The plan that was forming in my mind shattered as I got the talent.

It isn't the one I am looking for. The talent to understand the stock market simply let me understand how the stock market works. It doesn't let me predict how it will go at all.

So that is why it costs 200,000 Yen. It might be expensive for an average japanese citizen, but in this Shop it is very cheap. The power I am looking for is the ability to predict the stock market which costs a whopping one hundred billion yen. There is no way I can afford that!

"Can I have a refund?"

"We have a strict no refunds policy in our shop, dear customer."

Then I just wasted my money. What a shame...

I left the Shop with shoulders slumped, disappointed at the results of my purchase.

----------------------------------------

After getting back to the real world, I quickly open my browser app in my phone and open up sites that lets people create accounts to invest on market stocks.

Of course, I look at the stocks first before even committing to it. A brief research of each public market in the internet made me easily aware of their statuses. My talent to understand stock market seems to make it possible for me to comprehend how stock market actually works, and how each companies do their stuff by simply looking through their price history in the market.

It's not as miraculous as predicting what will actually happen, but it helps me make conjectures what stocks are safer and most likely to give profits short term and understand whether foul plays, stock market price manipulation, or scam is happening through a simple glance on their reports and history.

Like for example, with a single glance of reports from JxL Corporation, a big company in Tokyo, in the internet, I easily gleamed info that their price would decline due to a sudden increase of investments reported on their market from an unknown source. There is a high chance there might be something fishy going on that they deliberately do to manipulate their own market value, and there is a high chance it will result in their downfall.

Of course, all of this are speculative. Its not guaranteed they actually did something.

So after thinking about it carefully, and looking through reports about some promising middle tier companies that are listed on the public stock market site, I choose to buy a few stocks on three companies, each costing fifty thousand yen. If my speculations are correct, their prices will rise for at least a few yen in the following week, which will be the time I have to pull back and sell most of them back to the public market.

Hopefully my conjectures are right. I have spent all of my savings there. Only the money I put for my daily neccessities remains. I'll have to wait next week for my salary.

For now, I have to live frugally and stop spending lavishly on my leisure.

It's not really a concern anyway. I've stocked up on stuff before I decided on my purchase of this talent.

I can sustain myself until my payday.

----------------------------------------

After a week, I learned that my prediction came true. It wasn't that accurate and there were margins of errors in my assumptions but it still gave me double on what I spent on those stocks.

Out of the three middle tier companies I bought stocks with, two rose up while one fell unexpectedly. The value of those two earlier companies rose and their stocks doubled in price. It seemed like demand for their services and products became popular.

Of course, in this part, I speculated their value would be at its peak in this specific day only. If I waited for a few more days, it would fall. So I sold my stocks back to the public market and got more than 200,000 Yen.

As for the latter company, unfortunately their market became more unpopular. There are a lot of reasons why that happens but I assume the most likely factor why is because their product isn't that appealing to the mass.

It's one of those things my understanding of the stock market doesn't include. I can understand the workings of the stock market and its fickleness but public opinion is an entirely different thing. It's up to the public whether they like a product or not. I can't predict what they like.

This company looks promising, safe, and if my research and assumptions can be believed, it's not a scam. They have a slow and steady rise in their progression, and reading the reports made me assume they will acquire more value as time goes on.

Really, understanding doesn't equate to prediction. I have an in-depth knowledge how stock market works, but not how it will go. That's just how the economy works.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

It doesn't matter. I know that my talent is working just fine so if I continue buying stocks and investing to some small tier and middle tier companies, I will gather a significant amount of wealth overtime.

I have at least a 70% chance of getting it right in my predictions, so I will rely in this ability to accumulate wealth.

Then, I will transfer funds to my family on Hokkaido. The more I help them, the more I can ensure that they will have an easier life even if they are living in the province.

Of course I am not going to neglect myself. I already separated my expenses for my own and the money that I would transfer to my parents' account.

I am in this city because I want an easier life. I'll be saving up more money until I can buy my own house. That has been my dream since I was a child.

I can get there sooner with the help of the Shop.

As for what I will do when I achieve my dream, I'll think about it when that time comes.

----------------------------------------

With the great success from my first transaction in the public stock market, I used up those 200,000 Yen to invest on some companies from that I predicted would be safe and would give me profits in the short term.

This is what I do for the next month. I work in the company while investing in some company on my spare time. Whenever I find it appropriate, I will sell all my stocks and look at other companies I can invest with so I can get more profits.

There are some duds, but its irrelevant as 70% of them gives enough profits to raise my capital.

Now I have a million yen in my bank account. This is not including the money I send to my parents which is half of what I earn on stock market.

So if I include the money I send to my parents, that will be approximately two million yen. An amount that I can earn if I work in my job for half a year.

Just in a month, I got six times my normal salary!

This is all just on my earnings from the stock market. The salary I get from my job is another thing. I use it for my daily neccessities and other leisurely stuff.

I plan to use what I save in the Shop. It doesn't feel satisfying just working in a thankless job even when I got the supernatural power of waking up always in better condition. I need more to increase my efficiency.

If I want to be self-sufficient, I have to make myself very competent that I won't have to work in a company. That means I need talent.

My purchased talent of understanding the stock market had shown its usefulness. It might not be prediction, but it wasn't a scam. It's still a useful ability to have.

Other talents will give me more. If I acquire the necessary talent to earn by myself, then I can quit my job without worrying anymore.

So once more, I enter the Shop to browse for any useful abilities.

----------------------------------------

"Welcome esteemed customer, what can I do for you?"

"Please show me the catalogue for talents that I can afford with my money."

"I understand."

A panel appears with the list of all talents I can afford with my money.

"Can you only show me talents that will help me earn money by myself?"

"Of course that can be done easily, our dear customer."

Most of the stuff in the panel vanishes, showing only a few that makes me feel a bit unsure.

The talent of singing, the talent of dancing, the talent of playing a guitar skillfully, the talent of playing a piano skillfully, the talent of playing drums skillfully, the talent of knitting expertly, the talent to mold clay base on your imagination, the talent to carve wood base on your imagination, the talent to clean floors skillfully, the talent to clean walls skillfully, the talent to clean ceilings skillfully, the talent to clean harder-to-reach spots skillfully, the talent of assembling computers, the talent of becoming an expert electrician, the talent of plumbing...

Wait a minute, why does all of these lists every mundane things in the world?

Most of them needs me to work for it. Is there no talent here that will make it easier for me to make my own business?

Hmm... singing might be a good choice. Though where can I use that talent?

Should I be singing in the middle of the streets?

No way! That will be very embarrassing!

Then, if I ever choose this talent, should I look for any talent shows.

Hmm... no way. I'm too old to be joining in talent shows. I'm not an idol material.

So singing is out.

Dancing looks very tiring so I won't even consider it. Those that uses instruments still needs me to invest in an actual instrument, and I will have to play in the public if I want to monetize that. That's the same as to what I think of singing, so I will be crossing those options out too.

What's next?

I don't really want to work like a janitor. I want to have an easier life. Why am I going to go out of my way and do something physically demanding?

I already have a desk job, and even I feel like quitting because of how much our boss throws unnecessary work on us. No way I am going to lower myself and do something more demanding.

Molding clay sounds neat, and then wood carving too. Though I am still unsure.

Is it profitable?

I browse through the list of talents in the floating panel as I contemplate about my options. Most of them are all about musical talents, activities that needs a lot of stamina, and niche stuff like repairing broken watches.

What I want is something I can do in my apartment room, and is popular enough that I will gain immediate profits after I start it in this month.

Something like... artist commissions!

One time while I was at work, I heard my coworkers talked about how they earned money through digital arts. I think they just make an account somewhere and then post their rates for their commissions.

It's a leisure hobby that I can also use as a way to earn money. It checks all my requirements like being able to do it inside my apartment room, not needing much effort to do, and being able to earn quickly depending on how I promote myself.

I can do both online investment and drawing in my spare time.

That's a great life!

So without hesitation, I choose the talent for digital arts. It costs me 500,000 Yen. Because I have some spare cash left in my savings, I also choose the talent of imagining stuff vividly which only costs 150,000 Yen.

I think both of those talents are good investments for my future. The next thing I need to do is to prepare for my resignation.

I still have a lot of time. It's very hard to suddenly resign in a company with our strict culture. So I can build up my wealth more before I leave my job.

I think I am getting closer to my dream of a leisure city life.