The aircraft engines' hum filled the cabin as William stared at the tiny screen of his Game Boy, his hands moving at lightning speed. The pixels of his Tetris blocks fell in a steady rhythm, accumulating into neat lines that vanished with satisfying little beeps. He was at 487,000 points, near his highscore, which was 650,000 points.

  Besides him, Eve slept with her head on his shoulder, her snow-white hair, a bit longer at the back than before, swaying slightly behind him due to slight turbulence. She'd fallen asleep almost immediately after takeoff, exhausted from the week of preparation. He'd offer her his shoulder to sleep on, and she didn't refuse.

  Careful not to wake her, his fingers moved carefully to play the game.

  [Music skill has increased from LV1 to LV2.]

  The notifications appeared in the corner of his vision. William was shocked and missed a block, completely ruining the run. But he couldn't focus on that. Why did my Music increase? He was confused before he realized. I guess I've been subconsciously analyzing Tetris's music? But that didn't make much sense. Had he really been analyzing it that much? He didn't think so, at least. He was just enjoying the game.

  He closed the Game Boy and looked at his status.

  [Name: William Winter

  Age: 18

  Race: Human

  Traits: ADHD, Chromesthesia, Adult, Genius, No Filter, Introvert, Gamer, Weeb, Caffeine Dependent, Night Owl, Intermediate Martial Artist, Entrepreneur, Amateur Businessman, Polymath

  Stats

  Body: 6

  Mind: 9

  Insight: 7

  Charisma: 4

  Willpower: 7

  Skills: Chromesthesia(LV7), Shut-In(LV9), Coding(LV9), Gaming(LV100), Languages(LV7){English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi}, Speaking(LV10), Crawling(LV10), Walking(LV10), Running(LV10), Hand-to-Hand Combat(LV5), Swordsmanship(LV5), Business(LV2+1), Law(LV2), Designing(LV3), Music(LV2), Hardware Engineering(LV2)

  Active Perks: ...[39 Perks]

  Innovation Points: 142

  Technologies Developed: Quantum OS (400 points), QFS File System (500 points), Quantum Browser (600 points), NTFS File System (400 points), VM Support Integration (300 points), UI/UX Innovation (247 points), QuantumPay (400 points), TheodosianWalls (45 points), Vox (50 points)]

  He noticed that since the last time he checked, some new things had appeared. For example, now Innovation Points were shown in the status screen, along with how much each of his technologies gave him points. And the Perk list was so huge that he had to minimized the list. He had also gained two new skills and raised them to level 2. Music and Hardware Engineering. He had also raised Languages, Swordsmanship, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Business, Law, Shut-In, and Chromesthesia by one level. If possible, he would have liked to learn a new language, but he hadn't really found a new language he was interested in.

  He sighed as he leaned back, careful not to move his shoulder too much so as not wake Eve up. I'm here anyway, doing nothing. I might as well check what these new skills do and pick perks when I'm here.

  [Polymath - You have achieved mastery across multiple unrelated disciplines, demonstrating exceptional breadth of knowledge and the ability to synthesize insights across fields.

  Learn new skills 25% faster.

  +1 Insight when working on interdisciplinary problems

  Cross-disciplinary application: Can apply knowledge from one field to solve problems in another

  No skill degradation when returning to skills you haven't practiced recently.]

  William nodded in satisfaction. It was quite a good trait. It would save him a lot of time. Next, he looked at the new perks he could select. He was still ignoring Gaming perks, as there were too many and he couldn't be bothered to do so. He knew it wasn't a smart move. Rationally, he should. But for some reason, when it came to this, he felt too lazy to actually do it.

  [Perk System]

  [Total Available Perk Points: 4]

  [Select Skill to view Available perks: Music, Hardware Engineering, Business, Law]

  Stolen novel; please report.

  He clicked on Music.

  [Music(Level 2 - 1 Perk Available)]

  [Available Perks: 4]

  Tier 1 (LV2)

  [Perfect Pitch - Identify any note by ear instantly without reference]

  [Rhythm Mastery - Never lose timing; internal metronome always perfectly accurate]

  [Instrument Adaptation - Learn new instruments 30% faster; muscle memory forms more quickly]

  [Harmonic Intuition - Instinctively understand chord progressions, harmonies, and their emotional impact]

  William thought for a moment before dismissing Perfect Pitch. He didn't need it. His Chromothesia was a better version of that. Rhythm Mastery would be useful when, but it was not something he needed. As for Harmonic Intuition, it would be even better than Rhythm Mastery, but none could compare to Instrument Adaptation, which would speed up his learning speed. He decided to pick Harmonic Intuition in his next Music perk, but for now, it was Instrument Adaptation.

  [Hardware Engineering(Level 2 - 1 Perk Available)]

  [Available Perks: 4]

  Tier 1 (LV2)

  [Component Recognition - Instantly identify hardware components, their specifications, and compatibility]

  [Thermal Intuition - Instinctively understand heat distribution and cooling requirements in electronic systems]

  [Power Efficiency - Design circuits and systems that consume 15% less power without performance loss]

  [Rapid Prototyping - Build functional hardware prototypes 25% faster with fewer iterations]

  This time, he was truly stumped. He didn't know what to pick. Any of these would be immensely useful. Component Recognition would be useful right away when he goes and checks out the facilities with Eve. Thermal Intuition would be useful and lessen a lot of future R&D costs when they release the second or third version of their phones. Not just their phones, he realized this would extend to any hardware they would produce in the future. Power Efficiency would be useful across the board as well, with their batteries lasting longer due to lower consumption. Rapid Prototyping would be even more so, as it would allow them to reduce more R&D costs. He sighed. It was truly hard. But he locked in. He chose Thermal Intuition.

  His reasoning was simple. It was not too short-term, and it wouldn't be too long in the future either. In just a year or two, they would start on their phone, and this would be useful. For this version of the phone, William had no need for Rapid Prototyping. While Power Efficiency was cool, it would just allow for the battery to last longer or for more powerful circuits and systems to be added in. It wasn't really needed. Component Recognition was too short-term for him. He would only use it during the facilities tour.

  [Business(Level 2+1 - 1 Perk Available)]

  [Available Perks: 4]

  Tier 1 (LV2)

  [Market Sense - Intuitive understanding of supply/demand]

  [Negotiation Edge - Get 10% better terms in deals]

  [Financial Literacy - Read financial statements instantly]

  [Risk Assessment - Better evaluate business risks]

  For this, he was confused. He remembered choosing Market Sense before. Thinking back, he did choose it. Why am I getting it now? Pennyworth?

  [Sir, it seems the System 'glitched' and will give you two perks every 2 levels due to conflict with the trait.]

  Won't the system reroll it if it finds out in the future?

  [Sir, the System notified that it will not, as this is its fault.]

  Huh? The System's sentient?

  [In a sense, yes, Sir. Usually, the System is egoless, but due to being fused with me, it seemed to have copied a bit of my functions, which may include my sentience.]

  William didn't know what to feel about that. For one, it was dangerous. But secondly, it could be a huge boon to him. But he would deal with it later. For now, he chose Risk Assessment. He didn't remember it being there last time, and in the past, it only gave three perks to choose from, but now, it gave four.

  [Law(Level 2 - 1 Perk Available)]

  [Available Perks: 4]

  Tier 1 (LV2)

  [Legal Loopholes - Spot exploitable gaps and ambiguities in contracts, regulations, and legal frameworks]

  [Contract Speed Reading - Read and comprehend legal documents 3x faster without missing critical details]

  [Precedent Memory - Perfect recall of relevant case law and legal precedents when needed]

  [Regulatory Intuition - Instinctively understand how laws and regulations will be interpreted and enforced]

  He immediately chose Legal Loopholes. He didn't need Contract Speed Reading. Precedent Memory was redundant as he had perfect recall. And Regulator Intuition would be chosen later. But for now, he favored loopholes more than how they would be interpreted.

  [Confirm Perk Selection?]

  [Music: Instrument Adaptation

  Hardware Engineering: Thermal Intuition

  Business: Risk Assessment

  Law: Legal Loopholes

  Total: 39 perks selected

  Remaining: 50 perk points (Gaming: 50)

  Note: This selection is permanent and cannot be changed. Proceed?]

  He clicked it. Afterwards, multiple notifications appeared, but he dismissed them. It was just a notification about him picking perks and that he still had Gaming perks to pick. Giving a shrug, he revised his design of the smartphone. With just a single mental revision, he could see two points where he could optimize without adding bulk. He was sure that if he did it seriously with his desktop, he would be able to find even more. Reducing heat would certainly increase performance long term, improve longevity, and reduce lag.

  As for Risk Assessment... it was powerful, alright. He instinctively knew a few risks to the Axiom acquisition. First, it would greatly increase costs on employee. It was bound to have thousands of employees, and currently, they only had around 50 employees. It would massively increase the cost. Second, it would certainly bring massive losses to the company before the release of his smartphone. Even if he had contracts, they wouldn't be able to sustain it reliably. Though he was sure with Eve's capabilities in managing, it could be profitable.

  After another sigh, he looked out the window over Eve's head. Softly resting his left cheek on her head, he stared at the white clouds stretched endlessly. Nature is truly unfathomable. He had a random thought. He rested his eyes, his right hand slipping his Game Boy into his coat pocket. His left hand was around Eve, hugging her tightly.