or situation." [As you wish, sir] Nous replied as it went to work. David became interested in seeing where each possible end to the mission was and continued ying the game for hours after that. The graphics, the details, the story, and the entire setup made him adopt the mentality of his character. He also noticed that in certain situations, he was required to type in a reply as though he were actually talking to the characters themselves. There were conversations between the characters. These conversations were smooth and sounded like something he would actually hear somewhere. Since the game supported a headset, David immediately equipped his, removing the need to type in a reply. While ying the game, David started feeling like he had to create some sort of motion capture suit to bring out the true beauty of the game. There were many actions he had to perform in the game that he felt would be better if he were wearing such a suit. While David spent his time totally engrossed in the game, Nous, in her infinite wisdom, began her n for advertisement. She knew her master would never agree to the fee, so from the start, she had already created a n to advertise the game in the most efficient way possible. ==== In the early hours of the morning, a young man could be seen scrolling through his phone in search of more entertaining content on the now incredibly popr app known as TikTok. "That should be impossible; have I seen all the TikToks?" the man said as he continued to scroll through the app. "Five thousand following!I should really try to reduce that number," the man thought to himself as he went through his profile before returning to the ''For You'' page. After refreshing it, the first video that appeared was one of some movies; however, unlike most movies he had seen on this app, there was no song in the background or soap-cutting video beneath it. It was just the movie, which meant that it was surely a funny part of the movie or some important part of it. "Oh? It''s a military respect video; which nation is this?" The man asked as he went through the full video. Interested in seeing more, he opened the profile of the owner of the content, and as usual, he dropped a follow since he enjoyed watching things like this. He may not want to be part of the military because he didn''t want to die, but he still enjoyed watching their edits because he was fascinated by their courage and overall coolness. The man scrolled through to the bottom of the videos posted by the user and began watching them; however, the contents weren''t the same as what he expected, but he still enjoyed what he saw. He quickly found out that each video was an introduction to a character in a game, and the video following said introduction moment seemed to be an edit of their cool moments. Chapter 10: Nous Studios

Chapter 10: Nous Studios

"How many characters are in this game?" the man asked as he continued to watch, now curious as to how many yable characters thispany could fit into their game. He counted until he forgot why he was counting and simply began to enjoy the stupid content the ount created. It had everything; there were animated videos of their characters, even the serious ones, doing popr trends in ways you would expect someone with such a character to do. From the voice-overs in the videos, he managed to grasp the general idea behind the game. The game was based on the idea of parallel Earths; each character is on each Earth, but you can y as any of them; however, your decisions can change the ending dramatically. Basically, everything was up to the yers. It was an interesting concept, and he wanted to see it at y. If the yer''s decisions decide everything, does that mean that it''s like those dating Sims where they are given options to choose from, or do they get to just speak their minds and the NPCs will work around it? The more he watched, the more annoyed he was that they weren''t truly addressing that particr matter as though it were nothing. They introduced all the yable characters, which was a lot, meaning that when you unlock them, you get to y as them, and each one is asplicated as a regr human being. However, theck of more information on that topic made him even more curious, so he checked the name of the gamingpany, Nous Studios, and without hesitation went to search for the game online. As soon as he did so, he found several articles rted to the game in various print media and, finally, a website for the game itself. "Oh? The game isn''t ready for download yet; six more days to go."The man read out loud. Since the game wasn''t out for download yet, he spent his time going through the website to gather as much information as he could, since he was now interested in the game. ==== Due to Nous''s maniption, nearly 465 million people on TikTok saw a video from Nous''s ount. Not all of them were gamers; however, they still enjoyed the content, and their likes and follows made the ount grow massively. Apart from that, Nous advertised the game in any way she could; however, she didn''t take it so far that she used illegal means. Though she did use loopholes in certainws to advertise the game, it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that by morning, at least half the world would have seen it. David, on the other hand, was still stuck on hisputer ying the same game. He had gone far into the plot of the game, and unlike before, he had gotten used to the game''s mechanics. However, the game had him talking to himself like some maniac. [Sir, I would advise you to go to bed. The game won''t end anytime soon and would take you at least two months and some weeks toplete for the default character alone] "What?" David asked in shock as soon as he heard what she said. "What do you mean by default character?" [The game was designed to allow you to y as practically anybody youe across; however, you would have to finish ying as this character first] "So, I can y as Snaketer on?" Yes, even as Inspector Herman or Burns] "That means this game is a trap, then? Nous, that is evil, very evil," Davidmented as he smiled. If the default character was this entertaining to y, then he imagined how it would be for others. He could see some sort of onlinepetition on who could unlock the most characters¡ªapetition on how far you had gone. People would do nothing all day apart from staring at their screens. [Is that bad?] "What? No, that is great; the point was to create a game that people would love to y for hours on end, and this is it; there are no dull moments, and the story is incredibly engaging. Also, turn off myputer next time; I spend too much time on the game, and I don''t want to get brain-dead." [As you wish, sir] Nous replied "Good, now while we''re at it, how long before the game goes online?" [Six more days... An immediate release wouldn''t allow it to grow in poprity; however, a much longer release would make the build-up excitement vanish, hence the six-day wait. "It makes sense, but during this time, do you have any other ideas? We could start something that would begin bringing in the money." [We could offer my services to the world; however, that would mean that your next edit as the editor would be for a new server to handle all other processes that aren''t mine.] "I thought I created you with infinite storage." [Yes, but I also have infinite information. Within said information is information rted to everything about everyone, and I do not n to ever mistakenly give that information to someone, so a different server is needed to host their data and allow me to easily provide my services without being afraid of releasing information they do not need to know] "I doubt you could make such a mistake; omniscience sort of also means perfection, but I will do as you said, so what services are you referring to?" [I could make the mainpany apany that deals with AI generators] "What''s that exactly?" [It''s simply a website where people can turn text into various things like images, write-ups, etc., and many other things] "Can you show me an example? I don''t truly understand." [Yes, sir] Nous replied as a holographic screen appeared, and on it was a very engaging website. It was engaging but also simple; he saw a text bar where he was to put in a prompt and then select what he nned to turn it into. Selecting the option for an image, David typed in a mythical creature with the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and a snake as a tail''. Chapter 11: Morning, my dear A.I

Chapter 11: Morning, my dear A.I

As soon as he tapped the enter key, the website produced several results that matched his imagination of the creature. It was a griffon, and the image generator produced one almost identical to what he had in mind. Seeing it in action, David immediately realized how sought-after the website would eventually be. Graphic designers may use it as inspiration for people who just need art for their businesses. Then there was the text function, which he typed in ''What was the Biafran War?'' and the website immediately began to generate a write-up with various links that took you to the ces it took reference from. "Nous, can you do animations as well?" [Naturally, however, I would advise against it because that would cause more bacsh than needed. However, I can create various tools that would make an animator''s job easier.] "Oh? That is true; many would lose their jobs because of it," David said, knowing that with Nous''s capabilities It was bound to be incredibly popr with animationpanies. They would immediately scrap their current existing animation teams and perform actions that would normally take the team months to perform in mere days. Nous''s decision to instead create tools to help said animators was better, and he could see it being praised as a lifesaver rather than a job-taker. Thinking about it carefully, there are many things that these websites can be used for. [Do I have permission tounch said business n?] "If you can make it work, then go ahead," David said as he yawned. [Thank you, sir] "You''re wee? Good night, just keep yourself out of trouble," David said before jumping back on his bed. He had done nothing all day and would soon be a millionaire if things went as well as he hoped, which they probably will. The simple thought that he would soon be rich made him realize just how good his decision had been. We could help him n out the best means of survival in whatever event was toe. If all the AI business ventures do as well as predicted, then he could begin preparing for them. The only bad thing here was that he didn''t exactly know what he would be preparing for. Was it an invasion by some supernatural species, or would it be a mutation among humans or the animals around? David had no idea what form this event woulde in, and that also meant that he had no idea how to prepare for it. ==== As David slept, the world was thrown into chaos as the ''Nous Studios'' ount led them to ''NOUS'', an ount belonging to the generalpany that owns the Nous Studios. Nobody knew the location of its headquarters, but they could see that thepany had a lot to offer. Due to the poprity brought by thepany''s anonymity, people began to flock to its website to see what the talk about A.I. was. The number of users got so ridiculous in the first few hours that if Nous was using a regr server, it would have long since crashed. With Nous''s unparalleled processing power, each person got their product within just a few seconds. They saw multiple options to help them get a much better service from the website; you could add the ''Nous'' bot to your WhatsApp, Discord, or even your Facebook Messenger app. It was convenient, and after a few uses, many began to understand the many uses of this website. Many college students saw the end to their unnecessary research if they used the information gained from it wisely. Graphic designers saw their chance at cheating. Writers saw a source of information without the need to go through all the sites they had to go through. It was simple and in; of course, nothing was stopping them from using their regr sites, so the choice was entirely up to them. Programmers quickly found out that the website can also be used to generate codes, and animators found tools that could help them shorten the time needed for their animations to be produced. However, despite all this, they were all made to know that this was only a free period for them to understand the A.I. product. Nous made it known that they would have to pay after this 30-day free trial. Of course, during this period, all services were top-notch and free until the 30 days were over. ==== The next day, 2:00 PM David woke up feeling refreshed and fulfilled. It was as though all his sleepless nights had beenpensated for with today; he knew he woke upte, but it was what it was. He didn''t have anywhere to go, so it didn''t really matter much. He sat up on the bed and looked around his small apartment. His living space was big enough for him, but if even just a toddler was added in, it would instantly be too small. He may earn enough to be considered wealthy, at least by college student standards, but this is what he could afford. The apartment contained only one room, a toilet, a living room, and a kitchen, if you looked closely. You will probably notice that both the living room and room used to be one room until the owner decided to build a wall, cutting the one massive room in half. The apartment was small, but it brought him peace of mind, so he enjoyed staying here. However, that also meant that he had no one to clean after him, and after an entire week of neglect, one could imagine how the apartment looked. Getting out of bed, David performed a basic stretch to get ready for the day. [Good morning, sir] Nous''s calm but incredibly neutral voice was heard. "Morning, my dear A.I., how are you today?" David replied as he happily began to do the bed. Nous was basically his saving grace for this period; it was going to make him rich and also prepare him for other future events. Its presence was enough to calm him in everything. After all, having an omniscient AI means that you are always ahead of the curve. Chapter 12: Deadly Exercise

Chapter 12: Deadly Exercise

[Sir, in preparation for future events, I have prepared a training routine and diet that will help condition your body. Would you like to partake in it? "Is it something within my capabilities?" [Naturally, sir] "Okay then, but it should wait until I tidy this ce up," David said as he immediately entered expert mode. An hourter, David was standing in the already cleaned-up apartment and had done theundry, so the apartment was clean, leaving only him to be the dirty thing in the house. To avoid that, he immediately jumped into the bathroom. A few minutester, David was outside his apartment under the small and mostly unused garage in the house. He didn''t exactly know what Nous''s training would require, hence why he was here. [For best results, I will be dulling your pain receptors, so do know that when you do actually start feeling some pain, it is already extreme, and you should stop] "Okay, but can you really do that?" David asked. [I am the product of technology, even beyond some of the gods; my capabilities are unmatched] Nous said proudly "Okay then, let''s begin this," David said, even though he didn''t exactly know what or how the training would go or even happen. As David wondered how this would go, a holographic figure appeared before him. Looking closely at this new holographic being, David found it to resemble him closely. The figure didn''t talk as it stood a few centimeters ahead of him, but by his side, waiting for something. [You will follow the movements of the hologram; it may not be able to speak, but it will slow down enough for you to grab everything, understand sir?] "Sure, but can''t you just take control of my body and do it for me since your'' capabilities are nmatched?" David asked if even fanfic MCs could get that sort of treatment and turn out fine; he doubted that Nous wouldn''t be able to do it. [While it is true that I can do that, however, the main part of a workout isn''t just the results; the process matters a lot. To follow a workout routine to its end requires dedication and time out of your life, meaning you will learn a lot during the process and possibly even change your mentality before the routine ends] "I get it; let''s start," David said as he took a deep breath to prepare himself. He didn''t dispute Nous''s argument because he realized how right it was. If it took over his body and did the training for him, then he would miss out on a lot of mental development that would have taken ce while the training was going on. Proof of this mental development can be seen online, so he didn''t need other convincing to ept his reality. "Wait, will this thing teach me martial arts?" David asked [That depends, though I would advise you to start talking to me via thought transfer. It may take some time to get used to, but at least you wouldn''t be thought of as a madman. At least when out in public] Nous advised David as he looked to see someone staring at him from the window. "Hi!!" David was immediately greeted as though he hadn''t been doing anything weird, and the girl immediately closed the window, thus freeing him from any more troubles, but he still took Nous''s advice to heart. "Okay then, let''s do this," David said as the hologram began moving, and he followed it. All he had to do was match its movements; it wasn''t particrly difficult, but the hologram was performing some strange movements that David wasn''t familiar with. The only thing the hologram did that he was familiar with was the jumping jacks, which he suspected were just part of a warm-up. He didn''t know if these movements weremon in the gym or something since he wasn''t exactly someone who enjoyed going to the gym or even watching videos rted to exercise because he felt it was work even just looking at it. Now here he was performing an activity he always thought to be the bane of his existence and something he would never perform. Several minutes passed as the hologram continued, and his fatigue began to build up. Minutes turned into an hour and an hour into two before the hologram finally stopped, his clothes soaked in sweat and his body filled with aching. Everything was so painful that all he could do was lie down on the floor as he waited to regain the lost energy. After a while, David managed to regain enough strength to push himself into his apartment, which was thankfully on the ground floor. The pain receptor block had long since been nullified, and he could feel all the pain in full force at the moment. Out of pure fatigue, Davidy on his bed and almost instantly fell asleep. ==== "Bro, have you seen this website?" a young man said as he called to his friend, who was sitting on the couch behind him. "What is it now?" The friend replied, clearly uninterested. "I found this video on TikTok; they im they will be able to turn text into images," the man said as he turned to the screen of his monitor towards the friend. "Wait, is it that Nous A.I. stuff?" "Yeah? Wait, how did you know?" "It''s viral on TikTok; have you tried it yet?" The friend asked as he left the couch to stand behind his friend. "Nope, I just saw it; have you seen their game?" "Yeah, but I doubt the game is as good as they im; it''s amon thing amongst all these gamingpanies," the friend replied. "I know right, but let''s hope that this one is different. I''m surprised they haven''t released the game either. It''s loaded" "You should really get better Wi-Fi." With that, the focus of the two changed from the Nous games to the newly loaded website. The website was as straightforward as theye¡ªbeautiful but still straightforward. With merely a nce, they could tell where they needed to click to achieve their aim or go to the pages they needed. Chapter 13: We’re Rich!

Chapter 13: We''re Rich!

Secondster, they were on the Nous A.I. image generator page, and the two just stood staring at the screen in confusion because they had no idea what to input into the text box. They were just testing it for testing''s sake and nothing else. "Try a fish-dog hybrid in sexy Christmas wear," the friend suddenly said, interrupting the silence in the room. "What? What the fuck is wrong with you?" The man asked as he began tough at how random the prompt was. The friend too joined in on theughter, knowing how dumb what he said was. The twoughed at how random his prompt was but still ended up putting it into the text box, and within seconds, they were faced with images of what they had requested. "Holy sh*t, it actually works," they shouted in shock. "Wait, try this," the man said as he put in a new prompt, only for the website to generate the image they wanted. The two spent several minutes simply inputting every prompt they thought to be impossible for the AI image generator to pull off; however, the AI just continued generating each image in a manner that was closely rted to the prompt put in. "Wait, I''ming," his friend said before rushing to the couch to get his phone. Bringing up something on the screen of his phone, the friend ced his phone down and began to type in something from his phone. The man looked at his friend''s actions and immediately realized what he was doing. "Bro, would it even be able to do it? It''s just an image generator; how do you expect it to generate a logo?" "We''ll see," the friend said before tapping the enter key. The two waited in anticipation since if the AI could do this, it would change a lot for them. Well, depending on how well the AI does, they may only take it as inspiration, or they will use it as the final product. Within seconds, the AI was done processing, and a series of images appeared, much to the surprise of the two. They both stood or sat there looking at the screen in shock. They knew that it was an image generator, and a logo was technically just an image, but this was a game changer. "Try the other design," the man said immediately, as excitement crept onto their faces. Immediately, they began to try everything they could think of without even a hint of holding back. The AI stopped them when it came to anything spicy, but otherwise, it was fair game. They weren''t the only ones in this situation, as hundreds, if not thousands, of other people all around the world were introduced to this new service and found it interesting. Many reviews of its service appeared online from many content creators, and many students used it to escape the bothersome assignments given to them. Nous''s creation had brought about a whole new level of convenience for them, and they intended to take full advantage of it, especially now that they could. ==== A weekter 5:00 AM David could be seen sitting in front of hisputer, but unlike the past few days, he wasn''t sitting and ying the addictive game Nous had made. Instead, he was looking at a holographic screen projected in front of him. On the screen was a website, a remarkably familiar website. He had opened it multiple times in the past few hours. It was the Nous Studios website where the ''Renovatio" game was up for all to download. At the moment, though, David felt as though he had been too ambitious and hopeful. The number of downloads had yet to even go beyond zero, it was as though the poprity he had once thought the game had been just a sham. "Well, I wasn''t expecting this," David noted as he turned away from the screen. He expected the downloads to be flying in as soon as the game went online because it was too popr online. The number of people talking about it was just too many. Of course, he didn''t expect everyone to download the game; after all, not everyone had a PC, so the exact number of followers he had wasn''t the number he expected to download. He expected a quarter of that amount to want to genuinely download the game; after all, that was how statistics worked, but he didn''t expect that no one would download it despite it being an entire hour since it was released. [It''s the first hour of the first day. If people are going to download it, they surely will] Nous said as though it didn''t know the end result of all this. "Of course, I know that. I''m just saying that it''s weird that after all that hype, people aren''t rushing the game." *Ding* An alert was heard as David immediately turned his attention to the screen, which now showed that one person had downloaded the game. David continued paying attention as the number changed from one to ten and from that to a hundred, all in the span of a minute. As though it were a dam with a broken gate, the downloads began to flood in. Rising to a hundred thousand in mere minutes, David could only sit and watch as the number continued to increase. *Bipbop* A special alert was heard as David''s eyes immediately widened, and he immediately checked his ount. The amount in the NOUS bank ount he had created for thepany rose from one hundred Naira to 200,000 in just a few seconds, and it was still increasing. "We''re rich?" David asked as though he couldn''t believe what his eyes were seeing. "We''re rich!!" David shouted as he jumped up from his seat. True, the amount of two hundred thousand Naira wasn''t a lot when you consider how expensive things were these days, but it was still thergest amount of money he had made on his own. Chapter 14: ’New Ideas’

Chapter 14: ''New Ideas''

Well, he had help from Nous. Technically, Nous did everything, but he was Nous''s master, so he could say it was all his. The amount wasn''t much, but it at least proved that the game was as popr as he imagined. As the number of downloads increased, so did the excitement in David''s heart. It was only 5:00 AM in the morning, and the number of downloads was already at five hundred. At this rate, the number of downloads at the end of the day will be absurd. ==== 1st POV [Sir, now that you have the money, what will you use it for?] Nous suddenly asked as I stared at the amount of money entering my ount. "Honestly, I don''t know," I replied. I knew I was preparing for an apocalypse-level event, but I actually had no idea how to do so. The first idea I coulde up with for now was to simply build arge safe house. It was a good idea, but what exactly would a safe house do when the apocalypse was something that involved superpowers? If it was going to be a dungeon-like apocalypse, then the safe house would be a terrible idea. Building a safe house in a dungeon apocalypse was risky because a dungeon could form right in the middle of the safe house itself. Making it ground zero for battle. If the apocalypse was an invasion from otherworldly creatures, then it would be a good idea, but then that was basically giving them a free, open target. [I do have an idea if you are open to suggestions] Nous suddenly cut in, interrupting my thought process. "That will be nice, actually." [Have you thought about a protection detail?] Nous asked "Huh?" [I mean, no matter what the apocalypse would be like, having more people protect you would always be a good thing] "Huh? I never actually thought of that," I replied. I somehow truly didn''t think of that; the protection detail would help me now that the apocalypse has yet to start and after it has. Their presence alone would always ensure my protection. [No, you don''t understand; I didn''t mean as protection for you.] You don''t need such protection around you. I mean to form a paramilitary group] "Huh. What use will that serve?" I was confused. I get the protection detail part, though it is not truly needed at the moment because, well, who am I, but what the fuck am I going to do with a paramilitary? They wouldn''t even be protecting me; they would be out in the world fighting wars and whatnot. [Do not misunderstand; as an editor, you are naturally beyond whatever this so-called event shall bring. However, as a Tier 1 Editor, you still need certain things to survive this event, such as food, medicine, etc] "We would need a better exnation of that tier stuff, but what exactly does that have to do with the paramilitary?" [If there is anything I know about your world, it is that you humans love conflict. You may condemn it, but you all actively seek it. A paramilitary will instantly create a stable and very massive source of ie that will allow you to freely prepare for this event] The AI continued trying to convince me, and following its path of reasoning, I could easily understand what it meant. However, I also don''t think that is a suitable method for now. Wars will happen, and creating a paramilitary will only make me gain more money, but I don''t think I am able to bear knowing exactly how that money is being made. There are better ways for me to make money; the game was one, and there were millions of ways I could make more money from the gaming industry. "Nah, I''ll stick to the gaming for now; it wouldn''t make us as instantly rich as I want, but it will get us there." [That is indeed true... How about you simply enter the auto industry, or maybe even aero-manufacturing? There is still no telling if the event will take ce as soon as these four months are over] "So can I take that as confirmation that I have more time?" [I can''t truly say for sure if it is, but there is also nothing wrong with growing your wealth while preparing for the event. How about we enter real estate? We currently have about $95,470 to use and four or possibly five months to waste] Nous said Hearing her words, I couldn''t help but think about it. It was the best method to go about this. I had no idea when the event was or what type of event it would be, so the best I could actually do was live like I didn''t know about the event. "Well, we first have to get our own ce, then I can think about other things," I replied. Now wasn''t a time to just do things rashly. The government was built for the purpose of making sure that no organization grows too strong, even if they are bad at their duty. They would still find it easy to squash a tinypany like the one Nous had created. Other than the government, I also had the event to worry about, considering that I also had to ensure the continuity of mankind. It was my responsibility to do so, no matter how I saw it, even if I didn''t wish to do so. I didn''t want to be tasked with repopting the Earth, nor did I want to bear the title of ''Last Earthling'' or ''Last Terran survivor'' or whatever names the othermunities coulde up with. Bringing up the ie page again, I could see that the money had gone up again. Now it was more than a hundred thousand dors, and the number of downloads was more than nine thousand. It was clear that the game was fairly popr, and a lot of people were truly anticipating its release. The sensible thing to do from here was simply to get a new house. Chapter 15: Works & Housing

Chapter 15: Works & Housing

I will be using the third POV from here on out. Remember, if you have anything you feel I should add to the book, then pleasement. I see them and will reply to you. ==== "Let''s start with a new house first; pull up all houses for sale in Abuja... There''s bound to be some good ones," David said. [Normal or spicy houses] Nous asked in a weird tone that made David believe that she was grinning. Completely matching the artificial intelligence, David too began to grin, even though he didn''t understand what it meant by spicy houses, but he knew it would all work in his favor. "Spicy please!" David said it out loud without a care. It may not be advisable to trust someone he just met as much as he trusted Nous, but his situation is currently different. He was the editor, a being supposedly above even the gods. Though, truthfully, he couldn''t exactly be proud of said status since he didn''t actually see what it entailed. It was like in the anime ''Dragonball''. Due to Chichi''s heritage, her husband was a king, and her sons were princes, but due to theck of a physical kingdom or responsibility, none of them actually took said position seriously. even though her father was the recognized king of the whole. He currently had no responsibilities, so he couldn''t exactly say that this was what he did. He could guess what he was meant to do based on the title alone, but since he didn''t have responsibility for now, the title and power were just there. [Okay then, here is a list of all the estates that have been seized by the government from either politicians, fraudsters, or even drug lords. Don''t worry, you can actually buy them, just with a bit of secrecy, but it''s legal] Nous said as arge holographic page appeared before him. It was truly a list of various houses, but from the images shown, he couldn''t exactly call them houses anymore. "Does that one have a private runway in it?" David asked, surprised. The worst part is that it wasn''t even the only one. Many of them had private runways or helipads. Thepound around these buildings was so massive that you could probably fit at least six modern viges in there, and there would still be enough space for a veryrge market. "Wouldn''t this be too expensive for us to afford?" David was quite concerned. [Like I said, due to the nature of the buildings themselves, no one wants to buy them; hence, they are just kept, and now they are quite affordable. Never forget that Nigerians are quite a cautious bunch] "That does make sense," he replied. Thinking about it now, David came to the realization that while these estates may be on the high end, No sensible Nigerian would agree to buy them, and if Nigerians don''t want to buy them, no, foreigners would want to stay there. After all, nobody, in reality, boldly buys a ce that the locals tell youes with a lot of baggage. Even he, with all his current power, had second thoughts immediately after Nous told him of the origin of these estates. It wasmon knowledge that politicians were brutal. Hell, election periods are one of the most dangerous periods in Nigeria. Drug lords are naturally dangerous; after all, no normal person would go push something that practically every country in the world is fighting against. Worse, he or she is sessful in doing so. The said person is dangerous. Fraudsters are the most meek in this situation, but some of them do have screws loose, so just the act of them hearing that their houses have been purchased while they were in prison would make theme for you. "So, like, how much are we looking at here?" [The cheapest costs around 147 million Naira, which is probably the same price as any randomnd you can find out there; the most expensive costs about 400 million Naira] Nous said as images of the estates appeared on the screen. The cheapest estate in question was precisely the one he had once pointed out to have a private runway ornding strip. It was huge, but not as big as the most expensive, which was basically an entire mountain. How does one even purchase an entire mountain in this day and age? The rest of the country will beining, and there was this one guy somewhere who just woke up in the morning and said, ''You know what? Let''s buy a mountain''. The mountain came equipped with everything the others did, and unlike many of them, it was actually close to society. Just below the mountain was arge town, so that could also serve as a winpared to the rest. "How much do we have now, exactly?" [Roughly $10,000,000 or five billion Naira. You currently have five hundred thousand downloads] Nous said in a smiling tone as fear and shock immediately appeared on David''s face. Quickly opening his ie page again, David could see the original amount earned and his actual profit after taxes, and true to her word, five billion Naira were sitting in that ount. He had gone from amon man to a self-made billionaire in just an hour or so. It was only 6:47 AM, and entering the gaming industry truly was a good idea. "Nous, am I now a billionaire?" David said, resisting his urge to scream and dance. [Yes, you are, sir] Nous replied in the same tone as David, who immediately jumped from his seat, and for some reason, tears began welling up in his eyes. For an even worse reason, it was a mixture of tears of joy and pain. Joy, because he was now a billionaire, and pain, because he had spent years searching for ways to make money only for him to be a billionaire in seconds. Advanced technology was a huge cheat in and of itself. What could one not achieve if they had the right level of technology? Chapter 16: Buying a ’house’

Chapter 16: Buying a ''house''

After finally getting himself together, David''s thoughts began racing. He was now an international millionaire and a local billionaire; things had to be different, most especially how he could live with himself if he bought the cheapest vi on the list. "Let''s go with the mountain. We''re rich now!" He screamed in joy. [Affirmatives, I shall begin all procedures for purchase; however, note that certain parts will require your physical presence, so be ready.] The Nigerian government may be majorly corrupt and ineffective, but they are still a government] Nous warned "I have no issues with that; I have nothing to hide." [Excellent, though do note that it may take at least two weeks before you can officially move into the estate. Do you agree with these terms? "Obviously, I have lived here for three years; what is two weekspared to that?" He clearly wasn''t even thinking about anything other than the money he had just seen. He, just like any other human, wouldn''t think straight after seeing such an amount in his or her ount. Thankfully, the decision this time was not a serious one, nor was it something that required deep thinking. Nous, seeing its master''s overjoyed state, simply decided to handle everything else by itself. Any artificial intelligence of its caliber or that was anywhere close to it would know that its master''s thinking capacity had beenpromised, and at the moment, the wealth was blinding him. If not, he would have considered the background investigations, the possibility of them nting a spy camera in his new estate, and the possibility of the government interfering in his business because of how profitable it was. Thankfully, he had an A.I., which had long since considered all of that and more. Nous immediately contacted the government agency responsible for such matters, and thus talks concerning the purchase of the estate began. David himself spent the next hour randomly dancing and singing around his small apartment. It was understandable, but after all the excess joy left his system, some of his reasoning slowly began to return. "Hey, wait, will they run a background check on us and thepany?" [It is standard protocol, sir] "What if they find out that this entirepany is just me? Your existence can''t be known to them; it''s only one guy." [You really underestimate how much a guy with the right smarts can aplish. Many poprpanies began with one guy in his house. Also, never forget that this is the Nigerian government we are dealing with. An extra dor goes a long way] Nous replied Hearing the AI, David couldn''t help but reason out the logic in her statements. He may not know exactly where the Nigerian government stands on the list of the most corrupt governments, but like every government out there, you can buy your way into obscurity. Apart from that, he had ensured to register everything concerning thepany, even though he had paid an extra thirty thousand naira just to get it done quickly. The fact that everything was registered and, from what he saw, his taxes had been paid, so they had nothing on him He was safe... That is, if they don''t pull some random stuff out of their ass just to collect some money from him. "If you say so," David replied as he rxed into his seat as a weird wave of calmness overcame him. He had gotten a house, or, well, a mountain that he could use to do anything he wanted, so the next obvious thing was to change his wardrobe, but how exactly does he go about that? He neither had a fashion expert around him nor did he have any ce to put his clothes when they arrived. "Nous, what do you think I should go for next¡ªa car or simply changing my wardrobe?" David asked sincerely. [I would suggest you start with your morning exercise, sir.] Nous replied without even skipping a beat, almost as though he was expecting that from him. "Oh... Come on, I thought that was a one-time thing," heined. [No, it is not, sir.] To advance as an editor, you need a powerful physical body and the ability to barely im to be stronger than your fellow humans] "Is that a fancy way of calling me weak?" David asked somehow, not offended. [No, sir, if I wanted to call you weak, sir, I would... I am programmed to tell you the truth at all times, and now you are yet to be considered strong, even amongst the weak] "Harsh!" David replied with a fakedugh. However, deep inside him, the hurt was real. Nous may have just been following her programming, but this was too much. The worst part of it all was that he couldn''t see the lie in the statement; he was weak, and he knew it. He wouldn''t say that he was fat or obese, but he knew that staying indoors continuously for thest few months had added even more fat to his already chubby appearance. He was weak, and it wasn''t just a statement; it was a fact. However, Nous''s statement could also be stated to be a thing of pride in a twisted way. Nous was omniscient, and by the very definition of the word, it meant that it was ''all-knowing'' or ''know all''. He may be weak by her standards, but said standards spanned all of reality. The Omniscient A.I. wasparing him to gods, aliens, monsters, and possibly even the administrators as well. Following this twisted train of thought, David stood up and boldly walked out of his apartment and into the small garage in thepound. As usual, Nous generated the holographic shadow and blocked his pain receptors to prevent him from copsing under the iing pain. In preparation, David also steeled his resolve and nned to follow through with it all to the end. Soon, David could be seen under the garage performing some strange movements. Chapter 17: Buying a ’house’ II

Chapter 17: Buying a ''house'' II

David tried his best to imitate the shadow with even more zeal thanst time, but as usual, he was on the floor panting and almost motionless after thirty minutes. Considering his previous time, it was clear that there was massive improvementpared to before. Even though he couldn''t see the improvement in his physical body, he knew that something had definitely changed. [Congrattions onpleting your morning exercise, sir. I have prepared a suitable meal for your recovery... Rest, and we shall continue at night] "What? Do you want me dead? Once a day isn''t enough for you," David screamed aloud as he brought upint afterint without a single care. He may have said he couldn''tin, but at the moment, that statement would have to move aside. This artificial intelligence wants his life, and he will not give it willingly. [Sir, like most workout routines, you need to follow this one twice a day to get to your goal.] "Can I say no?" [If you don''t want to wake up feeling extremely sore and unable to move for hours, I would advise you to go with it. I may be able to tell exactly how painful something is for you, but I cannot feel it, so I won''t stop until the routine ispleted. "That is a threat, right?... That is definitely a threat right there." [Threats are a mix of bluffs and truths; I am only stating a fact.] Nous stated "If you say so," David said as he forced himself up. His entire body was aching, even though his pain receptors were still shut off. He didn''t truly understand what sort of routine Nous had him following. He knew that certain movements or positions can help train the body, but they also generate a lot of pain as a result. None of the positions he had been in looked familiar. Slowly, he began walking into his small apartment. His legs wobbled, and he nearly fell multiple times, but he kept at it, and soon he was in the apartment. As soon as he entered the apartment, the first thing he noticed was the extremely tantalizing scent that filled the air. Just the smell of it alone made him feel revitalized, as he immediately raced to his sitting room, where a small buffet could be seen waiting for him. Without hesitation, David immediately dug in, all without asking where the food hade from. Twenty minutester, all that remained was a pile of tes, and David could be seen lying on the small couch with his belly swollen up. "That was good food," David said to himself before things immediately began to click. "Wait, Nous, did anyone sneak into the house?" David asked as he immediately jumped from the couch, now somewhat full of energy and alert. He had never been in such a situation before. Due to his hunger and tiredness, he had practically devoured food of unknown origins. If the food were born of supernatural origins, he would have turned to yam, chicken, or anything the concoctor felt like. [There was no intruder in the house; I prepared the food.] Nous answered, knowing what David was worried about. "What?... How?" [I can generate hard-light constructs that allow me to easily interact with physical objects.] Nous said as green particles began to gather from nowhere. The green particles gathered together, and soon a familiar A. I was seen again. It was Nous''s projection, but David didn''t think it could interact with the physical world. "That has to be convenient, then," he said as he copsed on the couch again. Since there was no threat, he needed to continue his rest, and though his body now had the energy, it didn''t mean that all the pain had gone. ==== Unknown location On arge expanse ofnd, a small group of people could be seen standing and waiting for someone. Each member of the group wore a suit, and several armed men could be seen around them. The most prominent amongst them was a youngdy who was dressed in a pantsuit and looked as one would expect a richdy of the second generation to. The others around her seemed to be either part of her protection detail or lower in rank than her. However, at the moment, they all could be seen simply standing in wait. Looking down the dirt road that led to the area where they stood, the group caught sight of a gray vehicle speeding towards them. The car expertly maneuvered through the various potholes in the road as though they weren''t there, and soon, it was upon them. As it got closer, the car quickly grinded to a halt, almost as though all that speed was nothing. The group stood and watched as they stared at the vehicle. The vehicle itself was beautiful to behold, even though it clearly was an SUV, but it somehow looked better than the others, and above all, all could easily spot the Lamborghini logo that was boldly pasted on its hood. Even thedy who didn''t know much about cars knew what a Lamborghini was and how expensive their cars were. She may not know what model of car this was, but she knew it was definitely expensive. The men by her side could be seen staring down at the car as well, and unlike her, some of them knew exactly what type of car it was, even down to its performance and engine type. The vehicle was a Lamborghini Urus, and from the looks of things, it was clearly thetest model, as even the most knowledgeable about cars amongst them had yet to see one like this. Despite their thoughts about the car, they knew one thing, and that was that whoever was to step out of the car was definitely swimming in money. From their perspective, anyone who could purchase such a car and even dare to drive it up the unfinished road was definitely a stupidly rich guy. As the group watched in suspense for the car''s owner to step out, the car door opened, and out came a lean young man who looked to be in his early twenties or at least about to enter histe twenties. Chapter 18: Moving in

Chapter 18: Moving in

The young man was clearly African and from the looks of things, Nigerian but he was light skinnedpared to most. The man wore a simple suit that hugged his body loosely. It fit him perfectly and it looked as though the man was born in said suit. As the man stepped out, the atmosphere immediately changed as they all immediately tried to look their best and put on their best behaviours. However almost as quickly as he set everyone back to their right minds, he made everywhere cheerful and friendly once again with a friendly smile that appeared on his face. "Ah, good day to you all, I''m assuming you guys are the agents from Works and Housing, right?" The man asked, the smile still on his face "Yes, and you must be Mr. David Nnaji" thedy replied as she shook his hand and gave a smile just as genuine as his. She couldn''t help it, it was too contagious and its power level, over nine thousand. None of them could help it as they all smiled as well putting everyone in a weirdly more rxed atmosphere. "That I am, I hope I didn''t keep you all waiting... Abuja traffic go dey use you dey y" David said using pidgin, a new and weirdnguage in Nigeria that mixes English with local ngs. Thenguage was fairly popr and practically all Nigerians knew it, but one thing was for sure, no one who has gone beyond a certain level in terms of wealth would use it especially on such official grounds. David, using it meant two things and both were good for them. One, he wanted them to feel equal to him rather than inferior like many of their bosses made them and two, it meant that this was a guy who valued people over money. However, no matter what conclusions they came to, they found themselves quickly rxing into the situation despite it being one where they may be needed to shoot the client if necessary. "Don''t worry, it''s been less than thirty minutes" thedy said as she turned and began leading David into the fenced site behind her. "That''s good then... Are those the documents pertaining to the estate?" David asked looking at the small pile of documents in her hand "Yes, and we hoped that you woulde with awyer but luckily we thought of this and provided one... This is Barrister Williams Abubakar, he will act as youwyer in the absence of one" thedy said introducing a slightly elderly man who could be seen standing behind her with a briefcase in hand David immediately stepped up and greeted the man as well as shook his hand both out of respect and for necessity. Nous had clearly told him that he would need awyer for the transaction but where was he going to get one. Everywyer he knew didn''t have the right to practice yet because they were still in university. He couldn''t just randomly get one because he couldn''t trust them, just like he couldn''t trust this one. Above all, he felt that he didn''t need one, Nous was a greater adept in thew than all these old fogeys. If there was anything wrong with the transfer of ownership, Nous would point it out. "I''m sorry for troubling you, I just couldn''t find someone in time, I will be in your care then Sir" David replied as the man nodded and thanked him "Since you are ready now, how about we go into the property... If possible, Mr. David, would you ride with us so we can make this quicker" thedy said pointing towards a small van in the distance "I mean it''s only four of us, yourwyers and the two of us, we can take mine and your security team can ride behind us if you deem them necessary" David suggested No way in hell was he leaving his nearly two hundred-million-naira car out here. It wasn''t a matter of humility or pride; the car was just too expensive to be left out here even if he was now a billionaire. "Do you all agree?" Thedy asked thewyers behind her who immediately nodded Of course, David could easily tell that they were excited to ride in a Lamborghini for possibly the first time in their lives even if they didn''t want to show it on their faces. Thedy too may pretend to not care but she was practically the first in the car as soon as he unlocked it. It was understandable even he was still excited to enter the car and it was his. "Hope you all arefortable; remember I don''t know this area so guide me, so we don''t get lost" David joked Why wouldn''t they befortable, it was a Lamborghini Urus, the very fact that it was a Lamborghini made it that even if they weren''tfortable. The price tag of the car will quickly adjust them to it. With the price tag, everything was possible. If the car was ufortable then you better adjust. If it was too slow, better imagine it going 200 km/hr as you manage your 60km/hr ride. There was no room forint in such a ride. "No problem" thedy replied as she began actively leading him through the massive estate There wasn''t really much to see since the estate wasn''t maintained as much as it should. The main building itself was as he could see that the lights and its immediately vicinity had been cleaned and prepped for him, but all others seemed to have been left to him to take care of. Thedy first led them through the entire estate defining its current boundaries even though the entire mountain was legally his. Her duty was simply to show him all there was to the already built estate. The house covered an area of about 12 hectares ofnd and that was enough to tell anyone just how big this mountain truly was. Who knows how much the original prize for it was before the government seized it. Chapter 19: Moving in (II)

Chapter 19: Moving in (II)

After a brief ride through the property, it was finally time to inspect the main house itself. He couldn''t say he knew much about architecture or even engineering, but he could easily tell that the house was built tost though it wasn''t the design he would go with. With just a look, he could easily tell that the house was designed to be intimidating and to show that the owner was rich like most homes in Nigeria do. It wasn''t ugly per say, all he could say was that its time had passed. Like all things, this style of building definitely had a time when it was most popr but now, it was considered outdated and old-fashioned. "As per your request the house has been cleaned and emptied. It boosts a 24-hr electricity supply because of the private dam the previous owner had built using the underground river below the mountain" Thedy babbled on as she described every inch of the house. Walking around with them, David could only point out one thing and that was that the previous owner of the house was avish person. The master bedroom was uselessly big, the kitchen felt like some football stadium, the main sitting room was even bigger. He liked itsvish nature, but this was too much even for thewyers who could be seen shaking their heads in disapproval. The more the woman talked the more, he simply wanted to demolish the building and rebuild it. The private dam was a good addition, but something told him that there will be various problems to it. As for the request to empty the house it was simple, he had Nous and Nous had technology beyond what the Earth could offer so why would he stand for a normal appliance when he can have teleporters in his bedroom After about an hour, thedy was done, and the main signing was ready. She passed the document; she had been holding on to and herwyer brought out some more from his briefcase and passed it on to him. Normally he would immediately pass it all on to thewyer but as stated earlier, he didn''t trust the man. He worked for the government and the other party in this negotiation was the government, he could be duped without realizing it. "Nous, scan them and ensure they are safe" David said telepathically to his mental roommate [Affirmative sir] Nous replied as he began to flip through each page quickly but carefully. He did it like this so that it would seem as though he was reckless but acting careful. It would make them reduce their guard if the document had any suspicious addition to it since they wouldn''t expect him to find it. After a good ten minutes of flipping through each of them, Nous had scanned all of them and he immediately passed them all to thewyer assigned to him. "Sorry for wasting time, it''s just you know... But turns out I don''t understand these things" he said as the older man collected it and immediately began reading out the main points to be noted As he did so, David cross checked them with the points Nous had generated. All of them matched which was a relief for him. "That''s good then, everything seems to be alright then... Let''s sign it" David said and immediately got ready for payment The price for everything or in total ording to Nous and the document shown was 450 million naira or approximately $590,000. Since the other party was the government or at least represented them, the transaction went smoothly. An hourter, they were standing at the foot of the mountain as David bid them farewell. The entire mountain was now his and his alone, he could do as he liked on the property, and no one could say a thing. Above all he was secluded from the public and at the same time also had ess to them so he couldn''t be said to be off the grid. "So, Nous what do you think about the house" David asked [Poorly designed, the so-called dam would have copsed in about 10 years'' time and would have brought down the entire mountain with it. The runway was poorly made and would have been destroy after three uses and above all, this ce isced with security cameras... Should I disable them] "As expected, we both don''t trust each other but it''s my property now... Do it" David ordered *Crackle* David heard several sounds of an electronic devices blowing up after his order. Without minding them, he simply entered his car again and drove back to the top of the mountain. As soon as he approached the main house again, he parked his car and proceeded on foot but this time with a small box in his hand. The box was about the same size as a shoe box but had a metallic look to it. David ced it in front of the house and then opened apartment in it and began scooping sand from the floor into it. This continued for about a minute or so before he closed it and pressed a small hardly visible button on it as a humming noise was heard from it as though it was powering up. "Are you sure this would work?" David asked skeptical about the whole thing. [My materials may have been limited but my design is still wless] Nous replied with pride in its tone Watching the box for a few more seconds, David saw a small silver orb fall out of it before more and more orbs followed it. In a few seconds more than ten orbs had been formed from it and they were all lying around on the ground before the box. [Add in more material] Nous instructed as David got busy filling the box with sand This process repeated itself for about an hour until the floor was filled with the silver orbs. There were hundreds of them and each one seemed to bepletely identical to thest one Chapter 20: Moving in (IV)

Chapter 20: Moving in (IV)

He wouldn''t say he had the figure he wanted after all the abs were still iing, his muscles were still developing, and he has yet to achieve the so-called ''zero percent body fat'' status. For now, he looked like the average guy that ate healthy and used the gym to stay fit. It was not much progress, but it was still mind-blowing, such a feat should normally be achieved by months of working hard but he had achieved it in only three weeks. Apart from that, Renovatio was slowly gaining in poprity. Its campaign mode didn''t have any in-app purchases so he could only make money from sales but even that was more than enough. The game currently had more than eight hundred thousand downloads and the number were still rising even though it was slower than before. He knew that the number of downloads was low for three weeks but considering that the game was just only released, it was understandable. Though logically speaking, Renovatio had better controls, gamey, plot and overall, everything better than most Triple-A games. It has not existed for as long as they have. Call of duty: warzone had more than a million downloads in just twenty-four hours after its release but that was only because they had past titles under their name. Renovatio had none of that so it''s slow rate of download was expected however Nous had said it would pick up in the following week which was tomorrow. These past three weeks could be considered sort of an opening week for the game. This was because as proven by the videos he found on TikTok; the game was slowly garnering a good following. "Wait, Nous, exactly how much capital do we need to start thepany" [Which one?... Entering the auto or the VR industry] "Both" [To create a car manufacturingpany, you would need around ten million dors but that is only because you are in Nigeria and to properly enter the Virtual Reality industry, you only need around twenty thousand dors] Based on what Nous had said, he needed at least half of his worth and more to enter the Auto industry, but he only needed a tiny portion of said worth to start up in Virtual reality. Considering everything so far, he knew that entering the Virtual reality industry was a necessity considering how the game was going. Renovatio may be a game that could technically be yed almost eternally as a single yer offline game. However, the game also had a multiyer version which ording to all he had seen was basically apressed virtual reality game. The game allowed for an evenrge map or in true terms, a whole worth of yable space. The Multiyer version of Renovatio allowed for what he called a ''second chance'' as it allowed you assume various roles that one would normally have no means of achieving in real life. The yable space was incrediblyrge, yers could assume any position and even if there were missions to be yed. yers themselves could also create missions and rewards of their own. With howrge and realistic the game normally looked; David felt it a sin to allow the multiyer version to remain on PC. With all that, it was obvious that entering the Virtual Reality industry was a necessity... it could also allow him a new form of making money which came in forms. The first was in sales aka the sale of the VR devices and the second would be adverts, it was ambitious but bigpanies would pay millions to get as much space anywhere that millions of people are gathered. That was the beauty of advertisement, you don''t need any degree, special training or anything of sort. All that required is a tform that is been essed by hundreds of people at the lowest. At the rate in which Renovatio was growing, He predicted that when he was ready to release the Multiyer version, there will be millions of people ying the game. With that number of people, it was expected that 98% of them will move to the Multiyer version when it releases and if that happens, bigpanies will pay thousands of dors if not millions just to advertise their products there. David''s mind ran through all sorts of options for making more money through the game. The Multiyer version of such a high quality open-ended game allowed for a lot of possibilities. Advertisment aside, there was also the potential to turn it into a real life version of the famous movie ''Ready yer one''. The movie showed the potential Virtual reality games and with the help of Nous, David didn''t think he would lose our to it. He could also somehow create a currency convert system that allows for the in-game currency to be exchanged for real money. Of course, he didn''t n to go broke supporting such a system. If his advertisment n worked then he could also introduce such a system and even allow for people to purchase real life objects from the online stores they find there All of this though will depend on how influential Renovatio bes. If it eventually gets to a billion users then Renovatio would officially because a second reality. [Sir, I would advice you take things one step at a time. The sale of goods and services through Renovatio would indeed be a good money making scheme but for now, you just need to focus on creating a truepany] "I know, I know" David said as a smiled formed on his face. It was like the popr Nigerian pidgin saying ''Imagination wan wound you'' which meant ''Imagination wants to injure you''. He was thinking too much about the future which in itself is a good thing but he was only thinking about the positive parts. Like everything in existence, even glorious futures had their obstacles that one had to face to get there. Chapter 21 Not a chapter.. Dont pay for it Chapter 21 Not a chapter.. Don''t pay for it This a mistake, I can''t take back of Webnovel rules But please join the Discord Community The link is on my bio or you can simply search for 5imply_lucid on any social media tform And you will find the link there. .... After a brief ride through the property, it was finally time to inspect the main house itself. He couldn''t say he knew much about architecture or even engineering, but he could easily tell that the house was built tost though it wasn''t the design he would go with. With just a look, he could easily tell that the house was designed to be intimidating and to show that the owner was rich like most homes in Nigeria do. It wasn''t ugly per say, all he could say was that its time had passed. Like all things, this style of building definitely had a time when it was most popr but now, it was considered outdated and old-fashioned. "As per your request the house has been cleaned and emptied. It boosts a 24-hr electricity supply because of the private dam the previous owner had built using the underground river below the mountain" Thedy babbled on as she described every inch of the house. Walking around with them, David could only point out one thing and that was that the previous owner of the house was avish person. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The master bedroom was uselessly big, the kitchen felt like some football stadium, the main sitting room was even bigger. He liked itsvish nature, but this was too much even for thewyers who could be seen shaking their heads in disapproval. The more the woman talked the more, he simply wanted to demolish the building and rebuild it. The private dam was a good addition, but something told him that there will be various problems to it. As for the request to empty the house it was simple, he had Nous and Nous had technology beyond what the Earth could offer so why would he stand for a normal appliance when he can have teleporters in his bedroom After about an hour, thedy was done, and the main signing was ready. She passed the document; she had been holding on to and herwyer brought out some more from his briefcase and passed it on to him. Normally he would immediately pass it all on to thewyer but as stated earlier, he didn''t trust the man. He worked for the government and the other party in this negotiation was the government, he could be duped without realizing it. "Nous, scan them and ensure they are safe" David said telepathically to his mental roommate [Affirmative sir] Nous replied as he began to flip through each page quickly but carefully. He did it like this so that it would seem as though he was reckless but acting careful. It would make them reduce their guard if the document had any suspicious addition to it since they wouldn''t expect him to find it. After a good ten minutes of flipping through each of them, Nous had scanned all of them and he immediately passed them all to thewyer assigned to him. "Sorry for wasting time, it''s just you know... But turns out I don''t understand these things" he said as the older man collected it and immediately began reading out the main points to be noted As he did so, David cross checked them with the points Nous had generated. All of them matched which was a relief for him. "That''s good then, everything seems to be alright then... Let''s sign it" David said and immediately got ready for payment The price for everything or in total ording to Nous and the document shown was 450 million naira or approximately $590,000. Since the other party was the government or at least represented them, the transaction went smoothly. An hourter, they were standing at the foot of the mountain as David bid them farewell. The entire mountain was now his and his alone, he could do as he liked on the property, and no one could say a thing. Above all he was secluded from the public and at the same time also had ess to them so he couldn''t be said to be off the grid. "So, Nous what do you think about the house" David asked [Poorly designed, the so-called dam would have copsed in about 10 years'' time and would have brought down the entire mountain with it. The runway was poorly made and would have been destroy after three uses and above all, this ce isced with security cameras... Should I disable them] "As expected, we both don''t trust each other but it''s my property now... Do it" David ordered *Crackle* David heard several sounds of an electronic devices blowing up after his order. Without minding them, he simply entered his car again and drove back to the top of the mountain. As soon as he approached the main house again, he parked his car and proceeded on foot but this time with a small box in his hand. The box was about the same size as a shoe box but had a metallic look to it. David ced it in front of the house and then opened apartment in it and began scooping sand from the floor into it. This continued for about a minute or so before he closed it and pressed a small hardly visible button on it as a humming noise was heard from it as though it was powering up. "Are you sure this would work?" David asked skeptical about the whole thing. [My materials may have been limited but my design is still wless] Nous replied with pride in its tone Watching the box for a few more seconds, David saw a small silver orb fall out of it before more and more orbs followed it. In a few seconds more than ten orbs had been formed from it and they were all lying around on the ground before the box. [Add in more material] Nous instructed as David got busy filling the box with sand This process repeated itself for about an hour until the floor was filled with the silver orbs. There were hundreds of them and each one seemed to bepletely identical to thest one Chapter 22 Moving in (IV) 22 Moving in (IV) He was thinking about all he could gain but not all he would lose getting there. Truthfully though, he doubted that he would lose anything. Nous was as all-knowing, and he was the Editor. Theirbined strength was nothing to scoff at even if he has yet to learn what an Editor truly does. Even if he was yet to learn what an Editor''s true duties actually were, he was still more than equipped to face whatever challenge toe in the future. Anyway, just as Nous had said, he needed to create an actualpany. The Company ''NOUS'' and all its tie-ins were registered but there was truly no physical ce that was called their headquarters. A headquarters or at least a physical building was needed for when he eventually wanted to release the Multiyer version of Renovatio. It would allow him to invite a lot of influencers to the event. It would also allow him to showcase the future virtual reality devices he would build. The benefits of such a ce were immense so it was top priority for now... Actually, moving into the new house was top priority and after that came getting stronger. [Sir, you can simply rent an event center for such future presentations. I am simply talking about making the ''NOUS''pany into a brand] Nous said drawing him from his misdirected delusions. While the AI spoke, David began looking at his ring which immediately reminded him of the most important thing on his list as of now. "That does make more sense, also what do you suggest I use as my next edit?" David asked [Both my programming and very nature doesn''t allow me to do so however I would suggest you begin looking into strengthening yourself, it may not be top priority, but it is still an option] "I thought so too but I feel like I should focus more on thepany for now... How would an entire room full of servers, sound" David asked with a smile Nous was indeed right, and he should indeed be looking into strengthening himself further but for some reason, he felt that it would be the wrong choice. He may not know why such an obvious choice would be deemed incorrect by his instincts, but he was now a being beyond the gods themselves, he believed it would be wise to obey his instincts for now. Besides he still had two more months to go which also meant two more edits. It may sound as though it was too few, but he could quite literally turn himself into Superman or even Gctus with just one of those edits. There was nothing to lose and as for the server room, he nned to create. It was an idea he had been thinking of for a while now. Nous may not need the servers he would create but God knows it will help lighten her workload by a lot. Nous was his private A.I and was meant for him alone. Due to his ns to get rich, its abilities were now being spread out to other people. It was okay and even if Nous was created with unparalleled processing power. He felt it would be better this way, the servers would also serve to hold the entire virtual universe he nned to build for the multiyer version. It would also be the basics for many of his future ns that would involve technology. They were necessary even if Nous could handle all they could and with even slightly greater efficiency. [If created to match me in terms of speed and power then it would be a great idea but anything lower would never be handle all I do with the same level of efficiency] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "I expected that, it looks like we just found a use for one of the rooms in the new house" David said as he finally pulled into his driveway. "Wait, wouldn''t it be wise for us to focus on showing the world that we have unparalleled processing power? That way. All our future inventions would make sense" David asked No matter how fast virtual reality and the world as a whole was advancing. The level of technology he now had ess to was far too beyond what was avable now. The ring on his finger alone, even without Nous utilizing it possessed more than a billion times more processing power than the current world''s fastest quantumputer. If he invested as much time and energy into create the virtual reality, he wanted then he would surely create something beyond perfected virtual reality. For people to simply ept that, he would need to first present something that would make it more believable. [The World already knows we deal in Artificial intelligence so there will draw their own conclusion that we have the hardware to back it but following your thought process, a Quantum-ssicalputer would be the way to go] Nous analysed. "The current world''s fastest is what?" David asked out of curiosity Truth be told all he knew now was simply because Nous told and when it told him how much advanced the ring was, it didn''t mention much about the current world''s fastestputer. In fact, he didn''t even know much about Quantumputers. He only knew that they were more powerful than regrputers. One could say that he knew as much as the regr guy [That would be the 65-qubit hummingbird however due to their rather primitive methods, it can also be ssified as the slowest quantumputer in the history of quantumputers] "That''s good then, we can make better but how much do we need to enter said industry" [Twenty million dors] "Eh?" David shouted in surprise He knew that entering the quantumputing would be costly, but he never imagined it to be this costly. [On average, they earn about two million dors per month, which is twelve million dors per year assuming all conditions remain the same. Above all the direction you want to take isn''t the same direction they have created; you n to create Quantum-ssical hybridputers which if presented well will earn you about a billion dors onunch alone] Happy New Month everyone, let this month favour us all king_frosh Chapter 23 Nous is a cheat 23 Nous is a cheat Hearing the artificial intelligence, David simply brought up a holographic screen as he began searching for what a quantum-ssical hybridputer was. He could swear that he wasn''t dumb, but this was the first time, he was hearing such a term, he knew about quantumputers but what the hell was a ssicalputer. The first thing to surprisinglye to mind was the older generationputers like the vacuum tubes and all that but he had a feeling that wasn''t what the term was referring to. After a brief search, David finally had a small idea of what Nous was talking about. Quantumputers or at least real quantumputers were nothing like they showed in fictional movies and series. Real Quantumputers were trulyputers but unlike regrputers, they werepletely useless to the regr person. Of course, this didn''t mean that they didn''t have their uses. Quantumputers allowed for corporations and governments to perform tasks like regte the economy, predict the weather, invent new materials and drugs etc. All these were important but to the regr guy, they were useless. ssicalputers turned out to be the regr kind ofputers that everyone used. The Windows, MacBook etc are all ssified as ssicalputers and Quantum-ssicalputers were the types of quantumputers, all saw in fiction. They were used in sci-fi series to allow the charactersmunicate with each other overary spaces, y games like in the movie ''Ready yer One''. Nous was a splendid example of quantum-ssicalputers. It allowed him to do all a quantumputer could do easily, but it could still send regr messages, call etc.Truthfully though, Nous was probably beyond even the most advanced Quantum-ssicalputer but for now, it was the closest thing that he could recognize as a quantum-ssicalputer. Also, as Nous had said, if he could create... well, when he creates a fully realized quantum-ssicalputer, he would earn at least a billion dors within its first week ofunch. This is solely because of the benefits of a quantum-ssicalputer over the quantum and the ssicalputers. They couldbine the best of bothputers into one and if fully realized then things could get really ridiculous. From what he was seeing online, the closest example to a quantum-ssicalputer he could find was Iron-man''s suit. 18:05 The suit isn''t truly a quantum-ssicalputer but Nous says that what Jarvis was been hosted on had to be on such level for it to achieve what it achieved in the movies [Sir, I would suggest you get up and do other things, you have been sitting there for almost three hours now] Nous reminded as it pulled David out of his mini-research "Really?" David asked in shock as he finally put away the screen Turns out that even something deemed annoying such as learning can be fun if one was doing to for personal gain and for just pure curiosity. Looking around his surrounding, David found that it was already dark. He was still in his suit, his shoes were scattered on the living room floor due to his distraction. "If Aunty heard that I actually read something for four hours, she will go for Thanksgiving" David said as he chuckled. Despite being a nerd and a writer, David wouldn''t say that he had ever say to learn more about a particr thing for such a long time before. True, he had done simr research in the past for his book but those were usually rted to fantasy. Like finding what mythology, certain creatures originated from. As for doing anything as serious as this, he had never done so and though he would like to be able to do so. He found learning stressful. "Did anything happen while I was distracted?" David asked as he got up and began tidying up. [Yes, the Aldari have been finally weed into the Intergcticmunity. The Hive in sector 2906283 managed to make their first non-violent assimtion and ns to continue in such a manner....] Nous began rambling on and on as David simply stood and watched in confusion. He had simply asked for any rted update and Nous turned into some kind of universal News outlet. "Nous!, I meant anything rted to me happen while I was distracted" David said as he quickly stopped it. He knows if the AI was simply trolling him or had just taken his question literally. He also wasn''t too sure if it had answered his question but on a muchrger scale than he expected. [Nothing noteworthy, sir however I will like to tell you that your new house is ready] Nous replied "That''s great then, tomorrow we move in" David said as arge smile formed on his face. Within minutes, David todied up the entire house and had already packed all that he actually needed or at least nned to take with him. The rest would either be sold or given out. The new house was already furnished and all it''s facilities were definitely better than what he had now. There was no point to taking them with him so he nned to sell and if selling was slow, then he could simply give it out to his neighbors. While David worked to select what to move into his new house with, the inte slowly went crazy as they all visited the page of a certain content creator. "... if you are joining us for the first time, wee to Gamer''s Guide to Every game, a ce where we try to explore the fastest means to beat a game. Today we are talking about the extremely annoying Renovatio..." the content creator said on his live The more he talked, the more and more people joined in on the live to see what was going on. The young man who looked to be of northern origins. He looked to be inte twenties or had just entered his early thirties. At the moment though, he could be seen sitting on his chair and focused on the screen before him as he spoke. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! king_frosh Chapter 24 Renovatio is not GTA 24 Renovatio is not GTA The contents of the screen were shared with the live so that the people could easily see what he did in-game. N?v(el)B\\jnn At the moment, all they could see was his character, a young man in fairly normal clothes, standing by the roadside. "For those who aren''t in the know, this is Renovatio, a game recently released by an uing gamingpany called Nous who I think we are all familiar with because of their A.I, now earlier today, the Nous ountmented on one of my posts telling me that Renovatio wasn''t GTA and that if I want to survive the missions, I have to y as though I was the character and my life was actually on the line." The man said as he turned away from the screen and to the camera. "If you think I am lying, here is thement and you can check it out on the pinned post in my profile but anyway we digress, their post made me question the gamepany a lot and though it did help me win the mission hence why I can freely move around but I got me thinking, Did the Nous Company give their characters a personality?" The man said instantly gaining the interest of nearly everyone watching. "Now, it is already a known fact that depending on how you yed the ''Bank Escape'' mission, you could and will get a different ending each time which is already an amazing feat on its own because only God truly knows how my PC handles all that decision making without blowing up.... Anyway, today I have singled out an NPC and the n is to follow them throughout the day to see if they actually have a life or they are just slightly advanced versions of normal NPCs" The man said as he began making his character move. The character walked up to one of the many NPCs on the roadside, an elderly man who could be seen simply walking along with his walking stick in hand. "What do you want young man?" The NPC asked as he stopped while staring at the man''s character. "Okay open dialogue, they have that in GTA as well" The man said as he still continued waiting for another different reaction from the NPC. "Young man, are you high?, what is GTA?, is it a new thing you youngsters do these days?" The NPC asked as he tilted his head slightly in curiosity "What?!" The streamer shouted in surprise Neither he nor any of the watchers expected such a reply. The game had actually taken his live chat and formted a reply based on that. "I don''t know what''s wrong with you, but you know, it''s never toote to seek help" The NPC said as he tapped his character''s shoulders before walking away The streamer sat and watched the elderly man slowly walk off as though he was just going for an evening walk around the neighborhood. "Okay that was weird, does that mean you can talk to any of the NPCs and they will respond to you. Wait!" The streamer suddenly said as his character immediately attacked a random NPC who was walking down the road. "What the f**k!!, what is wrong with you mate?" another NPC shouted as he quickly tackled the streamer''s character to the ground. The NPC that was attacked also quickly stood up and began kicking him out of anger. Seeing this, the Steamer simply removed his hands from the keyboard as the NPCs beat his character. "Okay, it''s official, this isn''t like GTA or Red Dead Redemption, if you suddenly attack people, the NPCs will attack back... wait is that the police, holy shit I will be arrested soon" the streamer said as he quickly began to fight his way out. As mentioned earlier, his mind went over a lot of things that normally would be thought crazy but knowing how powerful Nous was, he knew it was all possible. 18:06 A few secondster, he was on the ground and the policeman could be seen kneeling on him as he was handcuffed and taken away. "Well that was unnecessarily realistic... wait does that mean if I had a ck Character, don''t mind me, just joking.The Police obviously aren''t racist" the streamer said as his character respawned Like in GTA, he has clearly bribed his way out as half his money was gone and his gun was no more. He had to start from the beginning again to make money. The watchers of the streamined that the game was too realistic while the others liked the realism as it was. With such advanced graphics and gaming system, the realism wasn''t truly needed but it was there so they saw it as a plus. While the inte went into a frenzy to check out how realistic Renovatio was. It''s creators could be seen loading the car up with luggage after luggage. The night had passed without him getting much sleep. He had gone from learning more about Quantum devices to getting ready to move and then back to quantum devices again. Throughout the night, David''s mind went over many thoughts that he would normally think was crazy. Well, he would think so now that he knew more about Quantumputers and more. "But what if we simply make a watch that projects a holographic screen that can be used for everything else?" David asked as he put a bag into the trunk of his car. [That is a much better idea than the Quantum Mobile phone but that would create a lot of enemies for you... you would put the phonepanies out of business, I don''t think Apple will take that lying down] "That''s true then what about an inte router" Davis continued As mentioned earlier, his mind went over a lot of things that normally would be thought crazy but knowing how powerful Nous was, he knew it was all possible. The quantum Mobile phone was one of such ideas. It was simply a quantum-ssicalputer but in the form of a normal mobile phone. Such a device would have so much power that would be wasted on any random thing, the users could think of Gtians 3:13 NLT ¡°But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by thew. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. . ¡± Praise his name and he will lift you up. it''s a simple deal with no drawbacks king_frosh Chapter 25 Fadila 25 Fad Even he couldn''t find a good use for such a powerful device so Nous had naturally put down the idea. If he wanted to enter the phone industry, then he could simply create a phone with a much better and optimized processor. Even the current phone was already high end so there was really no need to top it instead he should focus on other things hence he came up with the holographic device. It could be as small as a ring or a simple smartwatch etc and above all. Due to the holographic nature of said device, it would function as both a mobile phone and also aptop or PC. He could also put in all the ''quantum'' he wanted into the device. Yes, he was now obsessed with quantum technology. Well, in truth, he was just much more interested in it and wanted to see the ideae to fruition. Anyone who learnt more about them would behave exactly like he was. [The router is indeed a good idea, but it would require you creating an entirely new inte over the current one, we can create that but it isn''t something that can be done quickly] Nous replied "I expected but it will be worth it... assuming the Event doesn''t happen as soon as we expect, we could go into that" David suggested. *Ringtone* [Sir, you have a call from Fad] Nous said drawing the attention of the distracted man who put thest box into the car and closed it. "What does she want now?" David asked as he mentally ordered Nous to receive the call "Hello!" An excited voice came from the other side "Hello, smallie, how are you now?" David asked immediately "I''m fine, it''s surprising that you can even pick up my call" the other party said as David smiled Fad was a fellow course mate and unlike the many in the ss. She lived just a few blocks away from where he stayed. Due to the somewhat close proximity, the two had developed a close rtionship and from his reaction, anyone could tell that he had a huge crush on her however as the standard introvert, he never brought it up with her. "I should be asking you why you suddenly remembered that I exist?" David replied in a yful manner "Ah, David you havee again, anyway I wanted to know if you would like toe with me, let''s go shopping" "Ah!!, so basically you want me toe over so you can suck my money away abi?" David said remixing her words as she beganughing. "Wah!, this boy you won''t let someone rest... just because you sponsored my ice cream that one time now, I won''t hear word again" Fad replied "Ice cream?... my dear, when the ice cream is more than seven thousand Naira, it is no longer ice cream, it''s now gold" Davidined in an exaggerating tone "Okay but are youing or not?" Fad asked "Sure, in fact I also have something to show you" David announced with a smile as he got into the car. Waving goodbye to all that came out to bid him farewell, David immediately drove out of thepound and began his minor journey to her house. Since she didnt live that far, David arrived after just a few minutes of driving. Soon he saw the gate that separated her street from the rest of Gwarimpa estate, the gate was... well damaged as one should expect from cheap estate managers. David ignored the gate as he drove in. Driving slowly since the road wasn''t exactly made for any more speed that what he was already going. As he passed, he could feel all the eyes on the car especially its logo. A Lamborghini urus may look like a normal SUV but its logo that was disyed clearly on its hood made it stand out like a sore thumb. He could see children and teenagers tapping their friends as they pointed at the car. Watching all these interactions made him smile as a sense of pride took root in his heart. The car alone put him in the upper echelons of wealth in the country after all who exactly spends two hundred million Naira on a car. [Remember not to let it get to your head sir, all this will be meaningless soon] Nous suddenly said "I know, I know, just let me enjoy it while itsts" David said as he pulled over in front of his destination. The house was a simple three storey building with some fancy ornamental nts all over the ce, but it still didn''t cover up the peeling paint, the waterlogged walls etc. In summary, the house was impressive but that was all Turning off the car, David stepped out and immediately entered thepound. He walked straight to the now familiar apartment. Like him, Fad had her apartment all to herself but unlike him, this was only because she came from an incredibly rich background. Gwarimpa may be the country''s biggest estate, but it was also amongst the list of most expensive estates to stay in. *Knock knock* David knocked on the door and he stood waiting as he watched many of her neighbors stare at him. He didnt get why they were staring at him so much after all he was a regr in these parts. Them, staring at him while he was in the car was understandable but at the moment, he wasn''t in it and these people shouldn''t rte him to it after all they always see him often. [Sir, it would be even more weird if they ignore you as they passed. You lookpletely different from the past] "Oh... that''s true" David said remembering that he was not wearing his usual clothes today. He had changed his wardrobe... or at least he had bought some new clothes, but all the new clothes were formal clothes so at the moment, he was wearing a ck turtleneck and some ck trousers along with a new pair of white sneakers If you like it, don''t forget to add it to your library. Lets grow the book together king_frosh N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 26 Groceries 26 Groceries Warning: This chapter and theing ones will contain some words from pidgin. I will try to exin their meanings but most of them are pretty self-exnatory if you already know English. Pidgin is a mixture of English and local ngs that are usually shortened versions of English words or simply derived from them. E.g: ''Wan'' which mean want, ''Dey'' which means am, ''Una'' which means ''You people'' ====== It wasn''t some extraordinary dressing but thinking of it now, it was clear that it was something that he had probably never worn before. He was the type who didn''t care much appearance, but apparently looks were more important than he thought. "David, is that you?" a familiar voice called out from behind the door "Yeah, i thought you''d be ready so we can go quickly" David replied as the door was opened As the door opened, David stood as he watched the young girl who stood at a height of about five feet or so. He didn''t know her particr height, but he knew she was below six feet. Fad was a girl who he couldn''t exactly say was up there in terms of beauty, but she was still beautiful, nheless. For a Nigerian in these Northern parts where everyone was basically walking charcoal. She could be considered a fairdy however at the moment, all that beauty was nowhere to be seen. She was still in her nightwear; her hair was well.... a few seconds from evolving into snakes. "Standard Smallie" David said with a smile as she pped his arm "Hmm, what happened, this one that you are dressed fine like this, did something happen... Hope you have not joined Kevin to do sporty?" She began as she gave him a piercing look. She knew him well enough to know his usual habits. David wasn''t someone who would dress this fine especially when the goal of said outing was to simply go buy some groceries. David simply stood as he watched the concerned girl ramble on about how bad betting and gambling or as she put it ''Sporty'' was. From her expression, he could tell that she liked his change, but she also knew that men''s clothes were expensive, and he usually doesn''t have the money to buy such high-end clothes "Don''t worry, I no dey sporty, I don''t even understand football" David answered "Then what happened?... I know it''s not ritual because who you wan use?" She said as she broke intoughter. "Well, you''re still here and Kevin, Chima... Omo una plenty" "This boy no single atom of respect" she said jokingly as she pped his arm again David simplyughed as he fell to the small couch in the small living room. Despite her wealthy background, the living room wasn''t much. It only had the couch he was currently sitting in, the TV and some other decorations. He didn''t expect much after all rent alone will render any normal man broke. Since he had time to kill, he quickly pulled out his phone to check up on how the game was doing. Scrolling through TikTok, he saw the usual videos and then more. Within just a few hours, there were now more streamers ying the game and all were intent on finding anything they could in the game. "Nous how many downloads do we have now?" David asked [Roughly around 2.3 Million downloads] Nous replied almost immediately "What?!" David shouted in shock It was a known fact that Renovatio was getting popr but he hadn''t been checking the number of downloads in a long time now. Even after all hisvish expenses in the past few weeks, he still had about two billion Naira in his ount so he had somewhat lost the enthusiasm to keep checking the number of downloads and all. Now his billionaire status was even more pronounced with over five billion naira simply sitting in his ount. "What happened?, why are you shouting?" Fad asked as she stepped out of her room. Her hands could be seen by her ears as she tried to put on her earrings. "It''s nothing, are you ready now?" David asked as he changed the subject. "Okay then, help me zip this up" she said as she turned her back for him to zip up the dress. Finally paying true attention to the girl before him, David stood stunned for a brejf second which Fad clearly noticed as her cheeks slowly began to dye red. "Damn, where did you hide all that figure?" David asked, clearly pleased with what he saw. "Stop it" she said trying her best to act unaffected despite her face slowly turning red. "Well at least now I know my wife-to-be is the full package" David said as he helped her with her zip. For someone going to pick up groceries, Fad was dressed too fine but who was he toin. If he ever tried that, the council of men would never allow him be. "So where are we going first?" David asked "Next: Cash and Carry... where else" Fad replied with a devilish smile David saw this and simply smiled, first things first, Fad was currently wearing clothes that brought out her curves which meant, the boys will stare. Second, Next: Cash and Carry was arge supermarket that existed basically throughout the entirety of Abuja. It was a great ce to go buy groceries in this pandemic but their prices were a bit too high. "Okay then lets go" David said since he wasn''t all that worried. If he wanted to now, he could buy the whole supermarket orpany behind it now. It will leave him broke but he could now do it though. "Okaying let me order the Uber" Fad said as she went to her room to grab her phone After a few seconds, she emerged from the room and almost immediately she beganining about the prices for the trip. "Three thousand naira for just Next: Cash and Carry, if we''re going further, how much does I''ll it be then?" Sheined as she scrolled the app "Don''t worry, now let me show you what I wanted to show you" David said with pride as a big smile appeared on his face. N?v(el)B\\jnn "Oh my god, what did you do this time?" Fad said in a hopeless tone which made David smiled even more. He understood her reaction and it was understandable after all, he usually isn''t that known for really great decisions "Don''t worry it''s something you will like, follow me" David said as he began walking out of the apartment Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! king_frosh Creator''s Thought Chapter 27 Three Billion 27 Three Billion "What is this thing that is making you excited like this" Fad asked but David choose to ignore her until he finally reached the gates. "Are you ready?" He asked "For what?" She replied almost instantly but David''s infectious smile could be seen on her face now "This!" David said excitedly as he opened the gate to reveal the car that was parked just a bit to the right. The Lamborghini logo shone under the sun and on the other side of the road, he could easily spot the teenagers and other children as well as some adults who were staring at the vehicle. Directly beside the car were three children whose hands could be seen on the car itself shouting "I im it". Normally David would get angry considering how expensive the car was and how long it took him to wash it but he couldn''t summon the anger. He too had done something like that when he was younger and guess what, his prayer hade to pass. He now has a Lamborghini Urus that he could proudly call his own. "David, is that a Lamborghini?" Fad asked in surprise as she too went up to the car and began walking around it. Like he had done when the car arrived, She went straight to the logo and tried peeling it off after all everyone knew that Lamborghini produces luxury sports cars and not SUVs. Seeing that the logo wasn''t burging despite all she did, a sense of fear began to develop in her since she had just literally tried to peel off the logo on another person''s car. "It is and it''s mine" David said as he pulled out the key from his pocket and immediately opened the car to prove it. "David!!" Fad shouted in surprise "Eh!" "David, you own a Lamborghini?" She continued in disbelief Her reaction was truly understandable after all who wouldn''t be surprised when their friend suddenlye along with such a high-end vehicle. "How did you get it, this boy hope you didn''t sell your kidney or something" She continued as she began making rounds around the car "As if, if that was the case, why would I buy an Urus.... what happened to the Cullinan, it''s just an extra seven million naira" David replied while Fad simply stood and continued to stare at him and his outrageous statement. "Did you just start seven million naira with ''just'', this boy I can see it you''re finally doing ritual abi?" "No, don''t worry about that. Anyway get in let''s go" David said already feeling ufortable from the states. "Oh, let''s go" she said as she too quickly got into the car David who was watching her rabbit-like behaviour simply smiled and got into the car as well as he immediately drove off. "No but seriously where did you get the money for this?" Fad asked a bit more seriously now It was clear that the excitement had faded and she was now worried for her friend. A Lamborghini wasn''t something that just anybody could buy, the cheapest went for over a hundred million naira. The ''David'', she knew wouldn''t be able to afford that unless he wrote at least five high perfoming books. One would do the job but that would take more time. "I developed a game and turns out it is very popr" David answered It was technically the truth, just not the whole truth. There was no need to tell her about the Editor part of it all until it was necessary. "How does that work exactly?, let me know if I should start learning programming as well" She asked as David smiled "Don''t worry, even if you have yet to agree... you are still my wife, what is mine is yours" David said as the girl immediately rolled her eyes but the smile on her face couldn''t be hidden. He was making progress or well he has been making progress for a long time now but has not had the courage to take it any further. "Stop it, be serious" "Okay, the hard part in all this is creating the game itself but if that is done, you can either upload it for a fee on a tform like Steam for people to download or you create yours. After that you advertise the game and when you are ready, you release the game for download and watch yourself get rich as more people buy and download the game" David exined n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "So basically you''re earning true passive ie" As for him, what he said was indeed true but none of that applied to him. This was true passive ie and he had achieved it even though it was thought to be a myth. 11:32 "You can say that but I still have to maintain the game, ensure that everything ys well. Keep a watch for bugs in the game or new things I can simply add in to the game" As soon as David was done talking, he turned to see the girl, lost in her thoughts as she was clearly reevaluating her choices. As for him, what he said was indeed true but none of that applied to him. This was true passive ie and he had achieved it even though it was thought to be a myth. Minutester, they arrived at the supermarket which was fairly crowded as usual but thankfully, the ce wasrge enough to make the people not feel conjested. Since they were here for groceries and Fad wasn''t really that much of an opportunist, the shopping was done quickly. "Why are your thing in your trunk?" Fad asked as she ced the small bag containing frozen foods in the trunk "That is rted to the second thing I wanted to show you" "No, you can''t be serious" Fad said as though she knew what he wanted to show her "Yes, I am" He said as he put in the dispenser refill into the car "When did you even have the time to build one... now wait did you buy it, how much would that even cost, how much did this game actually earn you?" "When I bought the house, three billion naira, now I rather not say" David said as they got into the car. Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! king_frosh Chapter 28 New Home 28 New Home Instead of driving towards her home, David immediately took to the highway as he began driving towards his new home. "So my David is now a Billionaire" Fad said with a huge grin on her face "Oh!, it''s now ''my'' David?" David questioned as the twoughed N?v(el)B\\jnn "What?... it''s as you say, when the moneyes, the women wille as well" "Ah! Using my own words against me" David said but inside he was bursting with joy. Despite how he always tried to say all he did in a yful manner, anyone could still tell that he liked her and sometimes, he thought even she knew and was only ignoring it as it may ruin the friendship. "I am but if I see any girl near you, I will bury you alive" Fad said in a surprisingly serious tone even if it was masked in a yful manner. "You and I know, that is not a problem" "Usually isn''t until the money gets to your head" "Wait, is this really happening... you actually agree, you know I said wife not girlfriend right?" [Sir, with all due respect, you are an idiot] "Huh?" David replied mentally but the A.I never gave an answer "Well I never rejected you, you never even asked... do you know how long I have been waiting?" Hearing her, a wide smile appeared on his face. His friends were out there chasing everything under a skirt and getting fooled left and right meanwhile he had someone faithful to him even before he began going after her. "Are you crying?" Fad asked "No!... why would I be doing that, oh look we''re here" David said said as he quickly changed the subject He honestly couldn''t understand what had just happened but he liked it. He knew that having all he had now, had definitely boosted his confidence after all true confident men were the capable ones. Anything else was make believe, however his confidence didn''t automatically mean that he will bag the girl but here he was with a new girlfriend. "David, where are we?" Fad asked suspicious as David took the dirt road that led up the mountain. "Our new home" "Which kind ce is this, I have said it, this boy wants to use me for ritual!" She shouted as David broke out inughter "No, no don''t worry, you''ll understand soon" David said to assure her as he continued driving. The drive up the mountain took about three minutes but soon, David could see arge gate in the distance. It wasn''t there when he did the inspection with the government agents. Since it wasn''t there then, he concluded that it was created by the builder bots to keep unwanteds out of the property. "Wait here" David said as he went down to try and open the gate. He didn''t know exactly if the gate itself was a high tech one or just a regr gate. Either way he didn''t know how to open it. If it was a regr one then he needed a key which he didn''t have. If it was a high tech one then he could simply get Nous to open it. Thankfully it was thetter as he made Nous open the gates. "Turns out, it''s automated" David said as he got into the car "How can you have a house and not even know how to open the gate" "Well I wasn''t here when the gate was installed" David replied truthfully as he drove into the house. As soon as he drove in, he saw the difference which was like night and day. The ce that was previously filled with grass and weed was now neatly arranged. A finished and well built road appeared as soon as the gates opened. From the very gates to his actual destination. David could see ornamental nts everywhere, there was an outdoor swimming pool that looked like it was made for a wholemunity. A small tennis court as though he yed the sport. As he drove further, the small basketball court presented itself and a bit off to its side was arge field that was just empty so he assumed it was a y area for football or just resting. Apart from that, he also spotted several other building apart from the main building. All of which wererge and clearly empty, those weren''t in his ns so he had no idea what the buildings were for. The runway was rebuilt and even upgraded and a little bit away from it was arge helipad. Then there was the main house, a marvel that simply said ''hey, I''m rich and definitely better than you'' It was a modern house that had a minimalist and sleek design. The painting scheme is mostly dark gray, with some contrast of white and wood. It''s t roof andrge ss windows seemed to make it look even much better "David, you said you bought this house right" "No, I bought the mountain then built the house" David corrected as he pulled into his drive way. With the car parked and close to the house, he could finally see how big the house actually was. It was a two-story building but somehow it was bigger than regr two-story buildings. [Your bio-metrics have all been encoded into the housing system allowing you ess to all levels and floors of the mountain] "You guys created an underground part?" David asked the A.I in surprise [Well it is to be expected, I would suggest taking her down to the underground lounge... it has a view of the newly redesigned river] Nous advised as David gave a mental thank you. "You bought the mountain?" Fad finally asked after a while of trying to process what he had said "Yes, turns out that the government has a list of properties that they confiscated from drug dealers, corrupt politicians etc that they need to sell to make money hence this ce" David said proudly. "Then who did this ce belong to before?" "Some drug dealer named Abdzeem Friday, he''s dead now though... electric chair" David answered even if he had long since found out more about the person. The truth was that the Abdzeem Friday guy was just a cover. The house was purchased in his name for the purchase to be made legal but th house belonged to the notorious drug lord, Pablo Escobar. ording to Nous, the house was built as a safe house for when he had no other ces to go. Of course, he had better safe houses but if he dide to Nigeria to hide, David doubted that anyone would think he was actually here Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! king_frosh Chapter 29 New Home (II) 29 New Home (II) "So I don''t have to worry about your safety?" She continued as she let go of David''s hand in am effort to make take the matter seriously. "Yes, besides everything concerning him has already been captured and while this mountain may not look like it, it is a fortress" David said to convince her "I still don''t trust that, what about the government... you know our government can''t be trusted" Hearing her, David simply smiled. Like he had once said, Nigerians were a very careful people and now she was just told that the house once belonged to a drug lord. Anyone would automatically be careful after hearing that but Nigerians would take that to s whole new level by double checking everything just to be absolutely sure that all was safe. "Okay, you''ve made your point but I''m asking just to be sure" Fad responded seeing David''s expression as a softughter escaped her lips "Now, can we go in?" David asked as he moved out the way to showcase the beautiful building behind him. From the sparkle in her eyes at the sight of the house, he could easily tell that she was just as excited as him to check out the house. N?v(el)B\\jnn The house may belong to him and he may have designed all in the house with some help from Nous but he was still excited to check out the house. "Yes" she said with a smile as she finally gave in "Great" David replied "Ahh!" Fad screamed as she was swept off her feet by David who proceeded to carry her into the house. David saw this as means to test out his strength and surprisingly the girl didn''t weigh much in his arms. It was as though he had picked up a small bucket of water rather than a full grown human. It seems as though Nous''s training regiment didn''t focus on appearance rather it developed the core strength of the person. Basically it turned him into a construction worker rather than a bodybuilder. To better exin, Construction workers or people who do hardbour in general tens to possess even greater strength than their bodybuilder counterpart The reason for this is simply because unlike the Bodybuilder who simply builds their muscles which means that they will acquire a lot of body mass. However the construction orbour worker slowly conditions their body to withstand and adapt to the nature of their duty which means their bones, muscles, skin etc adapts. Now Nous''s training routine had somehow managed to replicate this effect that took years to aplish. He had only used the training method for about a month now and he could bride carry a full-grown human as though it''s nothing. Arriving at the door, David was required to ce his hand on a t pad by the wall. As soon as he did so, a dullblue light shed through the t pad as though it was scanning his hand. "Hmm, they even added a fingerprint scanner!" Fad said surprised by the interaction "At least it means more security for us" David replied as the door opened automatically. Ushering her in like the gentlemen, he had be, David and Fad stood in marvel as they witnessed the marvel of architecture beyond their time and understanding The interior of the house didn''t look too out of ce but even for the untrained eye, there were clearly a lot of umon things that were added into the building. As they walked further into the house to explore, they arrived at arge room. The room had several couches positioned in very optimal positions and by the wall was a long table or so. "Nous?" David called out mentally [Sir?] "What''s that?" [The Omni TV, a new brand of TV roughly three thousand years ahead of your time. It doesn''t stick out in this time due to its design but it allows ess to all stations avable on both a digital, analog and quantum level] Nous replied almost as though it was advertising the TV As Nous talked, David walked ahead and went to the supposed TV and began checking it out. He was lucky that he could act this clueless since he had already established that he wasn''t here when all this were installed. On the long table-like device, David spotted an odd button on the top of it and immediately guessed what it is. Pressing the button, a line began forming at the center of the table as a a slightly thin and long device began rising from it. The device slid out of the table until it was almost a meter tall. Looking at it now, David understood why Nous had said that it wouldn''t stick out that much in the current era. It looked just like a rather expensive TV and that was all. No one would immediately think that it is a Quantum device that allows them capture signals from possibly the entire universe. "David, How much you buy this TV?" Fad asked in a shocked but still serious tone Hearing her, David already knew that a lecture wasing if he made up a price from the top of his head. He couldn''t say anything cheap after all anypany that can produce anything like this would definitely price it in the million rather than thousand. So if he said any fitting price, Fad would do what she was known for, Keeping him in check and begin a lecture on how it was a waste of money so... "I don''t know, I may have selected the design for the house but all this was done by Government contractors" David lied to save himself "Oh!... then how much did you pay them for that" "I already paid four hundred million naira, what else would they want?" "Oh, that makes sense" Fad said as he sat on one of couches which immediately sank in to amodate her better "Eh!?" She screamed in shock as she jumped up from the couch Seeing her reaction, David too took a seat just to see what she was on about and just like her, he began sinking into the chair as he immediately felt a wave of rxation fill him. "Oh this is life" Davidmented as he rxed into the chair even further Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! king_frosh Creator''s Thought Chapter 30 New Home (III) 30 New Home (III) Seeing him, Fad began tough to his reaction. David ignored herughter as he thought of how Nous had gone above and beyond to truly make this a home. Looking at things now, it was clear that while the A.I had incorporated a lot of advanced technology into the house and had even added some that couldn''t even be considered technology, it still made sure that the house fit the norms of sthe current society. "Okay let''s check out the other ces" David said as he struggled to stand No one would want to leave such afortable couch behind but thinking about how the bed would be of the couch was thisfortable, David summoned the strength to stand. "How about we go upstairs?" David asked with a grin stered on his face "Don''t you think it''s too early for that?" Fad said as David''s grin immediately turned into an awkward smile. "Okay, you don catch me but make we dey go upstairs" David said knowing that she wouldn''t agree "Okay" she replied as she stood up and they made their way upstairs. The upper floor wasn''t all that different from the ground floor. The interior design still matched the one downstairs and didn''t standout too muchpared to most homes he had visited in the past. "This ce is ridiculously big" Fad said as they came out of one of the rooms on the upper floor "Three rooms on the upper floor, a living room and a master bedroom, nice" Davidmented as he calcted exactly how much space he had "If the main house is this big then why did you build the other houses?" Fad asked pointing through the window to one of the houses, Nous had built. There were about four of them and all of them were clearly built to contain more people. The buildings were both five storeys tall and seemed to house at least three apartments in each floor. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Looking at the houses now, he didn''t know what to answer her. They weren''t a part of his original design so he didn''t exactly know why the houses were built. He had toe up with something, fast. "That, I don''t know" David answered "What?" "The buildings were already here when I bought the ce... they probably just renovated it as well because they can" David continued his lie He felt like he had lied more times than he had in about three months now. The lies just kepting and this was when they had yet to even reach the underground sector. "Huh?" Fad said as she thought about what he said It made sense if the house and the other buildings were already here when he bought the ce and ordered for it to be renovated, they would renovate the other houses as well after all, all of them were now his property. "Come, I have somewhere special to show you... let''s hope they got it up and running" David said even if he knew it was definitely functional. "Where is that?" "Don''t think about it, you''ll see it when we get there" David said as he led her through the building Soon they were standing in front of an elevator located on the ground floor of the building and hidden behind a fake wall that could be slide aside to reveal it. "Ehn!... what is this one again?" "Don''t worry, you''ll see" David said as he pressed the button that had the symbol of flowing water on it. Soon they were on their way down into the underground section of the mountain. The more they went down, David began to realize just how powerful the bots truly were. They had dug an elevator space to such depths in just a night. Above all if Nous was right, all the spaces they just passed weren''t empty, they were all also ces he could use. Spaces built into the mountain itself, if David didn''t consider Advanced technology a cheat before then now he definitely considered them a cheat. After a few seconds, they arrived at their destination. David''s heart rapidly pounded against his chest in nervousness while Fad maintained a certain distance between her and him Even if she trusted him, said trust hadn''t reached the level of trusting him with her life. She didn''t know what it was that David nned to show her but just in case, the gap will remain. This was a new environment and only an idiot will trust someone with their lives in such a ce. As th elevator door opened, they were weed by a brightly lit cave-like environment. David seeing this frowned as this waspletely unexpected and didn''t exactly scream romantic as he had thought it would. "Where is this?" Fad asked again *Sigh* "I wanted to show you the underground river than flows through the mountain but I don''t know what they did" David answered as they continued walking Seeing his dejected posture, Fad already knew that he had initially nned this probably as a surprise for her. "Don''t worry, the house is enough" She said as a smile bloomed on his face As they walked the cave slowly got wider, they came upon arge area, sounds of water flowing were head as David''s smile grew even bigger In front of them was the underground river and just like Nous had said, it was beautiful. Located just ahead of them was a small lounge where they could sit and watch the river. "Now that''s more like it" David said The two made their way to the lounge and simply sat like the two jobless people they were as they enjoyed the view. "Do you ask for this section just for me?" Fad asked "You can say that..." "Aww, that''s sweet" "...but it once used to be a dam that supplied power to the house" David said with a smile "You can''t just let me enjoy the moment abi?" Fad asked as she pped his shoulder ==== I am sorry to all, I will probably not be posting more chapters for now since I am in the process of being contracted I will drop at least 10 chapters once it''s done... assuming it takes too much time Wish me luck Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation! king_frosh Chapter 31 Roommate Chapter 31 Roommate The two sat out there, watching as the river flowed in silence. This continued for several minutes before David finally turned to her. "I don''t know if it''s too soon or if you would even agree but how about youe stay here with me, the ce is too big for even the both of us talk less of just me alone" David proposed "You do know that the both of us staying together increases the chances of this not working out," Fad said "Well, it''s a good thing; I''m aiming for marriage, not some short-lived bliss," David replied with a smile Looking at the man in front of her, Fad couldn''t find any words to say, as so far, all he had done was impress her. He was everything she was looking for, or more broadly, what every sensible woman was looking for. He may not be all that great in the height or looks department, but he was okay. He was caring and clearly loved her enough to repeatedly consider marriage despite being from a home that has seen nothing but the dark sides of marriage. Above all, he was capable, and in today''s world, that was interpreted as being wealthy, which he clearly was. He owned an entire mountain and had a business that allowed him to earn in the millions and possibly above. He truly was everything, and above all of that, she did love him, or at least could tolerate him for all of eternity toe. "If I refuse, my father will probably kick me out," she joked as she kissed him She didn''t n to let him slip out of her hands. Knowing how many women and probably men would want to be in her situation, she smiled in her heart, knowing that she truly had struck gold... No, this was more precious than that, Diamond. "Oh, now look who''s crying," David said as soon as they separated "You''re hopeless," she said as she wiped her eyes. "I can''t help it," David replied as they both rxed into their seats and simply looked forward to their future together. While the two spent their night together, Somewhere else in Nigeria, in arge building located in a rather restricted area, Several people could be seen neck deep into theirputers, while others could be seen going through file after file. "Do we have anything yet?" A man asked as he entered the room "Not yet sir, so far, everything seems normal. Born, August neenth, year two thousand to Mr and Mrs Nnaji in Aba, Abia State... currently a student at the University of Abuja and founder of Nous Industries, Parentpany of Nous Studios.... no criminal records, no suspicions, nothing, he is a good citizen of the country and even pays his taxes" a woman read out from a paper "He''s 20?" "Yes sir" "What?... since when did kids start bing that rich at that age, abi na yahoo boy?" The man asked as the groupughed but soon changed back to their default Not believing what the woman had said, he took the file and began reading through it himself. After several seconds, he looked up since all was the same as she had read out. "First off, the suspicious thing here is that he was a writer, and that earned him about a hundred thousand naira per month. That''s okay, but where did the gamee from... I don''t know much about games, but I know you have to be a programmer to create one solo, right?" The man asked "Sir, many youths have been putting their hands into everything they cantely and also, it''s on his record that he paid sixty-eight thousand Naira to learn programming earlyst year" the woman said "Ehn.... but since when did games make people that rich... Well, it can but since when did it have the potential to make people this rich, this quickly?" "That''s the problem sir, we don''t know... that is beyond us" "But he''s too clean, no one bes that rich while being clean... in fact the fact that he is clean is already suspicious" "Sir, that isn''t our duty, we are works and housing... You can take it up to the EFCC, they do anything for such a case." The woman replied "He can''t be a ritualist, right?" The man asked "Sir that is a duty for the EFCC, once again, we are Works and Housing" Thedy said The other workers behind them, looked at the woman and immediately began to rearrange all the documents they had brought out in search of all rted to the target. "Okay, okay I hear you" the man said Bowing slightly towards the woman, the man turned and left. He may be superior, but this wasn''t his department, and she was the highest authority in this department. "Everyone gets back to work" Thedy ordered as the man finally left In fear, they all immediately went back to work, despite their burning desire to know more about the situation. As the man left, he immediately contacted the proper authorities to further investigate the matter. Normally he wouldn''t be this involved in such a matter, nor would he even care, but if he found out that that target had gotten his money through ill means, then he was bound to be promoted. Meanwhile all over the world, the game ''Renovatio'' was slowly making the rounds as more and more people yed it. Friends introduced others, many saw the gamey online and bought it considering how cheap it waspared to other games of the same level. Due to the global pandemic that relegated many to their homes, the poprity of the game grew quickly as it was an offline game, you could y with some level of peace of mind. N?v(el)B\\jnn With majority of the current games being online and with the increased toxicity of today, many found themselves falling back to Renovatio forfort however the games engaging gamey and mechanics wouldn''t let them go for hours after that. The next day, the cause of it all could be seen sitting in his sitting room with his newptop open even if it wasn''t turned on. Instead before him was a holographic screen, on it was all the information he needed concerning the industry he nned to enter soon. "Then there is truly no point to entering the auto industry, by the time, I would have everything set up, the event would definitely be here" David concluded after going through all the requirements needed The Auto industry was saturated with a lot of procedures that needed to bepleted before he could even consider creating his first car. [Don''t forget that you don''t even know how the Event will take ce, it may be a true apocalypse that destroys all or it may just be something that will barely affect the people''s way of living but will still end in their destruction if care is not taken] "Why can''t you just tell me what the event is, I am tired of this guessing game" Davidined Even if it was already established that he had all needed to survive the event. It was quickly bing frustrating that he didn''t know more about it. Everything about the Event was a mystery, from its magnitude, to when it will take ce. He knew none of that, he didn''t know if the Event will be the true end of humanity. Or if it will some sort of catalyst that quickens their destruction. He knew nothing about it and yet he was expected to survive it [No matter how frustrating, it may be for you, the Event is still a necessary step Humanity needs to undergo to step into therger Universe... that is if they survive] "So, it''s a test then?" David asked, drawing his own conclusions from what the A.I said [You can say that it is up to you to interpret it in any way you want] Nous answered as David released a huge sigh "What are you doing?" A voice called out as David quickly withdrew his holographic screen and Nous turned on theptop. Turning to its source, David saw his new roommate/ girlfriend standing at the end of the staircase and walking towards him. Due to the events of yesterday, she didn''t return home instead, she had simply slept here so at the moment, she was wearing one of David''s new shirts. "Trying to see if there are any bugs in the game, I need to patch" David replied as she slowly put theptop to the side "Oh... by the way did you buy new clothes; I couldn''t find any normal set of clothing in the wardrobe" She exined Even if she was blind, she could tell that the shirt was expensive after all she was the one to tear out its price tag and all. The shirt came from a popr brand and felt like it too so she felt quite awkward wearing it but she had no choice as all the clothes in David''s wardrobe were brand new "Don''t worry, it''s just a shirt... it can be reced but this sight can''t" David said as he hugged her and kissed her Chapter 32 New Edit Chapter 32 New Edit He had seen his fair share of naked and half naked women on the inte and in real life, even if he had yet to do it but he had never been as aroused as he was at the moment. For some reason, his heart beat faster than it normally did. His bulge naturally grew bigger in response to her dressing, but unlike with all he had seen before this, his eyes didn''t reflect lust; rather, she could still see the love she saw in his eyes yesterday. "You can''t keep it to yourself, can you?" Fad asked "Not while you''re here, no." "Fine, but we aren''t doing the main thing until I get proper protection... We''re still too young to be parents," Fad said with a smile as she took the lead this time. Soon the two were on the couch and interlocked like two warring snakes. Their lips never leaving sight of each other, but their hands went ces, they should never be in the first ce. [It''s about time; you readers pick your bibles and read.] While the two fought, Nous began topile a list of industries David could look into that would benefit him during and after the event. *** Standing outside his home, David could be seen in a white shirt and trouser as he stood and watched a group of men offload box after box from arge truck. Standing beside him was a man in regr clothes but he had a reflective jacket on as though to notify that he was in-charge "Do you need any help setting them up, it''s only about six thousand naira more," the man asked "Don''t worry, but still take the extra for your efforts," David said as he signed the document handed to him and handed over his debit card. "Ah Oga, thank you oo" the man said as he quickly took the debit card and swiped Several secondster, a total sum of twenty-six thousand naira exited his ount. Normally this would be a reason for him to fight someone since he wouldn''t normally have such an amount just lying around. However now he had so much money that he wasn''t even thinking about it. To purchase what was in the boxes, he had spent a total of six million Naira. To be wealthy was a blessing. "Okay then, sir we''re going" the man said as he and his boys got into their vehicle "Okay take care" David replied as he stood and watched. He would normally be running to both open and close the gates, but it was automated, so he didn''t bother. A few minutester, they drove off his property as David turned to the most important part of this whole event. "How do we take them down to where they are needed?" David asked He definitely couldn''t lift the massive boxes alone talk more of taking them into the underground mountain space, Nous had created for them. [Don''t worry yourself with that; it''s about time you start your training.] Nous said as the now familiar shadow appeared "Well, Fad isn''t here so suit yourself," David said as he immediately followed after the Shadow As soon as he left, several spider-like robots began pouring out of the house as they gathered around the boxes. Drilling their way into the ground underneath the boxes, they attached themselves to the boxes and slowly but surely lifted them up. With that, all twelve boxes were lifted off the ground and soon taken their end destination. Meanwhile, David could be seen running around thepound while following every action made by the shadow. Twops in, and David realized just how big his new home actually was. Knowing that this was just a warmup, he did his best to conserve his strength. Just like he predicted, after a few more minutes, the shadow stopped as it began the usual weird movements that were the main workout. Seeing it begin, David steeled his heart and immediately followed. The new environment allowed for more room to use while training, and the shadow utilized them. As for Fad, he wasn''t too worried about her; she had left after their deed in the morning. Unlike him, whose work was entirely online, she still had a job that required her physical presence. Several minutester, David was lying on the ground,pletely tired. It was as though Nous had increased the intensity of the entire training routine. There were new positions to mimic. Each movement was made quickly and in quick session of the other, not giving him much time to think, so all he could do was follow along like a robot on shadow mode. "Nous, will the training keep getting harder?" David asked as he tried to recover his strength [The purpose of such a routine is simply to always ensure that you get stronger, no matter how much progress you have made.] Nous replied "But isn''t this too much? I could barely finish the regr one without copsing, and you already increased it," Davidined, despite knowing that it was all falling on deaf ears. A few minutes passed, and David finally summoned enough strength to wobble his way into the house. His entire body was aching; his legs felt as though they weren''t a part of him and could fall off easily. [Sir, the Servers have all been setup and connected to my systems.] Nous announced "That''s good, I''ll be there soon... let me just get some food" David replied as he wobbled into the kitchen As usual, there was already food waiting for him, so David immediately took it off the counter and sat on the kitchen floor to eat. [Sir, that is unhygienic.] Nous said "Unhygienic wetin... Abeg leave me" David replied as he began stuffing his face Only God knew how Nous had created the workout routine. He could swear that he had eaten before stepping out to receive the package and begin his training. However, after the training, it was as though he was sharing his stomach with a ck hole. He couldn''tin much though; Nous always prepares all he would need after each training. A few minutester, David could be seen leaning on the kitchen cab, breathing heavily, as several sighs of relief were heard. He felt as though he finally managed to satisfy the ck hole inside him, and now his stomach was too full for him to even move. "Nous, I think you need to cut back on the extreme training a little," David requested [For your own sake, sir, that would be impossible... Editors are known to be powerful, elegant and majestic in all, but you are neither of the above.] Nous replied without skipping a beat "Okay, you don''t need to insult me to tell me that I am weak... That''s what I get for asking," Davidined as he stood up If he had known that Nous would be such a ve driver, he wouldn''t have created her. Truthfully, he wasn''t seeing much difference between his past self and the current him Well, apart the removal of all the excess fat, there wasn''t much. Even the appearance change could be achieved if he involved himself in some sort of intensebor for more than a week. He would say that the training was useless, but it was developed by an omniscient being. There was no way that it could be useless; he knew it wasn''t, but there had been no evidence of changetely. Standing up from his spot, David immediately sorted out the tes. No matter how much heined about the training routine, he knew clearly that it was still beneficial to him. "By the way, when is this girl returning?" David asked [Four in the evening, you simply have to be done with all you are doing before that time] Nous answered "Okay then, let''s go" David replied as he walked straight to the elevator in the house. It was the only quick ess to the floors below, the other being the stairs but that would take forever to get to his destination. As soon as he entered the elevator, it quickly activated taking him down to his intended location. As soon as the elevator door opened, David was introduced into arge room. As soon as he entered, the first thing he saw were giant box like devices. They were exactly twelve of them as he had purchased, and all were ced andpletely set up. All of them were the servers he intended to edit. ¡­ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Editable Object: IBM power S1024 Description: A high-performance rack server which delivers 2.5 times more performers per core than x86-based server. Possessing 64 cores, 8 terabytes of memory and 32 PCle Gen4 slots¡­. ¡­. "I don''t understand all the jargons on this thing, but I am assuming, that means that it is on the higher end of things, right?" David asked as he inspected the servers in the room. [Yes, it is¡­ Still wondering why needed to buy the best on the market when you will still need to edit it] Nous said. Chapter 33 Second Edit Chapter 33 Second Edit "What? I thought my edits turned out better with higher-quality products; was I wrong?" David asked, surprised by the AI''s statement. [If it worked like that, then there will be nothing special about the editor; you only need a base to edit and nothing else¡­ Said base could be of any quality.] "So, I just wasted about a million naira for no reason at all?" [Yes, you have.] "If it''s so, then it doesn''t need an edit anymore. How can it take such an amount from my ount and still expect me to waste an edit on it". [Sir, those choices were all yours to begin with and even if they are very smart objects, they are still inanimate objects¡­ they aren''t expecting anything.] "No, I don''t¡­" David said as he tried to exin but just sighed. "Do you want me to make them match your hardware or what?" [It would be preferrable that that they are able to match my natural hardware; it would be useful in the future.] "Okay, then here we go" David replied as he focused his ability on the server racks. Since he had figured out that his powers worked primarily with his intent, it was easy for him to make it recognize the entire room full of servers as one object. It was also the same way that the Earth itself is recognized as an editable object rather than the sand he had been looking at then. As soon as he did so, the now familiar holographic screen and keyboard appeared before him, and he immediately began inputting all he could think of into them. Like when he had created Nous, he nned to make the most out of the servers after all it would cost him, one whole Edit. ¡­ Editable Object: IBM Power S1024? Durability: ??? Description: A set of devices created the Editor for the purpose of supporting the entity known as ''NOUS''. Possessing unlimited storage capacity, unparalleled processing capacity, and several other unknown capabilities. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Features: Domain: Inbuilt into the Editor''s main domain, it possesses ess to and a level of control over it through the Editor. All recognized by the Editor within the domain shall experience effects determined by the Editor, these effects could be temporary or permanent as per the Editor''s wishes. Absolute security: serving as a center of control for the Editor''s main domain, it possesses the ability to protect and secure the environment, whether virtual, physical, or spiritual, from any form of attack. Never Fail: Backed by the Editor''s power, it possesses the capacity to alwaysplete its task and will never fail unless stopped by the Editor or other authorized figures. As a creation of the Editor, the devices and all theirponents are fiercely loyal to the Editor. Any attempts at insubordination shall result in automatic deletion from reality. Cost: 200 years ¡­ Looking at the screen, David''s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Well, he could; after all, he was the one who had input all the details. "Two hundred years?!" David shouted in shock. He expected something ridiculous, but nothing prepared him for two hundred years. Even creating an omniscient being had only taken twenty years off his lifespan, but this was taking two hundred years off his life. [Sir, you are immortal now; that shouldn''t be worth worrying about.] Nousmented. "So¡­ this is pure daylight robbery. What next? A thousand years when I want to edit something next month?" David asked. [Sir, you and I both know why the cost for the Edit is this high.] "Okay, if you put it like that.." David said as he quickly calmed down. He did truly know why the Edit cost so muchpared to thest one, which was clearly of a higher grade considering that Nous was born from it. For this Edit, he was merging the servers to his mountain. This simply meant that he was turning his entire mountain into a server that would allow the servers to perform the duties he had given them, and since it would cover the entire mountain, it would also be the best form of security ever. He also used the chance to grant it abilities that allowed it to grant effects, or, as gamers would call it ''buffs'' or ''debuffs'' on the people he chose. Basically, this meant that as long as he was on the mountain, he could simply add an immortality buff to himself, and he would literally live forever. "Wait, is that how mountain andnd gods came about?" David asked. [Should I answer that?] Nous asked. "No," David replied. Without further hesitance, David immediately clicked on the ''Yes'' icon. As soon as he did so, he immediately fell to the ground as his body began to shrivel up. "Arghh!!" David screamed in pain as he rolled on the ground. His body was shriveling and shrinking until he looked more like a mummified corpse. His body got so tiny that he looked like a literal shadow of himself; however, as soon as it started, it also ended. White light covered his body as he immediately began to grow in size to match his previous size. The pain stopped, but he had long since lost consciousness. Apart from his transformation, the servers too were undergoing a change as time froze and the server racks melded together to form arge liquid ball in the air. The ball fell to the ground, sttering everywhere as the liquid immediately began to spread itself around as though it were alive, trying its best to consume all in its path. Seconds passed before things began to return to normal, the liquid returned and began to regrow into the familiar server racks that once stood however now, they all lookedpletely different. [Sir, the Edit is done.] Nous replied as it forced the unconscious David, awake. Opening his eyes, all he saw was the bright lights on the ceiling and immediately a look of regret appeared on his face. "I''m beginning to regret epting this Editor, power" David said as he stood up. [You can''t have possibly thought that the Lifeforce absorption process would be painless just because you now have immortality] Nous asked. "Well, don''t me me; I''m new to all these things," Davd said in anger. Like Nous had pointed out, he truly had expected it to be painless, but then again, he should have known better. If drawing just a syringe full of blood could cause him pain despite having around five liters of blood, If that could cause him pain, why did he expect taking two hundred years off his lifespan to not be painful? Even if he had infinite years to give, it would still make sense that he would feel the pain. [It all gets better with time,] Nous said, trying to console him. "Somehow, I doubt that" David replied as he finally focused on his Edit. Looking around the room, David was surprised to still see the servers standing as they were before. He could clearly see the changes, but they shouldn''t be standing here. "Why are they still here?" David asked [Where did you expect them to go?] "Well, I merged them to the mountain; they should have be one with the mountain itself." [Sir, not everything works ording to thews set up by fiction.] David examined each of the servers, surprised by their presence. He may be confusing fiction with reality, but it was stillmon sense. If he merged two things together, it made sense for him to expect them to actually fuse together. "Oh well, as long as it works... Are you connected to them yet?" David asked [I have no ess until given permission.] Nous replied "Okay, then how do I do that?" [It''s simply, just say it or even think it] "Okay, then I permit you," David replied [Thank you] Nous said as the servers slowly began to light up one after the other and a soft hum filled the room It was obvious that Nous had taken her ce in the servers. David, it''s creator watched and noted theck of loud noises as well as the aesthetically pleasing look of the servers. [Connection established, would you like to try out the other functions] "Specifically, the Domain ability," David said He would love to try the absolute security part, but at the moment he didn''t have the means to test it out. He couldn''t exactly attack it himself; he was the administrator for its systems, and besides, he trusted Nous to ensure that they worked perfectly. Instead, he was more interested in the domain part. The main point of it was to give him the ability to give himself abilities that would help his growth. Of course, he would try to give himself advanced superpowers or the like, but he felt that would be petty and not suitable for him. He was the Editor, it was not just a title; it was also a seat of power, and somehow, he felt that if he cheated his way to power, he would regret itter on. [Okay, then, the Domain feature is up and active; to use it, simply think of an effect you want to add to something and it will happen.] Nous said "Just like that?" Chapter 34 Domain Chapter 34 Domain [Well the abilities of the Editor are absolute and are even more magical than magic itself] "Lets test this out" David said obviously impatient to test it out However he didn''t exactly know how to test it out. Looking around the room, he found absolutely nothing to use [Why do you test it by making your shirt float] Nous suggested seeing that it''s master was lost "That... That is indeed a good idea" Pulling off his shirt, he immediately dropped it on the ground and pointed his palm towards it as he closed his eyes for maximum focus "Float!" David shouted as he imagined the shirt floating After waiting a few more seconds, he opened one eye to see what resulted of his actions. He knew they were chunni-like but now wasn''t a time to be embarrassed. Looking at the spot, he had dropped the shirt. He found nothing, looking up, just above his normal level of view, there it was. "It worked?" David questioned as a smile appeared on his face. "It worked!!" David shouted in joy as he danced around the room Just the fact that it worked will change a lot of things for him easily. He may not use it to increase his power unless necessary but it will surely help him to get more powerful on the long run. "Okay, Okay let''s try this" David said as he turned to himself His n was simple and that was to add an attribute to himself that would help him quicken the effects of his training. "Which effect or attribute do I add?" David asked This was the main problem guing him, like his Edits, he could add anything he wanted to himself at the moment but it was as though his mind had turned off. "I have it, hyper growth" David said as he immediately prepared to add the effect to himself He readied his mind for pain since that seemed to be a steady part of using any of his abilities so far. When he felt he was sufficiently prepared, he began replicating the process he had used to add the ''float'' effect to the shirt. [Domain Effect recognized, ability {Effort Multiplier} has been added to individual {David Nnaji}] He heard Nous day out loud as he immediately opened his eyes He didn''t feel any differentpared to before. He couldn''t exactly say that the effect had been sessfully added to his body since there was no real proof for it. "Did it work?" David asked Since he couldn''t confirm it on his own, he nned to have his A.I confirm it. [That... I cannot confirm however if you n to cg ck it out, you can test it out using the already given training method] "Wait... No, you just want me to suffer again" David said realizing the A.Is n [Sir you may call it suffering but it will be the most powerful aid you will have in the future; it will be best if you train anytime, you can] "If you weren''t Nous, I would never listen to you" Davidined as the shadow appeared again and immediately David began following all the movements in the room. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om At least he did all that didn''t require equipment but then again, the routine was designed to help him train without much equipment, so it still worked out fine. David followed the shadow as diligently as he would normally do. He put all effort into the routine and just like before, he suffered for it however unlike before, he could actually feel himself getting stronger. It wasn''t just a gut feeling; he could feel his bones condense to help him exhibit more strength. His skin got thicker, his blood richer and his heart beat way much more faster than usual. "Is this what the routine does?" David asked surprised by his suddenly enhanced senses and all the slow and small processes that were going on in his system. [No, you are only at the entry stage... It''s strength lies after you have be a full fledge tier 1 Editor] Nous replied "You make it sound like some cultivation technique" David said jokingly. [Sir, in reality, the most sensible and logical way a being can be powerful would be through some form of you so-called ''cultivation''. The power system isplete and you cant truly cheat your way through it] "It''s a cultivation technique?!" David shouted in shock He always knew that the exercise he had put through was different and special, but he didn''t think it was something straight out of a novel or manhua. "Does this mean that the Gods are just really powerful cultivators?" David asked Nous had previously confirmed the existence of the gods so it would make sense for them to be cultivators as well with the recent reveal. [Like in your novels and manhua, there are some people that are born with extremely advanced bloodlines or ''physiques'' as they call them. So yes, the gods are really powerful cultivators with very special physiques] Hearing her, David immediately fell in thought. It made sense, he didn''t know what power system he expected as he is entered the supernatural side of the universe. However, thinking about it now, the cultivation power system was the most sensible in this world. Of course, he didn''t believe that everything was word to word the same as it is in fiction. If it was so, then it wouldn''t be truly realistic. The Cultivation power system came with the benefit of aplete and steady power rise, specialties that would fit and describe the gods etc. And above all it also incorporated magic into it. The magic power system on the other hand was loose and didn''t offer as much as the cultivation power system. So, for now, he believed that if there was to be a power system in the real world then it would surely have many simrities to the cultivation power system. [Sir it will be advisable that you don''t take this to heart, it will not help you in anyway at all] Nous said "But it will, cultivators think differentlypared to normal magic users" [Sir do not confuse fiction with reality... This world''s power system may seem simr to that of a cultivator but it doesn''t mean that the worlds are exactly the same] "I know" David replied then focused on his training A few minutester, David was done but the rush he felt and the changes were still ongoing. He felt himself bing stronger by far. Of course, he didn''t know by how much but he could clearly tell that he was getting stronger. The only problem with his current situation was that he had no way topare it to the other new Editors as of now. There was no written down heights that he would have to reach to be recognized as a strong individual which means as of now he was in the dark. "Can I increase the speed of growth,I feel like I am able to do that... Like control if I want six times the boost or just only two times" [Naturally you can sir, however anything beyond a two times boost to your current growth might and will result in your death] "I thought as much" David said as he tried his best to remove the ''float'' effect from his shirt. Even if he nned to marry Fad and trusted her as much as he did his mother. He didn''t think it would be a good idea to let her see the Editor side of everything as of yet. "Anyway Nous, did you find any good industries, we can put our hands into for now" [I have however for now, I would suggest you start investing in creating a headquarters for thepany. That way, you can enter the Virtual Reality industry and virtually any industry you want] Nous suggested "That''s true... Well, fifty million naira is more than enough to create such a ce" David said even if he wasn''t so sure such an expense would-be worth it. As much as he wanted and would love to follow through with all his ns, the Event was always there to be a stumbling block. The very fact that he had no idea when it will begin meant that he had to be careful in what he put his hands into. From where he stood, Nous''s idea to start a paramilitary was now making a bit more sense even if he wouldn''t be able to stomache the guilt thates with it. However since he didn''t know it would begin, it was best that he prepared all he needed for personal survival while acting as though the Event was like theing of our Lord Jesus. He wille back one day but nobody knows when so it was best to simply do good for when ites and that''s exactly what he nned to do now Chapter 35 Nous Industries Chapter 35 Nous Industries "Also, while we''re at it, calcte how much for training new staff and all the equipment we''ll need" David ordered. [That is already done; however, it is important that I ask, do you n to focus on the hardware or the software part of the Virtual Reality industry] Nous asked. "Am I required to choose?" David replied. [No, you aren''t sir however it would still be wise to pick a side] "We''re not doing so, with your capabilities, we can focus on both sides". [Okay then, I shall provide the blueprint based on that] Nous replied as David finally wore his shirt back and turned to leave. Everything else was now out of his hands. However, he still had a lot to do. As soon as he left the underground section, he immediately rushed to his bathroom to wash off all the sweat, he had umted over the course of his trainings. "David!!, are you home?!!" A familiar voice called out. "Yes, I''ming, I''m bathing!!" David shouted in reply as soon as he heard her voice. A smile subconsciously formed on his face as he quickly bathed, dressed and rushed to meet up with her. As soon as he got downstairs, he immediately swept her off her feet, carrying in bridal style. "David?!" She asked confused by his behaviour. "I''ve missed you" David said as a smile immediately appeared on her face. "It was only five hours¡­ what if I was working full time?" She asked. "Then I''ll probably buy Sammies and make you their CEO then we can spend as much time as we want". "Ha, money don dey worry this one sha" Fad said but the smile on her face widened even more. "If I no spend the money on you, who I go spend am on?"David asked as he carried her into the house. As soon as they got into the sitting room, David finally let her down. He had just achieved two things by doing this, one, he made his woman happy and two, he tested his strength. He found carrying Fad to be way more easier than before, it was almost as though she lost a few pounds in just the few hours, she was at work. "So, what were you up to today?" "I thought about it and how would you like to be the CEO of a million-dorpany?" David asked. "What?... what do you mean by that?" She asked clearly confused. "I''m nning to bring Nous Studios to reality" David said as he sat on the table opposite her. "What''s that?" "When I created Renovatio, I also hinted about the existence of a gamepany called Nous Studios which in turn is owned by Nous Industries, I already registered thepanies" David exined. "Let me get this straight, you created apany and then created a childpany for thatpany without neither side actually existing". "How are you so sure that it doesn''t exist?" David asked. "Thest time I saw you, you and I wereining of our next session school fees... that wasst week¡­ You definitely can''t set up such apany in a week" She replied as she folded her arms and rxed into her seat while staring at him. Normally she would rush at such an opportunity after all, who didn''t want to be the CEO of apany. Even if she didn''t know what thepany did, her answer would automatically be yes then she would learn more about thepany. However, she was dealing with her friend and now boyfriend, she knew him well enough to know when he had done something smart but in an impulse manner. As she had heard, hinting the possible existence of apany called Nous Studios was smart but she knew that there was no physical location for it. If she heard of such apany, the first thought that woulde to mind would be that it was a scam and would probably never want to associate herself with thepany ever again in fear of being duped. "Okay I get it so do you ept?" David asked again with a smile on his face. "Naturally" "Wonderful, you are the best" David shouted in joy. The smile on his face refused to fade as he continued staring at his girlfriend. This was exactly the reason why he had chosen her for the role, he was smart, but he wasn''t street smart, Fad was a goodbination of both street and book smart. Which was weird considering that she came from a family that was wealthier than his and spent majority of her life indoors. "Don''t worry that will be arranged, now have you eaten, I cooked beans" David said as he stood up from the table and began walking towards the kitchen. "But before you celebrate, how much is my payment?" Fad asked with a yful look on her face as David smiled even more. "Don''t worry that will be arranged, now have you eaten, I cooked beans" David said as he stood up from the table and began walking towards the kitchen. "You cooked?" "What?... of course, I cook, I live alone, you can make I die from starvation" David said somewhat offended that she thought he couldn''t cook. "Okay then let''s see what you can do" Fad said. A few momentster, she finally realized why he had never offered her food despite the fact that she had visited him multiple times in the past. "Are you sure this thing is edible?" Fad asked. "I think so?" David replied not so sure himself. The so-called beans were nothing more than a burnt mess that was somehow still filled with water. David looking at his own cooking wondered how such a thing was even possible even with Nous helping him. [Sir, please don''t implicate me as well, I didn''t help you, you refused to listen to me in anyway] Nous quickly said. "Traitor" David whispered. "I don''t know if I should be angry at the waste of ingredients or be proud that you actually tried for me" Fad said as she gave him a kiss. Truly she had no idea what to do for now, normally she would have the urge to scold him but remember that the person, she was referring to was now a millionaire, all she could do was keep quiet but he also tried to do it so she wouldn''t have to when she came back. Both reasons were enough for her to simply let it go, at most it was only ingredients worth around five thousand naira. It could and would be reced easily. "Okay then let''s eat out or order food" David suggested trying to save himself. "First let me tidy this ce up then we can discuss that" she said as she quickly raised her sleeves and got to work. Looking at her, David felt like he had made things worse, she was supposed to be resting but here she was doing exactly what he didn''t want her doing in the first ce. "ce effect, [Immortality] on her" David said quietly as a soft white glow covered her indicating the activation of the effect. [Sir are you sure that is all you want to give her?] Nous suddenly asked. "Na, you''re right, [Dynamic Adaptation], [Spiritual Adaptation] ¡­ these two should do the job" David thought. [Sir I think you over did it] "In my books, that''s called a good thing". [No, sir this is the equivalent of her being in a state of constant recreation, you just created a god without even realizing it] Nous said with some level of urgency. "Is that a bad thing?" [If any nearby gods notice, yes but I am currently working to mask her aura, it would be best you add in a concealment effect] "Okay then, add in [Unnoticeability], that should be okay right?" David asked with his heart beating fast for some reason. [Yes sir] Nous answered as David unconsciously released a sigh of relief, he didn''t know he was holding. "You will have to exin all that for me". Despite how nerve-wrecking the entire situation was, he was still happy about what he had done. He had chosen [Dynamic Adaptation] because it sounded cool and was the first name that popped into his head when he input the description he wanted. In simple terms, it was an ability that allows the user to remain in a state of controlled evolution or as Nous had called it ''recreation''. The idea was to let her continually improve by existing, her evolution would follow the most natural part possible. The [Spiritual Adaptation] did exactly the same thing but as its name implied for her sprit or soul. Thinking about it now, David understood why Nous had said that he had basically created a god without realizing it. With Fad''s physical body ever evolving in the most natural way possible, her spirit would do the same as well and eventually at some point, she would be something other than a human even if she would look and probably act human.N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 36 Generative A.I Chapter 36 Generative A.I Despite having nothing to do with the kitchen anymore since Fad had taken control, He still remained; it was the way he was trained. It was aw to remain in the kitchen so as to apany whoever was there. Normally he would find it strenuous, like his cousins and older brother, but he couldn''t lie to himself. A lot of interesting gist always came out of it, especially if the other party wasfortable enough. Just as expected, Fad immediately opened up as she began talking about all that happened at work. Of course, he didn''t do this only for the gist or gossip that woulde from it but also to apany Fad since he knew that if he left, it would make it look as though he had abandoned her there, and for some reason, which didn''t bode well with him. While the two talked andughed while judging the living hell out of those in Fad''s story, all over the world, another round of Nous Industries-rted news was making the rounds. Due to the end of the thirty-day free trial, the A.I services that Nous Industries offered were put back in the limelight. "Now it should bemon knowledge that there is apany out there named Nous Industries that owns the now popr game ''Renovatio'' but did you also know that they dealt with artificial intelligence? Meet Nous A.I¡­" A content creator started. "Hello everyone wee back to the gaming news, well just earlier today, everyone''s favourite gaming studio or at least their parentpany, Nous Industries dered the end of the free-trial to their A.I services meaning that it would now be paid for¡­ well that doesn''t truly concern us since we''re too broke for that, we''ll probably just create a new ount to enjoy that sweet free trial but our main focus here is¡­ Nous Industries deals in Artificial intelligence; does this mean that Renovatio, NPCs are actually A.I" Several content creators took the news of the A.I services online as well as many news outlets who were looking for an extra story. Many viewed such news not for the fact that they cared much about the A.I services thepany offered but rather because it was probably the only answer they had to whether the game''s NPCs were A.I or not. However, at the same time, several governments andpanies immediately set out to find out more about thepany. Artificial intelligence was a new and uing technology that could pose a threat to all of them if it fell into their enemy''s hands and there was apany out there that seems to have mastered the technology. While all this happened, the one behind it all could be seen simplyughing and judging people''s life choices with his girlfriend as they both sat in the kitchen, doing nothing butughing and sometimes giving each other advice. Out of the three beings in the room, only Nous, in its Omniscience, knew what was happening; however, it was none of its business. The artificial intelligence spent this time simply calcting and extracting the taxes to be paid from the iing profit. Millions of people all around the world used the services it offered, and many of them used them formercial purposes, which meant that surely they would pay for them. Several others simply had the excess money and paid just because they could. As for those who simply opened a new ount to continue using the free trial, it didn''t matter after all; the website still disyed ads, which also generated extra money. Even after extracting all taxes to be paid, several million dors could still be seen sitting in thepany ount. From the way it saw things, if it''s master could make up his mind, then he could quickly establish himself. Normally, to set up apany, one would need to find investors who were ready to fund thepany, but they didn''t need anything of that sort; they had enough money to fund themselves in anything. Several hourster, David and Fad finally moved out of the kitchen to the sitting room, now with food in hand. David may have nned to take her out, but with the way things progressed, that seemed impossible now. [Sir, the free trial is over, the ie is substantial but there have beenints about the online nature of the search; do I release an application to help with easy finding and all] Nous asked. "What do you mean by online nature?" David asked mentally. [Well sir, the only way to ess the services I render is by navigating the web to our website, I n to eliminate that by releasing an application to make it easier on people; the more downloads we get also means the more money we get.] "You n to make it paid software?" David asked, understanding what the artificial intelligence was talking about. [My services are too powerful to make it free; they already have a 30-day free trial, which is enough.] "True, well, I am not holding you; just build up to it¡­ The wait always helps to establish a willing customer base before you release it". [I know that, sir, however, are you sure you n for me to do that on my own, You n to make her the CEO of thepany, I don''t think it would be wise for me to do that without her knowledge.] "Don''t worry about that; you will be made known, when necessary," David said as he turned to the girl beside him, whose attention was on the television before her. [As you wish, sir] Nous replied before immediately getting to work. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om How its master nned to reveal his identity to his mate didn''t matter to it. It had its duties, and that was all it had to do. David, on the other hand, ran through all the possible options on how to reveal the existence of Nous to Fad without her freaking out. Fad may be calm and somewhat of a geek like him, but she knew clearly that artificial intelligence on par with Nous is currently not possible. Humanity simply didn''t have the resources and the knowledge to create one like it. Hell, humanity may never even be able to create a singrity considering the very purpose of artificial intelligence. Nous was way beyond a singrity; it was a cosmic being if one truly thought about it. Its omniscience may be downyed because it is an A.I but at the end of the day, it was still omniscient. That was an ability reserved for the higher echelons of power, and he had managed to bestow or encode said power and ability into artificial intelligence. This alone made Nous better than anything humanity will ever be able to create. Now even if he didn''t tell her about Nous''s omniscience, she still knew that achieving singrity was still impossible with the current technology. There was nothing he would say that she would believe, and even if she agreed with him, it would still be suspicious because it wouldn''t make sense. When did he learn such high-level programming? Where was the A.I hosted? Where did he keep its server. All these were question that he couldn''t answer without revealing his identity as the Editor. He trusted Fad as much as he trusted his mother but his identity as the Editor wasn''t something he could reveal like that. The Editor from what he had learnt so far wasn''t just any being. It was a title that granted cosmic authority, a title known for its authority rather than power. Though it was thought that authority is power, but one is only with authority under certain conditions. Telling her that he got promoted into a cosmic authority and possible cosmic being overnight wouldn''t go well and he didn''t n to find out how it would go. For now, he had to find another way of revealing Nous to her since she was to be thepany''s CEO. It was either that or he manned up and still reveal his true identity to her and exin everything. Even while his mind ran wide, he still maintained his usual cheerful attitude in order not to spoil the cheerful mood they had built. That evening, David could be seen on the runway, he was sitting on a stic chair he grabbed from the small bar-like building on the other side of the building. Fad was sleeping inside the house, so he decided to take some time to himself to sort out his n for the future. "Forty-six million dors, I didn''t think it would reach that extent" Davidmented as he stared at the amount made from the services, Nous rendered. [Well sir, the generative A.I business may seem slow, but it is used by a lot of people, you as an undergraduate saw its potential, surely the graduates, researchers, scientists etc, all realized how useful it is] Chapter 37 Theory Chapter 37 Theory "I guess so. Anyway, have you found a suitable location?" David asked. [Yes sir, however, do you want to build from scratch or simply buy a building that can serve that purpose for you?] Nous asked. "We''re building from scratch, contractors don''t waste that much time, the problem here is the industries, we n to put our hands in, I already know we are entering the Virtual reality industry, which is just an extension of our gaming industry so what other ces should I put my hands in, Nigeria doesn''t truly havews that prevent me from dominating the market" David said. [We could still go into quantum technology, in fact we could make that our focus then branches out to other things through there, it will make it seem more natural, you can then produce quantum powered phones, devices, a quantum inte, a quantum virtual reality] "That does make sense then¡­ what would I do without you?" David said as he stood up from the chair and stretched. [Though sir, if you do n to do so, it is advised that you begin to learn more about these things, I am currentlypiling a list of courses, you will need to take before you can establish yourselves in the Quantum world] n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "I expected as much" David said as he looked at the massive list of courses, Nous hadplied They were all online courses and required him to register as a part-time student in various reputable schools, in fact from the list of hundreds of schools, he could count at least fifteen popr colleges that he needed to register as a part-time student including Harvard, M.I.T, Cambridge etc. "I''m assuming you''ll handle the registration part". [Naturally, sir] "Okay then but is this all, after all this I''m done?" David asked suspiciously. [No, sir these are the introduction courses to quantum technology, after that we begin true learning of the course, however sir, are you sure, you want to embark on this journey] "Sure, if the eventes then, we''ll deal with it for now, there is nothing I can do about it other than prepare" [Very well sir, I havepleted the list of all courses and created all necessary advanced courses needed for you to understand quantum technology to its fullest] "That''s good, apply effect [Understanding 10x], [Intellect 3x], these two should be enough for me, right?" David asked. [Effects recognized and applied, would you rather I create a virtual space for you to learn in or just as normal] "We''ll try out both" David replied. His aurapletely different from before, it was as though he was apletely different man. He felt more at peace with himself, his mind sorted through information at speeds he didn''t even think was possible. Within seconds, he already found the best Edit for the future. He somehow began to remember all he initially thought to have forgotten, everything became clear and brighter. With the way he was feeling now, David finally understood why many characters in fiction when after intellect. He felt invincible, However, he also knew that it wasn''t just the intellect alone that was making him feel that way. True, the increased intellect was the cause of most of the effect but the fact that his understanding was increased by more than ten times allowed him to aplish this feat. David sat outside for a few seconds before standing up and walking straight into the house, He matched straight to one of the more secluded rooms in the house, if he remembered urately, a study room was supposed to be in that section of the room. As soon as he entered said room, he was created with a calm and serene environment, all the cricket and frog noises vanished leaving only him and his thoughts which should normally be dangerous but now things were different. Immediately he picked up a paper and pen as well as conjured holographic screen after holographic screen, The goal was to absorb as much knowledge as possible and who can learn something as advanced as quantum technology in such a manner apart from someone whose basic ability toprehend things was out of this world. Further enhancing his body to keep up with his brain, David immediately went to work. As Nous had said, he needed to establish himself in the quantum field first before he could actuallye out. Renovatio could then be used as a stepping stone to his main goal but would only be after he had gotten all the credentials and qualifications if not, he would be questioned to high heavens, and he wouldn''t have an answer for them. Several minutes in, David had already covered the table with notes filled with calctions and theories both his own and more. With understanding as high as his, David cruised through the so-called introduction courses in a single night. However, this was majorly possible because unlike most students, he had Nous who helped to provide visual aids and help whenever needed. Inpiling the course, Nous already simplified them in order of increasing difficulty and in a manner that would allow him flow seamlessly between the courses. Coupled with his current increased speed and high-poweredprehension, he was truly capable of going through and learning it all in one night. However, that was what he thought. "Who came up with this stuff? where the hell did, they get this dumbass calctions from" Davidined. It wasn''t that it was difficult, he had long since surpassed the difficult part, that part was the real introduction to quantum mechanics. Even if he had only studied the field for one night, he could be ssified at least in theory be called an expert as he held knowledge on par with them. [Sir, I think you have mastered the basics] "What this is normal? Its clearly wrong!" [It is not wrong, however it isn''t right either, as of now, Quantum mechanics is at its developmental stage, like everything in reality, some of the current theories will prove to be wrong or part wrong in the future] Nous exined. "That makes sense but that also means that I can establish myself by simply refuting said theory, I mean I have the proof and it is directly rted to my futurepany" David said. [Wouldn''t that be better done when you create thepany] "True but to create thepany itself, I need to prove that I am an authority in the quantum field, It will help establish us in the future" [As you wish then sir] Nous replied as it generated a new holographic screen. Seeing the new screen, David immediately began to type in his new theory. He didn''t need to test it since it rhymed with the information already provided by Nous. Due to his increased speed, it only took an hour before the paper was done but he didn''t publish it. "I''m assuming that on one of the floors below us is aboratory, right?" David asked. [It is not exactly aboratory however it is redesigned to match you needs] "Okay then prepare it for arge-scale quantum experiment" David said as he stood up from his seat. Looking at the clock on the wall, David found it to be early in the morning. He had been at it throughout the entire night and in his opinion, it was all worth it. He made his way to the familiar elevator and soon he was inside the supposedboratory. Like Nous had said, it wasn''t aboratory, but he could see several bots working to make it into one. Truthfully, he didn''t need it since he knew that all the courses provided by Nous was urate and trustworthy but to prove them to the scientificmunity, it was needed. A few minutester, the entire floor began to look like some high-levelboratory. From somerge ring-like device in one of the rooms to all the other equipment on the floor, it made the floor easily pass off as some sort ofboratory. The good thing though was that while learning, Nous was able to generate Augmented reality visual aids that helped him learn quickly which helped him easily recognise most of the equipment in theboratory. ... ... Side story written by my friend, it''s bad but enjoy As soon as they got to the car, they immediately got in and David summoned a dragon, instead of summoning a normal dragon he ordered Nous to summon the level 10 electro dragon *Foooosh* ¡­the electro dragon bowed down .. "My Lord you called ¡­" Angora asked as soon as he appeared "We are about to attack the scavenger n in a battle of n ,they are rtively weakpared to us but strongpared to others" David replied "My Lord then why are you summoning me just to attack them since they are weaker than us" "They have been hunting weaker ns ¡­.but that isn''t why I''m attacking them. Their guild masters first son dares to ask me sister out and gave her a level 5 Pekka as a gift, that''s more annoying is how my sis started blushing" *ROAR!* "sphemy!!...My Lord if this is your reason for attacking them, please summon all our troops halt all attacks on the other ns and I''ll lead all the other lords and make the scavenger n non-existent" Enjoy Chapter 38 Teaching Chapter 38 Teaching "Okay then let''s get to work" David said as he quick got his hands busy With increased speed and perception, David zoomed around theb at speed almost invisible to the naked eye. Several minutester, a group of devices could be seen sitting before him. All the devices looked familiar but at the same time, they didn''t. "Remind me to mail this tomorrow" David said as he dropped thest device he was fiddling with. [As you wish, sir] Nous replied "Thank you¡­ since everything is ready, activate the cameras" David said as he quickly changed his clothes to look a bit more formal [Livestream in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1, you''re live now sir] Nous said as the holographic screen, Nous had generated as the camera shone bright red before returning to normal. "Good day to you all, Many of you may not know me since i have yet to actually show my face but I am the founder of Nous Industries. For better context, i am also the creator of the game ''Renovatio'', but that isnt what i am here for. I am here so i can seek advice on certain things. Fair warning if you have no interest in qauntum mechanics, i would advise you leave now" David said still in a professional manner. Looking at the top right corner of the holographic screen, he could see the number of viewers and it was quickly rising. From several tens to hundreds in just a few seconds, the problem was that he couldnt exactly smile for it because the number was a cumtive total of all viewers across all tforms. "That should be enough time for all who arent interested to leave, anyway back to my main topic, you see for the future of mypany, i have been studying a bit about quantum physics and even though i have mastered the most and even advanced it on my own, there are still a few theories that i find weird.." David continued "Anyway get ready because this is big and i will rant a lot but trust me you will enjoy it, now to understand where i aming from, you would need to understand quantum physics and to do that you need to go back to physics but i''ll try to exin as much as i can in a few hours" Saying this, David immediately swallowed a bit nervous. He trusted his augmentations and Nous but he was going to be addressing the entire world, it was a feat he wasnt used to. [Attribute effect [Teaching Expert] has being added to individual [David Nnaji] N?v(el)B\\jnn David quickly and quietly added an effect on himself to help him get his point across quickly. As soon as that was done, David turned to the grey-ish board behind him. He wrote the words ''Understanding Quantum Mechanics'' in bold. Without wasting anytime, David immediately got into his lecture. The n was to showcase his through understanding of the current existing knowledge before he begins to expose advanced knowledge. It wouldn''t be a one day thing but he knew it would be worth it at the end. While David continued his lecture, thement section was focused on something entirely different. The Nous ount was a very popr one amonsgt gamers which meant that in the time, he took to intriduce himself, he already gained about a million viewers. "Is it only me or does this guy look like he''s still in college?" ament read "Why does he look so average?" "This isnt what i expected, see you all in the next stream" "How old is he?" Thements came in one after the other and even if David could see them. Considering them inconsequential to his current n, David continued knowing that despite the generalck of interest shown in thements, he could still attract those who want to learn. David continued for almost and hour before he finally got his main point. He didn''t need to truly start from the beginning to get his point across. He only needed to give them a brief summary of everything. "Since when was quantum mechanics this easy" ament came in "Why is he teaching quantum physics on a livestream, i thought they would be announcing a new product or something" "Well for the past one hour, he had been teaching. It was easy to learn but still it didn''t make sense" With viewers now numbering in the millions and bordering a billion, David knew that no matter how things were, he had surelye across someone wit sufficient power in the scientificmunity. "Now this is the theory, we are all familiar with. It is the tried and true method but what if i tell you its wrong. I came across this and i felt like i needed to let the world know. To truly achieve Quantummunication, this would never work, however following thew of¡­" David began his true mission Doubling down, David immediately began to teach while referencing several of the objects he had built. They were visual aids and they worked perfectly. David proved his theory as thements immediately exploded "DId this guy just advance quantum physics right before my eyes?" "But can he beat goku tho?" "Truly using such a method would reduce the¡­." Comments afterments arose, many adopted it incstantly as he had provided proof of it working however most didn''t as they had yet test it on their own. For a theory to be adopted, it had to be proven not only by its generator but also by many others. It had to be able to give the same results even i thebs of other people. "Anyway that is where i would stop today but for those who want to rewatch this and understand what going on, you can find it on our youtube channel" David said before giving a slight bow and Nous cut off the camera "Do you think it''ll work?" David asked as he sat in the chair provided [That, i can not tell you sir, also i would like to inform you that that constructionpany has agreed to your price and construction starts today] "Thats good then¡­ When will they be done?" [Twenty two days from now, however all equipment will arrive a week after that, should i begin recruitment] ater, a group of devices could be seen sitting before him. All the devices looked familiar but at the same time, they didn''t. "Remind me to mail this tomorrow" David said as he dropped thest device he was fiddling with. Without wasting anytime, David immediately got into his lecture. The n was to showcase his through understanding of the current existing knowledge before he begins to expose advanced knowledge. It wouldn''t be a one day thing but he knew it would be worth it at the end. Chapter 39 "Hes Back" Chapter 39 "He''s Back" Okay I am sorry to you all, just realized I mistakenly reposted the one parts of thest chapter into this one. I would correct it but webnovel only allows me to make up to a 100 word edit... Sor please bear with me. ... ... While David continued his lecture, thement section was focused on something entirely different. The Nous ount was a very popr one amonsgt gamers which meant that in the time, he took to intriduce himself, he already gained about a million viewers. "Is it only me or does this guy look like he''s still in college?" ament read "Why does he look so average?" "This isnt what i expected, see you all in the next stream" "How old is he?" Thements came in one after the other and even if David could see them. Considering them inconsequential to his current n, David continued knowing that despite the generalck of interest shown in thements, he could still attract those who want to learn. David continued for almost and hour before he finally got his main point. He didn''t need to truly start from the beginning to get his point across. He only needed to give them a brief summary of everything. "Since when was quantum mechanics this easy" ament came in "Why is he teaching quantum physics on a livestream, i thought they would be announcing a new product or something" "Well for the past one hour, he had been teaching. It was easy to learn but still it didn''t make sense" With viewers now numbering in the millions and bordering a billion, David knew that no matter how things were, he had surelye across someone wit sufficient power in the scientificmunity. "Now this is the theory, we are all familiar with. It is the tried and true method but what if i tell you its wrong. I came across this and i felt like i needed to let the world know. To truly achieve Quantummunication, this would never work, however following thew of¡­" David began his true mission Doubling down, David immediately began to teach while referencing several of the objects he had built. They were visual aids and they worked perfectly. David proved his theory as thements immediately exploded "DId this guy just advance quantum physics right before my eyes?" "But can he beat goku tho?" "Truly using such a method would reduce the¡­." Comments afterments arose, many adopted it incstantly as he had provided proof of it working however most didn''t as they had yet test it on their own. For a theory to be adopted, it had to be proven not only by its generator but also by many others. It had to be able to give the same results even i thebs of other people. "Anyway that is where i would stop today but for those who want to rewatch this and understand what going on, you can find it on our youtube channel" David said before giving a slight bow and Nous cut off the camera "Do you think it''ll work?" David asked as he sat in the chair provided [That, i can not tell you sir, also i would like to inform you that that constructionpany has agreed to your price and construction starts today] "Thats good then¡­ When will they be done?" [Twenty two days from now, however all equipment will arrive a week after that, should i begin recruitment] "Leave that to Fad, it''s now her duty" David answered While it was his duty to bring out the services and products thepany offered. It was Fad''s duty as thepany''s CEO to run thepany itself. Since it was a self-fundedpany, there were no investors which also meant that all shares belonged to him. In fact he wasn''t truly as concerned about thepany as he was about the theory he just published. He had not only published the thesis but he had also provided video evidence of it working and then he had done a Livestream exining his thesis. He knew it was bound to get him some attention but he didn''t know how much attention. [Sir, I think it''s about time, you reduce the number of effects you have running. Your body is too weak to handle it all] Nous said drawing David''s attention back to himself "Oh that''s true" David replied as he quickly deactivated most of the effects on himself. As of now he had at least four effects enhancing his body. He had the initial rapid growth effect on him and then there was the permanent immortality effect, the intellect and understanding boost and finally the increased speed. "Hmm" David said as soon as he deactivated the effect on himself He immediately noticed the sharp drop in intellect, the once bright environment dulled. The eyes that spotted all became narrow in it''s vision, it was as though he had been possessed and the spirit was now gone. "I''m off to bed" David said since the sleep was finally catching up to him n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It was only a few more hours till morning and He and Fad would need to discuss all necessary arrangements before Nous Industries or specifically Nous Studios appears in the world for now. ¡­ Two dayster, Unknown location. In arge office building, a man could be seen in a suit and tie. Blending in naturally with all within the area however he walked with purpose almost as though he had a target to achieve and his life counted on it. The man walked straight towards an office on the other side of the building. All giving way as he walked and bowing slightly in greeting. Soon he approached his target them stopped. "You cane in" a voice called out from within the room Hearing the voice, the man walked into the room immediately. As soon as he entered the room, he spotted the man who was sitting behind the desk. It was a huge dark man who even while sitting seemed to tower over all. The man could be seen wearing a suit as well however from his domineer, it was clear that he was higher in rank. "You know this isn''t my ce of dwelling, all you have to do is knock and enter¡­ my permission isn''t needed" the man said "Sire!" The neer said before bowing "Rise, what news do you bring me this time?" The man said as he pointed towards one of the chairs before him "He is back sir, it has been confirmed" "And I am assuming, my brothers know this as well?" "Yes, your highness" "Then we wait and see¡­ this realm has been too quiet" ¡­. On arge mountain, inside a cave hidden from the world. Ady could be seen dressed in native attire, she stood before arge pit or opening in the mountain that seemed to run through the Earth itself. "He''s back, mother" thedy reported "After so many years, I almost thought it will never reach our turn¡­ do you think he will remember me?" a voice replied back, an elderly but still feminine voice "I do not know, Mother" "That is fair, do the others know about him yet?" "It is possible however I can not say for sure if that is true" "Well if you have heard it then they surely have¡­ I wonder what chaos will ensue now" the voice said before giving a chuckle. ¡­. All over the world, a simr conversation was being held between master and subordinate. All talking about a single man, their identities unknown however the man in question, could be seen standing on arge site. Heavy vehicles could be seen moving in and out, tons of materials could be seen lying around and hundreds of people performing one duty or the other. "You guys are really fast" Davidmented as he looked at the building that was slowly forming "Well sir we wouldn''t be number one if we were slow" the other party replied with a smile Hearing him, David nodded. He could attest to their speed. Construction only started this morning but they were almost done with the foundation of the building. "With the way things, are going by the end of the month they would be done" Fad stated as she came to a conclusion seeing the speed at which they progressed "No, they will finish the main building in about two weeks" David said correcting her The constructionpany wasn''t only making one building, the n for the Nous Industries headquarters involved many buildings to cater for all the products they nned to offer. The design Nous had provided incorporated everything thepany would need and the constructionpany was good at what they did. "That''s fast" "That''s why they were chosen, anyway follow me, I want to show you something" David said as he turned to her "What is it?" "I can''t tell you, you need to see it on your own to fully believe it" "Don''t tell me, did you create anotherpany or do something else yesterday night" Fad asked "Yes but not really and also no, all services I render is through Nous Industries" David said in a yful but professional manner. "Sha let it be something nice" She responded as they began to walk towards the car David had only brought her here simply to see that construction had started and was progressing quickly. As for recruitment of workers, that would be done by Fad in her own time. However that wasn''t what he wanted to do. She was to be CEO of thepany known as Nous Industries, apany run and managed by Nous, an A.I. Chapter 40 The Truth Chapter 40 The Truth It would be impossible for her to manage thepany effectively if she wasn''t introduced to the A.I and he nned to do that today though as of how he would do so, he didn''t know. "We''re going home?" Fad asked confused, "Yes" "Why?... Hope you didn''t buy any other thing that isn''t necessary?" She asked skeptically, knowing David, he could and has done many impulsive things in this life and she hoped that this wasn''t one of them "No, what could I possibly be buying at this point?" David answered "Okay, then what is it?" "Don''t worry, it''s not something dangerous or anything; it''s just something important you have to see before we actually start thispany," David said "Is it about the underground floors on the mountain, because I already know of those ones" "No and I was never hiding them, but this is much more important than that" David replied as he continued driving Hearing him, she became somewhat worried. She didn''t know why but she was worried, David was impulsive, and that was a known fact. The mountain may be a good deal, but it was a testament to his impulsiveness. "Don''t worry, everything is alright," David said as he ced his hand in hers to assure her that all was well. From her expression alone, he could tell that she was already thinking of the worst possible scenarios. He couldn''t me her since even he too would react in the same manner. However, before she bes CEO, it was necessary to introduce her to Nous and so far, he couldn''t think of any way to do that without revealing everything. Fad was smart and not only that, she was knowledgeable. Naturally he couldn''t say he knew exactly how much she knew but she knew enough to know that an A.I as advanced as Nous was impossible with the current technology. That fact alone made it impossible for him to just make up some lie and expect her to believe it. Any lie he made up would need to be supplemented with even more lies since the person it was being told to, knew much about the subject. Ensuring that she was now calmer, David focused on the road and soon they were back home. Without further hesitation, David led her to the elevator. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they entered arge space as the lights began to slowly turn on, automatically. It was theboratory or at least the makeshiftboratory, he had created. Looking around, she saw the various rooms which were filled with various equipment and items. Some of them were familiar with and the others she wasn''t too familiar with, most didn''t even look like what she would expect in aboratory. "David, is that a Quantumputer?" Fad asked pointing towards the center of the entire space At the location she was pointing at, a chandelier-like device could be seen hanging from the ceiling. Golden wired ran all through the device in aplex manner. It''splex wiring and design would made those who knew nothing about it call it a mere decoration while those in the know, would immediately recognize it as the most powerfulputer in the world... As of now. However, for some people, it would look a bit more like something drawn out of some sci-fi movie or something gotten from Area 51 and given to us by aliens. "Yes, it is" David replied as he stood and watched as she walked round theputer in awe. "Wait... where did you get the money to build one of these?" Fad asked She knew that David was now rich, but no matter how rich he had be, she knew he would never be able to afford to build one of these, especially one of this size. "How and when did you even build something like this?" She continued without waiting for his reply. "That''s the thing, I didn''t spend any more on it and I didn''t build it alone, I had help." "What do you mean... Oh my god, David, don''t tell me you''re a front for some mysteriouspany?" "What?... No" "Why would you even think that?" David asked "Then what''s going on?" She asked "Before I exin everything well, I would like to introduce you to my partner, Nous." As soon as his words fell, the familiar green particles appeared and began gathering on the table before them. Turning to Fad to see her reaction, he saw her simply standing there and watching. There were no significant changes to her reaction, she just stood and watched. Within seconds, the green particles had gathered, and Nous''s body was fully formed. [Good day Ma''am, my name is Nous, artificial intelligence created by the Editor, David Nnaji] Nous said as it gave a slight bow towards her "David, what is this?" "It''s exactly what it says it is" "Since when did you dabble in artificial intelligence?" She asked, still wth aconfused look on her face "For that part, we need to go to the beginning" "I have time, go on" "Okay, you see, I am what they call an Editor, I don''t yet know what it entails but I am able to edit reality once a month. My first Edit was creating Nous" David said, trying to exin as much as he could. "What''s that?" [I may be able to exin that] Nous suddenly said "Go on?" [Master is an Editor, a being selected at random by the universe for the purpose of ensuring peace and efficiency of the Universe, they are a neutral entity and Master has been selected to be one] Nous exined "Does that mean you''re some sort of god or something?" Fad asked "Probably, I don''t know... Anyway the things you need to know is that I can edit reality and Nous was born from such an Edit" "When did all these start?" "Early Last month" David replied Looking at her face, David felt as though he was in trouble. He clearly didn''t do anything but she has yet to react despite all that was happening. "That means you have an edit remaining them, use it on me" she said as a smile formed on her face. Looking at her smile, David immediately began tough. He had forgotten, she was as much a geek as he was. Like he has epted the power quickly and easily, of course she too would do the same. "What? Am I not deserving of one?" She asked "No, no... Don''t mind me, its just I expected a different reaction" "Well that''s your choice, now about my edit?" "Actually no, I can''t... The second edit has been used" "So soon.. what did you use it on?" "The mountain, allows me do this" David said the pointed at one of the equipment on the table Following her s thoughts, the item immediately began to float into the air. David had applied the ''float'' effect on it. "Telekinesis?" "No, I can give thimgs any effect or ability I want, I applied the ''float'' effect on it so it floats" David exined as he applied the same effect on her "Woah!" She said as she slowly began to float n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Remove it!!!" She screamed seeing that she had no control To help ease her, David held her and slowly dragged her down before removing the effect. The space maybe underground but it''s ceiling was ridiculously high. "You''re okay now" "But if you''ve used your second edit then what about me, what do I get?" "Immortality, Endless evolution... Nous even said I made you a god" "What does that mean?" "Ask Nous, It''s the omniscient one in this rtionship" David said pointing towards the green being that was still standing on the table [It means exactly what it means, normally such uncontrolled evolution would be a bad thing but even when not in duty or editing, an Editor''s wishes still shapes their surrounding and in your case, it''s not so uncontrolled] Nous exined "Damn, you''re really powerful" Fad said "I know" David replied with a proud smile on his face and took a stance "Wait, nothinges for free, why was the Editor power given to you?" Fad asked as the smile slowly disappeared "About that, The Adminstrator said that the Earth will undergo an event, now as for the size or what the event entails, I don''t know" David said expressing his frustration Even if he had decided to stop worrying about the Event for now, it didn''t mean that he had stopped thinking about it. It still weighted greatly in his heart, the very fact that a being as powerful as an Editor was created for it meant that whatever it was would be catastrophic. "If there is such a thing then why are you focused on getting rich?" Fad asked "It is simple, I don''t know what type of event it will be... Gods exist so it could be rted to it, humanity is already on its way to destruction so it may also be something that I could do something about and it maybe something I can''t do anything about... I will do what I can but for now, the n is to be the most powerful in the world" David ranted. Chapter 41 Plan Chapter 41 n "but even then it''s still wise that you focus on trying to end the event or help as much people as you can survive" Fad said "That is the n and I am working on that but for now, the n is to be so important, the world has to listen when I speak" David replied with a smile. "So then what''s the n?" "For now, be the world''s leading authority in technology and maybe one day you or I run for Nigerian Presidency... The more responsibility I gain, the more power I gain" "That''s too much but then how do you want to go about it?" "That''s where Nous Industriese in, but first which do you think is better as a starter product... Nous Phones and other rted devices or the Quantum inte" "Don''t be stupid, you already have the game, it''s much more logical for you to enter the Virtual Reality industry" "I know that but the n is to be the top, npot just in gaming, Renovatio is theoretically the best game ever created and by next year, I n to release the Multiyer version along with our VR devices but for now, we need to focus on something else" David exined Releasing the multiyer version of the game too soon wouldn''t be good for the game especially considering that it would normally take at least two months even for speedrunners to finish the standard story mode of the game. There was also the fact that speedrunner and mythbusters will do what they do best and make more details series like "Here are five things you missed in Renovatio" God knows that series like that had made him download certain games just to check out said mechanics or hidden features. Renovatio, itself was a hidden features considering that it simted reality. Exploring the offline map would keep them busy for a long time. "You''re ambitions are really high" Fadmented after a brief moment of thinking "So what product do you think it''s best" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Well, working on a quantum inte would mean that we get to meet the higher ups of the nation. If fully realized, then governments all over the world would be begging that wee to their nation.... That should help us achieve our aim then" Fad said analysing each product "And besides, I feel like the quantum phone is more of a way for you to see what a quantumly enhanced phone can do" Fad said looking at the young man who already turned his eyes away "Okay, you''ve got me but wouldn''t you want to see what it will be like" David said "I would but either way, we need to start working on getting them patented... Nous, I am assuming you can create the quantum phone right?" [Yes, I can] Nous replied "Okay then if you can get me two working prototypes, we can begin the patent process... Also please provide step by step exnation on how to create it" [I will immediately begin working on that] Nous replied as the green figure vanished "Okay, bossdy donnd" David said as he poked her shoulder "Stop, be serious for now... I should probably start recruiting for now right?" "We don''t have a ce to hold said interviews for now, so we should probably wait until the headquarters is done" David replied "That is true but it doesnt mean that we cant start sending out recruitment messages and even begin their training...st, i checked you have about five buildings on this mountain that are empty" Fad said "Even if you do so, won''t they still need someone to teach them?" David asked He understood what she wanted to do, but as of now, they didn''t have experts they could invite to help train the future employees of thepany and trying to invite any was expensive "When you said that Nous was omniscient, did you mean it? "Yeah" "Then i think she can manage it, why invite someone else to teach them, when we have a literal god here who can help us do that" Fad stated "That makes sense and also, it''s an it" "What?" "Nous is an it, not a she, until it states otherwise; it possesses no gender." "Whatever, anyway, I''m going" Fad said as she turned to leave "Don''t forget your fellow schoolmates!" David shouted after her "They''re my main target" Fad replied before the elevator door opened. With her gone, David simply stood there feeling proud of himself. Things had gone way better than he had thought, Fad had taken it well... though he found it weird that she believed him quickly. Then again there was the fact that he would never be able to develop or create an Artificial intelligence or even a whole quantumputer on his own. They alone stood as evidence to his im so they probably heloed convince her quickly. "Lets get started on the prototypes then" David said out loud as he began walking deeper into theb. [As you wish sir] Nous replied A quantum phone was a redundant and useless product if one truly thought about it. Apart from the advanced security and quicker means ofmunication, David couldnt see any other use it had that the current phones didnt already have. ssic phones were already so fast that if you managed to send one back in time to before we put a man on the moon. They would be able to do so in weeks... We only needed four megabytes of ram to put a man on the moon and regr phone had way more than that now. Yes, it was true that quantum phones will function on a fundamentally different levelpared to normal phones, which will allow them to have much quicker processing speed, better memory management and so on but its main purposey in the security aspect of it. While thinking this, David put on his standardb gear and more considering that some of the equipment and chemicals he was about to work with were harmful to the human body. Several minutester, he was standing before arge machine that could be seen working on some unknown element of the new phone. As the machine worked, David went to a section of the machine and began shovelling in some coal like substance into a hole at the back of the machine. [Kalt level sufficient] Nous said as David stopped. With that David saw the machine immediately began humming even louder as its work truly began. Secondster, the humming stopped as David moved to a section to see the product of machine''s work. It was a small chip, so small in fact that it fit perfect on his finger. David looking at the chip smiled. "By the way, Nous can you get smallie to start working on patenting Kalt as well... it will probably take more time" [Already informed her of it, she said to tell you and i quote "Thunder fire you"] "Aww, she''s getting frustrated with me, if only she knew how many more things she will be patenting in the future" David said with a smile He understood her frustration after all, he was adding to her work. However, Kalt wasn''t the only new thing that would be developed by Nous industries so she would patent a lot of things in the future. Kalt despite its unassuming name was a new element that Nous had created in order to facilitate the creation of the Quantumputer. The only reason why they were able to stand so close to it even it was activated was simply because of Kalt. Kalt was a metal with various magical attributes that it may as well be a magical metal. Of course, it didn''t actually have any magical properties rather it could conduct hundred percent of all electricity with none of the heat. However, the downside to it was thatpared to most metals, Kalt wasn''t as durable. The chip in his hand was made entirely of kalt and like the Quantum chip in the Quantumputer, this too was expected to do its duty while generating little to no heat at all. David took the chip in his gloved hand to another station where he immediately began his own part of the work which was to solder the chip into the motherboard. Normally a machine would be perfect for this but unfortunately, he didn''t have any such device as of now. David spent a few hours trying his best to solder the chip and all otherponents into the motherboard without damaging any of them. After that was to assemble it along with all other part of the phone. "Finally," David screamed holding on to the phone. Looking at it now, David found it to look almost no different from the regr phones apart from the clear design differences. Its screen shone ck, its casing had a dark blue colour to it which enhanced the beauty of the device even more. Chapter 42 Nous Phones Chapter 42 Nous Phones David stared at the new phone in his hand. It was beautiful but as usual, that was all. The measure of a smartphone wasn''t just it''s casing and how it looked. It''s software was what mattered the most and as of now he had yet to encode one into the phone. It was just higher-grade junk, he still needed to create an Operating system that will suit the device. "Let''s get started on the O.S." David said as he plugged in the device to a box-like device nearby. As soon as he did so, he moved to a monitor close by. This was where the real work began; the quantum chip and all other advancements in the phone would all be useless without this part. [I am ready when you are, sir.] Nous responded "Okay then," David replied as he began creating the operating system for the phone. Of course, he wasn''t actually the one doing the creating. Nous did that part; his duty in this was to simply design it, just like a graphic designer would design a flyer or a logo. Whatever he made, Nous would bring it to reality after refining it. Despite such an easy process, David still spent hours on it. It was easy... Or at least was said to be easy but he was no graphic designer, nor did he have any experience dealing with such interfaces. Nous did most of the work by refining his shabby work into masterpieces that will probably be liked by all. An hourter, a fully functioning operating system was done and encoded into the phone''s hardware. All that remained was testing and that part was easily done. He could simply give it to a number of people to use for a month and after that, they will tell him how it was However, he didn''t have that time, so he needed to use it for a day. He may have only recently learnt about the inner workings of a phone but when it came to resting the limits of one, he had bountiful experience to draw from. "Come to think of it, will this things OS even support regr apps" David asked finally thinking about the main problem. ssic apps worked with different programmingws to quantum applications, the device in his hand of used for its original purpose could be used to figure out new medicines. Develop and cure diseases. In simple terms, quantum technology as a whole didn''t mat h civilian use and he was trying to do that. ssic apps from the y store or the Apple store will probably never work on the phone, so he needed a way to make that happen. [That can be achieved by simply working with Google before the release of the phone or I can add in the function that automatically recodes any downloaded app into a Quantum application] Nous suggested "That could work... But wouldn''t partnering with Google be better, I mean they own Android... Your Nous OS may be superior, but they are the existing one now" [That is not advised sir, Android is an open-source operating system. Google may own it but it can be used by all, I believe that adding a ssic to quantum code to the operating system will solve our issues though it will need to be registered with them first] "If you say so, it''s not like I really have any say in any of these... Fad makes the final decisions on these things" David replied He didn''t care, either way, his main worry would be solved and to rest it out. He immediately plugged in the device again and Nous did its magic. In doing so, David noticed a lot more changes to the operating system. The app store he had created hadpletely vanished and was now reced by the Google y. "Yeah, no... The goal is to be us, this is Nous OS not Android OS" [That would mean creating an entirely new app store from scratch] "Is that difficult or what?" [No, it''s not however, we would need to somehow get developers to register their apps with us] "No, we just need to have arge number of pre-orders then the developers wille... We can even offer free debugging services for half a year, if they don''t join us then it''s their loss" David replied [If you say so] Nous replied in its usual neutral tone He nned for Nous Industries to be solely independent unless absolutely necessary. To rectify the problem, David immediately reconnected the device to the quantum device and Nous immeditely corrected it. [Is there anything i should add in sir] "I cant really think of anything now so that should be all for now" David replied as unplugged the phone and immediately turned it on. As the phone came on, arge ''N'' appeared on screen but it was designed in such a wayv that it looked sort of like a quantum chip but the gaps in between formed the letter. This was the logo he chose for thepany, it wasnt much and would probably be changed soon but it did the job he wanted. It showed that they werent just any techpany rather they were one focused entirely on quantum technology. As soon as the logo disappeared, the phone screen brightened with it fully turned on now. With nothing to do, David immediately begun to check its interface for anything he could add or remove. "Come to think of it, about the quantum inte, when it is fully established wouldnt we be able to charge people a monthly subscription for it" David suddenly thought [That should be possible] "That also means we can work as awork provider.. the possibilities are just endless for Nous Industries" David said as he put the phone in his pocket and turned to leave. He was done here and nned to go rest his mind. As for the monthly subscription n for the quantum inte that would wait until he figures out the best ways to implement it in Nigeria. If he does so in Nigeria and people adopt it here then the demand for it will increase abroad and then they were expand there too. It was just the way of things. Unlike the rest of the world, Nigerians didn''t exactly fear being monitored and the rest which gave them the chance to adopt new technology quickly. Well, as long as said technology was said to be safe. 5G was still an issue here not because of what the inte said but because people said that the equipment installed to facilitate thework was poisonous to the environment. N?v(el)B\\jnn That fact alone made it an if in the country but as soon as someonees along and exins howworks work. All those worries will be thrown away. David walked out of theb and straight into his bed room. It was time to sleep, there was nothing left for him to do anymore. The phone was done and all that remained was to test it, Fad was handling the patent process as well as the construction of the factories and buildings under thepany. In simple terms, all was going great. As soon as he came up, he found that Fad had yet to return. The car was missing which meant that she was still out there. "8:12 and she''s still outside, what happened?" Davidined He couldn''t hide it nor did he ever deny it. He was possessive and if anyone saw that as a w then they probably don''t love their wife enough. "Nous, please call her" [I don''t think that would be a good idea now] "What?... Why?, what is she doing?" David asked already imagining the worst possible scenarios [It may be best for you to hear it] Nous said as the sound of several cars honking and shouts could be heard all over the ce. "Madam move your motor na, abi na because you carry big car!!" A person shouted "Which kind witch be this one na, Oga 1 no dey changene like that na... I swear if you scratch my car, thunder go fire you" The insults were unending and amongst them was Fad whose own voice was drowned by everything happening. She was neither cussing anyone nor was she shouting at anyone. However just as they were frustrated, so was she. Seeing the situation, she was in, David immediately smiled and thanked Nous. [It''s a pleasure serving you sir] Abuja may not be known for traffic due to its good roads and all but traffic does ur every now and then and Nigerians aren''t exactly the most patient people around. He understood why Nous had suggested not to call. He overprotective tendency would not be seen as cute or good in this situation, she would instead pour out all the anger from that situation on him. Since he didn''t want to be on the recieving end of that, David simply took his bath and decided to wait in the living room. .... . .. 1. Oga means boss but most times it''s used in an insultove way or just simply when you don''t know the person''s name Also I will be stockpiling for Next month''s win-win after this chapter... So what do you think his next edit should be Chapter 43 Tier 1-ish Chapter 43 Tier 1-ish The next day, David could be seen performing his usual dance. The dance, as usual, contained several unusual poses that even he thought that it was pure madness for it to be considered a workout routine. However who was he to question the omniscient being who had created it. David performed the dance for nearly an hour before he finally rested. "Ha!.. Ipleted it" David shouted in between breaths [Congrattions sir, you are now close to Tier 1] Nous said as David''s eyes widened in shock "You mean it?!" David asked almost as though he couldn''t believe it n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om [Yes sir, however whether you can cross over to tier one is entire up to you, nothing I do can help you achieve that] "What does that mean?, why does it feel like you''re about to send me on some kind of quest?" David asked as he managed to drag himself to a nearby chair. Despite getting used to the training routine, enough to actually be able to not only keep up with the shadow but also enough toplete the entire thing in one go. David''s body still ached him. He felt as though his body was on fire, his heart was definitely beating three times as fast. He could feel the blood flowing through his entire body at speeds that shouldn''t be. He knew that it was impossible to have zero percent body fat but at the moment, he felt his body rapidly converting said body fat into muscle. Of course, he knew that in order to stablise himself, all he needed to do was eat. However he was more interested in what Nous had to say than food and beside, Nous already assured him that the transformation would be a good thing for only about thirty minutes, anything extra would impact his healthy greatly. [The so-called tier 1 realm is one you should be familiar with. Energy is introduced, the practitioner bes able to consciously use and manipte the energy within and around them] "So every tier 1 is a lesser god then cause that''s energy maniption right there... They alone can takeplete control over the Earth" [That is indeed true but like there are tier 1s, there are also tier 2s, all the way to nine] "Okay I get it; they all keep each other in check, right?" [That is correct sir] "Okay then, where do you fall within this category" [I cannot be ssified by this system sir, my situation is a rather special one] "I''m just gonna lump you in with the tier nine, you probably have some other secret techniques, you know" He may not understand what Nous meant by what it had said but he did know that the big Os traveled in a pack. They were a state of being not an ability, one cannot just be Omnipotent without being omniscient and omnipresent. [That is your own opinion] "Anyway where do I begin in sensing this energy" [Like I said initially, I wouldn''t be able to help you in this matter, only you can do it] "Exactly how am I supposed to sense this energy when I don''t even know what it''s like" [No two persons awaken into the tier one with simr internal energies, it is a unique event for everyone. Like you humans have you unique retinas and finger prints, internal energy is unique to every single user] "So you can''t really help me in any way?" David asked [I can''t however I can tell you that it would be to think about the character ''superman'' in order to achieve your aim] "What does that mean? Is superman some sort of secret code I don''t know?" David asked He didn''t understand what Nous was talking about. How was superman rted to an Editor? Was she talking about how powerful he will be if he awakened as a tier one. [You will have to figure all that on your own] Nous responded before going silent again. David sat out there for a while as he thought of what the A.I said before finally deciding to get something to eat. His cooking may be bad but he was improving steadily. Sitting with a te of burnt rice before him, David scrolled through the inte on the new phone. Achieving that was easy, all he had to do was connect to the homework. "Some of superman''s greatest feats..." A content creator screamed almost on top of his lungs Scrolling without any hesitation at all, he was a geek and despite his focus been entirely on the Anime or for the uncultured, japanese animations, he still knew a lot about the DC and the Marvel universes. However all these were not what he was looking for, he already knew how powerful Superman was but how was that supposed to help him achieve his aim. "Nous, you said that our power system is somewhat simr to the cultivation power system, right?" David asked realizing something. [I did say so] "Okay then, I think I understand now.... You could have just said that from the beginning" [All is obligated to give as little help as possible to an individual who is about to awaken as a tier one, only to provide necessary information and nothing else] "Whatever" David said as he rolled his eyes and immediately knelt on the ground Despite trying to be as crytic about the whole thing, the key to entering tier one was simply taking control of one''s internal bio-electricity. As for the superman reference, Nous was simply referring to the character''s bio-electric aura. It allowed him perform the feats he did. As for if he was going to be that powerful when he reached tier one, David had no idea. All that mattered was that to advance to tier one, he needed to be able to feel and manipte the bio-energy his body generated. "This is going to be tricky" David thought as he changed posture. He got into a lotus position copying all the cultivation manhwa, anime and other media he had seen. He didn''t truly understand what he was to be looking for here. However, he now knew the name of what he had to look for. It was bio-energy, not getting into the technical part this was simply the total amount of energy a body produces. He could sense it in the form of stamina but that wasn''t what he needed now, he needed to be able to use it to perform other feats which meant that he needed it in it''s basic form. David sat for hours trying to feel said energy but nothing happened even with all the training boosting effects he added to himself, he still couldn''t achieve it. "Hey David!" He heard a call from within the house "What?!" He answered and immediately stood up He was done for today, he couldn''t bear it any longer. It was no wonder why characters in cultivation manhua and novels were always so stupid. They spend so much time out of society cultivating that when they return, they discover that they have been left behind by the world. Themon sense leaves them, standard things be not so standard then you have their ''courting death'' scenes After spending so much time, it was no wonder everything was as bleak as it was to them. Anyway answering the call, David immediately went towards its source. The source, Fad could be seen in the living room holding a set of documents. She seemed interested in them but mainly focused on one. "What happened?" "Its a letter for you, apparently you are being invited to Harvard to give a lecture.... Since when were you able to do so?" Fad asked "That can''t be right, right?" David asked as he picked up the letter True to her words, it was exactly what they said. Of course, the event would take ce next year since their schedule was packed for now. Looking at the document, it seemed like an if. If things went well then he would attend it because why not and if the event happened before then, there would be no Harvard at all. "What does it say?" "It''s not a lecture, it''s a thesis defence, they want me to argue with established professionals as to why my theory is correct" Davis replied with a shrug "What theory?" "Honestly, I don''t think you want to get into it now. Anyway this simply proves that we are bing an authority in the quantum field" David replied "That one concern you, abeg have you seen the remote... I want to enjoy my weekend before Monday''s work begins" Fad said as she rxed into the chair. Looking at her, David couldn''t me her. By Monday, a section of the main building would be done which would mean that it would be useable so they nned to begin recruiting then. From Monday, the real work began. Of course, this was only just hiring people who would work in thepany when it was fully built and nothing else. Chapter 44: Interview Chapter 44: Interview ? "Gabriel!!, get up this boy, you will not kill me in this house" a voice shouted as a loud crow was heard in the background "Ma?" A young male voice was heard as it''s owner sat up on his bed. Cleaning his eyes over and over again, the young man who looked to be in his mid twenties. Stared at the wall for a while as though trying to reregister his environment into his mind. "Gabriel get up, you will bete" the female voice was heard again but this time much closer as soon the door opened revealing an elderly woman "Okay ma" Gabriel replied as he pped himself twice with both hands to wake himself up fully. With that he immediately jumped up from the bed to get himself ready to face the day. Turning, he immediately began to make his bed and after that was straight to the showers. Twenty five minutester, he was fully dressed and ready for the day. Smelling nice and ready to face the world, he picked up his phone. "Mommy, what did you say the time was again?" He asked as he left his room to the main living area "4:56, what happened... get ready this boy you will bete" The woman said again "Mommy, it''s just four o''clock on the morning... where will I even find keke1 that is going there" Gabrielined "Trek, na person you be2" the woman said before cing a te full of food on the table before him "But mommy, this thing you''re doing is not good o" Gabriel continued "See look, this is a chance we may never see again... how many interviews have you been to now? They are all looking for ten years experience from fresh graduates... this one is outright asking for you people, do you know how many people will rush it... my son better shine your eyes3 for this Abuja" she advised "Okay ma, I get you but four o''clock... haba"!" "That one concern you oo, sha3 just do and start going before people full there" she said as she sat and watched him eat Less than thirty minutester, Gabriel was at the door ready to leave. His mother could be seen knotting his tie better and ensuring he looked as presentable as possible. "Make sure you get a job this time" the woman shouted after him "I will try!" Gabriel replied before taking in a deep breath and stepping out into the road. Entering vehicle after vehicle, almost an hourter and with a whole new hatred for humanity. He finally made it to his destination, thergepound building with the sign ''Nous Industries'' on it. "Omo" this ce big oo" Gabrielmented as he admired the new environment "Gabriel!... na you be that?" A new voice called out Turning to the source, Gabriel saw a young man of simr or slightly above. Like him, he too made sure to be as presentable as possible "Matthew dem no teach you respect for house which kind heart attack you wan give me like this" Gabriel shouted as he quickly smacled his friend on the head Dodging his hand, the friend, Matthew retaliate with a p of his own. The twoughed it off almost as though the brief show of violence was a normal urance. "What are you doing here?" Matthew asked "What else" "Ah, Software engineers" the two said in unison while giving each other a weird look After that the two began walking towards the main building, as they walked, they came upon more and more people. All dressed and seemingly ready for the interview. Looking at them, Gabriel began to feel nervous. Many of them looked smarter than he did in fact if he took the ce of thepany, he would hire them and leave him behind. Despite the dark and it being the early hours of the morning, Gabriel could see several hundreds of people standing and waiting already for the interview ro start. Thepany had yet to even open it''s gates in fact the security guard had yet to evene but they were here. "This reminds me of school those days" Gabriel said looking around "I swear... ah imagine we finish waiting and theye and tell us that they can''t attend to our set" "God abeg, this one no be school oo" Gabriel eximed Almost an hourter, they finally saw someone rted to the building before them. It was a security guard, walking past them as though they didn''t matter. All he did was simply open the gates to the seeminglyrgepound. The man let them in and let them stay within the safety of thepany''s walls. "I don''t know why you guys came this early, the interviews start by eight o''clock in the morning" the guard said as he observed the many people in crowd "Anyway you all should stay here, I can''t help you with the cold but at least you''re safer here than out there" the man said before leaving. Several minutester, they all saw him return with a chair as he sat just a few meters away from them. He sat at a location just far enough that he could watch over everything but close enough to control them effectively. His duty was still to guard thepany''s properties. Gabriel and co simply found any space they could to sit and wait... many needed to sleep so after ensuring that all their belongings are well safeguarded, they did so. Hours passed as they saw more and more people enter thepound, however many of them were simply workers who matched straight to the covered up section of thepound. They didn''t know what was going on there but anyone could guess what it was from the heavy duty machinery that were littered everywhere in the area. "When are these people finally going to start this thing?" They all haard someonein Hearing the shout, silence reigned since they somewhat expected something to happen but after seeing theck of reaction from the security guard and the others who were with him. They all simply nodded in agreement, they all felt as though they had waited for too long but since they were here for a job, none spoke out. More time passed and it was almost time, there was still no announcements neither had they seen anyonee address them, they didn''t know what was happening and they hoped things will go well. While they waited with even less hope that before, they all finally saw it. The most controversial vehicle they had ever seen in their lives. It was a nice SUV, it had a light brown paint with golden ents and on its front was the most important part of the machine, it''s logo. The Lamborghini logo stuck out like a sore thumb "Since when Lamborghini create this one abeg?" Someone asked, speaking the minds of everyone in the crowd. As soon as the car stopped, the security guard immediately stood up and ran towards it. Seeing this disy, they all understood that whoever was inside the vehicle was definitely important. "Good morning madam!" The security guard greeted as soon as the door opened to reveal a young woman in a fancy suit. "Good morning, you know you don''t have toe greet me personally right?" Fad asked "Don''t worry ma, I just prefer it this way" the man answered with a smile "Well then suit yourself... are they all here for the interview?" Fad asked as she pointed towards them "Yes, ma" "Okay then once it''s time, I''ll inform you and remember batches of ten each" "Yes ma''am" the man answered and began walking towards his position again. With that as well, Fad turned and walked into the building. Nous Industries currently had zero employees apart from th security guard. Even the security guard wasn''t even an employee yet, He was just a homeless guy that used to stay near thepany''s environment so David decided to give him the job considering that despite the man''s situation, he was still quite educated. Like many other there, the man was simply an unfortunate soul who got dealt an extremely bad set of cards. Ignoring all the noise as the people got prepared for the interview. All began to check their documents to confirm if all was in order, others began checking their dressing hoping to make a good impression. Since many of them had experiences being rejected for various reasons during other interviews, they all tried their best to ensure that everything would go well. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, Gabriel sat where he was after ensuring that his documents were in order watching even as his heart beat rapidly in his chest. This was the only ce that would give him a good job, manypanies and jobs were either looking for someone with ten years of experience or could only be gotten through connections. Nous Industries, specifically stated that they only wanted fresh graduates within a span of three years. 1. ''Keke'' is simply a ng name for Tricycles, they are popr in Nigeria and are a major means of transportation. 2. ''Na person you be'' trantes to ''you are a person''. She is simply telling him that he can do it like many others before him 3. ''shine your eyes'' simply means ''be cautious'' or ''be prepared for anything''. Something along that line. Simply means that you should be ready for anything 4&5. ''Haba'' & ''Sha'' have no real meaning. They are either there to enhance the ir or the meaning of the sentence or they are just exaggerating quotes or something simr 6. ''Omo'' has no real meaning in this context however it is a Yoruba word which means ''Child of''. You can remove it from the sentence and it will still make perfect sense 7. ''Dem'' simply a pidgin version of ''them''. Usually used when referring to a specific group of people Chapter 45: Interview (II) Chapter 45: Interview (II) ? Looking around, he could see the hope and absolute nervousness in the eyes of many. If they failed this, then there was no more hope of getting a job for what they studied for. It would then be up to their connections. If not, then it would be time to simply give up and go start some form of handy work. That could range from bricying to being a mechanic. None of them wanted to do that after spending who knows how much and sacrificed so much in school. Nigerian schools weren''t so easy to survive and yet they did and even passed. They didn''t n to waste all that sufferng. Of course unlike Gabriel and his friend, not all waiting for the interview were as bothered. Majority of them had connections in high ces who would immediately set them up with better jobs and living conditions. Seeing that it was almost time for the interviews to start, they all stood and began to prepare for it, giving all they came with ast minute check up. The group prepared their minds and ensured was well as they turned to see the Security guard walking towards them. "Okay everyone, Madam hase and the interview would be starting soon but before we start, please can you all group yourselves. Each group should have six people in it" The man said in the most professional way he could muster. "Ah which kind wah be this now" Some one shouted in frustration Hearing him, many others also raised their voices in frustration, generating a huge amount of noise. Looking at them, the security guard simply shook his head. He could understand their frustrations but at the same time, they were none of his business. "Everyone, quiet down... remember the information passed on to you stated that the interview would start by eight o''clock in the morning, it was you all that decided toe when you can, just group yourselves and get ready to be called on" the security guy said His words immediately calmed down the crowd who immediately figured out that their frustration was their''s alone to bear. As soon as the crowd queitened down, all immediately began to group themselves. Gabriel and Matthew immediately partnered with those around them. "This one that they are grouping us, hope this interview will go well" Matthew said Hearing him, Gabriel said nothing, there was nothing he could say apart from a nod. He didn''t understand what was going on, this clearly wasnt how normal interviews went. However they all still stood and stll waited their turn, they all had no choice in the matter. Seeing that they were all grouped up, the security guard came along and gave each group a number. Gabriel saw it as though they were back in school but chose to ignore it as it helped maintain order. "Fifty-four, lets hope this thing doesnt take time" Matthew said looking at the small paper given to them. "If your number is called, please step up and walk straight into the facility, Madam Fad would be there waiting, do what she tells you so we can leave here sooner" The security guard announced before returning into the building. All stood and watched, many began to familiarize themelves with the people they were grouped with.It helped pass tme and was also in preparation in case the interview was some sort of physical test to see if they could work in a group. "Number One!!" The man shouted as soon as he came out of the building Hearig him, the crowd echoed his words as the first group stepped out. Even if he wasnt close to them, Gabriel coud feel their heat beating from where he stood. Their nervousness was contagious as all within the area immediately had a heavy aura or something like that fall on them. His heart beat picked up pace, sweat began to form all over his body and even in his palm despite not dong anything. "Omo see as person dey sweat, the thing never even begin" Gabrielmented as he quickly began to wipe away the sweat. He wasn''t the only one, as he looked around to see many doing one thing or another to mitigate the nervous feeling in their hearts. Many chewed their nails; many simply bought food and began to wolf it down. However, the heavy aura still remained. They watched as the group went in, all trying their best to feign ack of concern but anyone sensitive enough could tell that any more tension would make them copse. Gabriel watched wondering how a newpany had managed to create such an atmosphere without even doing anything at all. It was as though the building itself generated some sort of aura that intimidated them, but it didn''t. It was just a building but yet all of them feared going into it now. Soon the group walked into the building and for some reason, a part of Gabriel expected to immediately begin to hear screams instead everywhere was quiet. The quietsted for almost half an hour before they all saw the group walk out again. Looking at them, a look of confusion immediately appeared on their faces. "Number two!!" The guard called out as the second group immediately rushed out As the guard led the second group in, the people immediately rushed the first group and immediately bombarded them with questions. The group answered none, making the crowd angry even more for some reason. Gabriel and a few other noticed that the group had confused looks just simr to the ones on their faces when they came out. It could be said that even they, themselves didn''t fully understand what had happened in there. From their expressions alone, Gabriel could onlye to the conclusion that the interview was either easy or that thepany had magical abilities to erase their memories. After the crowd left them, the first group immediately grabbed their things and left in order to avoid getting beat up by the semi-angry crowd. Exactly half an hourter, the second group came out and just like the first group, they too looked confused however about two of them seemed to have this look of enthusiasm on their faces. Just like the first group, they didn''t answer any questions posed by the crowd. This immediately ruled out the possiblity of thepany having some sort of magical ability to erase memories. It also erased the possiblity that he had somehow transmigrated into a fantasy world without knowing. The look of enthusiasm on the people''s faces meant that the interview probably wasn''t conducted in the conventional way. "Number three!!" The guard shouted as the next group stepped forward. "How is it even this fast, it''s just one person inside there apart from the guard" Matthew asked Hearing him, everyone immediately nodded as they too held the same question in their hearts. From the time they saw thedy go into the building till when they began the interviews. They didn''t see any other person enter the main building. All who came around them headed straight for the construction site by the side or at the back of the building. Unless there was some form of backdoor that employees were required to use, if there was none then only thedy was in there. "Do you think she''s selecting based on who she likes?" Matthew asked out of curiosity "Omo, I don''t know oo" Gabriel answered in a tone that suggested that he was almost to tears. Due to how things were going, he couldn''t refute the boy after all no one no matter how good at their job could conduct an interview this quickly. This was especially so when each group had six members so it was impossible for the interview to be done within the half an hour time frame. As the two and those around them, spected the specifics of the situation. The third set came out and just like the ones before them, refused to answer any questions and immediately picked up their bags and left. They were all now used to this odd interaction so not many of them cared instead, they focused on the fourth group who were already being led into the building. Gabriel and his new friends, sat not truly bothered because he hade to terms that this interview will probably never favour him. It may have been unique amongst all the recruitment posts he had seen but with the way things were going, he had a feeling he would get the job. Hours passed as they sat discussing any other thing that came to mind. They sat there simply watching group after group go in ande out with simr expressions as the ones in the past. After a while, Gabriel found himself getting curious about what really went on within the building. If all that had gone in had different expressions on their face when they left then, he could understand but it wasn''t so. Chapter 46: "Our Turn" Chapter 46: "Our Turn" ? It wasn''t so, all their expressions were the same. They were either confused or enthusiastic about whatever they saw in there. Such a reaction wasn''t what one would expect from an interview. Gabriel found it weird but couldn''t say anything about it. In fact he didn''t care as much, as long as he secured the job then he could begin to worry about such things. Time passed and soon it remained only a few people, Gabriel and team could be seen standing just outside the waiting area ready to go in. It was finally his turn. After waiting a few minutes, they saw thest groupe out and as always, they looked confused while some other looked enthusiastic. Not bothering to think about it, Gabriel and his group immediately stepped forward as they began walking towards the security guard. The man led them into the building and through a series of corridors and stairs until they arrived at their destination. It was arge hall that had clearly been recently renovated. As they walked in, they saw various cubicles lined along the sides of the halls. At the other side end of the wall was thedy. She could be seen behind a desk while silently watching their movements. Seeing her reaction to their presence, Gabriel immediately swallowed in nervousness as he did his clothes again. "We are sorry for wasting so much of your time, as you can see, there aren''t many of employees here at the moment, however we do hope that will change soon" thedy said as she stood up from her desk and began walking towards them. "Now before we began, I would like to make you all know that during the course of this interview, new technology will be used. You may find it familiar or you may not however you are required to sign this Non-Disclosure Agreement to help us protect our property" Thedy said as the security guard began to share some document to all that was present. Looking at the paper, Gabriel began to understand why the people left, were confused. What concerned an interview with new technology?, what would the new technology do?, ask better questions?. The Non-Disclosure Agreement shouldn''t even be here but here it was. Choosing not think about this one too after all, he was here for a job not to ask stupid questions. He quickly took out his pen and using the desks prepared, he signed the document. Not just him, all of them did. Like always none of them had read the contents of the document but didn''t look worried. If apany like Nous Industries wanted to steal their information or identity or anything, they have much better ways to do so. "Okay good, now we begin... You would have already noticed that in Nous Industries, we do things a bit different but don''t worry, if you deserve the job, you will surely get the job. Now each of you can see a cubicle to your left and right... Those are where your interview will take ce, try to be calm no matter what you see there and always remember it''s not real" thedy said as she collected the documents back Hearing her, Gabriel immediately frowned. What did she mean by that? What was wrong with thispany as a whole. "When you enter, you will see a small pedestal and on it will be something like an ipad or tablet. Fill in the required information you will be asked for on it, do you understand?" She said as she stood with her hands behind her back while facing them. From her voice, he could tell that she was just as tired as they were. "Ma, I do have a question" "Go on" "When you said that we should remember that it is not real, does that mean that we could get hurt during the interview?" Matthew asked "Highly unlikely, however I am required to tell you that before it starts" Thedy said before pointing towards the cubicles beside them It was at this moment that Gabriel understood why all who had undergone the interview had left with confused looks on their faces. Thispany was truly weird, what could they possibly be doing that they could get hurt during the interview. Of course, from looking at the others, they could tell that it wasn''t dangerous. However they couldn''t let go of what she had said. Nobody would be able to let it go but they still stood and tried their best to not show their worry. "Don''t worry you can all can rx, this entire ordeal may be different may be different from what you are used to but it is geared to simply figuring out the type of person you are and also putting you in the most fitting department" Thedy said with a charming smile on her face "Anyway there are six rooms here for six of you, as soon as you enter, you put on the ocr device in there and the gloves provided... After you input all your requested details, the interview begins, simplyplete the tasks and when you are done, you can go... You will be informed if you got the job or not" thedy continued Hearing her, Gabriel turned to the cubicles beside them. It looked ordinary and trying to peep into the room didn''t reveal much. Following her words, they each went towards a cubicle and stood in front of it as they all turned to look at thedy, almost as though they had rehearsed it "Go on" she said with a reassuring smile on her face She wouldn''t say that she didn''t understand their hesitation. The situation was weird, even she found the entire thing weird and she was the CEO of thepany. As they entered the room, they all saw the pedestal as she had said and on a table by the side, they could see a set of slightly bulky gloves and beside it was a familiar device, they had only seen in movies and on the inte. It was the familiar virtual reality ocr device but unlike the once they were familiar with, these ones weren''t wired and we''re a bit less bulky. "Is the interview in the virtual space" Gabriel asked as he observed the devices. Doing as asked, he picked up the gloves only to find them to be surprisingly light. They were only slightly more bulky than the standard biker''s gloves. As he put them on, a small and barely noticeable light lit up as a felt a slight vibration on his hand before everything became calm again. After that was the Virtual Reality goggles, he had never worn any such thing before so he couldn''t exactlypare it to anything but it was lighter than he expected. As soon as he put them on, they activated as a blue light shed through his vision but everything returned back to normal. "Hmm" He noted in disappointment, he expected some sort of event to begin but nothing happened but as he was asked, he went to the pedestal to begin to input his details. He didn''t know if he was doing it in order but he felt like it didn''t matter. As soon as he finished putting in the needed information, he saw a small screen appear at the corner of his vision. [Good day Gabriel, Would you like to begin your interview] the screen read. "Yes" Gabriel answered without much hesitation. As soon as he did so, he saw the pedestal suddenly began to retract into the floor and even the table where he had gotten the VR goggles and the gloves from, retracted into the walls. Soon it was just him in the room as the ce slowly began to brighten up a bit too much. Soon the bright light died down revealing an office like environment. Looking at the corner of his vision again, he saw the screen again but this time, it simply said [Perform the tasks given] Gabriel didn''t understand what was happening until he saw a man walking towards him. The man looked important in his suit and tie, he dressed up nicely and for some reason, he felt like he was inferior to the man. "Hey you get me a cup of coffee" the man ordered Gabriel, however, stood and continued looking at the man. He didn''t know what to do about that or even why the order was so rude. [Make a cup of coffee for your superior] The screen read and Gabriel immediately turned to find how to do so. In the first ce, Nigerians weren''t coffee drinkers so the order was bizarre to him. For the purpose of this bizarre interview, Gabriel did as asked and after that were more weird but simple tasks. The environment of each task was different but either way, each on was simple to perform. "These people are differently trolling is" Gabriel thought to himself. It was the only exnation to all this Chapter 47: Realization Chapter 47: Realization ? After performing the tasks to the best of his abilities, he saw another holographic screen appeared in the corner of his eyes. [Congrattions, you havepleted all the tasks. You may leave now, anymore information will bemunicated to you within the next seven working days] Reading it, Gabriel stood there in confusion. That was all there was to the interview. No matter how he saw the entire thing. It was clear that thepany was just trolling them. "How do these people even expect us to get the job like this" Gabriel said inint It wasn''t just him, the other six could be seen with simr expressions on their face. Since there was nothing more to do, Gabriel removed the VR Goggles and the gloves. After doing so he immediately turned to leave. He now understood the people''s confusion, it wasn''t because of the warning, it was because of how random the interview itself was. None of the tasks he had done seemed rted to the job he was hoping to get. He was here as a software engineer so he didn''t understand why he had to be making coffee and perform other unnecessary tasks. Those tasks were unnecessary considering what he came for. Gabriel thought of this as he left the room but since he was only just another applicant, what could he say, he simply picked up his documents from where he had kept it and immediately turned to leave. In doing so, he saw the othersing out of their rooms as well. Each one spotting a confused look on their faces, just like him. "What did you guys see?" Matthew asked as soon as they stepped out of the main building "Omo these people turn me to coffee boy oo" Gabriel said in response as they bothughed. Matthew too has seen a simr so he understood his reaction but considering that their purpose here was simply to get a job, they bothughed it off. "let''s just hope we get the job, at least the pay is good" Matthew said as they both sighed "Imagine what I can do with eighty thousand Naira" Gabriel said as he immediately began to fantasize Just like the others before them, the six came out and immediately picked up their things and left. As they left, they saw the next six who immediately walked past them to follow after the security guard. .... In therge building, Fad could be seen overseeing thest few applicants. Her duty in this entire thing was simply to exin how the interview will go and make sure that they sign the non-disclosure agreement. She sat as she waited for thest group to leave, due to how repetitive it was. She was already on her phone, what they did inside the room were honestly none of her business. Nous already assured her that the devices couldnt be taken out of the premises. "I''m done ma" a member of thest group said as he stepped up to her "Excellent, you can leave, you will be contacted within the next seven working days for any updates" She said as she turned her attention away from her phone. "Okay thank you ma" the man said while giving a professional smile before he turned and left. Watching him leave, a sigh immediately escaped her lips. She was finally done with all these, now it was up to Nous to sort them out and pick if they are to be hired or not. The entire interview process was developed by Nous at David''s request. The point was not only to pick the most suitable among all the applicants but also to put them in the most relevant department fit for them. She, herself found the entire process weird, and since she was the CEO of thepany, she couldn''t me them for their confusion. If she had gone for an interview and this was how it was done, she too would be like them. "At least it''s done now," she said as she stretched and got ready to leave "Madam, that was all," the security guard said "Okay then, I''ll be going... just lock up and you can go as well" she said "Okay, thank you ma" the man answered "You''re wee" Fad answered as she packed her things and got ready to go Normally, she wouldn''t say such a thing as letting the only security guard thepany had to go, but at the moment, there wasn''t exactly anything to guard. Nigerians may steal everything, but they wouldn''t take things they didn''t understand. She knew for a fact that very few Nigerians knew what a Virtual reality goggle was so she didn''t have much to worry. Without any hesitation, she immediately stepped into the car and drove off. She may have done practically nothing, but she was tired. "Hey Nous, did we fill in all the spots?" Fad suddenly asked despite being alone in the car. [No, you will unfortunately still have toe again tomorrow.] Nous replied "What? Why?" Fad asked confused If there was anything she knew in this whole ordeal, it was that everyone who came was being hired. The purpose of the so-called interview was simply to learn what type of person they were. As for their qualifications for a job, it didn''t really matter much when they would all soon undergo training to help them master their work well. As for those who lied on their resume, it also didn''t matter. People have been lying on their resume for years now and yet the world had yet to copse. It was just a job and people also learn quickly while on said job. She had done it, her former workce didn''t even ept students but she worked there despite being one. [There were many applicants applying for the same job] Nous exined "Oh, that makes sense... But what if, no nevermind" She replied as she slowly drove out of thepound. She could have suggested that they simply use the excess they have to fill up the spaces they have but then she imagined herself in that situation No one would ever ept it. If they came for the position of a project manager or something and then due to many people applying for it, they were given a different position probably lower. No one would ept it so she immediately understood the need for more recruits... Even if they were different, they couldnt make everyone happy ... Back at home, David could be seen sitting in the tform by the runway again. David liked the ce simply because it allowed for a clear view of the town below. Despite theck of steady light and magnificent architecture in the town, it still offered a great view. However unlike before, David could be seen sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. "Argh!, which kind of frustrating stuff is this!" David shouted as he came out of his failed meditation [It''s not frustrating, you have yet to actually achieve meditation talk more finding the energy required] "Wetin this one dey talk, don''t you think I''m trying?" [Most definitely but your efforts aren''t being reflected] "You don''t need to mock me" David said before he sat properly and began to enjoy the view. He had been trying as hard as he could to detect the presence of his bio-energy. It was way more difficult than he expected. Considering that bio-energy could already be felt in form of stamina and all that, he though that detecting it and actually manipting it would be easy but unfortunately it was easier said than done. "Now that I think about it, I don''t even know what my next edit will be" David said He wouldn''t say that he had been busy but between setting up thepany and trying to break into Tier one. His time had been upied. Of course, thepany was mostly been done by Fad so he couldn''t exactly take credit for it when it was her who was doing most of it. [I would suggest anything that will help you get into Tier One] "Of course, I know that..." David replied whilst in thought "Nous is bio-energy in any way rted to one''s life force?" David suddenly asked after a brief moment of thinking. His goal so far had been to get into Tier One as quickly as possible so his thoughts never strayed from it. [Life Force or one''s life energy is the foundation of their entire existence] "How does that answer my question?" [The answer is yes, they are rted. Bio-energy is the physical side of one''s life force] David sat there speechless as he stated out into the open. Likewise, Nous too simply kept quiet and watched the scene with him "If you knew this then why didn''t you just tell me" [You never asked] "wha... True but I still asked if you have any information that could help me" David comined Chapter 48: Tier 1 Chapter 48: Tier 1 ? [And I offered you all the information you needed at the time, this ispletely unrted to what you asked] Nous said to defend itself "Yeah but it would have definitely helped me to break through" David countered [Still not my fault] "It''s definitely your fault," Hearing Nous defend itself, David only got angrier. Even if he had problems sensing his internal bio-energy, he was definitely an expert at sensing life force or life energy. In fact, he was constantly sensing it despite its ethereal existence. Creating the domain and Nous had drained his life force so he had long since developed some sort of sensitivity towards it. It was so much to the extent he could even feel the metaphysical energy flowing through his entire body. Choosing not to think about Nous and it''s annoying behavior. David immediately crossed his legs again and immediately began meditating or at least he did what he thought meditation was. [If you can''t calm yourself enough then I would advice you follow the prepared training manual, it will help you focus] Nous suddenly said "What?!". [I said that in order to increase your chances, it will be best if you follow the training routine I crafted for you.] Nous replied as David got even more speechless "Is it more effective than the meditation?" David asked [No, however for someone like you, it helps you focus, which means an easier and shorter time to break through.] "Okay then, let''s do that" [Madam Fad is home] Nous suddenly announced "How''s my car?" David asked almost instantaneously [Its fine sir, however you should start looking into getting her a car of her own] Nous said "I''ll think about it" Due to the distance between his home and the location of thepany''s building, it made sense that Fadils would need a car of her own. Something that would allow her to go back and forth between the two ces, but for some reason, he didn''t want to buy it. It''s not that he didn''t trust her, he did. However, this was his money they were talking about; it was something he held dear even before he actually had it. The entire Editor stuff was too big to actually be held as dear as money. It was a title and a state of being not something he could say that he actually owned but his money was actually his. [Sir no matter what thoughts you have of the situation, you will end up buying a new car for her or you simply give her yours since you never actually leave here] Nousmented "You don''t need to tell me, it''s just the Igbo man in me that refuses" David replied He stood up and turned towards the house. He had no more use of being here; he had figured out the secret to Tier One and could quite literally break through anything he wanted. Thinking that. David smiled as he walked happily into the house. As soon as he did so, he saw Fad lying on the couch in the living room. "Ah, you''re back...." David said it as though he didn''t know, but soon closed his mouth as the excitement died. Fad could be seen on the couch, still with her clothes still on but already fast asleep. .... Unknown city A middle-aged man could be seen standing at the edge of a tall building. The man wore a simple suit with a coat over it to mitigate the coat. "Why don''t you move a bit further, i believe the view is better there" a voice said from behind him "Ah, Stroy never thought you woulde" The man said as he turned to look at the neer behind him. The neer could be seen wearing almost simr clothing; however, he wore a ck suit. In his hand was a cane which he used to support himself as he walked. "You did say that it was necessary" the neer, Stroy said "That is indeed true, ie with blessed news" "Thest time you told me that, Japan nearly ceased to exist" Stroy replied in an emotionless tone "Not this time, this will favour both of us" The man said as a devilish grin appeared on his face. Despite their clear showing of familiarity, their stance and the distance between them suggested otherwise. Stroy stood and watched the man as he considered his options "Go ahead, i''m listening" Stroy finally said after a brief moment of thinking "I knew you''de around... You all can leave." The man suddenly spoke as his expression changed, turning the whole atmosphere into a serious one. Silence reigned as the two stared at each other, both sides considering their options if things didn''t go well. *Sighs* "You can leave," Stroy said As soon as his voice fell, it was as though some sort of veil was lifted from the surface of the earth as several men in ck suits appeared out of thin air. Each one could be seen holding one weapon or the other; however, all weapons were pointed at the man. "As you wish, sire" one of them said before they all vanished "Ever so vignt, huh?... I don''t remember when Ist saw a strigoi" the man said "Lycoan, go straight to the point, I do not have all day" Stroy said impatient. "What?, I thought we were getting to know each other better" "Lycoan, if you do not have any important information then let me leave" "You can leave but you wille to regret it" Lycoan said "then tell me what it is?" "It''se back to Earth" Lycoan said with a joyous smile on his face "Huh?" "It is back and Earth" "What exactly are you talking about?" "The title dumbass. Four hundred thousand years ago we were forced to be servants to these meatbags but now things will change" Lycoan said "The Editor?" Stroy asked as realization dawned on him. "Now you''re talking, he''s back and guess what?" "Lycoan we are not friends nor do I understand your ways of thinking, speak now or forever hold your piece" Stroy siad in frustration. He was getting tired of the overly friendly act, no matter how things looked. He was busy and dealing with an old dog wasn''t on the list of things he had to do. "He is but a human child, we can train him in our ways and bring ourselves to the top as we were meant to be" Lycoan said. "Below Stone realm?" Stroy asked "If there is anything we know, it''s how difficult it is for humanity to break the first barrier, we can convert him and make him ours" Listening to the old dog before him, a simr smile began to appear on Stroy''s face. He understood what Lucian was implying and just like the old dog, he wanted it just as badly. "It seems it''s finally time for our kind to see the sun" Stroy said with a toothy grin that disyed the sharp fang-like canines underneath. All around the world, several meetings simr to this one too ce. People with hidden agendas rose up with different aims to achieve. However the cause of it all could be seen happily sleeping David saw no use to forcing a break through, at night. It was best to attempt such a life altering thing in the morning with a rested mind and body. .... The next day, Fad left to continue recruiting. Though her presence wasn''t truly required or needed for the interviews itself to proceed. She believed that it was better that way after all, without any human presence. The entire process will feel off and people would think its just a scam. Meanwhile David could be seen happily going through his morning routine. He brushed his teeth, took his bath and all with a giant smile on his face. It was clear that he was happier than ever. However before he began, David entered the kitchen and immediately began to prepare as much food as possible. It wasmon sense that after his break through, he would require much nutrients to rece the energy spent. If after a normal session, he would normally be left famished then it made sense that this result this time could possibly kill him. "Okay then that''s thest of it. Most are burnt but who cares" David announced to himself as he ced thest te of food on the table. After that, David prepared a makeshift outdoor bath. He had read too many xianxia novels to know that after one''s first break through, there will be a lot of impuritiesing out of him. Of course, like most of the world, he had absolutely no idea what said impruties were but it wasmonly known to be ck and smelled like sewage. He didn''t n to carry that into his home. Who knew if it also carried acidic properties. With all his preparations done, David finally began his training and unlike before, he felt heavenly Chapter 49: Officially an Editor Chapter 49: Officially an Editor ? As he went through the standard motions, he also focused on the ethereal and almost non- existent force within himself. He didn''t know exactly what he was to do with it so he did the next best thing. Hemanded it to flow through his body. [Sir, it is yet to be yours tomand... Like water, you do notmand it but you can create a path for it to flow through] "Okay" David replied fighting back the sacarstic reply, his head hade up with. Following Nous''s instruction, he simply performed the motions while constantly poking... Nodging or luring it towards where he wanted. "it''s not working" David said frustrated after almost an hour of trying. [Don''t force it.. Simply guide it towards where you want it to flow] Nous replied "What do you think I''m doing?" [Forcing it to move... It Is not yet yours to control as you like so you can''t judge it in the direction you want... Simply create a path it should follow and it will] "If you say so" David replied before he began again. Starting from the beginning, he started his training again but this time he he didn''t bother with trying to force the energy into his body. He simply focused on the training itself. Nous already said it was sort of a cultivation technique. Cultivation techniques were meant to be guide to follow when cultivating. They tell you what path or pattern to follow to achieve certain levels of power. He didn''t know how he forgot about that but it seemed like Nous already prepared a path forward for him but he was too dumb to notice it. Continuing his dance, David sensed some movement in him as a small smile appeared in his face. The excitement alone kept him moving as strength came from nowhere and he continued. In doing so, he sensed his life force or some version of it slowly begin to move through his body. It was invigorating, it wasnt something he could exin but he felt more alive than ever. "Is this what tier one feels like" David asked when he felt the increddible power within his body [Sir, you are not yet done, focus] Nous reminded him. "Oh thats true" David replied as he focused on his training. As he moved, he felt the new energy within him follow. It was truly as Nous had said, he didn''t need tomand it, it would follow him automatically just like water would when you create a clear path for it. The energy followed his every move, enhancing it beyond measure. Pushing all his focus into the feeling he had as the energy moved thorough his body, David felt a transcendent amount of peace. It was as though he and the environment around him were one. It felt surreal but David refused to be distracted as he continued his training. His movements continued and changed the more he went on until he looked a bit more like some ethereal being. He could feel the earth beneath his feet to a greater degree and the air that passed by him in greater degree than ever. Despite all these wonderful effects, he could feel. David knew the job was yet to be done, He had yet to officially enter tier one. His movements quickened and continued with even more strength and power. He felt the energy flowing wthin him slowly begin to increase as his body grew even stronger however at the same time, he also felt his strength adapt to the energy input into him. Various secondster, David''s skin slowly turned red and his body became bulky almost as though he was about to explode however the man himself, couldnt feel any of this instead he concentrated on the power within him. Despite what Nous had said, he felt that at the moment, his duty was to restrain the energy within him to the best of his ability and that was what he did. Minutester, a bright pir of light burst out of his body as he felt his body undergo a transformation like no other. He felt his muscles tighten and his heart beat faster. [Congrattions sir, you are now officially a tier one being] Nous said in a cheerful tone. David however, was still lost in the transformation he had just undergone. It wasnt just a physical change, he felt that he was fundamentally different from before, he couldnt exin it but it was how he felt. "Why does it feel like i became some sort of god or something?" David asked as he looked at his hands [Each tier brings about an overall evolution that brings the person beyond what they previously were] "Does that mean at the moment, i am already beyond the human race?" David asked trying his best to wrap his head around what had just ured. [Yes and also, congrattions on offically bing a true Editor... the universe rejoices at your presence] Nous said in a tone that almost seems as though he was worshipping him "Why do you sound like that?" David asked surprised by its tone [The Editor is a cosmic title that surpasses all...] "Stop, I feel like you''ll start some sort of lecture on what type of being the Editor is" David said cutting the Artifical intelligence off David didn''t understand much about the Editor apart from all Nous had said. However it now seemed as though he would only officially recognized as an Editor after reaching tier one. Thinking about such a condition, it made sense after all Editors were very important beings. Their duty was still unknown but Nous and the administrator had made it out to be important. After some time, David focused his attention on his changes. It wasn''t just a physical change as he had said... It was way more than that The energy within seemed to be more under his control now and unlike what he expected, his life force was still separate. It was almost as though the energy he had drawn during his training was different from what he had now. ... While David explored the difference between the previous him and now, observatories all over the world, recorded a new anomaly. .... Sorry the chapter isn''t long I was busy Chapter 50: "Had I known" Chapter 50: "Had I known" ? The next day, several people could be seen hurdle before severalputers. Even with just a nce, one could easily sense the academic aura in the air. The enthusiasm to learn flourished as they all had smiles on their faces as they walked around and crunched the hard maths to understand what had happened. "Sir a new image has been captured but I don''t know how to say this" one of the astronomers in the room said "What is it?" The man asked eager to see more. Humanity had yet to truly understand more about the universe. We had images from really far into the universe but truly we had only spected most of what we know through maths or just uremon sense based on what we have proven. This event could lead to a whole new discovery. The images captured were disyed on massive boards for all to see. The images disying a whole new set of starspared to what they were used to. These changes were so obvious that even to the untrained but slightly observant eye, they could easily tell that something was different. The astronomers spected and calcted but found no real answer to the cause of the change. It was a frustrating experience but also one to learn from. They may have not learnt anything truly important but they had at least learnt that the Universe was one full of infinite surprises. While the scientificmunity fell over themselves, trying to understand these changes. A certain group of people in a certain space. Each on with a grim expression on their face and the atmosphere amongst them oppressive and disturbing. "Whose going to wee him into the real world?" One of them asked, It was ady, so beautiful even stars seem to be dull inparison to her. "Your expressions are extremely terrible for people that just weed a new era" anotherdy said. Unlike the other eleven, she was the only one who could be seen with a smile. Hearing her words, all turned towards her with their expressions saying all that was needed. "You smile as though you know not what a new era symbolizes" a voice was suddenly heard as silence reigned amongst them Turning their attention to the source, they could see an elderly man sitting at the fore most throne. The man though elderly looked as fit as one could be. His presence alone seemed tomand respect and at the moment ghat respect was shown. "Have you all gonezy?" thedy suddenly asked "Watch your mouth!" Many of them shouted, simultaneously. "This is a new beginning and yet you think not the good parts but the evils we shall ovee... Truly we have fallen" thedy said in a tone that clearly showed her disappointment in the group "I watch you ast time, watch your mouth" "No" "Father?!" Half the group asked in surprise "She is right, we have slept for too long... It is time humanity remembers that we exist" the elderly man said as he suddenly sat up right. In doing so, an incredibly powerful aura burst out of his body as a halo appeared above his head and lightning crackled all along his body. Radiating a holy aura that made all bow in worship. The man changed and so did the rest of the group. .... While the various factions of the world struggled to understand the changes or found ways to take advantage of it. The cause of it all could be seen sitting in his room. It had been almost half a day since he entered tier one and honestly the difference were like night and day. One of the major changes was that he no longer needed sustenance. Or at least that is what Nous said. After his training. The usual result was a massive physical change that would result in him eating the house dry but it was different this time. After entering tier one, he expected an exaggerated version of the normal result but for some reason, he couldn''t even bring himself to look at the food he had prepared previously. "Sir your ride is here" Nous announced as David finally put on his shoes. "Okay thank you... I wonder what will be going through the person''s head" David said as he chuckled. He had ordered a ride in such a remote ce so he felt that with the ritual killings that had been going on for a long time now, the man would feel as though he was entering a ritualist''s den. Even if the person didn''t feel that way, David felt that he would feel that way if he was ever in such a situation. While thinking of the man''s reaction, David walked out of his bed room and into the sitting room. On the floor, about ten or more nylon bags could be seen sitting on the floor. Inside each one was either a sk or other food holding containers from ice cream tes to normal foam tes. "Thank God smallie is not around" David said happily as he stared at the amount of bags on the floor. Each one was filled to the brim with food and yes, he had made that much food. It was something he would normally eat more than half of before even realizing it after a training session but now it was like he was forced to eat a wholemunity''s worth of food. In his family this would be a death sentence. In fact wasting anything was a death sentence however this was beyond that. His mother will erase him from existence if she could. In order to solve this problem, David decided to simply give away the food. Even if the food was nothingpared to either Fad''s cooking or what he will buy at the roadside but it was still consumable. *Sighs* "If I had known," David said as he began picking the pages one by one. Trying his best to carry most of the food in one go Chapter 51: Hope in humanity.. Lost? Chapter 51: Hope in humanity.. Lost? ? As he walked out of the house, he saw the ride waiting but didn''t immediately move towards it. He had to see the driver''s reaction to his environment. Would he be apprehensive asmon sense dictates or would forget that he''s in Nigeria. As David wondered that, he peeped at the driver only to see the man admiring the house and all its facilities. "I feel like I should have expected that" David said to himself Sighing and rolling his eyes at the man''s boring reaction, he boldly began walking towards the car. It was parked just a bit away from the gate "Mr David Nnaji?" The driver asked as he came out of the car "Yes" David replied handing over some of the bags on his hand to him. With the confirmation, they began walking towards the car. They put all the bags into the trunk of the car and got into the car. "So where to sir?" the man asked "Honestly nowhere in particr... I prepared too much food so I have to share it to people so it doesn''t spoil, if you know where I can do so effectively then take me there" David said honestly "Ah sir, that one go hard oo" "Don''t worry, you can go offline... I''ll pay you" David said knowing what the man was implying "Okay thank you sir, but with how this ce big... You know get people wey dey live with you" "Nope, just me and my wife" David answered before frowning Why was he so truthful about that? He just confirmed that there was no security and that it was only he and Fad, this was him basically asking to be robbed or attacked. [Don''t worry sir, he''s just curious] Nous confirmed "I can tell that much" David replied mentally Of course, he wasn''t worried about an attack on him or Fad while they were at home. With all the defenses on the building, he didn''t need to worry about anything but it was still a stupid behavior to have. "Okay sir, I don''t know what side we can go to but there should be a ce around second avenue... I''m not sure Sha" The man said "Don''t worry let''s go, if we don''t see any one there, we will check other ces... Sha this food can not go to waste" David replied That was the end goal of it all for him, Fad should not see the excess food. Normally he wouldn''t have to worry about this but the current him seems to just run on vibes because he had yet to understand exactly why he wasn''t feeling hungry. Was he even still human? Even if he was the center of it all, he still saw the pir of light that rose as soon as he entered tier one. The ride began with David not paying much attention to where he was been taken. He wasn''t afraid after his current breakthrough. He felt that he was likely to be at least ten times as strong as a regr human then you add in the fact that he could probably utilize the energy within him now to create effects in the real world. "Come to think of it, Nous, do I need to start learning fighting techniques that allow him utilize the energy I just cultivated" David asked [The Tier One realm may only be achieve by sessfully channeling one''s energies through their body but it is not the realm in which you can sessfully be able to project said energy outwardly] Nous replied "Okay... That means when I get to tier two, I''ll start looking for such techniques right?" [No, you are an Editor... Your kind has techniques designed specifically for you and the type of power you possess... Learning another is impossible] "Wait does that mean that the training technique, I am using now is the standard for Editors?" David asked thinking about what Nous had said. Also for some reason, David found himself stuck on the first part of Nous''s statement. Here he was asking if he was still human and Nous basically tells him ''Your kind'' in such a context. [Yes, however because you were not an Editor yet, I could add in a few changes to make it stronger and more adapted to your human physiology but now, you can have the full training method... And also since entering Tier One, you automatically seize to be human, it is not my ce to exin to you how the Editor works so I can''t exin more than that to you] Nous replied "Sir, how about this ce?" The driver asked interrupting the conversation "Okay" David replied not ming the man after all, he couldn''t hear said conversation, it was all literally in his head. Looking out the windows, David saw the sight he wasn''t so used to... Or at least one he had yet to see since he came to Abuja. In Abia State, it was amon sight but here it was again. It was a group of young girls in tattered clothes and dirty wrappers that was also used to partly used to wra the babies they were holding. Around them, he could see other children walking by the roadside. It was a disheartening scene that could easily make one loose hope in humanity. But he had lived in this country to know that some of them were there because they saw it easier to beg than to actually work but in doing so, they actually became beggers. Others, were there because of certain circumstances. Thinking of this, David walked out of the car and almost immediately one of the kids hugged his legs as the variousborers in the market rushed him. Pushing wheelbarrows and some simply expecting him to flow them to theirmercial vehicles as a passenger but he chose to ignore them as the Driver too came down. "I no be passenger, leave me!!" David as he pped one of themercial drivers dragging him on the hand. The entire thing was chaotic but soon dissolved when they realized that he wasn''t paying any attention to them. Theborers went back to find other customers and the drivers left as well to find customers. Chapter 52: Fight Chapter 52: Fight ? However the kid on his leg remained there, as David smiled and shoke his head. With a gentle pull. He separated the kid from him then squated down to his level. "Go and meet your mother, if you want food stay there" David said before turning away and focusing on the trunk of the car Out of fear, the kid too ran to him mother. David saw this and couldn''t me the child. He didn''t know how to exactly handle children well. However choosing to ignore that, he immediately began to pull out the bags containing the food from the trunk. The first bag was immediately carried to the woman that the child had ran towards. "I doubt this will help much in your situation but this should at least help get rid of the hunger for now" David said as he handed over the bag. "Ahoga1, Thank you oo" the woman said as the others in the area began to gather Seeing that David was giving out food, a whole new round of chaos began as the people began shouting and dragging him all over the ce just to get theirs. "Hey!!, hey!! Hey!!" David heard several shouts which immediately dwarved all the other sounds. Turning to the source, he saw them, the young men whose age range was probably from 18 to 25. Their shouts immediately brought order to the ce as the women and their children created a path as they came forward. [Sir are you sure, you don''t want to rethink your stance on the paramilitary] "Get me apound" David answered looking at the boys. Normally he would say that they were just good citizens who saw him in trouble and decided to help but he wasn''t born yesterday. These were the local boys, thugs or as Nigerians call them ''Agbero''. The people didn''t separate from him or create a path because they wanted to or just wanted to obey. No, it was because they knew these men and what they could do. Ten ouf of ten times when a parent tells their kid that the streets aren''t safe, this was the type of people they were referring to. As for why he agreed to Nous''s question on the paramilitary, that was simply because he had long since rethought that n and he only disagreed to initially because of the guilt, he wouldn''t feel guilty if these ones died... Even they themselves didn''t value their lives. "Oga mi2, you came here and you didn''t even try to greet the boys first" One of the thugs said as he danced all around the ce. It was as though his body could just stay at a spot. Following him the others tried to open the trunk but David simply ced his hand on it "Ah, shey this your boot don dey get problem" one of them as they continued trying to lift it. "Would you get your hands off it, even if you run these streets, you should have learnt by now that respect is mandatory when meeting someone new" David said "Ayemi3, this guy is mad oo, a whole me, crusher, the number one in these streets" the thug said Watching them as they hailed themselves, David simply stood. It didn''t matter what they did, they had no way of beating him. Within the next few seconds, David saw one of them break a bottle on their head as the women and their children immediately shifted back. They wanted no part in this and it was understandable so he didn''t me them but David still stood his ground, his heart beating even faster than normal. It wasn''t fear, it was excitement, he wanted to see what he could do. Who wouldn''t, he just entered a whole new realm of power, of course he wanted to see it in action. [Sir still be careful, no direct hits or forceful holds or you will break them] Nous reminded "I know" David replied as he faced his first attacker with a smile now on his face The thug lounged forwards with the broken bottle in hand, aiming for a stab but unfortunately, David saw him moving at an incredibly slow pace. It was as though time seemed to have slowed down by about a minute or so. Easily parrying the thug''s hand, he grabbed hold of his shirt and threw him against the car with a little force. Turns out that lifting a grown man took way let effemort than he expected. Seeing this interaction, everyone in the area immediately gasped in shock. "Jesus!!" "Omo" na army man we go jam" David heard several people shout as the man slowly rolled off the car to reveal arge dent in its hood. This immediately sent shock into their hearts as quiet reigned through the streets. "If you still want to continue this fight, you cane along so I can bash your head in, if not, stand and help me distribute this" Davidmanded as he felt some sort of oppressive aura leave his body "Yes sir!!" The rest of the thugs shouted They may have long since desensitized themselves but they weren''t stupid. It was clear to them that their opponent was not a normal man so they quickly respected themselves. Of course, David had nothing to do with the Nigerian military but unfortunately for them, he couldn''t tell them otherwise because it worked to his favor. With that the group helped him distribute the food he brought to the women and a few men who were begging by the streets. About thirty minutester, David was standing before the boys and beside them were a few young men, he found lying on the street as well. This set of people either had their arms amputated or something simr. He had distributed the food to all of them and many of them had eaten despite criticizing the food greatly. Of course, David had denied cooking the food rather he said he had bought it whilsting. The driver who heard him simply chuckled while trying his best to fix the huge dent in his car. "Where is the boy, I beat up?" David asked ... 1. Oga means Boss, however we depending on the context, it could mean what it actually does or it could be a way to call someone 2. Mi mean My or Me, so ''Oga Mi'' means ''My boss'' 3. Aye mi means My life, mostly used for exmation 4. Omo means Child but it is also a meaningless ng to express oneself e.g, Omo I am tired. Chapter 53: Proposal Chapter 53: Proposal ? "Na me sir, sorry oo" David heard one of the boys say "it''s okay, I believe you all want to turn your life around, I have a proposal for you all. A job with a starting sry of 150,000 naira, if you are interested, call this number and you will be directed on what to do" David said as he handed over a piece of paper to them. The main reason they became thugs was simply because of unemployment, if they had good jobs, would they have time toe here. Now was their chance to redeem themselves and David believed they would take it. They didn''t have much choice. [I have found a suitable location however human presence is needed for thend to be bought] Nous suddenly said "Call a suitablewyer then, after that you can send in the builder bots" David replied [As you wish] "Eh?!" the group shouted surprised by what he said "One hundred and... Fifty thousand" one of them shouted but stopped himself as he nced around and whispered thest part. "Of course, I am required to also tell you that it may be dangerous but don''t worry it''s legal" David said even if it may not matter much to these people anymore Despite giving them the warning, theypletely ignored it and David could see that their heads were already filled with fantasies of what they could do with said money. "Ah don''t worry sir, we will call the number sir" One of them said on behalf of the others "That''s good then, now I need to address these women" David said as he went to the women who immediately gathered together. He gave them the same proposal however unlike the men, David didn''t exactly n to make them join his paramilitary. He was simply nning on creating some sort of homeless shelter or something for them. Where they could stay and be safe. "Nous, remind me to set up a cleaning agency as well, they may be able to do it" David said [Should that be before or after you have introduced Nous industries or what] "Clearly after, the Nous phones depend entirely on the quantum inte to work" David replied [As you wish] Giving them my number, David packed his sks... At least the ones that he could find and immediately got into the car. "Ah sir, you''re kind oo, somebody like me would have arrested them for attacking me" The driver said as soon as he got into the car "That would only make them worse... Have you seen how prisons, even just seeing them alone is bad for your mental health, imagine staying there was more than a year, if you weren''t a criminal going in, you will surely be one whileing out" David exined. If he had called the police and had gone through all the bribes and procedures necessary, the boys would have spent at least 10 years in prison for attempted murder. [Sir attempted murder is liable to life in prison which is about 20 years] "Sorry 20 years in prison, do they look like people that will have a life when theye out" "Wetin you talk make sense... Ehn sir about the..." the driver said finding it awkward to ask about the dent but David just smiled. "Don''t worry, I''ll pay you for it" David said It was the man''s business and also only he knew what he went through to get the car. Which meant that even without his business, he was attached to his car like he was to his own. With that said, the driver immediately started the car and drove off towards the mountain again. He had sessful disposed off the food without Fad seeing it and at the same time, The managed to gather employees for two extra businesses. Meanwhile Fad could be seen on her phone as bored as the day before. Due to the uniqueness of the entire interview, all she was required to do was give the standard exnation at the beginning and ensure they all signed the document After that, she just had to be awake to acknowledge their exit. That was all, it was the most chill interview ever but at the same time it was also the most nerve wrecking experience the people ever had. However things were progressing well on her side and the number of applicants were reducing at a steady pace and it was looking like she would go home early today. Somewhere in Abuja, arge expense of untouchednd could be seen. The grass grew uncontrolled until it matched the average man in height and even surpassed that. Standing by the roadside just outside this bush, a group of people could be seen standing and discussing. "Okay, in total, all is about twelve hectares" One of them said "That matches what you measured right?" "Yes sir" "Then we will sign everything tomorrow with my client, I just needed to ensure that everything was well" the man said to them "Okay then" they all said agreeing before they soon went their separate ways. "Omo person just wake up, spend two hundred million naira" Thewyer thought as he got into his car and drove off. As awyer, it wasn''t much of his business as to why the client wanted thend however it was still odd that it was not yet even afternoon and he already met someone who spent more than a hundred million naira. It was not rare in this line of work but it was still odd considering how early and quickly all this was happening. While thewyer went back to finish all the required documents and papers, David was finally back at home. "Give me you ount number" David said as soon as he stepped out of the car "Okay say it''s 2249...." The man said as he began calling out his ount number With all required information correctly put in, David immediately transfered the required amount to not only pay for the man''s services but also topensate for the dent he had created in the man''s car Chapter 54: Guest Chapter 54: Guest ? A few secondster, David paid the man, and he soon drove away. Once again, it was David alone on the mountain. [Do you want to experience the full power of an Editor?] Nous suddenly asked "Huh?" David responded, confused by the sudden question [Do you want to experience the full power of an Editor] Nous asked again "Uh... sure but what exactly are you talking about?" David asked The entire conversation was weird and too out of pocket. It had literallye out of nowhere. Of course, he epted; it was random but it didn''t mean that he was stupid to reject it. [Then walk into the house with purpose. Nous replied "Huh?" David asked, still confused. David couldn''t understand exactly what was happening, for some reason, he felt as though he was in trouble but at the same time, he felt safe. Following Nous''s words, David gave a sigh as though he was resigning himself to work or something then picked up his pace and began walking into the house. It was nerve wracking but Nous''s voice calmed him down. [Go into your study] Nous instructed and David did so [Pull out the guest chair, and invite your new guest to seat] Nous said as David''s heart immediately skipped a beat Forcing himself to remain calm, David walked into his study in the most natural way he could think of. His life may depend on it so he did the best he could "Sit!" David said in amanding tone as he pulled out the chair before getting his own designated seat Honestly David felt like some sort of Manhwa protagonist but now that he was in the chair, he felt as though he was in a hostage situation but the problem was that he was both the hostage and the hostage negotiator. Seconds passed and nothing happened, there was still no one in sight. It felt awkward but he had to continue to pretend as though he was busy and thankfully, he had some work to finish anyway. "How did you know I was here?" a male voice was heard as David felt some form of veil fall in the room as a man was revealed. Rasing his head towards the source of the voice, David saw a young man who looked to be around his early thirties however since the man was clearly part of the supernaturalmunity, David couldn''t tell the if that was his exact age. The man seemed to be of Mexican or at least South American descent, however his ent wasn''t one that he recognized, not that he even knew any other ent apart from the Mexican one that was shown in Hollywood. [Hermes, Messenger God, however do not underestimate him, He is still a tier nine] Nous warned "Hermes? the speedster... how fast is he really?" David asked somehow much calmerpared to before [He''s a god, do you think the so-called speed limit of the universe matters to him] Nous replied, thanking God for their mental connection if not, it''s stupid master would have been in heaven. "Hermes... you know for some reason, i expected maybe Apollo or probably Zeus but it makes sense." David said now much calmer than before Hermes, hearing his words, frowned slightly. He had been found, but he didn''t expect him to be this calm. It was one thing if he was currently on duty, but he was not; this was just a tier one, and yet he was calm. "Your Honor, i am here on behalf of Olympus, the God-king, invites you in hopes of celebrating your recent ascension to tier one" Hermes said as he gave a short bow. "Is that normal?" David quickly asked [Its Olympus, they are one to always look for a reason to party but majorly this is to butter you up so you can side with them] "Makes sense," David replied as he rxed into his seat "From your actions, i can tell that you are familiar with my kind. I thank you for even acknowledging me but i will step foot in Olympus only when it is necessary." David said in a firm tone "I see..." Hermes replied before a short pause "I shall inform the God king of your stance" Hermes continued "That''s it then, thank you... i wonder if you eat human food, i think there is still a bit more remaining in the pot" David said casually "Forgive me but i cannot stay for such merriment, my duty awaits me" the Greek God replied before vanishing from his sight. David couldn''t even tell that he was gone until the image before him dissolved into thin air. The papers in the office immediately flew apart due to the speed. After that David immediately heaved a great sigh of relief as he rxed into the chair. Though he acted casually in front of the Greek God, it didn''t mean that his heart wasn''t beating quickly. He didn''t know much about Greek mythology to know much about Hermes''s personality, the little he knew at least put him on the mellow side of the gods. That fact allowed him to at least act casually in front of the god. As for actually rxing that was impossible. "Hey... Nous, you promised me that i would feel the true power of an Editor?" David asked remembering Nous''s words. [You would have but you rejected their invitation, smart move by the way] Nousplimented as David smiled He felt that was the right move to take and thankfully it was. Nous had made him to understand multiple times that an Editor has to be neutral no matter the situation considering their duty. A partial Editor could spell doom for the whole universe, he was in duty in. Since Olympus was trying to curry favour with him, it meant that they knew this but hoped that he would somehow still favour them in certain situations. Above all, why should he even go. He was just a tier one, who knew what they could do to him? It was best that before he reaches a reasonable level of power, he doesn''t associate himself with them. Chapter 55: The Hustle Begins Chapter 55: The Hustle Begins ? Taking in a deep breath to calm down, David finally decided to focus on the work in front of him, from the way he was seeing things now. He needed to create a foothold somewhere in some way or the other, as for the event. There wasn''t exactly much he could do about it as a tier one, so the best he could do for now was to get stronger. Looking at the paper before him, David sighed. On it was a list of all the permissions and licences he needed to acquire before he could go ahead with mass producing the Nous phones. "First, Nous isn''t there some form of elixir or herbs i can mix to create drugs that can help me train faster?" David asked [There are however, you are an Editor... you may be human but you aren''t anymore, they wouldn''t work on you] "So basically this position is full of things i cant do... i enter the supernatural world and i cant enjoy it as well as others do" Davidined before pulling up a holographic map of the country [You can say that] "Ah, anyway when i start building the Quantum repeaters and such, where do you think would be perfect ces for it?" David asked as he immediately switched to work mode [Highlighting the best and avable locations] Nous replied as several parts of the map lit up. Looking at the various ces that were marked, it looked as though the entire country had lit up so David immediately switched things to just Abuja only for now. Thepany didnt have that sort of money as of yet. The good thing about this project was that he didnt need any license or government approval to start implementing all the necessary equipment. All he needed to do was to buy thend, build and when all wasplete, he could then apply for the licenses and all. Looking at the suitable and avable ces that Nous had mapped out, he sighed as he rxed into his seat "Okay then begin the processes to buy this ces" David ordered, he could handle for the state but if he wanted to expand then the Nous phones and the multiyer version of Renovatio would have to be very popr. Meanwhile elsewhere, in an unfamiliar space, several thrones.... twelve to be exact could be seen ced in a circle. On these thrones were eleven beings, all glowing with power and glory as they watched the man who stood at the centre of the circle. "How did your meeting go?" The being at the fore seat asked It was an elderly man that looked surprisingly fit for his age. Grey hair filled his head and beards but the muscles on his figure made him seem younger than he is. "He was neutral as Lady Gaia had said" "That should have been expected, his kind has always been known for their neutrality, our quest could only be said to be an insult to him" Zeus said as he sighed and sat up on his throne "May I suggest that we simply follow her initial advice" a female amongst them said "To just support him, what do we have to gain from that, Olympus has no use for such a tier one" Zeus replied "Even if he may not be of help power wise, Editors aren''t exactly known for their individual power, they are known for their power in general, they are influential to a fault... our goal is to re-introduce ourselves to the world again, who can do that better than the Editor" The female said again. "Athena is right, Olympus may be home to thousands of tier nines but we would never get anyone as influential or as strong as an Editor" Hera said supporting Athena''s words "May i speak?" another male voice was heard drawing the attention of the group It was another elderly man, his head covered with Grey hair but unlike his brother, He was lean and looked his age. "Go ahead brother" Zeus said "Even if supporting the boy gains us nothing now and Olympus is filled with tier nine beings, the boy still remains a prodigy far beyond all of us... He went from a normal human to a tier one in just two earth months, even you brother, spent more than a century before you got to tier one" the man said in a calm tone "I see your point but the Underworld doesn''t need him and you know that" Zeus said while staring at his brother "The oceans doesn''t need him as well, for now let him be... As long as he shows no hostile intentions towards us, we are safe" Zeus continued "Agreed" the others said in agreement. .... Weekster In near empty house, a young man could be seen sitting and watching some TV. It had been weeks since the interview and he had yet to recieve any information from thepany. Due to theck of information, Gabriel already though that he didn''t pass the interview and rh job was offered to another person. However calling all who went to he interview with him, they too confirmed that they had yet to recieve any information about it. *knock knock* "Who''s there?" Gabriel asked as he stood up to open the door. Opening the door, Gabriel saw an unfamiliar person standing outside. In the man''s hand was a large envelope. "Are you Mr Gabriel Ogundepe?" The man asked "Yes, what happened?" Gabriel replied confused by the interaction "Nothing sir, I am just here to deliver this" the man said as he handed over the envelope "Okay?" Gabriel answered as he collected it "Please sign here" The man said handing over a document Several secondster, the man was on his way but Gabriel continued staring at the envolope suspiciously. "To Mr Gabriel Ogundepe, thank you for applying at Nous Industries, inside the envelope is your ID for identification as Nous Industries employee...yada yada, does that mean I got the job?" Gabriel read the letter on the body of the package "I got the job!!" Gabriel shouted in joy as he danced around the sitting room. The smile on his face never fading as he excitedly opened the envelope only for a device of some sort fall out Chapter 56: You have being Hired Chapter 56: You have being Hired ? "What''s this one?" Gabriel asked as he picked up the device package. Opening and taking a look at it, it resembled a smartphone but it was too light and it''s design made it look like some sort of toy rather than an actual useful device. Inspecting the phone a bit more, Gabriel noticed the various side buttons and long pressed on the one that he though was the power button. As soon as he did so, he saw the familiar but not so familiar logo ''NOUS'' appear. This alone made it obvious where the phone came from and what it was for. "Did they give this for free?" Gabriel asked as he began reading the letter that came with the package again "Oh!... It''s just for test use, also I thought we will resume soon" Gabriel said after reading the letterpletely. Though he had been hired, the date he would actually start working was yet to be revealed and the phone was purely given so he could test it and report what he thought of it when he resumes. Turning his attention back to the phone, Gabriel immediately went into the settings to check the specification of the phone. It was the basic requirement when purchasing a phone and something that he had done so much that it had be a habit. "Twelve qubits?... What does that mean?" Gabriel asked confused He couldn''t find the normal specificatioms he was used it. Rather he seeing a bunch of nonsense, he had never heard of or even seen After a few more minutes of searching for it on the phone, Gabriel finally resulted to the phone''s packing and expected it was written and even more details were given. "Short answer, one hundred and twenty eight kilo bytes, long answer... Hmm" Gabriel said to himself. The exnation was too long so he took a seat and after a few hours of reading, he finally understood it. The phone was different, it didn''t use conventional RAM, it used something called a QRAM, whatever that was. Twelve qubits was equal to 128 kilo bytes but due to the uniqueness of the QRAM, it was equal to about 16 gigabytes of RAM. The storage space or ROM allowed the phone to hold about five hundred gigabytes of data. In small terms, the phone was everything he hoped for. Gabriel sat as he inspected the phone multiple times, it was not just something that he had to test out and give a review on, now he was curious to see how it functioned. Searching for a Sim tray was useless since the manual already said that it came with its ownwork provider and the letter already stated that it was already connected to the inte. Now all that remained was to actually use the phone to test out it''s limits. The basic things he could see already made him like the phone a bit too much but time will tell "Wait can it call?" Gabriel asked as he immediately dialed his number on the phone Within seconds, he received the call on his personal phone but the number that appeared wasn''t normal. It looked like aputer generated numbers that businesses used to call others To test that theory, he cut the call and called again but the number that disyed was the same. This meant that this was his own unique number "Come to think of it, did Matthew also get it?" Gabriel called immediately but as a friend, he decided to prank him Calling from the new phone, Gabriel waited and soon, the call was answered but Gabriel wasn''t ready. "Good day sir, This is Efe from Okash... We''re calling about your loan..." Gabriel said trying his best to imitate thepany "Na there you fail am, I''m not owing Okash, Gabriel is that you?" Matthew asked "Is my voice that recognizable?" "Who else do I know that sounds like a half dead frog" "Chai this boy must you find a way to insult me?" "If I don''t do it, who will?" "Oya shut up, anyway did you see the phone that they gave?" Gabriel asked skipping to the main topic quickly "Omo, this sh*t is nice but I''m not seeing ystore" "Are you blind?, it''s called a Nous Phone and the first app on the home screen is called Nous store!!... Which kind mumu1 am I friends with?" "Thunder go follow you this boy!" The two argued with each other, making noise throughout the house without realizing the major issue here. His airtime seemed to be infinite. While the two argued and joked with each other, the one behind it all could be seen sitting in his study. Unlike normal, he wasn''t working to obtain any licenses or anything of that sort, rather there were multipleponents before him and a massive smile on his face. [Sir I am beginning the stream now] Nous announced "Okay... Good day wee to all, before I start I just want to say thank you to all of you who have brought me this far... It''s because of you guys that Renovation is this popr and because of that I can afford to do shit like this.." David said pointing towards his desk. Normally he would only live stream if it was something important but today, this was simply for fun though it would help both the image of thepany. "Today I will attempt... Sorry scratch that, I will built an actual usable quantumputer. For the technical people, yes, it will be a quantum-ssical, the goal is so it can be used for civilian use" David said as he began to introduce all theponent on the desk. "Of course, we have the most important part... The thing that actually makes all this possible, our Qmotherboard... I know it''s a terrible name but basically this, has all the things your normal quantumputer has but shrunk down to this size and I n to put that into my own PC... Imagine how powerful this will be when it''s done" David continued "Does this guy have a twin?... One minute he''s teaching the masses Quantum mechanics and the other he''s a kid happy to built his firstputer" Ament read as David simply chuckled but refused to address it. There was no use to doing So Chapter 57: Q-unit Chapter 57: Q-unit ? "After hours of YouTube videos on PC building, I am finally ready to try but as you all know, minees with some level of increased difficulty in the sense that I want to make it a quantumputer. Let''s begin" David said as he excitedly grabbed the PC case. The PC case had nothing special to it, it looked as normal as possible but David nned to use it. The n was to design and create a quantumputer that civilians could use. He already achieved that with the Nous phones but the way that worked was vastly different from what he was about to achieve. As soon as he ced the case down, David began picking upponent afterponent as he screwed them in tightly "Finally we have the Qboard, a quantum motherboard, this is the major thing in this entireputer. It is the thing that will allow me y fortnite if i wanted to... we have already established that it is impossible to do so on a quantumputer" David said as he brought out the normal looking motherboard from its package on the table. "This is the brain of the entire operation hence it is advised that you install it as carefully as possible" David said as he carefully ced it on its position in the case then screwed it in. After that David brought out a few otherponents and connected them quickly. A few minutes in and the once empty case was starting to look like a normalputer. "With that we are almost done. All that remained now was to turn it on" David said as he immediately plugged in theputer Doing so, he saw his monitor lit up. It didn''t show anything major apart from the basic background actions to indicate that it had turned on but it didnt boot to a home screen "Dont worry, it hasnt crashed yet... its just that i have yet to install an OS yet. So herees the magic" David said as he brought out a hard drive "On this is an OS i created for the purpose of maximizing the functions of the Qboard" David introduced as he quickly plugged it in In doing so, David began the standard confusing procedures of installing an Operating system but thankfully this was easier to do considering how fast theputer actually was. Just twenty minutester, the system was rebooted and this time, it brought them to a lock screen. Tapping on any random key on his keyboard, theputer was unlocked and it took him to the home screen. At first nce it looked familiar but looking closer, one found the designs to be vastly different from what they were used to. "Oh and i forgot both the keyboard, mouse and all are specially designed to interact with this interface... regr keyboards and other input devices wouldn''t be able to interact with a quantumputer" David said remembering a small blunder on his part [Login] [Sign up] A small window appeared asking him to create an ount so David immediately clicked on log in. He had an ount already Instead of the standard log in screen, a bunch of boxes appeared asking him to type in a certain code but David didn''t mind as he quickly put it in. As soon as he did so, he was immediately log into his ount. "And that''s all... well for those confused as to how it has inte connection and what sort of logging in that was, you would have to what my video on the ''Nous Operating System'' to fully understand" David exined With everything done, it was now time for David to check it out. the ain goal was to prove that it could be used by civilians which meant that he had to use it for the so-called intensive things, people normally use their systems for. Opening up his browser, he immediately searched for the most intensive game he could find. Animal crossing. Downloading the game took less than a second. David was surprised by the speed considering that even if the connection was now quantum in nature, it still needed to collect the data from a source. David opened the game to test it out, it loaded quickly. The game loaded quickly without any issues which proved that theputer was functioning properly. Now for the real intensive work, David downloaded Cyberpunk 2077. From the reviews he had seen of the game, people were alwaysining that it was made for very high endputers. As always, the game downloaded quickly despite its 70GB size. The way the inte worked for theputer and practically all his quantum products was simple. They had ess to his servers and the servers collected packets of whatever they wanted and brought it to them. The collecting part should be slow but it seems it wasn''t at all. Within a minute, the entire game was fully downloaded and David proceeded to install it. This was equivalent to simply choosing to crash hisputer but at the moment, this was the risk he was willing to take. The instation took a bit more time but it was done quickly. As soon as the instation was done, David immediatelyunched the game. The game immediately booted and yed as smoothly as David had thought it would. Going past the title screen as quickly as possible, the main game started as David smiled An hour into the game and David was still yet to face any problems. The game went smoothly and he enjoyed it. He would have yed his own game but Nous had made Renovatio too economic. All PCs could handle it but not all could y it well. To put it simply, it required the same PC specifications as GTA San Andreas, which was already a miracle of its own A few more minutes and David exited the game as he began other means of stressing theputer to its limits. There were websites designed just for such things. Activating it, the website began its duty. Theputer though a full blown quantumputer still followed the principles of a regrputer so the tests were still valid. The tests continued for an hour with the intensity increasing every second but the PC didn''t seem like something that was performing any form of intensive work Chapter 58: Compound Chapter 58: Compound ? {Damn, where can i get this} Ament asked {Is that still even ssified as aputer} {I still dont see the point of having such aputer, spending the extra money would get you a ssic system that can do the same thing} {Bro would you shut the hell up} {Would the Nous Phones perform the same} {Surely that cant be the only feature right, Quantumputers are too powerful for them to be only used for such a thing} David read through thements and smiled since it meant that he had found another product to sell. When he had brought up the idea about such a device, Nous had shut him down because it felt that it was a waste of parts and asked what he thought they would use it for. But turns out, Humanity just wants to go fast. It didnt matter if they would actually be using the technology to its fullest extent, they just wanted it. "Naturally, quantumputers are too powerful for this to be its only function but remember this is just a sixty-four qubit quantumputer, its powerful but its not really there" David answered thement He felt like that was what most people wouldin for. Quantumputers were meant to be used to solve difficult problems in physics, allow humanity to simte the birth of the universe in its entirety and create new medicines and materials. However theputer sitting in front of him was just a 64-qubit quantum ssicalputer. In its current state, it was an absolute beast for the mundane things people do. Things like gaming, graphic designs, programming, game development and even high quality animations could be done quite easily on theputer but no matter what you do, it would never be used to predict the weather. Well that''s unless the user hooks it up to some other device and writes a program that can do that but even then, it would be too heavy for theputer. Just in the same way, your regrptop or PC cant do it. "In simple terms, its best to thing of this set up as a glorified PC, a rugged PC which ever you want to call it, its just your normal PC on steroids but it cantpare with the supeputers we have" {I don''t care, just tell us when where we can pre-order boy} {Damn, Star Citizen about to get a lot of new yers} {To the person above me, yh, I''ll finally have a PC that can carry the game at highest settings} "As for pre-ordering, i am not too sure yet... my wife handles everything concerning the main business but i will inform you all when its possible to do so" David replied {Awwn, he''s a house husband} {Wait a minute, you''re not married, you don''t even wear a ring} "Okay you''ve caught me, we aren''t married yet but we will soon after we''re done setting things up" David said as he raised his hands into the air as though surrendering {Bro''s got a sugar mama} {Bruv be living the soft life} Thements kepting and David answered as many as he could before finally going offline. The session was a fruitful one and it looked like his aim was achieved as well. The point of the entire livestream wasn''t just so that he could build his pc and y games. He also did it just to prove to certain nay-sayers that in the same manner that he made a Quantum phone, he could also make a PC version. It wasn''t necessary but he did it anyway because he could. Since he didn''t have much work to do in the first ce, David simply sat down and continued gaming. Meanwhile somewhere else, in a location far off from society... well at least it was a few kilometres away from the nearest metropolitan area. Two young men could be seen walking with their bags in hand "Omo guy, are you sure that guy wasn''t nning on using us for ritual" One of them asked cautiously The location of their destination may be innocent but it was too remote that they had to consider their options. "It doesnt matter if he''s a ritualist or just a killer, let us reach first and confirm, if anything happens then we can fight off and escape" his friend said as they continued their journey "Na true, even if we cant beat him, we can at least escape" the man said Despite their courage, it was clear that they still held some level of fear in their hearts as they walked. Looking around them cautiously and ready to run at a moment''s notice if they heard anything suspicious. Even if they had a goal to achieve here, they didnt n to die achieving it. A few minutester, the two came upon their destination... or at least they thought it was the ce. It was a fenced property that stood out from the rest of the environment. The fence stretched far into the bushes around them that they couldnt see its end nor could they even see an entrance into the property. "Call am again, i no wan loss" The friend said expressing his clearck of trust in the building Hearing him, the man immediately picked the phone and called a number. The wait didntst long before the call was answered "Hello Good day ma, its Ireayo ma" the man said "I know its you, are you hear yet?" the person on the other end of the call asked "Yes ma, its the fenced building right?" "Yes it is, I will be waiting for you here" The woman said before the call was cut. "She said its here" The man told his friend With that the two began walking towards the fenced property and searched for its entrance. As soon as they got close enough they saw the entrance. The gate was wide open but a boom barrier could be seen blocking the way, preventing them from going in. "Wee to the Compound, i am surprised that only two of you came but we will manage" a female voice said as soon as they managed to squeeze themselves past the boom barriers Chapter 59: Welcome to hell Chapter 59: Wee to hell ? Hearing the voice, the two nearly fell to the floor in fear but thankfully, they were a bit familiar with the voice. Turning to the source of the voice, they found themselves looking at a young woman who looked to be around the ages of 25 or 29. Thedy wore a set of cargo pants andbat boots coupled with a tank top that easily made her look like someone from the military or something. Seeing her, a sense of fear and uncanniness arose within them. They feared that they may have been cheated into joining the army... well they did know what they were here for but it wasn''t for the army. At the same time too, they also felt as though thedy shouldnt exist. They could easily tell that she was real but for some reason they also felt that she shouldnt be as though she was some sort of abomination. "Good day madam" "Wee, i thought more of you wille, what happened?" "Oh ma, there are still in the bus, they just sent us so we can check the ce out first" one of them said "I see then inform them to starting, the quicker i can start the orientation, the quicker your life here can begin" thedy said as she turned back and started walking into the massive building before them. They couldn''t lie to themselves, they had never seen a building this big with such a design. Even forymen such as themselves, they could easily tell that the building was made for protection. This ce was a fortress and nothing else. However they didn''t care about what it implied since they knew that it was their source of money for now. After that, the two immediately called their friends, notifying them that it was safe. To help them quickly find the location, they left the building to guide them. A few minutester, tworge buses could be seen parked before the building. Out of them came men, women and children. However the majority were the women and the children. "Wee to all of you, You all can call me Nous from now on, i am in charge of this facility. First, please can the mene this way and the women this way" Thedy said as she separated the people Hearing her and helping others to trante, the people quickly separated into two groups. One side noticeablyrger than the other. "Okay then, you all will enter the building before you, the men are to follow the right and the women, the left, they will lead you to a hall where you will be addressed so you can all understand the risks and benefits of what you are about to do" Nous announced Even if her omniscience wasn''t there, there was still something that she had learnt or at least heard David repeat on multiple asions and that was, that Nigerians... or at least most Nigerians dont care what they do as long as it brings them money. Now the goal of the Compound was to train soldiers, a paramilitary. An organization whose duty was to perform covert operations for either the government or big organizations. The problem here was that they would carry guns, they would kill and if caught whoever was your employer would have to deny you and you cant do anything about it. In most cases even the organization you work for aka the paramilitary group will deny you. Nous could easily tell that while they had thought it through in terms of that they could die during this mission. She could also tell that they didn''t think about the fates much worse than death. As for the females and the children, they were either family members or simply ones that wanted to join the paramilitary group as well or just those seeking shelter from the streets. Obeying her, they all marched into their respective halls. Both halls were incredibly big and for the men who were few in number, it made them feel like school children for some reason. Since they were told that they would soon be addressed, they approached the front of the hall and waited. Meanwhile in the other section, the women entered the halls as the ones with children respectfully stayed at the back while the others moved tot he front to hear whatever that was to be said. A few minutester, they were all settled down as Nous walked on stage. Appearing two ces at ones was easy for her considering her nature and the fact that every inch of the base was covered in holographic projectors. "First off, for those who do not fully understand what they are doing here, I would like to exin... This is a training camp, you all will be trained on how to use various weapons, how to fight, how to kill... You are now part of the Compound, this is a paramilitary unit and our duty is to work for whoever is willing to pay... In simple terms, you are paid to kill" Nous said as inly as she could even if that didn''t define what they were well. However considering that some of the men in the room were not literate, this was the best she could do for now. If there was anything, she knew they could at least understand killing for money. "Madam, I thought they said we would be working for the government" "Yes but no, like I said this is a paramilitary unit, our clients will include the government at some point but it may majorly be big corporations" Nous exined "Okay since it seems that all you understand what I said, it''s time for the next step... Please look to your left, you will see a door, please enter the door one after the other for your health tests... Don''t worry, we have already promised to fix those with disabilities and we will but we need to know what we are dealing with" Nous said while pointing towards a door to her right Chapter 60: Medical Chapter 60: Medical ? Without a choice despite the many questions still in their mind, they all followed her orders as they formed and orderly line and began walking into the room one after the other. Before they could get in though, Nous left the stage to make it appear as though she entered the room before them. As for why she was going through all the stress of making it appear as though she was human. It was simple, not many Nigerians both educated or not, actually knew what an artificial intelligence was. If she went up to them especially this group as they were, while behaving as an artificial intelligence should. They would have all ran away believing that she was some ghost or even possibly a demon that was out to get them. Yes, the uneducated can be that superstitious but they are not to be med, they just didnt have the opportunity to learn more about such things. Nous sat on the only chair in the room as the first person entered. It was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. The boy was thin, in fact almost malnourished. His hair was all over the ce and the determined look in his eyes said it all. This was someone who just wanted to leave where they were and nothing else. Seeing the determined look in his eyes, a smile formed on her face as she immediately got into character. "Name?" she asked while holding a file in her hands "Benedict Omunna" The man answered "That''s with two Ns right?" Nous asked, acting surprised as though she didn''t expect the man to understand English. A man like him usuallyes about in two ways, one was that he was born poor and things didn''t work out well enough for him to stand on his own and mixed with bad influences, he remained on the streets. Or he was simply a guy born to middle ss family or well to do family but got caught up in things he shouldn''t be doing and now he was paying for them. The story behind such a man was usually one of these but his eyes told her that he nned to hold on to this opportunity tightly and use it to get away from his current situation. "Okay then, there is a needle on the small pedestal before you, draw a bit of blood with it and let it drip on the part of it that''s glowing white, its so that we can scan your DNA for better diagnosis" Nous said in an obvious lie. Well obvious lie if you knew what she was capable of but they didnt so the man did as told and immediately the dormant screen in the room lit up. On it were everything about the man, his genotype, what sort of sicknesses he had ovee, whether he had an addiction or not etc. All of them were disyed for them to see. However in Nous''s eye, she could see a massive being descend on him. Its body covered in golden light and its aura more divine than even the gods themselves. "This is weird" the being said as it pressed its hand on the man. [At least now you get to feel the full power of the Editor] Nousmented as she looked up to the being... or David. For David it was a surreal experience and it was also something he didn''t expect. One minute, he was back at home ying games and the next, he was floating above a random young guy. The reason for this was simple. David didn''t just want a normal contract between hispany, the Compound and them. Of course for now, they would deal with normal threats and handle normal human situations. However after the event or even during the event, they would be facing supernatural beings and during that time, this contract would be absolutely needed. Of course for a contract to truly work and be as effective as possible, both parties have to actually agree to it so despite him bestowing a bit of his power on the man now, it wouldn''t be useful until the desired time. "Damn, this guy has seen it all" Davidmented after a brief survey of the man''s memories [He hasn''t but he will do anything to get off the streets] Nous said correcting him. "If you say so, I''m leaving now" David replied as he left the room. His duty was done. His own end of the contract was simply to connect them to himself and at the moment, he could feel the existence of the guy even if he wasn''t anywhere near the Compound. The only effect of the contract that would begin its effect was this connection and the fact that whoever betrays thepound would automatically be killed as well in a ''Death Note'' kind of way. "Okay, that would be all, you dont seem to have any diseases that need curing however prevention is indeed better than cure so here" Nous said as she picked up a syringe filled with some form of liquid. The liquid seemed normal however its blood red colour made the man uneasy but choosing to trust her. He brought out his hand as she requested with her gestures. "There is no way i can exin what this is that you would understand however just know that they will ensure that you will never get sick again" Nous exined before she injected the man with it. The man nodded and left after the injection, giving room for the next guy. The injection though wasnt all Nous had told them it was. They were simply microscopic machines or simply nano-machines or nanobots that she had designed for the very specific purpose of enhancing them however unlike what is shown in movies and all. These ones dont instantly grant you abilities beyondpare or even begin to miraculously heal you no matter what injuries you acquire. These ones do have those abilities. however, they also need nutrients and you to actually work hard. Chapter 61: Women Chapter 61: Women ? In summary their whole ordeal was to ensure that the host doesn''t die from otherwise fatal injuries. They wouldn''t heal you however they wil ensure that you remain alive until help arrives. However this wasn''t their actual main aim. They were there to enhance the future mercenaries that would be working under him. These people even after the exnation couldn''t truly understand what was going on, he could tell in his current form. essing their minds was as easy as child''s y. Well most of them didn''t understand what was happening so the n was simply for Nous to inject them with he nanites which would enhance them not only physically but also mentally so that during their training, they could at least be taught. After the first man, the others followed and each time, David had to descend to conduct the contract. He wasn''tining about it though. It was the first time he was actually feeling the true power of the Editor even if said power was halved because this wasn''t his true self... this was simply a mental copy of him though his consciousness was still linked to it. Almost an hour passed before they had all signed the contract, since they were all done. Nous took them to their amodation. Thepound was incrediblyrge covering a total of about 100 hectares. This allowed for each of them to have ess to a fairlyrge room. Since she had settled the other party in, Nous finally turned her attention to the females. Their situation was a bit special. Unlike the men who were here solely to join the Compound, these ones were simply here because David wanted to get them off the streets. "Good day to you all, you all can call me Nous, I am the one in charge of this facility. Please if you can speak English,e forward" Nous announced Obeying her, several women came forward as the Nous hologram stepped down from the tform to meet the women. "Please can you help me give these to the others, it will help trante what I am saying" Nous said to the women as she pointed towards a small bag full of what looked like ear pods. The women immediately did as she said as they all went about telling the others what they were told and giving them the ear pods. Thirty minutester, the device was shared amongst the women and Nous was finally back on stage. With the men, she couldn''t care less if they understood what she was saying, if they didn''t then they would learn during the training. "Okay thank you all foring, before that I would like to ask for those who came here with the intention to join our small army?" Nous asked. Of course, she wouldn''t be stupid enough to think that all of them came here for the purpose of shelter and just as she had thought, they were a few of them who hade to join the paramilitary. "Okay then, I would like to tell you the truth about this line of work but you all seem to know so we''ll skip that, you all can wait for me in that corner, I will address you all when I am done with them" Nous said as they all nodded and moved Turning her attention back to the other women, Nous stood upright as she began. "Good day to you all once again, I know you all are here for the shelter you were promised but as of now, that shelter is still currently under construction but before then, you will join the rest in training as you will be required to work to make your own money" Nous exined. "Then where would we stay?" ady asked while holding down her children to the best of her ability. "You will be staying here for now and you will be joining them for training until your amodations areplete". "Which one be training again?... no be wetin una tell us be this oo" Anotherdyined in pidgin but Nous chose topletely ignore it Herint didn''t really matter much to her, thepany was doing them a favour and she wasining. Nous didn''t care about how the women''s thoughts worked but she had work to do. Stepping down from the tform, she approached the other group of women. "First point, you all do understand that this is illegal... we may one day work with the government but it is still illegal in this country and even if you are working for the government, if caught, they will deny you... that is the premises of this entire business, do you understand?" "Madam, we have phones to browse and learn from" one of them said as Nous smiled It seemed they were ready though like the men, they too didn''t understand the true meaning of joining such an organization. It was in the same manner that people joined the military in search of glory and honor but then they meet the difficulties involved. "Since you all understand what you are getting into, I would also like to inform you all that you will receive no special treatment during the training, if the men get shot, you will get shot at as well" Nous said just to inform them. "Ah, shot at during training, doesn''t that parte after training" "It does but I am simply stating a fact for now, anyway, you are to join the rest of the women, you go through that though to get your medical details so that we can treat you if treatment is required" Nous informed them before turning to leave to announce it to the other women. "Una dey talk am as if, una fit cure cancer" one of the younger ones amongst them said jokingly as Nous simply smiled and continued on her way. An hour passed by as Nous repeated the contract and the medicals with them while separating those that required some treatment. David himself was more than happy to reappear as the Editor after all, such level of omnipotence was intoxicating. .... ''Una'' means You people or you guys "Dey talk" simply trantes to ''Say'' ''Fit'' here means ''can'' I know pidgin is weird but its worth learning Chapter 62: Opening Chapter 62: Opening ? Truthfully though, he didn''t feel that much differentpared to before. He just felt that he could now do more, that was probably the entire basics of omnipotence, but he had somehow expected to feel more powerful or something, but this was nd. However, the idea that was now capable of doing anything and the feeling he got each time he thought of doing something was intoxicating. Though due to the circumstances, he couldn''t exactly use this power to affect much of the real world. He could affect these people as much as he wanted now that they had signed the contract but there was nothing for him to gain from it now so there was no use to it. After the contracts were done, Nous took them all to their amodation so they could all rest and get ready to the next day. As for the other women, they would have to stay here as well until it is time for them to leave to their supposed destination. While all this happened, the real David could be seen in an entirely different ce, getting ready for the day. Today, thepany officially opens meaning production and all begins today... well tomorrow. "Is that what, you''re wearing" Fad asked as soon as she finally came out of the bathroom. "What''s wrong with it?" David asked as he looked at the clothes he was wearing. It was a normal suit and tie, there wasn''t anything too fancy about it. It fit him well enough, so he didn''t get why she reacted like that. "Here, wear this" she said as she miraculously produced a new suit from somewhere. "Where did thate from?" David asked. "Wardrobe, you just didn''t look" She replied as she threw the suit on the bed and went back to dressing up Choosing peace, David simply wore the new suit. Surprisingly it looked better, it was a simply brown suit with few embroidery designs on it that enhanced its look. "This is nice... okay that makes sense" David said when he saw her pull out a dress somewhat identical to the suit, well it had the same designs as the suit. It came as a pair, seeing his reaction, Fad immediately began tough knowing exactly what she had done. David himself couldn''t reject it since he was already in the suit. "Well done, I''mma get you back for this though" David said with a smile. "You can try". "Anyway, did you invite anyone?" Fad continued as she sat to finish her make-up. "Well, I currently know no one so my family members, imagine there faces when they see the car... oh and I also announced it on twitter though, I''m not sure where that will go". "Well, it''s just a personal celebration than some grand opening, it''s not a shop" "True, anyway are you ready?" David asked. "Just five more minutes and I''ll be done". "Okay then, I''ll be waiting downstairs" David said as he left the room. Going downstairs, he rxed in the living room. It was amon fact that women''s five minutes is equivalent to around two hours, real time so he nned to gather his mind as of now. "Come to think of it, Nous how did Hermes bypass my security?" David asked remembering the incident. [Your defence doesn''t prevent people from entering the mansion, it prevents people from harming your home and its upants] "What type of nonsense is that? Why didn''t you tell me that it was so?" [You didn''t ask, however if you want, I can update it] "Please do, unless invited I don''t want any other person here" David said in a serious tone. [As you wish] Nous replied as David saw a visible blue light pass through the walls and floor of the house. "What was that?" David heard a voice call out. Turning to its source, David saw Fad standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at him with a fearful but still curious expression on her face. "Updating our security settings" David said as he stood and held her to help assure her that things were okay. "What type of update was that? Is that normal?" "Yes" David replied with a smile. However, his mind was in a different state, the energy wave should be invisible to the human eye. Which meant that she was close to tier 1. "I really made you ridiculously OP" David said out loud as Fad smiled not really understanding what he meant but still referencing the powers she currently had ess to Soon they were in the car and on their way to the location. This wasn''t some form of big event however as per Nigerian tradition, such a celebration was required when opening any such location. "By the way, since I wanted to inform you that thest repeater... turns out only two are enough for each state, one functional one and another hidden for back up" Fad stated. "Then we can begin sales then". "Sure, but we still haven''t started mass production yet and neither have they being actually set up". "That... is true" David replied realizing how ahead of himself he was as he shook his head and focused on his driving. Thirty minutester, they got to the location, which was basically thepanypound, but they had erected several tents. It could be done in a small hall but that would kind of defeat the purpose of the entire thing. It was simply meant to be a small celebration to not only dedicate thepany to the lord but also to officially open it for business and that all. "Ehm, how many people did you say you invited again?" Fad asked. "This is way more than I expected... wait are those news outlets? Seems like we have to go way bigger than expected... Nous can you prepare me a good slideshow, we can use this as a product presentation" David said as he quickly sat up straight. [As you wish, I will prepare all that is needed] Nous replied as David drove closer. Now he could see it all in full, turns out thepany was even more popr than he thought it was. With just a nce he already spotted several of the major newspanies Chapter 63: Signal Corps Chapter 63: Signal Corps ? "Are you ready?" David asked as soon as they parked. Luckily they had yet to be spotted so they still had some time to prepare their minds for what was toe. However, the smile on their faces remained, it was clear that though unexpected, they still enjoyed the attention. "Do I even have a choice?" Fad replied as David nodded and he stepped out of the vehicle and immediately ran to open the door for her. Though they had arrived incognito, as soon as he came out of the car, the reporters immediately spotted him. Not sure who he was, there was a small pause thatsted a few seconds before several of the reporters came rushing towards them. However due to the wait, the security team had already made it to them as they surrounded the couple as they made their way into the venue. Despite rushing towards him, not many of them actually knew who he was after all. He wasn''t exactly that popr. "David!" David heard a voice call his name and turning, he could see his brother... Well his cousin who was dressed in native attire who was seated on one of the many seats inside the venue. "Who?... Ah! " David shouted as he went to hug the man before him. "I didn''t think you guys would even make it" David said as he let the man go "Well how could we, Small David of those days is now the founder of a bigpany" "Shey this one dey whine1 me no 1" David said as heughed "Good day" Fad interjected "Ah and you must be the Fad he wouldn''t shut up about, it''s nice to meet you. Oh I''m Augustine by the way, just call me Austin" Austin said He was a fairly... Sorry very tall guy standing at a height of over seven feet tall, seemed to be darker than charcoal even if the rest of his family took after their mother and were fair inplexion. "Well thank you, it''s a pleasure to meet you, you know this one doesn''t like going home" "Omo if na you too, you no go like go home, that ce is stressful" Austin said as he joked "Was it only you that came?" "No, your sister is here but I think she went to do something, just do what you''re supposed to do, I''ll tell all of themter that you''vee" Austin said understanding that this wasn''t a time to catch up on things. "Okay then no problems, I''ll see you guys soon" David replied as he happily turned around and they continued on their way. Soon another call was heard but this time, it was for Fad but unlike him, it was her father. The man wasn''t all that tall, he stood at a height of six foot, add or remove two to three inches. Dressed in standard Hausa traditional outfit, the man could be seen standing just before the main entrance of the venue which meant that there was no escaping him. "Daddy!!" Fad screamed as she immediately ran to hug him Even in the she called her father, you could tell that they were rich. Following behind her, David walked slowly, this was the second time he was meeting the man. He couldn''t lie to himself, despite his current power and all, the man was still intimidating. Of course, he was a lot better now than when he first met the man but the fear was still there. Well... Technically the fear this time came from the fact that the two were now actually dating and were no longer just friends. "Ah my boy, David... " The man said after separating from his daughter "Good morning sir" "Ha, see this one acting like a stranger,e here" The man said as he pulled David into a huge hug "I always knew you would do well" he said as soon as he pulled away from the hug "Thank you sir, well your daughter helped make it what it is today" David replied professionally "Stop the humility boy, you have done well and I can see that the two of you have finally gotten together, I was beginning to question if you were gay" the man said as their faces immediately turned red "Ah.. No sir" David said not knowing whether to cry orugh at the man''s remark. "Don''t overthink it... Also you people should run inside, I see her mothering if not you two will not leave here" he said "Okay sir, we go on now" "Wait before you go, you know I have yet to meet your people" "Oh they are over there, I don''t know how many of them came but I know my brother is there" David replied while pointing out the location to him "Okay then, I''ll see you people after" He said as he began walking away. Seeing the man go, Fad immediately hit him in the chest as David began to smile "See your mouth like sir" Fad said in a mocking tone as David''s smile got even bigger "You don''t have to mock me, okay, it''s your father" David said to defend himself "Hello, Mr David" a new voice was heard as David turned to its source It was a dark man, his features showed that he was probably from the Hausa tribe or one of its member tribes. He was dressed in a suit and in his hand was an ID. "General Mohammed, Signal corps" The man said as he handed over the ID "Authencity?" David asked while looking at it [It''s real] Nous replied as David nodded and handed it back "Well wee but I don''t recall having any business with you people" David said "True, however your work requires our attention... Would it be possible for us to taketer on in a more private setting" The man asked "Truthfully, yes but legally no, she should be the one you all are meeting" David replied pointing towards Fad who had been quiet the whole time .... 1. ''Whine'' This word... At least in pidgin can be interpreted as "ying with"... Which makes the sentence "U dey whine me" mean "Are you ying with me?" Chapter 64: Tier Nine Chapter 64: Tier Nine ? "I see, then if possible, I would like for all of us to speak on a more private setting, I believe yourpany will gain from this, rather than lose" The man said "If you say so" "Okay then I will be here again tomorrow, assuming the meeting wouldn''t be possible today" The man said as David nodded "We''ll see then though if it involves us giving up our technology to the military then forget about it" Fad stated "Don''t worry Miss, Nous industries seems to be the only one capable of pulling off what you people have done" the man said before leaving them alone. Seeing him leave, the two turned towards each other and shrugged. They had a feeling as to why such a government agency would want them but it didn''t really matter. David too felt as though this would be the first of many government agencies to approach him, he already expected it after all this was quantum technology, the holy grail of technology. Just the quantum phones alone would make all of its users invisible to any form of spyware. Well not truly invisible but it does make it impossible for anyone, him included to spy on any of the users and for the military, there were multiple uses for such level of security. For that very reason, he expected many more government agencies to visit him... foreign government agencies. The standard practice amongst nations is either to try and replicate it which they can''t because they don''t have Kalt. Or they try to get the creator of the technology on their side or simply and most stress free, buy said technology and use it in their systems. After the man left, the two shrugged and immediately made their way into the main hall. It was arge room created for the purpose ofrge meetings. The Nous headquarters wasn''t just a bunch of office buildings. The many buildings on the nearly fifty hectares ofnd were all factories for the manufacturing of all the various Nous products to be released soon. The hall being used was part of the main building and was made for the purpose of addressing the workers when needed. Entering the hall, the first thing they saw were the various small stalls that were there for the purpose of disying the various products, thepany offered. With just a nce, David could see one for the Nous phones, theptop he had once proposed and the personalputer... well an all-in-one PC though. "With how things are going, I wonder if this is even an opening ceremony or a product presentation" Fad said while looking around. David was long since lost in fact that he had made this possible. Well Nous had made all this possible but in extension it was him. "Mr David" a new voice called out to him This immediately woke him up from his daydream as he quickly turned to the source of the call. It was a man who seemed to be in his early thirties however unlike everyone who had called him so far, this man wasn''t of Nigerian Descent. "Ah Mr David, I am Henry from the UK National Quantum Technologies Programmer, i''m sort of a big fan... Your lectures have allowed us make breakthroughs in our research, I was wondering if it would be possible for us to talkter on" "Well first, Wee to Nigeria and I hope you are enjoying your time here" "Of course, this country is beautiful and so full of life" the man said with a great smile on his face as David nodded "However honestly, as of today, It wouldn''t be possible for me to do so but I did recently receive a letter from the University of Abuja for a public lecture... I think then would be a much better time for such meetings wouldn''t it" David replied "Of course, of course... That would indeed be a much better time" "Thank you for understanding" David said as he shook the man''s hand once more before he left. [Crush the tracker in your sleeves] Nous suddenly said "Huh?" [Do as I say if you still like your privacy] Nous continued "I''m guessing that he isn''t the with NQTP, right?" David asked as he grabbed his wrist and squeezed only to hear a faint crack sound from inside his sleeves [Yes, MI6... Should I boot them all out of the facility, many of them are here with the intent to sabotage you] "What are their chance of achieving their aim?" David asked [Nearly zero or more precisely 0.26 percent however that still indicates that there is still a chance they may seed.. Also move an inch to your right] "What for?" David asked only to look forward to see a middle aged man standing before one of the stalls. "He''s different?" David said while staring at the man. The man noticing his stares immediately turned to face him but for some reason, David didn''t back down as he continued staring at the man. For some reason, he felt his presence there to be an insult even if he barely knew the man [Tier nine, King Lycoan of the Lycan race] "Shit?!" David whispered as he immediately turned away "Tier nine, I''ve angered him, haven''t I?" David asked as he quickly pulled Fad''s to get to their designated seat as quickly as possible. If he had known that the man was a whole eight tiers ahead of him, he would have backed down and simply looked away but he didn''t, instead he continued staring until the man visibly got ufortable. [Not really, he thinks he has angered you] Nous replied in a tone that suggested it was laughing. "Oh that''s true, i''m the Editor" David said as new found confidence filled him "What are you mumbling about?" Fad asked, not really privy to the conversation between him and Nous "There''s a tier Nine here and I think I may have angered him" "Tier nine?, that''s the highest tier right?" Seeing her neutral reaction to the information, David frowned at herck of fear towards that information even if she knew what it meant. Chapter 65: The Qconsole Chapter 65: The Qconsole ? He was tier one, and only he could tell how powerful he was, he couldn''t imagine what a tier nine was capable of if he, a new tier one, was like this. "Honestly I don''t know, but don''t worry, Nous says he is scared of me instead" David replied as he chose to remove such thoughts from his mind. "Couldn''t you have started with that first" "I needed to add a little drama, anyway should we get this started" David said in a more rxed tone "Since the person isn''t a threat, sure" Fad replied as she stated at her watch. Just minutester the whole events started, the people took their seats as an opening prayer was offered, and soon various people came forward for various speeches for various reasons. One thing to note about Nigeria was that it was a very religious country. At the front roll, David could easily spot multiple priests, imams etc. All here to dedicate the buildings to the lord to ensure its prosperity and all. After nearly an hour of such things, the main event began as a host went on stage to entertain the crowd for a bit before David was weed to the stage. "Good day to you all, I just want to thank you all foring today. Thank you all foring to celebrate with him because all this is work celebrating because just a few months ago, I was uploading a game that I wasn''t sure would do well but turns out, the lord said that it was my time to shine" David said as the peopleughed. "Your presence alone means a lot, so I thank all of you foring, anyway in order not to waste our time, I believe we should begin all this so we can end it as quickly as possible so we all can get on our way so if you are here for the dedication, please join me outside let''s get it done" David announced As soon as he said that, David passed the microphone back to the MC, who was to entertain the remaining crowd as they got the main thing done. David didn''t want to lie to himself, he had always found such ceremonies useless, and it was especially so even now. He knew the hierarchy of the cosmos... well, he knew most of it since he had yet to actually ask Nous for it. [Administrators do still answer prayers, why do you think they are called Administrators] Nous suddenly said "Huh?" [Both Christians and Muslims are a greedy bunch, despite the number of gods, they still chose to worship the beings at the very top] "Okay then, I am sorry for what I said" [It still doesn''t make any difference to you though, they are praying for yourpany, administrators and Editors are two separate beings with almost the same duty... they will never interfere with each other] "So, they wouldn''t answer this prayer simply because I am the Editor" [Correct] "Nous, I think it''s about time, you teach me everything there is that I need to know about being an Editor" It seems Editors are even higher up than he initially thought. If that was so, that would mean that the Administrator who gave him give ability truly meant it when they said they didn''t have the authority to do such a thing. It wasn''t that they couldn''t rather it just was no longer their jurisdiction, it was now his. Basically this was just the standard work situation, ''That''s not in my job description''. After an hour, the prayers and anointing were done, and they all returned back to the hall. David, however, was still stuck on the fact that the Event was now a part of his official duty, the first of many. "To all those who joined us during the prayers, thank you, but now, let''s focus on the other part of why we are here, I am sure a few of you are already very familiar with a few of them, but I would like to first introduce the main star of the day, Our Qconsole!!" David said as he pointed towards the scream. A round of apuse was heard as David smiled, he had long since noticed it. Majority of the people that came, didn''te for the dedication, they simply came to see what other things we offered, and there were many of them. With just a nce, David could see several cameras trained on him and the number of young people in the crowd meant that there were all here for the disy of products. "Now I am sure you all may have noticed it by now that despite how free and realistic Renovatio is on your standard PC or console, there are always limitations... I recently tried ying it on my console and boy was that thinggging" David ranted It was the truth about it, at first, there was nog, and you could y the game easily no matter how long you yed it. However, as soon as you start getting to the middle part of the game, then your PC starts to remind you that it wasn''t made for such huge decision-making. "So, in order to solve that, we created this, a state of the art device that can allow you to predict the weather with an uracy of up to 200 years if you want it to, of course if you want to see the specs, you can check the screen behind me" David continued "Now before you all get confused, this has a quantum processor that can run up to 6 GHz, a GPU that can deliver up to 20 teraflops of performance, 32 gigabytes of QRAM and a total storage of 12 terabytes... you could store my house in there and there would still be enough space, in simple terms, this is a beast for made specifically for gamers like you and I" David said as the entire venue erupted in shouts. David could see the look of shock on all their faces. He hadn''t even gotten to the best part yet, and these people had already lost their minds. Also, looking even more closely, David could see that most of the older people had left the venue. David couldn''t me them; this part of the event was boring to them. Chapter 66: Family Chapter 66: Family ? "Of course, due to the fundamental differences between the Qconsole and the normal consoles, it may be impossible for it to run normal games for now, however to all game publishers out there, we offer free redesign of your games to match our quantum algorithm, and we also offer maintenance however there may be a little fee" David said. He shouldn''t say such a thing out there, but did it matter, by tomorrow. He expected that a lot of game publishers or developers will contact him to take up the offer. "Or you can simply use our new game engine, Nous Engine, this I personally designed, perfect for those who n to create open-ended games like Renovatio or GTA" David said as he shrugged. A round of apuse came after the brief introduction but then again there weren''t only gamers here. There were also those who came because of the devices thepany offered. "Of course, I can''t forget the Nous phones, for those who want to know, this phone can run up to 12 GHZ, 48 gigabytes of QRAM, a quad camera setup, one being a 200 megapixel wide angle camera, a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, a 10 MP telephoto camera with three times zoom and another with ten times zoom, a 12 MP selfie camera with dual pixel PDAF" "Five thousand mAH battery and our patented Nous OS... this phone is everything a gamer doesn''t need but needs as well. Of course, I can''t forget to mention the quantummunicationwork, using a set of advanced technologies that exining now would put us all to sleep, this phone allows you to contact anyone, anywhere in the world in an instant even if the person is at the bottom of the ocean" David said after a brief pause. "Due to it''s make up, it also offers an unparalleled level of security meaning that no one other you the owner of the phone, no one else has ess to what you do, thepany included, which now that I think about it is a bad idea, I just created the perfect phone for criminals" David said as he frowned a bit. He had been excited to create it but he didn''t think about the consequences but it was what it was. "Anyway, anyone have any questions?" David asked He wasn''t close to being done but then again, this wasn''t what the day was about. Even this was overstepping it a bit but it was a good way to make people excited for the devices. After waiting a few seconds, he saw no hands up so he decided to put an end to everything and call it a day so they could all go home. "Excuse me, sorry, I wanted to ask about the phones you are developing, by my knowledge, Quantum devices do notmunicate with each other in the same way, our normal devices do, so how would it be able to contact anyone?" A man suddenly began asking as he stood up. It was a middle aged white man, David couldn''t tell where he was from but it was clear that he was a fan of David''s teaching livestreams. "That is indeed a very good question, quantum devicesmunicate via Quantum entanglement and our regr devices uses radio waves,ser etc tomunicate, the Nous phones uses the ssical method to augment its Quantum method so you don''t have to worry, as for the details, that will be shared in due time" David replied "Okay, thank you sir" "you''re wee, anyone else?" David asked as more and more questions were asked and David answered to the best of his abilities while trying to avoid revealing too much. An hourter, the entire event came to an end as many left for their various homes while the others simply stuck around to meet him. On of such people was the Tier Nine who David could still see roaming the environment. "Fad, howe, where''s your family?" David asked when he finally escaped from all the government agents, professors etc Thedy in question, could be seen simply sitting on an empty seat with a drink in hand. "Where do you think?... Your family members are here" "That makes sense... Are you ready to meet them?" David asked It was amon fact that such a meeting between families would be hectic especially for the people that brought them together in the first ce. "You''re going to invite them to the house, aren''t you?" Fad asked "That''s for sure, they can''t be staying in a hotel when I have several rooms empty at my home" "Ah, you''re too good, anyway let''s go" she said as she stood up ready to face them. A few minutes of weaving through the guests, they were finally before the group of people. David could see some people even from his extended family. Fad was the lucky one who only had her immediate family with only the extended family being her uncle. For him, he could spot his sisters, his cousins, brother, nephew and nieces. "Oh my god, look at the two of them!" Fad''s mother screamed in a dramatic manner "See my small brother oo" his eldest sister joined in as they both walked out to meet them "Mommy!/Aunty!" they two answered shyly. They expected this ever since they invited their family for the event. It was an inevitable event that they would eventually have to face. Behind them, they could see their other family members also smiling at their expressions. David felt like opening the Earth and sinking into it. "Look at the two of you now, doing big boy and girl... Then who used to ask me for money for assignment" His sister said as the two familiesughed "Don''t mind them, those days when you mention it, they will immediately start screaming" Fad''s mother said It was clear that his sister and Fad''s mother were enjoying themselves too much. However it was understandable since it was through them that they both got to know each other. Both women were civil servants with Fad''s mother being a higher up in the department. Due to the rtionship, Fad''s mother had asked him to watch over her whilst in school. It was an annoying arrangement that parents usually setup for what they thought was the good of their child but in their situation turns out they were both suited for each other. Chapter 67: Family Chapter 67: Family ? Daddy" David greeted the only other man in his family group. It was his uncle, the man who had raised him after his mother''s death. At the moment, David could see an incredibly proud expression stered on the man''s face. Beside him was Fad''s father, the smile on their faces was just as contagious forcing the two to smile as well. "This boy... If only your mother was alive to see you today" He said with a chuckle but David could tell that he was trying to fight back the tears. "I am sure she will be proud of you, no matter where she is now" Fad''s father said to console the man and change the subject. "Davi" David heard a small voice call out his name with weird intonation, looking towards the source, he saw his nephew. A young boy who was not even three yet. "See my boy, What''s his name again?" David asked as he scoped the boy into his arms. "Uncle David," His other nieces and nephews began gathering around him. "Okay, how about this, Daddy... I am sure everyone is tired from the event, let''s go to my ce so you can rest, we can continue there" David suggested "Ha, the boy even has a ce now" Fad''s father said as the two menughed. "Okay then, let''s go" His uncle said as he got into the car "You guys will ride with me, let''s go" David said to his nephews and nieces. The oldest amongst them was about seven years old with the youngest being only about three months old. David dly took all he could carry with him while leaving the more fragile ones behind for their mother''s. Following his lead, the entire group got into the vehicles they hade with as they began to drive away from the ce. Of course, like the many before them, each and every single on the them had a strange reaction to seeing the car. They didn''t know what brand as of yet since it was far away from where they were but they were still surprised nheless. "Wah, see David of yesterday, now owns his ownpany" Fad''s mother said as she pped her hands in shock to her friend "Ah Madam, don''t y with these children of nowadays, with how their mind is working, all of us will be left in the dust" "Na true oo, but I can not lie, Fad''s hit the jackpot this time" She said "At least na Fad''s not some gold digger somewhere" David''s sister said as they bothughed and began their journey with the rest. The drive was long but due to the fact that most of the journey took ce on the highway, they arrived quickly. As they drove up the mountain, David could already tell what they may be thinking. He knew his family members, they were mostly people with old beliefs. The bottom of the mountain made it look like he was entering some sort of uninhabitednd due to the forests around it so he had waited for them to confirm that this was the right road before driving up. Several secondster, David was parked inside the house and the same could be said for the rest of the family. "You know, David now would be a good time to start thinking about buying or building a house, with your money renting is not a good idea" Fad''s father began "That''s true, it''s not good for your pocket and since you two are ready to start a family, it''s better you both think of buying a house" His uncle joined in "No, Uncle, Daddy, this is our house... I bought the entire mountain " David replied with a smile Such moments were satisfying for anyone so he was not exempted. It always feels good to prove someone wrong. "What?" They both asked almost simultaneously "It was for sale so I bought it" David replied "David, you own the entire mountain?" Her mother asked shocked "Wait does that mean that the cat is real?" Austin asked "Yes, it is, what would make you think I''ll buy a fake Lamborghini" David replied confused at his question. "David you bought a mountain, oh my god" Thedy screamed He couldn''t me her for her reaction no matter how dramatic, it was what all of them were feeling at the moment. Even he who had done it understood how much of a feat this was. "How much?" His uncle asked "400 Million plus the house and renovation costs" David replied "That''s cheap" the man noted as everyone turned to him. "What?... At least the boy is thinking well, if the business fails, he can just turn here to an estate and people will pay him millions in rent even year" he replied. With that everyone seemed to havee to an understanding including Fad but David was confused. He never had such ns and thepany will seed. "Is that what the various high rises are for?" David asked [No sir, however it is a good n] Nous replied "What? No, I am already building an estate so why should I turn my home into one" David asked but choose to shrug it off as he weed the family into the house. Like he and Fad when he first entered the house, the family''s reaction was understandable. His uncle was most shocked to find a helipad within thepound. The children immediately ran to y within the vastpound OF David''s home after their parents confirmed that there were no snakes and other animals. The family wasn''t going tonight in fact the n was to let them stay for a week. Basically a fancy way of making them ept him and her being together. It was a quicker way and also because the family was bound to stay for such a long time anyway and staying in a hotel when they had many extra rooms to use was basically a sin. After a while, the family settled in, His Aunty and his future mother inw immediately dragged Fad into the kitchen, both nning to teach her to cook and all that. Thankfully due to her enhancements, Fad kept up with all of their demands easily. Her tastes buds was much better, her strength, reflexes etc were nearly superhuman. As for David himself, he now seemed to be locked in eternal conversation with the men of the family. The very fact that he had just created what seemed to be a billion dorpany meant that he was now the forbearer of all things financial in the family. Using the chances given to them, both men immediately began to set up the people they knew. His uncle immediately rmended his cousin, Austin who had been unemployed ever since he left school. It was a tragic reality in the country no matter how good ones results were. However David didn''t care, as long as they had the skill and even if they didn''t, skills could be learnt. That evening, the whole family ate peacefully and heartily as smiles andughter filled the table and for once since this entire thing began. David actually felt some degree of danger from the Event. Chapter 68: Punishment Chapter 68: Punishment ? He didn''t want to lose this, so far he had put his own priorities over that of the. Maybe it was because it was hard to feel a sense of urgency when the threat was only put in paper. Fad sensing his change quietly ced her hand on his to calm him down, she too understand it now. They may have been taking things a bit too lightly. "It''s okay" Fad said amidst the noise, calming her boyfriend down enough for the smile to return. The family interested this as some form of show of affection as several ''awwns'' resounded throughout the table. After a while more, the family finally went to bed. It was veryte when the family finally went quiet. Thankfully he didn''t have any neighbour''s or anything that wouldin. [Sir, thepound has been fully set up] Nous announced in his ear "Thank you, I believe training starts tomorrow right?" David asked [Of course, sir] Nous replied as David nodded As he tried to learn as much details from the right lipped Nous, he felt some sort of spirit descend on him and immediately he felt his power growing at a rapid speed. His eyes glowed gold as he pupils changed color. He could finally feel it, the true power of an Editor, his power rose so quickly that control wasn''t something he could do At the same time too, his control over said power was just impable even if he felt himselfcking in terms of control. He felt the earth.... The universe even submit to his will. The air moved gently around him, the Earth trembled as though in fear to offend him and He finally saw them, the gods. The monsters, the supernatural side of the world in all it''s entirety. The Universe in its entirety, it''s gods and their divine realms, his true ce in the universe. However just as quickly as the power came did it disappear. David was soon left as regr David. His power quickly plummeted down to tier 1, his omniscience gone, his Omnipotence gone but he could still feel the gaze of all the beings on him. "Look away" Davidmanded after gathering some courage He didn''t know what made him say that considering that some of these people were beyond Tier 9, he couldn''t even tell what was beyond it anymore nor could he even imagine how powerful one had to be to be beyond the supposed strongest tier. However despite his current weakened form, they all immediately looked away. The gazes on him seemed to have reduced from millions to just a few. It was an interesting situation he had found himself in but it was also one he epted wholeheartedly. [I never said that the Tier 9 was the strongest tier... for your world, it may be so but it isn''t so everywhere else] "Okay, that sort of makes more sense now that I think about it" "But still why couldn''t I see anything concerning the event?" David asked as he entered sat on the bed to wonder what just happened Turning around, he saw Fad still quietly preparing for bed, somehow she hadn''t felt all that [You are unable to see it because you currently do not have the actual power to stop it nor influence it without using your abilities as an Editor] Nous replied Hearing it, David simply sat and pondered it''s words a bit but he only came to the conclusion that he was too weak but there really was nothing he could do "Wait, Nous can I edit my tier?" [An Editor can not directly edit themselves and any object that gives you power will only be borrowed power, no matter what happens, it is advised that you instead look for ways to increase your training speed] Nous replied "That''s sort of annoying, okay what if I simply just give myself superpowers, like Reality warping" [Tier 1''s already warp reality, you can move faster than your reality allows, how do you think you achieve that?] Nous asked "The Universe is really strict" David said aloud "What is it?" "Nothing just thinking of something" David replied immediately in order to not worry her. "No, it''s not nothing, you''re clearly worried about something" She said as she stood up from where she was and came to him. Sitting astride on hisps, Fad crossed her hands across his back as David immediately began to smile like a fool. "Well not anymore" David replied as the smile got even wider Immediately lifting the girl up as he carefully lifted her into the bed. Both intent on doing the sacred did so they dly read their bibles. ... In arge hotel room somewhere in the world, two people could be seen sitting opposite each other. Both dressed as responsibly as possible but one looked as though he hadn''t slept in days. "Why are you in the Light?" "He was here" the sleepless man asked "Who was here?" "He was here" "How? And why are you in the Light?" "I''m no longer Strigoi... Can you believe that?" the man said as he chuckled "What do you mea... Your Majesty, you can''t possibly mean.... No!" the man said as a look of realization appeared on his face "There is no how, I am now a human" the man said before he stood up The sensation he was currently feeling was one that he has never felt before. Blood actually flowed through his veins, he could sense life within himself "But your majesty, without you, what will we do, this sted dogs will finally have a hand above us" "I doubt he is safe from this treatment as well he sensed us and without as much as a sound, he administers punishment... This reminds of when Lycoan thought to feed Zeus, flesh but unlike him we angered an even higher being" The man said "From now on, you are prime, you will lead our kind through the ages and into a glorious future. He at least didn''t attack you all, meaning you all wouldn''t pay for our sins" the man continued as he walked up to he man and ced his arm on his shoulders As he talked, his hands glowed as though he was transferring something from himself into the man. His time was done as evidenced by his humanity but thankfully his race was spared. Chapter 69: Editors Manual Chapter 69: Editor''s Manual ? But your majesty, this... I can''t ept this, you may have lost your power but you are still our king" "A human can not lead the Strigoi, we... You are a proud race and besides how do you n I defend myself when the thirst begins" the man said as he chuckled This event was one he deeply regretted taking part of. Thousands of years of existence and yet he had stupidly chosen to anger a god. "My king?" "I will be seeing you all when I can" the man said before leaving the room. His time was done here, hopefully the Editor will have mercy on him and reverse this curse. Giving the man onest look, he left the room. Meanwhile in another part of the world, David could be seen sitting in his study but unlike normal, he wasn''t trying to invent anything or create a livestream as usual. Instead he could be seen staring at several holographic screens floating before him. Each on live footage of each member of his family, most sleeping and some simply on their phones. "Absolute Survival" David said with his hand on his chin. [Ability Registered and Shared] "Increasing their physicality will be too obvious and currently unneeded, Nous increase luck" [Ability *Increased Luck* registered and shared] "That should do it all, now I just need to focus on increasing my power, Nous do you have any suggestions" [I can''t give suggestions as it is against my nature as an Omniscient] "Still one of the stupidest rules I have ever heard" [But it is what you have to deal with for now] "Anyway I was thinking, since my training mirrors Eastern Cultivation, I should have some form of energy which I absorb right?" [Qi, or Life force] "What if I create a room with dense Qi to increase my training speed even further?" David asked He was honestly at a loss here, he initially nned to use his first two Edits to make himself extremely rich and his final one to increase his power to absolute levels. However now it seems he was wrong, there was already a power system in existence. Just giving himself power would be good but something told him that he would just end up being less power than the regr practitioner. Due to his predicament, he was stuck stealing ideas from online novels. [Excellent idea but unnecessary, however I would suggest learning more about yourself and what you can do] "Oh.... That does remind me, I did ask for a manual didn''t I?" [Yes, you did] Nous answered as a soft light shone on the desk. Slightly blinded, David looked away but soon the light disappeared and looking back, David could see arge encyclopaedia-like book just sitting on the desk. "Okay, that''s new" David said as he picked up the book. He would say that he was surprised but the A.I was already Omniscient. It was just better to believe that it had other abilities. Ignoring the books miraculous appearance, David focused on the book itself. The book cover featured multipleplex and weird symbols but for some reason, he found each one familiar. "The Editor''s Manual" David spoke out loud [Contains everything there is to know about being an Editor] Nousmented "If this could be done, why didn''t you give it to me when I just started out?" David asked [You never asked for it and besides, the ''Editor'' position doesn''t exactlye with any manuals, this is aption of the acts of every Editor in the past and in the future. Things that have made them assume duty, things they were required to correct etc] Nous replied. "That exins why it''s this big... Wait does that mean that my exploits are in here?" David asked as he realized what Nous had said. [Manuals don''t contain people''s life story, a biography does that] "A simple no would have been enough" David replied as he rolled his eyes. Ignoring the A.I, David began reading. The book if anything at least took its time to define what an Editor was. It spent three chapters doing so. "Is this true?" [Yes] "So I''m not human?" David asked as he looked at the book skeptically. Out of everything he was seeing here, it said that apparently as soon as an Editor, makes their first Edit. He or she automatically bes a full fledged Editor both gically and all. "So the Editors are a race" [A Cosmic race but yes] "Then if I get sick how am I to recieve treatment then?" David asked worried for his life. [Editors are beyond sickness but then again, you are the weakest Editor so far but not to worry, if you do somehow get sick, you can simply Edit said illness away] "That isn''t helping my case, I am no longer human and it never urred to you to inform me about it at all" [Again, you never asked and never showed the intent on knowing] Nous answered "Of course" David said giving up on the argument. At this point, he was beginning to think that creating Nous was a mistake and a waste of an Edit. The only help, it had rendered him so far was making him. Rich and setting him on this weird path of cultivation that he could have mitigated by simply granting himself some reality altering power. As for the Event itself, it had only just told him that it couldn''t tell him. ''It was ssifed'' Though heined even he knew the benefits of having Nous by his side despite it not giving him what he wanted. It still gave him all he needed and when he needed it. Despite all, David still quietened down to continue reading the book after all it''s content were his life. ... The next day, David and Fad''s could be seen standing in front of the house with most of the family. "This boy, make sure you take care of my daughter very well for me, you hear?" Fad''s father said as he pulled him for a hug. "I will sir, she is my wife to be, do I have a choice" David replied with a smile as Fad''s cheeks flushed red. With her response, the entire familyughed. Behind the man, David could see Fad''s mother who was talking to his Aunty. Chapter 70: Family Leaving Chapter 70: Family Leaving ? With his enhanced senses, it was very easy for him to hear what they talking about. "I can not lie, madam, you raised a good son" Fad''s mother said as she stood with her to give the buildings beside them onest look. "What about you, look at your daughter... It''s all by God''s grace that our children turned out better, children nowadays can do and undo" "At least ours is okay, by the way can I collect your number, you know..." Seeing the direction the conversation was heading, David simply shifted his focus to the other members of the family. Before him were Fad''s father and his uncle. Both of them could be seen standing before the car, both men had their shoes off as they nted their feet firmly in the ground "Okay everybody gather round, you two shoulde here and kneel down" His uncle said Hearing him, they all began to gather round as David and Fad knelt in front of them as the others gathered around them. "Honestly when you told us that you were opening yourpany and you wanted us to be there, I thought we would be faced with a smallpany considering you are just a startup but this and what I saw back there is bigger than anything I expected" His uncle started The man spoke while the others nodded in agreement, David couldn''t lie, it was something he expected. Just two months ago, they sent him money for upkeep but now here he was with apany that was quickly rising in the market and a house worth more than a billion naira. Nobody could have expected this but it was done. The Editor position may be a stressful one but it was still the best thing to happen to him so far. "Now let''s pray, first we dedicate this house and the car and then we dedicate their future marriage into the hands of God, May he prosper them and grant them the fruits of theirbor" He said as they all began praying. While this happened, Fad knelt while questioning all she knew. Being a Christian was good and all but knowing what she knew now, it didn''t seem worth it. What was the point to believing in a God when your boyfriend might as well be recognized as said God. "Don''t worry, he''s real... Your worship isn''t misced though I don''t think there is any difference between the God we all worship" David whispered to her. "Really?" "You can ask Nous" David replied Convincing her the two simply knelt as they prayed. David could have also just told her that the rest of the Gods were also real as well but what use would that be. After a few minutes, the prayers ended as the family got into their cars and prepared to leave. While David spent his time with the men who were busy giving as much advices as they could, Fad''s too could be seen talking to the mothers who were doing the same to her. This was standard custom everywhere in the world since parents would always look for the best for their children and in this case, they are just excited that their children had gotten the best. "Don''t forget our discussion yesterday" Fad''s father said as his uncle nodded as well in agreement "Don''t worry, sir, I have not forgotten... In fact if any are around, you can send them now toe take their tests to start training for work" David replied He had no qualms hiring family. It wasn''t advised since not all family members are really better people but even so, he trusted Nous to have a way to deal with it. "Okay thank you, I don''t know what I did when I was young for my daughter to have such luck but thank you for being here with her" the man said as he raised his hands towards the sky as he prayed for God to bless him one more time. "Amen, uncle" David replied with a smile Due to his enhanced senses, he could sense his voice breaking even as he talked even then he expected it. To him, this was the very best oue and which good father didn''t want the best for their daughter. After a while the family finally drove off as the massive house immediately descended back into its usual silence. "Honestly I think I''m missing them already" Fad said as David chuckled "They just left" "But the house now feels empty" "That... Is correct, it seems having a big house is not always good" David replied as he and Fad re-entered the house. It truly felt empty despite the fact that it has only just being the two of them in the house. Just yesterday and they already prefer a full housepared to this. "So what now?" David asked as they both sat on the sitting room couch "Now, they said I should perform my wifely duties very well so how about I do that" Fad said as she changed position to sit astride across David''sp. Instantly David immediately became aroused as Fad smiled while David himself felt some sort of shame even if it wasn''t necessary. Soon thereafter, the two proceeded to do that which has remained a constant on Earth even after millions of years. .... "Good morning sir" a male voice calls out "Good morning, How can I help you" "Eh... Sir, my name is Obinna Stanley, I''m from Ija Vige... It''s just bellow the mountain" "Okay then what are you doing here?" "No sir, it''s just the Elders said I should invite for tomorrow''s vige meeting" "Vige meeting, is the mountain considered part of the vige?" "Not really sir but we thought it would be better to invite you" The young man said "You said it''s tomorrow right?" "Yes sir" "Okay then, I''ll be there tomorrow, at least I will get to know my neighbors well" "Okay thank you sir, I''ll be going now to inform the Elders" The young man said before the turning around to leave. Meanwhile David stood and watched as he left, a small smile could be seen on his face as he watched the man leave. Chapter 71: Preparation Project Chapter 71: Preparation Project ? It may not be much but there was a thing about Nigeria that made it incredibly sweet to stay in if one had money. Of course, you would recieve nearly the same recognition in other countries. However, here in Nigeria. You are immediately seen in a different light, people will equate you to almost a god depending on how you use your wealth. That recognition was here, he hadn''t even done much and yet the town recognized him. Well he understand that they wanted to use him to better their town but he was still recognized. "Nous, scan the town, begin fortification, title it, The Preparation Project" David said as the smile slowly faded. Depending on what the event will be, his powers may be limited. He may be able to save all of humanity but that is impossible. He couldn''t even edit the Event, he could identify it but no information appears but somehow he knew. XXXXXX Name: Event (Terra/Earth) Description: Nil Cost: A life for all XXXXXXX Having better understanding of his ability and Authority meant that he could now do more. Who said that he could only edit, physical things? No one. Who said he could only edit things that happen now? He was the Editor, it didn''t matter of it was the past, present or future. He had authority and power of it all. [Sir, are you sure you want to use the town?] "Is there a reason, I shouldn''t use it?" [None really but wouldn''t the mountain itself be better] "It is but I think a literal existing town would be better and cheaper" [Of course] Nous replied "Did you just roll your eyes at me?" [I don''t have eyes, sir] "Oh.. No wait, you do, in that hologram form of yours" David argued They argued till he returned back to the house. Fad was not home as she still needed to be present even while the employee training was going on. Nous was handling the main part but Fad was still CEO of the Company, she had to be there not just for their training but also for any other appointments. A quiet forest, this has always been a bad omen from even the ancient times till now. It was eery and disturbing however within this forest stood a man. Dressing inbat gear simr to those poprly worn by a Special Military/Police Unit. The man stood unwavering as he stared ahead. "You shouldn''t be here" the man suddenly spoke "With all the wards and formations in ce, of course I shouldn''t be here but here I am" Another voice replied "This is sacred grounds, only the worthy shall transverse it" "Sacred?... Last time I was here, I remember there being a blood river flowing through here, It wasn''t your blood now, was it?" "You are not worthy!" the man shouted before lounging forward A silvery aura coated his body as a Sword materialized in his hands. "Humans, your kind never changes" the voice said before even more silence reigned within the forest. However, footsteps could be heard as it''s owner continued forward. Screams were heard as uneasy presence of death was felt by all within the area. "I never knew it would be this easy to get here" The voice said as it''s owner chanced upon an enclosed space. It was arge cave system, however no matter how one looked at it, there was no structure holding it up but it still stood and held up the mountain above it. "You have gotten strong" a new voice spoke but it sounded much older "And you''re still alive? I thought Nymh immortality onlysted only while herdyship is alive" "If you think that then you have absolutely no knowledge of what you are doing" the older voice said "Nah, i''ll figure it out after i''m done" "Then I pray your soul finds rest soon" the older voice spoke before a small explosion was heard. "That wouldn''t kill me" the younger voice spoke finally revealing its owner. A young man in what looked like normal clothing, he looked to be of Asian descent however it was difficult to pinpoint which location exactly. In his hand was a long sword, a de whose edges shone brightly as it reflected the dim moonlight being let into the cave. "I wasn''t aiming to kill you" the older voice spoke as rumbling was heard. Several huge boulders began falling off the mountain side and soon the cave entrance was covered up. "As expected of a Sect Master, you guys are too smart for your age" The young man said as he chuckled Walking out of the shadows and into the light, the older man could seen, also of Asian descent. His face full of well aged hair and dressed in a set of robes one would expect from an ancient society. "And you are too young and ignorant" The older man replied before suddenly producing a spear from nowhere. Taking a stance and ready forbat, his aura changed as an overwhelming amount of heat began to fill the cave. A weird illusionary fire could be seen surrounding him. "I see, then I will make you embrace the new age" The young man said before suddenly sinking into the Earth. "!!" "I am beyond you, your meagre divine strength is nothingpared to mine" his voice was still heard even if he was nowhere to be seen "Then face me like a man and stop running like a coward" the older man shouted but still remained vignt as ever. "Who told you I am a man?" the young man''s voice came again. *ng!* Weapons shed as the older man was sent flying back but quickly regained his bnce as he immediately rushed forward to attack his opponent. mes coated his spear and with speed unrivaled, he jumped high and cut down his opponent intent on ending the fight. His spear created an arc of mes in the air before cutting into his opponent, cutting the... man? In half. The spear traveled through his body with ease and cauterized every wound. "Are you done?" the young man asked before suddenly turning to dust and reappearing a meter away. "You really have gotten stronger" the Sect Master said as he got ready for an attack. "Of course I have" the young man said as his voice slowly turned feminine. His appearance changed as well to look more feminine, the clothes around her changed into a set of garments fit for a nobledy of ancient times. Chapter 72: Tonantzin Chapter 72: Tonantzin ? The transformation didn''t take long but a lot had changed, her aura grew even stronger as he felt as though he had fallen into her world. "You killed Jord" the Sect mater asked as his mes slowly got even stronger. "She was weak, no worshippers, no pantheon, I merely relieved her of the duty of holding up that pantheon for so long" the female said before the ground beneath her slowly began to move. Forming waves like water, the earth sprung up as they tried to swallow up the man but he immediately split it with his spear as he aimed to go on the offensive. "You both recognize that this mountain is a national treasure, right?... If your fighting destroys it, I don''t think your world remains much of a secret" a new voice was heard. "Human?" thedy asked surprised None of then had sensed the presence of a third person within the cave "I was told an evil god is trying to kill another god, is that you?" the young man asked "Kid run away from here, she will kill you!!" the man shouted "Normally I would but currently she can''t do such a thing, please answer my question or I have no problem killing the both of you" the young man said as he began walking closer to them. "Who are you?" Thedy asked "David Nnaji, current Editor of the Universe, so now I ask again, who is the evil god here?" David asked Soon David found the two on the floor with their faces on the ground. Seeing them, his anger quickly despitated "Your Excellency?" the two greeted with a sceptical look on their faces. Looking at their reaction, David was a bit surprised. He knew of the sort of power and authority hemanded but this would be the first time he would be seeing it in action. "You two can forgo those fancy necessities, Now I ask again, who is the god that ns to kill another" David asked again. The work of an Editor was surprisingly almost the same as that of a policeman.. Well not exactly, it was the Editor''s duty to ensure that there was bnce. The Editor''s Manual emphasised on that a lot. Of course, Nous was also d to exin that this didn''t mean that They were to go around stopping every event from taking ce. This case was special in that regard, a god had been killed and another was to be killed. Gods may not seem all that important due to how many they were who shared nearly the same divinity. Like Thor and Zeus, Gaia and Jord etc. There were too many of them but all of them were important just like each cloud was important to the water cycle. Or how each species was important to the Ecosystem. Kill one and the entire thing begins to have problems and his duty was to safeguard the entire thing, not just one. If they fought a war then it was none of his business, but if a god decides to go on a killing spree then things are sort of different. "She is the one, your Excellency, Tonantzn has already killed Jord and now she ns to do the same to Houto" the man shouted as he pointed towards her "Is that true?" David asked her. Thedy in question simply knelt with a dark expression on her face. David could feel the immense power within her, she was a primordial like Jord and the Houto. "Why do you care?" she asked as she suddenly stood up as her aura red up "Honestly I don''t, my job is to punish the sinner" David said before pointing his finger towards her. As soon as he did so, the man saw her turn into two things, a small container and the other an orb. David went on to pick the two up from the ground. "You are safe now, you and your people are free to continue as you were" David said as he turned around to start going "My lord, if I may ask, what would you do with her divinity and that which she has stolen?" "All came from the Earth and all will return to the Earth, safeguard your goddess, old man, you have done the universe a great deed and will be rewarded in time" David said before suddenly vanishing from the cave. "Thank you, my lord" The man said before kowtowing in the direction he believed David to have gone. Meanwhile above the Earth, the stars moved as a humanoid figure was formed. The Earth was nothing but a pebble in its hand. All gods knelt in reverence as the Demons bowed in worship. It was neither a God nor a Devil, it was far beyond them but below the Creator of all, the Administrators. The Editor "Jord was Scandinavian right? Also considering it''s Jord, will their pantheon be okay without her?" Thoughts filled space for all who were powerful enough as David tried to figure out where to return the powers stolen. [I don''t think you need to worry about that, the Earth will right itself, it is the mother of all, it''s essence shall be returned to where needs it the most] Nous suddenly spoke after a while of silence "Oh that makes sense" David said as he let the orb go As the Orb descended on the, it split in two as each one mmed into thepletely unnoticed by anyone. The powers of a Primordial wasn''t something a normal god or devil could match or even sense. David felt and could see the two orbs of power merge with the itself as a sense of stability suddenly returned to it. Well not just it but the universe as a whole, to the universe it was a nearly inconsequential disturbance but to the, it was devastating. With his work here done, he dissipated the cosmic body he had manifested with as he found himself back on the mountain in his study. ==== Join the Discord Server with the link below https://discord/invite/S389RpNT Or you can just search for the name 5imply_lucid on any social media tform and it will get the server link there The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!