Friday morning arrived quietly.
Too quietly.
Sunlight slipped through the thin curtains of Ethan's apartment as his alarm buzzed on the nightstand.
7:00 AM.
Ethan's eyes snapped open.
For a moment he didn't remember why his heart was already racing.
Then he did.
Helios.
He grabbed his laptop before even leaving the bed.
The trading platform loaded slowly.
Too slowly.
"Come on…" Ethan muttered.
Finally the numbers appeared.
Helios Technologies — $0.94
Ethan frowned.
That was it?
The message had said it would explode Friday.
A sixteen-cent increase from his entry price wasn't exactly an explosion.
He refreshed the page again.
Still $0.94.
His stomach tightened.
Did I misunderstand the message?
He rolled out of bed and walked toward the small kitchen, making instant coffee while watching the pre-market chart on his phone.
The line barely moved.
Flat.
Almost dead.
8:12 AM.
8:35 AM.
8:58 AM.
The market was about to open.
Ethan sat at his desk, staring at the screen like a sniper waiting for a target.
"Alright," he whispered.
"Let's see it."
9:30 AM — Market Open
The chart moved.
But not up.
Down.
$0.90
Ethan blinked.
Then it dropped again.
$0.86
His heart slammed against his chest.
"What the hell?"
Sell orders were flooding in.
The volume bar exploded red.
$0.82
$0.80.
Within seconds the stock had erased two days of gains.
Ethan's palms grew sweaty.
Had the future message been wrong?
Had he just thrown away nearly fifty thousand dollars?
The chat forums were exploding.
"Helios dumping!"
"Told you it was a dead company!"
"Pump and dump!"
The price continued sliding.
$0.77
Lower than his entry price.
Ethan stared at the screen, frozen.
His brain screamed at him to sell.
Cut the loss.
Save what remained.
But another voice whispered inside his mind.
Future Ethan said Friday.
And Friday had just started.
Ethan clenched his fists.
"Not yet."
Across the city, inside a glass office tower, the same chart glowed across dozens of monitors.
The man from the previous night watched calmly as the price fell.
One of the analysts spoke.
"We triggered the sell pressure like you ordered. Retail investors are panicking."
The man nodded slowly.
"Good."
A second analyst turned his screen.
"But there's still that unknown buyer holding sixty thousand shares."
The man's eyes narrowed slightly.
"He hasn't sold?"
"No, sir."
The man leaned forward.
"Interesting."
Most amateur traders would have panic-sold already.
But this one hadn't moved.
"Keep watching him," the man said quietly.
Back in his apartment, Ethan felt like he was sitting on a bomb.
Helios continued drifting.
$0.75
His position was now losing money.
The number in his account flashed red.
$1,800
$2,100
$2,700
Ethan took a deep breath.
Trust the message.
Minutes crawled by.
9:47 AM.
9:52 AM.
Then suddenly—
Something changed.
The volume bar spiked violently.
But this time…
Green.
The price jumped.
$0.82
Ethan leaned forward.
"Wait…"
Another surge.
$0.96
His eyes widened.
The forums exploded again.
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"
"NEWS?"
"HELIOS MOVING!"
Then the headline appeared on the financial news feed.
BREAKING: Helios Technologies announces revolutionary solar battery efficiency breakthrough.
Ethan's jaw dropped.
The stock chart went vertical.
$1.10
$1.28
$1.46
Traders rushed in like sharks smelling blood.
The entire market suddenly noticed the forgotten company.
Ethan's profit number began spinning upward.
+$20,000
+$35,000
+$50,000
His breathing became shallow.
"Holy…"
The price rocketed again.
$1.80
His original $46,800 investment had already doubled.
And the explosion was still accelerating.
In the office tower, alarms began flashing across the analysts' monitors.
"Sir… Helios just released their breakthrough report."
The man frowned.
"That wasn't supposed to go public until noon."
Another analyst spoke nervously.
"The stock just passed $1.70."
The man's expression darkened.
"Who leaked it early?"
No one answered.
But something bothered him even more.
He looked at one specific data line.
60,000 shares — still holding.
The mysterious trader hadn't sold.
Not even a single share.
The man whispered quietly.
"…Who are you?"
Back in his apartment, Ethan stared at the screen in disbelief.
Helios Technologies — $2.12
His account balance refreshed.
$127,000
Ethan leaned back slowly in his chair.
Three days ago he had $214.
Now he had over one hundred thousand dollars.
And the stock was still climbing.
His phone vibrated.
The future phone.
A new message appeared.
Future Ethan:
Do not sell yet.
Ethan stared at the words.
Then another line appeared.
The real explosion… starts at $5.
Ethan's heart nearly stopped.
$5?
That would make his position worth nearly $300,000.
Outside his window the city continued its normal routine.
Cars passed.
People walked to work.
No one had any idea that inside a tiny apartment…
A broke student had just taken the first real step toward becoming unimaginably rich.
And somewhere in the city…
Someone had just started hunting him.