Ringdom Competitive Intelligence｜Ad Analysis by SocialPeta
Competitive intelligence is the first step in our marketing intelligence work and one of the most important parts. Only when we understand the details of our competitors can we formulate a correct and effective marketing strategy.
In this report, SocialPeta analyzes the Ringdom's ad analysis from multiple aspects and helps you see the competitive intelligence of top grossing apps Ringdom.
Now, I'll tell you how to gain a competitive advantage by SocialPeta.
1. Basic Information of Ringdom
App Name : Ringdom
Logo：
OS : Android
Network : Facebook,Audience Network,Messenger
Developer : Dreame Media
Publisher : Instagram,Facebook,Korean Food Recipes - 10k Recipes,Ameba
Total creative ads during the time period : 664
Duration : 277
Popularity : 39,159
Check ASO Keywords of Ringdom
2. Ringdom’s Competitive Intelligence
what is competitive intelligence? Competitive intelligence is the most important part of our marketing. Only when we fully understand the overall situation of our competitors and the market can we make accurate judgments.
Before advertising, we usually use various tools, such as SocialPeta, to check the details of competitors' ads. In this report, we will analyze the recent advertising performance of advertiser Ringdom in detail to understand its advertising strategy.
Trend of Category
There are many types of creatives. We mainly analyze the trend of the ad creative category of Ringdom in the recent period. As of 2021-03-15, among the Ringdom‘s ad creative, the Html category's proportion is 0.0%, Video category's proportion is 0.0%, Playable Ads category's proportion is 0.0%, Image category's proportion is 100.0%, Carousel category's proportion is 0.0%.
Ad Network Analysis
The network that SocialPeta monitors can cover almost all mainstream channels in the world. Understanding the competitor's advertising channels is the first step in marketing work. According to the analysis of SocialPeta, we can see that in the date of 2021-03-15, Ringdom's the proportion of networks impressions are placed like this:
Facebook's proportion is 30.51%,
Audience Network's proportion is 23.25%,
Instagram's proportion is 23.12%,
Messenger's proportion is 23.12%,
's proportion is .
In the date of 2021-03-15, Ringdom‘s network with the most ads is Facebook and its proportion is 29.41%.
3. Top 3 Ad Creative Analysis of Ringdom
This is the detailed information of the top three ad creatives with the best performance among all ad creatives of Ringdom. We can see some advertising trends.
Top 1 Ad Creative of Ringdom
Ad Details ：
Headline ：I Bought An Island To Survive Apocalypse
Text ：Prologue
*Beep Beep Beep*
The alarm has been ringing non-stop for the last fifteen minutes. The target for the noise is laying down on the bed. He is sweating profusely while turning left and right uncontrollably. His jet-black hair is now wet and sticks to his face.
He finally wakes up and his eye was opened wide. He immediately rises from the bed while shouting out loud.
“Noooo!”
With regret on his face and agony coming deep from his soul reflected in his eye. Unfitting for his teenage looks, he showed such deep emotions that could only be gained with the passing of time.
The sudden change in his surroundings makes him confused now. He fell into silence as the alarm clock still beeping from the table beside the bed.
“Where am I? Where is the ‘Queen’? What actually happened?”
He tried to recall his memory and the scene from before he wakes up still engraved deeply. It was a scene that he won’t be able to forget even if he wants to.
He still remembers. Shelter F-53 is the name of the place that he is guarding. The defense was breached and the civilians inside fell victim to the enemy. He can only watch as they are being killed and the buildings are burned. He is the last survivor of the shelter. Not because he is strong but because the Queen wanted to kill him last.
As a guard, he stands on the front line and become the first prisoners of war. It was still vivid in his memory. The scene of people being decapitated as their body slowly fell and their blood colored the ground red.
He was forced to witness all of that. He wanted to kill himself to stop the suffering and pain but the ‘Queen’ rendered him of all movement.
She whispered the hell’s chorus as she spoke: “Look at that, isn’t it beautiful. Their meat tastes better if they experience intense emotions before their death. Pain, despair, agony, it is the perfect seasoning.”
Tears come out from the edge of his eye. He never felt so helpless in his life. Even when he is so near to death’s door fighting on the front line, he prefers to die rather than witnessing all of this.
The Queen licked the tears from his face and she shivered elatedly.
“Ah, so sweet. I never taste it before. What is this? Is it a misery? Hopelessness? I couldn’t wait to taste your meat.”
The Queen lifted his body. Her claws are clinging tightly to his neck as she looked straight into his eye.
“Did you hear that? Their scream is already making my saliva overflow. Don’t worry, I will savor you slowly. I have cooked you long enough. I wonder how tasty you will be?”
He takes one last look at the Queen. He only hopes that the Queen ends his suffering immediately. He feels so disgusted seeing the expectation from the Queen’s eye.
“I hope you will give me an unforgettable gastronomic experience.”
Her claw is digging deeper into his neck as easily as a hot knife into butter. He felt regret, despair, yet relieved at the same time. Finally, this torture will end. How great it is if he could return to the time when he is still young. When the apocalypse hasn’t occurred. How wonderful it is to once again be that naïve boy who doesn’t give a care for the world and live freely without worry?
*slash*
His head slowly falls down from his body. He couldn’t believe that he actually didn’t die instantly. He saw his own headless body and the neck that is slowly spurting out blood. There is a glimmer of green lights glowing from his chest area.
The source of lights is a pendant that he always wears for the last twenty years. It slowly becoming brighter as he felt pain so great. As if his soul is being split apart and rending to dust. He couldn’t help but screamed out and closes his eye as he grits his teeth.
“Noooo!”
Finally, he opened his eye again and found himself on top of his old bed.
Looking at the alarm clock that has been beeping nonstop, the date is the 31st of October. The day of Halloween, also his own birthday. He remembers the pendant he saw was given to him by his father. He got it as his sixteenth birthday present, today, wrapped nicely in a box beside the alarm clock. However, this time, the present box is no longer there.
Was it a miracle? One time use item? Or will he get the chance to acquire the pendant again?
He even wondered was it all only a dream? Or he really experienced all of that and reincarnated to the past again?
“No, it wasn’t a dream. I really experienced all of that. The pain I felt, the feelings of helplessness, misery, and agony is too real to be a dream. I must have somehow returned to my younger self.”
Looking at his thin and fragile limbs, he clenches his fist so hard that it started to bleed. The determination and anger in his eye could make anyone shivers when looking at it.
“The Queen. Just you wait! This time, it will be me who is bringing the executioner’s blade to your neck.”
Future Plan
Pluto goes out of his room to look for his father. In his past, his father leaves a message on the table saying that he will be leaving for a business trip but he never returned again. His last present for Pluto is the pendant which saved him in a critical moment and saved him to the past. However, this time there is no pendant for his birthday present.
He checked the table and just like what he predicted, the message from his father is there. He really is reincarnated to the past.
Clenching his fist, he determined to change the future. If it really was the same as his past life, 10 years from now the world will welcome the apocalypse. It happened so fast and no one is prepared. Even a super-powered country falls as a victim as the disaster struck without notice. This time, he needs to do his best.
Even though he knew about what will happen in the future, will anyone believe him? If he tells them that 10 years from now there will be a disaster befall the earth, who will trust the words of a 16 years old boy? It would already be great that they didn’t think of him as a crazy boy.
He also thinks that in this life he needs to find his father. The pendant that his father gives him saved his life and it could lead to a bigger secret. Pluto also know some clue about the apocalypse that is discovered 8 years after it happened and he finally got the chance to investigate about it now. The people couldn’t investigate it before as even surviving is hard enough. This time, he might get the chance to know more about why the apocalypse happened and the reason behind it.
Pluto recollected his mind and sat down at the table. Looking at his father's handwriting, he organized his thoughts. What should he do to prepare for the apocalypse?
The first thing that crossed his mind is shelter. He needs to make a shelter that is ready for the apocalypse.
When the apocalypse hits, the first problem that occurred in the world is finding a safe haven. Mankind finally built several shelters after the apocalypse occurred but it comes at the price of countless life.
The shelter can act as a base. Humanity can’t even go on an expedition to reclaim the lost land apart from some area near the shelter as their resources are drained up. He needs to create a shelter that is self-sufficient to survive.
Apart from shelter, when the apocalypse happened, mankind is hard-pressed on procuring food. As farmers couldn’t go out and farm on fields, humans still need food to survive. Death from starvation on the apocalypse wasn’t a small number. He needs to make a shelter that could produce its own food.
To prepare for the apocalypse, he knew that he first needs to build a shelter that could produce its own food. The next question is, how?
Building a shelter isn’t a simple task. Besides the design of the shelter, the materials needed to build it, and the location is also a problem. The military-grade buildings material used to make the shelter in his past life couldn’t be easily acquired. He didn’t even know whether the materials are already been invented or not.
Normal bricks won’t stand a chance in the apocalypse. Even using special military-grade material, his shelter F-53 is still breached. This time, he needs to make it from even stronger materials if possible. Either he used the military-grade material first and reinforce it later or he could always try to invent new material.
As a guard in the apocalypse, although he wasn’t privy to the confidential documents, he still has a rough idea of what the researchers are doing. Not to mention that the technology he used and well versed in, come from 20 years in the future.
The location of the shelter also becoming an important issue. It should be at a place that is isolated from elsewhere to increase the defense as well as the location need to be strategic enough. If his plan really comes to fruition then humanity could try to reclaim lost land during the apocalypse with his shelter as the center.
If the problem of the shelter is solved, the next thing he needs to do is acquiring some talents. Talented people will be needed when the apocalypse occurred. He also knows of some famous people that managed to make a name for themselves despite the apocalypse. If he wanted to increase his chance to survive and save mankind in the apocalypse, he will need them in his shelter.
Last but not least is technology. He needs to research the materials that he needs to build the shelter. Transportation means, firepower, efficient food source, all of it needed to be researched and invented to further increase the hope of humanity.
Having a clear goal in his head, he knows that he needs three things. A shelter, talented people, and researching technologies. All of that has a 10-year deadline from now on. It wasn’t easy but he needs to do it. Talented people need to be recruited first as he needs them to research the technology, whether it was for the shelter materials or for essential future usage.
Before executing the plan that he has come up with, there is one thing that he needs to do. Without it, all his plans will come to nothing. And that is, earning money.
The money will be needed for everything. From recruiting talented people and researching technologies to making the shelter. It needs an enormous amount of money. It wasn’t just one or two million dollars. It might even need billions of dollars to make. It might be a small number for billionaires out there but it is an almost impossible number for the 16 years old Pluto.
He returned to his room, takes out a book, and write with a pen: “How to become a billionaire in 5 years.”
He set the time to 5 years since the time needed for research might even take longer than the remaining 5 years until apocalypse hit. Looking at the writing on the book which seemed like a scam mail subject, he checked his pocket at the same time only to found 10$ on it.
“How in the world I could earn that much money?”
Options
Pluto remembered that after his father goes missing, he suddenly found a lot of money in his bank account. That was the money he used to grow up and enter university. All in all, it wasn’t that much but it is sufficient until he graduated from university and finding a job. It might not be much but it is enough as capital if he wanted to open a business.
Since he also knows that the world will go through the apocalypse 10 years from now, he doesn’t have any time to spare. Going to the school will be pointless at this point, not to mention university. He decided to stop going to school entirely and focus on making money.
“First I need to wait for the money from my father to come before I can do anything. This also gives me time to deduct some things. Father used to work with the military and never go for a business trip for more than a week. Ever since mother died, he seldom goes on a business trip too. Maybe it was his way of taking care of me in my mother’s place but he still left me alone this time. He mustn’t do this on purpose. Even after the apocalypse arrived, he never come back. His name isn’t even registered in the list of survivors in the shelter. Either if he didn’t make it or his location wasn’t known to the world.”
Pluto scribbled on his book again while listing all the important information that he knew. Starting from the company where his father works, the bits and pieces of clue he found out about the apocalypse, the pendant, the queen, the shelter, all the technologies used 20 years from now, and finally, he found a lead.
“If I remember correctly, a few days after my bank account receive money, some suspicious people come here to ask about my father. They might be able to give me more information.”
He knows that the thing that he needs to do is waiting. Waiting for the money to come to his bank account and waiting for the people who are looking for his father to come. Standing up, he realizes that his body is no longer of that 36 years old guard anymore. It was an untrained 16 years old body. He knows that the first to-do list in his journal is now to train his body. Either it is to anticipate an unforeseen event of a melee fight when he engages with the people who is looking for his father or to prepare for the incoming apocalypse. 10 years might be long but with all the list of things he needed to do, he thinks that he needed a lot more time.
“Alright, let’s train this body first!”
**
Every morning after his birthday, Pluto started to run for 10km every day. At first, he seemed like he was about to pass out but now he could finish it after some hardship. His body isn’t at the level he wanted to but at least his stamina is now improved.
In the afternoon he did some shadow boxing, trying to adjust himself to his present body. He is not in his former well-trained body so it is taxing for him but he still persists for the future. After all, he can be considered as humanity's last hope. Every time he remembers the Queen, his body suddenly filled with anger, and able to train for a bit more.
At night, he uses the time to research. He is trying to find the location where to build his shelter, along with the latest trend. He is looking for an opportunity to make money and tried to remember from his memory, where he could earn a quick profit. He is definitely doing his homework to earn a billion dollars.
If he is not mistaken, tomorrow is finally the day the money is transferred to his bank account. He has some plans on what to do to earn some money. First on the list in the stock market. No one can be rich faster than the stock market. It is also one of the places where anyone can go bankrupt in a blink of an eye.
He didn’t know the exact day, time, or date for the stock to rise and fall but he knows the general trends, whether the company will rose to prominence in a few years or not. He decides to buy some stocks that could give him profit if he sees the chance.
The second option is to get into the technology industries. Either by inventing a futuristic product or a trending phone app that could net him some profit. This however needs more money than what he has now.
The third option is investing in real estate. This gives a lot of return on investment but the time needed for the price of land or building to go up is taking years and the money needed also not small.
If only he could tell the truth and the whole world is preparing for the apocalypse together, that would be the best. However, the reality isn’t as simple as what you think. Conflict of interest will arise even if several countries agree to the plan.
Doing it independently is the best course of action as everyone he paid for will follow his design. The hardest part is gathering the money himself until he could execute his plan.
Options
Pluto remembered that after his father goes missing, he suddenly found a lot of money in his bank account. That was the money he used to grow up and enter university. All in all, it wasn’t that much but it is sufficient until he graduated from university and finding a job. It might not be much but it is enough as capital if he wanted to open a business.
Since he also knows that the world will go through the apocalypse 10 years from now, he doesn’t have any time to spare. Going to the school will be pointless at this point, not to mention university. He decided to stop going to school entirely and focus on making money.
“First I need to wait for the money from my father to come before I can do anything. This also gives me time to deduct some things. Father used to work with the military and never go for a business trip for more than a week. Ever since mother died, he seldom goes on a business trip too. Maybe it was his way of taking care of me in my mother’s place but he still left me alone this time. He mustn’t do this on purpose. Even after the apocalypse arrived, he never come back. His name isn’t even registered in the list of survivors in the shelter. Either if he didn’t make it or his location wasn’t known to the world.”
Pluto scribbled on his book again while listing all the important information that he knew. Starting from the company where his father works, the bits and pieces of clue he found out about the apocalypse, the pendant, the queen, the shelter, all the technologies used 20 years from now, and finally, he found a lead.
“If I remember correctly, a few days after my bank account receive money, some suspicious people come here to ask about my father. They might be able to give me more information.”
He knows that the thing that he needs to do is waiting. Waiting for the money to come to his bank account and waiting for the people who are looking for his father to come. Standing up, he realizes that his body is no longer of that 36 years old guard anymore. It was an untrained 16 years old body. He knows that the first to-do list in his journal is now to train his body. Either it is to anticipate an unforeseen event of a melee fight when he engages with the people who is looking for his father or to prepare for the incoming apocalypse. 10 years might be long but with all the list of things he needed to do, he thinks that he needed a lot more time.
“Alright, let’s train this body first!”
**
Every morning after his birthday, Pluto started to run for 10km every day. At first, he seemed like he was about to pass out but now he could finish it after some hardship. His body isn’t at the level he wanted to but at least his stamina is now improved.
In the afternoon he did some shadow boxing, trying to adjust himself to his present body. He is not in his former well-trained body so it is taxing for him but he still persists for the future. After all, he can be considered as humanity's last hope. Every time he remembers the Queen, his body suddenly filled with anger, and able to train for a bit more.
At night, he uses the time to research. He is trying to find the location where to build his shelter, along with the latest trend. He is looking for an opportunity to make money and tried to remember from his memory, where he could earn a quick profit. He is definitely doing his homework to earn a billion dollars.
If he is not mistaken, tomorrow is finally the day the money is transferred to his bank account. He has some plans on what to do to earn some money. First on the list in the stock market. No one can be rich faster than the stock market. It is also one of the places where anyone can go bankrupt in a blink of an eye.
He didn’t know the exact day, time, or date for the stock to rise and fall but he knows the general trends, whether the company will rose to prominence in a few years or not. He decides to buy some stocks that could give him profit if he sees the chance.
The second option is to get into the technology industries. Either by inventing a futuristic product or a trending phone app that could net him some profit. This however needs more money than what he has now.
The third option is investing in real estate. This gives a lot of return on investment but the time needed for the price of land or building to go up is taking years and the money needed also not small.
If only he could tell the truth and the whole world is preparing for the apocalypse together, that would be the best. However, the reality isn’t as simple as what you think. Conflict of interest will arise even if several countries agree to the plan.
Doing it independently is the best course of action as everyone he paid for will follow his design. The hardest part is gathering the money himself until he could execute his plan.
Brunhild
*groan*
The two men slowly wake up from their stupor only to found out that they have been tied up and handcuffed.
“What is the meaning of this?”
They both look at Pluto who is calmly sitting down on the sofa while sipping on coffee.
“It’s nothing much. I just want to know some things.”
The two men looked at each other and giving signals to each other using their eyes.
“Alright, we’ll try to cooperate if we can.”
Clearly, they both are still looking down on Pluto. Even in their current tied up condition, they didn’t believe that Pluto can do anything more to them.
“First question, who are you guys?”
“I’m Roy and he’s Bob. As we already tell you before, we’re your father's colleague.”
“Strange, I believe my father is a scientist. The both of you looked more like a soldier. How come it is possible that you work with my father?”
Pluto’s father has a normal figure that is leaning to being skinny while the two men in front of Pluto are clearly trained. He knows because he used to be a guard himself and trained in the military on the apocalypse.
“Your father works for the military.”
Pluto didn’t faze even for a bit because that was something that he already predicted.
“Why has he not come back for the last two weeks?”
“He was working in one of our secret bases, however, the base is attacked and we couldn’t find him after the incident.”
“So, you are suspecting him as the culprit as he went missing?”
“No, we never have that thought. The biggest possibility is that he was kidnapped. The project that he is working on is highly classified. We don’t want any mishap to happen. As he is also a smart man, we thought that he might leave you something as a clue but as you didn’t know anything, I guess he is in a much more serious condition.”
Pluto fell into deep thoughts.
“How can I believe you?”
“Just look into our pocket and you’ll find our military ID.”
The two men have a confident look in their eyes. Either because they are really telling the truth or they didn’t even consider Pluto as a threat. If it was the old Pluto, he will believe them and let them go. He will also lose the only lead that could lead him to his father. However, the current Pluto has experience as a military guard. He knows that the two of them are still hiding things.
“I was hoping that we could do it like civilized gentlemen and talk it out. I guess you guys want to do it the hard way.”
The two of them suddenly feels chills on their back. The gaze that Pluto sends them is not a look that a 16 years old boy could give. It was like a veteran in the military just like them.
*bzz bzz*
Once again, Pluto used the stun gun and rendered Roy and Bob unconscious. Pluto didn’t bother to search their body before because it would be better if the two men confess on their own will. This time, he carefully searches their body.
He found their military ID, cell phones, and wallet. These things aren’t anything special as he couldn’t get anything out of it. He checked their phones and goes through the messages and call history but it was empty and have no other trace.
“Should I really resort to torture to make them talk?”
Just when he was about to give up, he saw a tattoo on Roy’s neck. The picture tattooed is one of the things he draws on his note. It was a tattoo of a broken shield pierced by a spear.
“Brunhild?”
It was the name of an organization that wasn’t a stranger to Pluto. Even on the apocalypse, the name Brunhild was famous. It was the main suspect of the organization that is causing the apocalypse. They leave no traces behind them and the member of the organization is a secret. Even after the apocalypse, the information about them wasn’t that much. Still, if it was really Brunhild, he roughly knows some location of their bases.
The military guard on the apocalypse wanted to raid their base to investigate the truth. Whether the Brunhild is really the organization behind the world catastrophe or not. Also, if it was really the Brunhild that is behind the accident that involved his father, things would get messy.
Looking at the two men in front of him, only Roy has the tattoo. However, it wasn’t safe to say that Bob isn’t one of them too. It was a common tactic in the industry when they planted spies. One in the dark while one in the light. When something happens, the spy in the dark could sell the other one to save their ass and a perfect cover was completed. The spy in the dark will be able to act freer as they will be trusted more after selling out the sacrificial lamb spy.
One thing for sure, he knows that his father is still alive out there. He is sure that the one who sends the money to his bank account is his father and if he is already caught by Brunhild, these two men won’t come searching over. He might be hiding somewhere else too if the military is really looking for him here. At least he is still safe out there but he needs to find him fast. He doesn’t want any mishap to happen.
He really needs money. If he has money, it will be easier to look for his father. If not, he could get himself on the TV so if his father saw the news, he will come looking for Pluto by himself. It’s always money that Pluto needs.
He goes to his father's room and tried to look for a name card from the military. He found two people. Colonel George and Lieutenant Jefferson. He makes a call to both of them and explained the situation. He doesn’t want to be involved deeper into the mess. If Brunhild is targeting him, it would make his plan goes into the sewer. It would be harder for him to move and it would be even worse if he gets killed by them.
He will leave it to the military to handle and let them be the scapegoat. Colonel George and Lieutenant Jefferson already promised him that his identity won’t be known to the people and his involvement in this incident won’t be divulged.
The military is efficient, not even thirty minutes have passed yet they already arrived in front of his house. After Roy and Bob is taken away by Lieutenant Jefferson and his men, Colonel George stayed behind to chat with him.
“You are smart and brave at the same time Pluto. I believe that you inherited your father’s brain and your mother’s boldness at the same time. You are a promising young man. You can contact me in case you want to get into the military.”
“You are praising me too much Colonel George. There is one thing that I want to know and I hope you could tell me the truth, is my father really gone missing?”
“I hope you won’t be sad; indeed, we couldn’t find him. But you don’t have to worry. Your father is a smart man. He knows how to take care of himself. Alright then, I will take my leave. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”
After seeing Colonel George off, he knows that there is something more to it. The project that his father is working on with the military should be something special as it causing Brunhild to openly attacked the facility where his father is working. He also knows that the pressure for him to earn money is getting bigger.
“Tomorrow, I will go to wall street.”
Chen
“So, is this the correct address?”
Pluto arrived in front of a small office building near wall street. The office isn’t suitable for the image of a successful trading firm but this is a few years back and Boromir might haven’t succeeded yet in the present time.
“Excuse me.”
Pluto opened the door with the sign ‘Boromir Trading Firm’. There is one small reception table but no one is sitting there. There’s another door inside with a small glass window and he can see two people arguing inside the room. One of them is Boromir, a middle-aged man with blonde hair that is unkempt and messy despite his attire in a suit. The other one is an Asian man who seemed to just have passed his teens. Both of them are in a heated argument as they didn’t even realize Pluto comes to the office.
He walked near the room and he could hear what they are saying.
“Chen, I already told you that what you’re doing is illogical. How can the program you create to predict the trend in the stock market? Not to mention you firmly believed that it cracked the binary trading open. A 100% guaranteed success, who are you kidding?”
“That’s why I tell you to see for yourself. You didn’t even bother to listen to me and let me demonstrate the program I developed. I guarantee you that the program has no error at all.”
You also said the same thing yet the result was the opposite..”
“Boromir, trust me one more time. This time it really is perfected. What happened last time was a mistake but I promise you won’t regret your decision this time.”
“Just take your leave for today Chen. I know that you are a genius programmer so I helped you to pay your , but everyone has their bad days and good days. Just come to me when you’re on good days and create another program that might be useful to me.”
Chen looked dejected and decided to leave the office. He was surprised when he saw Pluto standing outside the room but then he ignores him and leaves the building. Boromir cursed as he sat down on the chair: “That Chen must have gone crazy. Just because he is a little bit smart, he thinks that everything is going his way. Two million dollars already lost because of him and he still wants to make me lose more money. I shouldn’t have paid his in the first place. That will save me some money and I won’t lose my two million dollars.”
Boromir suddenly realized that Pluto is standing there outside of the door. He was going to greet him as he thought that he is a potential client that comes to his firm but when he saw that Pluto is still a teenager, the smile from his face immediately gone.
“What do you want boy?”
Pluto who is standing outside the room is now lost in thoughts. Is it really the same Boromir that is dubbed as the gambler of the wall street? Hearing his conversation with Chen just now, it seemed that Boromir indeed has a gambling side to him as he already lost two million dollars but his intuition tells him that Boromir isn’t the one he is looking for.
“Who is that Asian man just now?”
“David Chen, a computer prodigy or so they said. But in reality, I lost two million dollars because of him. You still haven’t answered my question, tell me why are you here?”
“David Chen… David Chen…”
Pluto calls out David Chen's name a couple of times until he suddenly knows why the name sounds familiar. David Chen, a computer prodigy that created many programs that is used by the military when the apocalypse happened. One of his biggest achievements is creating the control program for the shelter and predicting the second wave of the apocalypse. It can be said that he is the main brainpower on the apocalypse. It was such a nice coincidence to have met him here.
Chen was talking about a program in predicting the binary options trading. Pluto looked at Boromir and then think about David Chen. It seems now he got the answer. Boromir, the gambler of wall street. There is no way a person could make a lot of money just relying on their feeling on binary options trading. Even if that person was really lucky, he will make a mistake at least one or two times out of ten tries. But Boromir was well known for his 100 consecutive winning streak and there is no way he could do it just based on gut feeling.
Pluto immediately left Boromir’s office and leave him flabbergasted because he didn’t know what is going on. Pluto is now chasing after David Chen; he was lucky as he saw him just across the street.
“Boromir. I know that I made some mistake last time but I swear that the correction I made to the program has made it foolproof. If only he wants to see the program and let me demonstrate. He will be a billionaire in no time.”
Pluto knows that he is lucky. If this is the same David Chen known as the genius programmer of the apocalypse, his plan of earning money is not only a dream.
“What do you want boy?”
Pluto was standing in front of David Chen for some time but he doesn’t say anything. Its annoyed David Chen who is already in a bad mood.
“Say, if I give you ten thousand dollars, can you make me a billionaire in one year?”
It was now David Chen turn to be stunned. Is this boy crazy? Becoming a billionaire isn’t a joke that could be casually spoken.
“Get lost boy. I don’t have time to play jokes with you.”
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you confident in the program you created?”
“You! You heard my conversation with Boromir earlier. You are that boy outside of his office.”
“So, don’t you have trust in your own program?”
Of course, David Chen believes in the program he created, it is just that he already make Boromir lost two million dollars last time and he couldn’t force him again to use his program. He was planning to borrow some money and test the program himself before persuading Boromir again but now someone comes to his front door.
“Tell me first, why do you want to be a billionaire?”
“Because I want to have enough money to buy everything I need.”
“Why me?”
“Because I believe in you.”
Pluto replied David Chen earnestly. He can tell that Pluto isn’t lying when he said he believed in him. Even Boromir get him out of his not because he trusted him, but because he wanted to gain profit from Chen. Pluto was the other way around. He wanted to gain profit from Chen because he trusted him.
“Such a crazy answer. But I like it. Follow me.”
After that Pluto followed David Chen to his apartment.
The apartment was just a small 4x6 and it was messy. The only highlights of the room were the corner beside the bed where his computer with six monitors filled with moving graphs.
“Don’t mind the mess. You can sit wherever you want.”
Chen sit down in front of the computer and Pluto sit on top of the bed since it was the only other place that isn’t covered with things.
“So, what’s your name? Mine is David Chen. You can call me David or Chen, up to you.”
“My name is Pluto. I overheard your conversation with Boromir and I am interested in the program you created.”
“Alright, just look at the screen and I will demonstrate it to you. This is the program that I create and it is using a special algorithm to read the movement of the market. It is reading data from the news and 112 different countries' real-time economic trade including forex, oil, and gold. You see the green line over here is the prediction while the red line is the actual movement of the stock in binary option.”
Pluto looks at the screen and he can see the green line is the prediction as the red line followed exactly behind the green line. So far, there is no error made.
“I have one question though. If the program is as perfect as you said, why didn’t you invest using your own money?”
“Because I have no money right now. Even though Boromir paid my , he is still expecting me to pay him back. I wanted to use the program to make money for him but he outright rejected my idea.”
“Isn’t it because you wasted his two million dollars?”
“To be honest, two million dollars is his own fault. The earlier version of my program wasn’t this perfect. He was winning ten times in a row before he lost in the eleventh. He was just too greedy.”
“So, the current version of your program can guarantee to win all the time?”
“Not 100% but maybe 99.99%. Let’s leave 0.01% for unforeseen circumstances.”
Pluto lost deep in his thoughts before he makes his decision.
“Alright, I will entrust you with $50,000. How long will it take to get a billion?”
“Give me one week if you want to ignore the 0.01% chance. One month if you want to play it safe. If it was Boromir, I would answer him in three years.”
“So why one week and one month for me?”
“Because I can tell you trusted me. Why do you need that much money anyway?”
“For the future of humanity. All the things I need to get can only be earned using a lot of money.”
“Strange enough I can tell that you are not lying.”
From the start, David Chen can see from Pluto’s eye that he is putting his trust in him. If not, he will be hesitating to give him $50,000.
“Why you’re not interested in making money? You make this program isn’t it to make money?”
David Chen however shook his head.
“As I tell you before, I created this program just to pay my favor back to Boromir. Since you are here and trusted me, I will have to pay Boromir back in another way.”
“Why not? Just give him his money back. The money he used to pay your , the two million he lost, and some extra interest. You can pay him back using the money you earned for me.”
“You’re letting me use your money?”
“Is that strange? You are the one who will earn me that money anyway. And one or two million won’t make a difference since the amount I need is a billion at the minimum.”
Hearing Pluto’s answer Chen can only laugh out loud.
“Haha, you’re a strange boy. You needed money but don’t mind if I use the money.”
“You’re also strange. You definitely need the money and able to earn the money but you didn’t want to.”
“Because earning money is not my purpose. I wanted to create a program that could help a lot of people.”
“That’s more reason for us to work together. I am earning money so I can help a lot of people.”
Chen and Pluto look at each other in the eye and laughed together. There is a strange magnetism in Pluto’s eye that makes Chen believe that Pluto won’t misuse the money that he will earn and they are actually striving for the same thing.
“So, do you want to work together with me?”
Pluto offered his hand and Chen gladly shook hands with him.
“For our future. No, for the future of the people.”
“For the future of the people.”
Interview
$50,000 becomes $100,000. $100,000 becomes $200,000. And it continues like that to raise exponentially. It increases very fast as every transaction was done in a matter of minutes.
One week later, Chen comes to Boromir’s office with a cheque valued at $3,000,000. That is the total amount of Chen’s , the two million that he lost, and some extra interest. Boromir can only stare hard to the cheque until his eyes wanted to go out from his eye socket.
He didn’t believe it. Chen actually succeeds in developing the program and this time the success rate is definitely higher than the last. Boromir wanted to say something to Chen but while he was in a stupor, Chen already left. There is no other way for Boromir to chase after Chen as he already moved to a new place three days before.
It was one of the best apartments in Manhattan. Chen and Pluto are discussing something.
“So, you say you want to make a cryptocurrency?”
“Yes, cryptocurrency can earn us more money and it is easier to make a transaction with. No trace, safe, and can be completed in a matter of seconds. That is also why the swiss bank is famous. We will need it later to transfer the amount that we earn from binary options trading.”
“How much money do you actually need Pluto?”
“A lot. There are so many things that I need to buy. There are also a lot of things that I needed you to make after the cryptocurrency.”
“Alright, we’re still a day short from getting a billion so I got time to spare to make this cryptocurrency.”
At first, Chen didn’t take Pluto seriously. He only helped him because Pluto fully trusted him. But the more Chen talked with Pluto, the more motivated Chen is. Pluto’s idea basically comes from 20 years in the future so when he tells Chen about it, Chen feels as if he was enlightened and couldn’t wait to make the program that Pluto tells him about.
However, Pluto keeps on reminding him that making money comes first so he agreed with his plan. He knows that if he keeps on following Pluto, he will be able to experience something that he could never imagine. He no longer looks down on Pluto just because of his age. He fully believes that Pluto is striving for a better future for mankind.
“Are you going out again? You just come back from your morning exercise.”
“Yes, I need to find a laboratory and scientist. This is one of the pressing issues after getting enough money.”
Pluto still need to invent the materials needed for his shelter. He wanted the research for this comes first as he didn’t know how long will it take for the research to be done. He only knows that he needs to recruit as much scientist as he can, and the best one he could find to make the progress faster.
To be honest, there is no talented scientist when the apocalypse happened. Naturally, there are almost no funds allocated for other research as surviving alone is hard enough. The only kind of research done on the apocalypse is to search for staple food and firearms to fight against the enemy.
Should he poach some famous military scientist? If his father is still here, he can help Pluto with this issue and he can also get some research done. Recruiting scientists isn’t as easy as it seems. He needs to know which field that the scientist that he wanted to recruit is specializing in. Not to mention he still needs to find a laboratory that is big enough for researching and testing the result.
Should he build the research laboratory inside the shelter? Pluto shook his head as he already decided that he want to use the best material for the shelter. He is now looking online for professors and scientist that focusing their research on minerals.
Diamonds are one of the strongest materials in the earth but it would be impossible for Pluto to make a shelter entirely made out of diamonds. Aside from the money needed, the process to shape the diamonds into a shelter shape, stack them together, and repairing them later is an issue.
Graphene is another alternative as it is said to be the strongest material on earth. The shelter for apocalypse used graphene as their materials but in the end, it is still breached. He needs to recruit scientist that have research on these carbon-based materials and try to see if they could create a stronger one.
Next on the list after shelter materials, it would be a food supply. On the apocalypse, he was given a liquid nutrient pack 3 times a day for his meal. Just from the name, it was something that tasted disgusting with the only goal is to provide nutrients. This time if possible, he wants to still enjoy a normal meal. That is why he also need to recruit scientist that is focusing on food technology and agricultural.
While doing all of these things, he suddenly laughed as he remembered a movie that he used to watch. It was a movie about a crazy scientist that revive dinosaur on a private island. What he did today is strangely similar although the focus of the subject is different.
As expected, he couldn’t find a good location in New York. He needs to make his base in another location where he can build a large research base. This research base will be in use for 10 years until the apocalypse arrives or even shorter for 9 years. The remaining one year will be used to move all of their research results to the new research base in the shelter.
Before recruiting all of these researchers and scientists, he feels the need to recruit an assistant. It would be best if he could get an omnipotent artificial intelligence like the red robot man but he knew that he is asking for too much. The best he can get right now is a competent assistant that could take care of the recruitment process and also legal matter when he is going to acquire the land for the shelter and research base. Right now, with him searching the location for the laboratory by himself, it was not efficient. He needs someone who knows how to do these small things for him. Maybe 5 beautiful assistants with each excelling in different fields of the general affair.
“Alright, it’s been settled. Finding assistants will indeed improve the speed of my work in the future. I am not afraid that I won’t be able to find some capable people. After all I will be offering more money than normal.”
When Pluto gets back to the apartment, he immediately asked Chen to post an online job vacancy. Recruiting assistant with $50,000 salary/ month and there will be 5 positions recruited at least. Chen was shocked at first but after Pluto explained the reason that they will be taking care of legal matters and general affairs, he immediately understood. The high salary offered also isn’t something that Chen objected to. After all, for one successful transaction every minute, he could earn millions. Not to mention the profit gained is already been spread into normal stocks and real estate as per Pluto’s instruction based on his memory.
Soon enough, they will also enter the tech industry with the program that Chen will make under Pluto’s idea. The first step towards it is by creating the cryptocurrency.
**
Another week has passed and Pluto didn’t forget to train every day. He knows that even if he got a lot of money when the apocalypse happened it all will amount to nothing. What he needs is his ability when the time comes.
Today is also the day Pluto will hold the interview for the assistant position. Just for this occasion, he rented the highest office floor on the Empire State Building. Chen decided not to come as he is busy coding a new program so Pluto needs to do it all by himself.
Since he didn’t have any employee yet apart from Chen that doesn’t come, he will be in charge of registering the interviewee and give them their queue number. The time set for the interview is at 10:00 A.M. The time is chosen so Pluto can finish his morning jog, eat breakfast, and taking a shower. Dressed in a casual shirt, Pluto sits at the registration table and wait for people to come.
One after another, people come to the interview site and registered with Pluto. They also took their queue number and sit down on the chairs that have been prepared. It was a feast for his eye for almost 95% of the interviewee is a beautiful and mature office lady. Some even dressed in a tight suit that looks like their bust is going to explode. Their skirt even barely covered anything. Pluto knows that these assistants are in fact 'assisting needs'.
The second problem that occurred is the number of applicants doesn’t even fit the office. There are already more than a hundred applicants so Pluto decided to close the queue. After all, it was their fault for coming late than the rest of the applicants.
“Alright, you will now enter one by one into the interviewee room according to your numbers. Number one, come follow me inside.”
They are a bit confused as to why Pluto entered the room too but they didn’t think much about it. Maybe he is the assistant that will handle everything from registering applicants to calling up their numbers later to manage the queue.
It was a clean office room with a table and two chairs. Pluto sits behind the table and gesturing the number one applicant to sit down.
She was surprised at first but regained herself. There are many different types of interview nowadays. Maybe this is a test whether they will take the teenage boy seriously or not. After all, in the business world, there may be prominent figures that look like normal people and down to earth. There must be a hidden camera in the room connected to the real interviewer she thoughts to herself.
“Lily Hawk, 25 years old. Graduates from Harvard majoring in business management with cum laude. Very impressive. In just 3 years you have been promoted as a director of operations. Your future looks bright, why do you decide to attend this interview?”
In a professional manner, she replied: “Because of the salary. Even as a director of operations my salary barely reached $20,000/months and that is after taking account all of my contribution to the company and hard work for 3 whole years. $50,000/months salary is just too good to pass on as I still have some mortgage to pay.”
Such a simple reason but Pluto liked the straightforward answer.
“Tell me why I should hire you?”
“Because I am one of the best. My track record said it all. The achievements I made for the company managed to raise the company stock triples the original. I am also strict with time as I managed to come first for the interview.”
“1 point for speaking the truth, -3 for being arrogant. +1 for your achievements. And +1 for being on time. Now with a minus 1 score, I doubt you will be hired. Do you have anything to say?”
Lily was stunned by Pluto’s word. Did he really make her fail the interview or they are testing her resolution and answer?
“If you give me a chance, I will prove my ability to you.”
Honestly, if she wasn’t this arrogant, Pluto really wants to hire her. Her ability is good but arrogance is not something he needs from his subordinate. Because of his time in the military, what he needed is obedience. As long as his subordinate could follow his instruction precisely to the tiny details, he will choose that person. For people like Lily, they are bound to make mistake sooner or later because of their arrogance.
“I’m sorry, please leave the room and call out applicants’ number 2.”
Pluto want to keep the interview simple and short. He has a hundred applicants that he needs to interview today so he doesn’t want to waste time for someone who he deemed unsuitable.
Seeing that Lily was still sitting there, he repeats it again: “Ms. Lily, please take your leave.”
Lily was about to refute him but Pluto raises his hand. “Please, you don’t want to embarrass yourself here.”
After Lily goes out of the room and he doesn’t hear that she is calling out for the next applicant, Pluto sighed before walked to the door and call out number 2.
“I really need assistants for this kind of thing.”
Top 2 Ad Creative of Ringdom
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Headline ：I Bought An Island To Survive Apocalypse
Text ：Prologue
*Beep Beep Beep*
The alarm has been ringing non-stop for the last fifteen minutes. The target for the noise is laying down on the bed. He is sweating profusely while turning left and right uncontrollably. His jet-black hair is now wet and sticks to his face.
He finally wakes up and his eye was opened wide. He immediately rises from the bed while shouting out loud.
“Noooo!”
With regret on his face and agony coming deep from his soul reflected in his eye. Unfitting for his teenage looks, he showed such deep emotions that could only be gained with the passing of time.
The sudden change in his surroundings makes him confused now. He fell into silence as the alarm clock still beeping from the table beside the bed.
“Where am I? Where is the ‘Queen’? What actually happened?”
He tried to recall his memory and the scene from before he wakes up still engraved deeply. It was a scene that he won’t be able to forget even if he wants to.
He still remembers. Shelter F-53 is the name of the place that he is guarding. The defense was breached and the civilians inside fell victim to the enemy. He can only watch as they are being killed and the buildings are burned. He is the last survivor of the shelter. Not because he is strong but because the Queen wanted to kill him last.
As a guard, he stands on the front line and become the first prisoners of war. It was still vivid in his memory. The scene of people being decapitated as their body slowly fell and their blood colored the ground red.
He was forced to witness all of that. He wanted to kill himself to stop the suffering and pain but the ‘Queen’ rendered him of all movement.
She whispered the hell’s chorus as she spoke: “Look at that, isn’t it beautiful. Their meat tastes better if they experience intense emotions before their death. Pain, despair, agony, it is the perfect seasoning.”
Tears come out from the edge of his eye. He never felt so helpless in his life. Even when he is so near to death’s door fighting on the front line, he prefers to die rather than witnessing all of this.
The Queen licked the tears from his face and she shivered elatedly.
“Ah, so sweet. I never taste it before. What is this? Is it a misery? Hopelessness? I couldn’t wait to taste your meat.”
The Queen lifted his body. Her claws are clinging tightly to his neck as she looked straight into his eye.
“Did you hear that? Their scream is already making my saliva overflow. Don’t worry, I will savor you slowly. I have cooked you long enough. I wonder how tasty you will be?”
He takes one last look at the Queen. He only hopes that the Queen ends his suffering immediately. He feels so disgusted seeing the expectation from the Queen’s eye.
“I hope you will give me an unforgettable gastronomic experience.”
Her claw is digging deeper into his neck as easily as a hot knife into butter. He felt regret, despair, yet relieved at the same time. Finally, this torture will end. How great it is if he could return to the time when he is still young. When the apocalypse hasn’t occurred. How wonderful it is to once again be that naïve boy who doesn’t give a care for the world and live freely without worry?
*slash*
His head slowly falls down from his body. He couldn’t believe that he actually didn’t die instantly. He saw his own headless body and the neck that is slowly spurting out blood. There is a glimmer of green lights glowing from his chest area.
The source of lights is a pendant that he always wears for the last twenty years. It slowly becoming brighter as he felt pain so great. As if his soul is being split apart and rending to dust. He couldn’t help but screamed out and closes his eye as he grits his teeth.
“Noooo!”
Finally, he opened his eye again and found himself on top of his old bed.
Looking at the alarm clock that has been beeping nonstop, the date is the 31st of October. The day of Halloween, also his own birthday. He remembers the pendant he saw was given to him by his father. He got it as his sixteenth birthday present, today, wrapped nicely in a box beside the alarm clock. However, this time, the present box is no longer there.
Was it a miracle? One time use item? Or will he get the chance to acquire the pendant again?
He even wondered was it all only a dream? Or he really experienced all of that and reincarnated to the past again?
“No, it wasn’t a dream. I really experienced all of that. The pain I felt, the feelings of helplessness, misery, and agony is too real to be a dream. I must have somehow returned to my younger self.”
Looking at his thin and fragile limbs, he clenches his fist so hard that it started to bleed. The determination and anger in his eye could make anyone shivers when looking at it.
“The Queen. Just you wait! This time, it will be me who is bringing the executioner’s blade to your neck.”
Future Plan
Pluto goes out of his room to look for his father. In his past, his father leaves a message on the table saying that he will be leaving for a business trip but he never returned again. His last present for Pluto is the pendant which saved him in a critical moment and saved him to the past. However, this time there is no pendant for his birthday present.
He checked the table and just like what he predicted, the message from his father is there. He really is reincarnated to the past.
Clenching his fist, he determined to change the future. If it really was the same as his past life, 10 years from now the world will welcome the apocalypse. It happened so fast and no one is prepared. Even a super-powered country falls as a victim as the disaster struck without notice. This time, he needs to do his best.
Even though he knew about what will happen in the future, will anyone believe him? If he tells them that 10 years from now there will be a disaster befall the earth, who will trust the words of a 16 years old boy? It would already be great that they didn’t think of him as a crazy boy.
He also thinks that in this life he needs to find his father. The pendant that his father gives him saved his life and it could lead to a bigger secret. Pluto also know some clue about the apocalypse that is discovered 8 years after it happened and he finally got the chance to investigate about it now. The people couldn’t investigate it before as even surviving is hard enough. This time, he might get the chance to know more about why the apocalypse happened and the reason behind it.
Pluto recollected his mind and sat down at the table. Looking at his father's handwriting, he organized his thoughts. What should he do to prepare for the apocalypse?
The first thing that crossed his mind is shelter. He needs to make a shelter that is ready for the apocalypse.
When the apocalypse hits, the first problem that occurred in the world is finding a safe haven. Mankind finally built several shelters after the apocalypse occurred but it comes at the price of countless life.
The shelter can act as a base. Humanity can’t even go on an expedition to reclaim the lost land apart from some area near the shelter as their resources are drained up. He needs to create a shelter that is self-sufficient to survive.
Apart from shelter, when the apocalypse happened, mankind is hard-pressed on procuring food. As farmers couldn’t go out and farm on fields, humans still need food to survive. Death from starvation on the apocalypse wasn’t a small number. He needs to make a shelter that could produce its own food.
To prepare for the apocalypse, he knew that he first needs to build a shelter that could produce its own food. The next question is, how?
Building a shelter isn’t a simple task. Besides the design of the shelter, the materials needed to build it, and the location is also a problem. The military-grade buildings material used to make the shelter in his past life couldn’t be easily acquired. He didn’t even know whether the materials are already been invented or not.
Normal bricks won’t stand a chance in the apocalypse. Even using special military-grade material, his shelter F-53 is still breached. This time, he needs to make it from even stronger materials if possible. Either he used the military-grade material first and reinforce it later or he could always try to invent new material.
As a guard in the apocalypse, although he wasn’t privy to the confidential documents, he still has a rough idea of what the researchers are doing. Not to mention that the technology he used and well versed in, come from 20 years in the future.
The location of the shelter also becoming an important issue. It should be at a place that is isolated from elsewhere to increase the defense as well as the location need to be strategic enough. If his plan really comes to fruition then humanity could try to reclaim lost land during the apocalypse with his shelter as the center.
If the problem of the shelter is solved, the next thing he needs to do is acquiring some talents. Talented people will be needed when the apocalypse occurred. He also knows of some famous people that managed to make a name for themselves despite the apocalypse. If he wanted to increase his chance to survive and save mankind in the apocalypse, he will need them in his shelter.
Last but not least is technology. He needs to research the materials that he needs to build the shelter. Transportation means, firepower, efficient food source, all of it needed to be researched and invented to further increase the hope of humanity.
Having a clear goal in his head, he knows that he needs three things. A shelter, talented people, and researching technologies. All of that has a 10-year deadline from now on. It wasn’t easy but he needs to do it. Talented people need to be recruited first as he needs them to research the technology, whether it was for the shelter materials or for essential future usage.
Before executing the plan that he has come up with, there is one thing that he needs to do. Without it, all his plans will come to nothing. And that is, earning money.
The money will be needed for everything. From recruiting talented people and researching technologies to making the shelter. It needs an enormous amount of money. It wasn’t just one or two million dollars. It might even need billions of dollars to make. It might be a small number for billionaires out there but it is an almost impossible number for the 16 years old Pluto.
He returned to his room, takes out a book, and write with a pen: “How to become a billionaire in 5 years.”
He set the time to 5 years since the time needed for research might even take longer than the remaining 5 years until apocalypse hit. Looking at the writing on the book which seemed like a scam mail subject, he checked his pocket at the same time only to found 10$ on it.
“How in the world I could earn that much money?”
Options
Pluto remembered that after his father goes missing, he suddenly found a lot of money in his bank account. That was the money he used to grow up and enter university. All in all, it wasn’t that much but it is sufficient until he graduated from university and finding a job. It might not be much but it is enough as capital if he wanted to open a business.
Since he also knows that the world will go through the apocalypse 10 years from now, he doesn’t have any time to spare. Going to the school will be pointless at this point, not to mention university. He decided to stop going to school entirely and focus on making money.
“First I need to wait for the money from my father to come before I can do anything. This also gives me time to deduct some things. Father used to work with the military and never go for a business trip for more than a week. Ever since mother died, he seldom goes on a business trip too. Maybe it was his way of taking care of me in my mother’s place but he still left me alone this time. He mustn’t do this on purpose. Even after the apocalypse arrived, he never come back. His name isn’t even registered in the list of survivors in the shelter. Either if he didn’t make it or his location wasn’t known to the world.”
Pluto scribbled on his book again while listing all the important information that he knew. Starting from the company where his father works, the bits and pieces of clue he found out about the apocalypse, the pendant, the queen, the shelter, all the technologies used 20 years from now, and finally, he found a lead.
“If I remember correctly, a few days after my bank account receive money, some suspicious people come here to ask about my father. They might be able to give me more information.”
He knows that the thing that he needs to do is waiting. Waiting for the money to come to his bank account and waiting for the people who are looking for his father to come. Standing up, he realizes that his body is no longer of that 36 years old guard anymore. It was an untrained 16 years old body. He knows that the first to-do list in his journal is now to train his body. Either it is to anticipate an unforeseen event of a melee fight when he engages with the people who is looking for his father or to prepare for the incoming apocalypse. 10 years might be long but with all the list of things he needed to do, he thinks that he needed a lot more time.
“Alright, let’s train this body first!”
**
Every morning after his birthday, Pluto started to run for 10km every day. At first, he seemed like he was about to pass out but now he could finish it after some hardship. His body isn’t at the level he wanted to but at least his stamina is now improved.
In the afternoon he did some shadow boxing, trying to adjust himself to his present body. He is not in his former well-trained body so it is taxing for him but he still persists for the future. After all, he can be considered as humanity's last hope. Every time he remembers the Queen, his body suddenly filled with anger, and able to train for a bit more.
At night, he uses the time to research. He is trying to find the location where to build his shelter, along with the latest trend. He is looking for an opportunity to make money and tried to remember from his memory, where he could earn a quick profit. He is definitely doing his homework to earn a billion dollars.
If he is not mistaken, tomorrow is finally the day the money is transferred to his bank account. He has some plans on what to do to earn some money. First on the list in the stock market. No one can be rich faster than the stock market. It is also one of the places where anyone can go bankrupt in a blink of an eye.
He didn’t know the exact day, time, or date for the stock to rise and fall but he knows the general trends, whether the company will rose to prominence in a few years or not. He decides to buy some stocks that could give him profit if he sees the chance.
The second option is to get into the technology industries. Either by inventing a futuristic product or a trending phone app that could net him some profit. This however needs more money than what he has now.
The third option is investing in real estate. This gives a lot of return on investment but the time needed for the price of land or building to go up is taking years and the money needed also not small.
If only he could tell the truth and the whole world is preparing for the apocalypse together, that would be the best. However, the reality isn’t as simple as what you think. Conflict of interest will arise even if several countries agree to the plan.
Doing it independently is the best course of action as everyone he paid for will follow his design. The hardest part is gathering the money himself until he could execute his plan.
Options
Pluto remembered that after his father goes missing, he suddenly found a lot of money in his bank account. That was the money he used to grow up and enter university. All in all, it wasn’t that much but it is sufficient until he graduated from university and finding a job. It might not be much but it is enough as capital if he wanted to open a business.
Since he also knows that the world will go through the apocalypse 10 years from now, he doesn’t have any time to spare. Going to the school will be pointless at this point, not to mention university. He decided to stop going to school entirely and focus on making money.
“First I need to wait for the money from my father to come before I can do anything. This also gives me time to deduct some things. Father used to work with the military and never go for a business trip for more than a week. Ever since mother died, he seldom goes on a business trip too. Maybe it was his way of taking care of me in my mother’s place but he still left me alone this time. He mustn’t do this on purpose. Even after the apocalypse arrived, he never come back. His name isn’t even registered in the list of survivors in the shelter. Either if he didn’t make it or his location wasn’t known to the world.”
Pluto scribbled on his book again while listing all the important information that he knew. Starting from the company where his father works, the bits and pieces of clue he found out about the apocalypse, the pendant, the queen, the shelter, all the technologies used 20 years from now, and finally, he found a lead.
“If I remember correctly, a few days after my bank account receive money, some suspicious people come here to ask about my father. They might be able to give me more information.”
He knows that the thing that he needs to do is waiting. Waiting for the money to come to his bank account and waiting for the people who are looking for his father to come. Standing up, he realizes that his body is no longer of that 36 years old guard anymore. It was an untrained 16 years old body. He knows that the first to-do list in his journal is now to train his body. Either it is to anticipate an unforeseen event of a melee fight when he engages with the people who is looking for his father or to prepare for the incoming apocalypse. 10 years might be long but with all the list of things he needed to do, he thinks that he needed a lot more time.
“Alright, let’s train this body first!”
**
Every morning after his birthday, Pluto started to run for 10km every day. At first, he seemed like he was about to pass out but now he could finish it after some hardship. His body isn’t at the level he wanted to but at least his stamina is now improved.
In the afternoon he did some shadow boxing, trying to adjust himself to his present body. He is not in his former well-trained body so it is taxing for him but he still persists for the future. After all, he can be considered as humanity's last hope. Every time he remembers the Queen, his body suddenly filled with anger, and able to train for a bit more.
At night, he uses the time to research. He is trying to find the location where to build his shelter, along with the latest trend. He is looking for an opportunity to make money and tried to remember from his memory, where he could earn a quick profit. He is definitely doing his homework to earn a billion dollars.
If he is not mistaken, tomorrow is finally the day the money is transferred to his bank account. He has some plans on what to do to earn some money. First on the list in the stock market. No one can be rich faster than the stock market. It is also one of the places where anyone can go bankrupt in a blink of an eye.
He didn’t know the exact day, time, or date for the stock to rise and fall but he knows the general trends, whether the company will rose to prominence in a few years or not. He decides to buy some stocks that could give him profit if he sees the chance.
The second option is to get into the technology industries. Either by inventing a futuristic product or a trending phone app that could net him some profit. This however needs more money than what he has now.
The third option is investing in real estate. This gives a lot of return on investment but the time needed for the price of land or building to go up is taking years and the money needed also not small.
If only he could tell the truth and the whole world is preparing for the apocalypse together, that would be the best. However, the reality isn’t as simple as what you think. Conflict of interest will arise even if several countries agree to the plan.
Doing it independently is the best course of action as everyone he paid for will follow his design. The hardest part is gathering the money himself until he could execute his plan.
Brunhild
*groan*
The two men slowly wake up from their stupor only to found out that they have been tied up and handcuffed.
“What is the meaning of this?”
They both look at Pluto who is calmly sitting down on the sofa while sipping on coffee.
“It’s nothing much. I just want to know some things.”
The two men looked at each other and giving signals to each other using their eyes.
“Alright, we’ll try to cooperate if we can.”
Clearly, they both are still looking down on Pluto. Even in their current tied up condition, they didn’t believe that Pluto can do anything more to them.
“First question, who are you guys?”
“I’m Roy and he’s Bob. As we already tell you before, we’re your father's colleague.”
“Strange, I believe my father is a scientist. The both of you looked more like a soldier. How come it is possible that you work with my father?”
Pluto’s father has a normal figure that is leaning to being skinny while the two men in front of Pluto are clearly trained. He knows because he used to be a guard himself and trained in the military on the apocalypse.
“Your father works for the military.”
Pluto didn’t faze even for a bit because that was something that he already predicted.
“Why has he not come back for the last two weeks?”
“He was working in one of our secret bases, however, the base is attacked and we couldn’t find him after the incident.”
“So, you are suspecting him as the culprit as he went missing?”
“No, we never have that thought. The biggest possibility is that he was kidnapped. The project that he is working on is highly classified. We don’t want any mishap to happen. As he is also a smart man, we thought that he might leave you something as a clue but as you didn’t know anything, I guess he is in a much more serious condition.”
Pluto fell into deep thoughts.
“How can I believe you?”
“Just look into our pocket and you’ll find our military ID.”
The two men have a confident look in their eyes. Either because they are really telling the truth or they didn’t even consider Pluto as a threat. If it was the old Pluto, he will believe them and let them go. He will also lose the only lead that could lead him to his father. However, the current Pluto has experience as a military guard. He knows that the two of them are still hiding things.
“I was hoping that we could do it like civilized gentlemen and talk it out. I guess you guys want to do it the hard way.”
The two of them suddenly feels chills on their back. The gaze that Pluto sends them is not a look that a 16 years old boy could give. It was like a veteran in the military just like them.
*bzz bzz*
Once again, Pluto used the stun gun and rendered Roy and Bob unconscious. Pluto didn’t bother to search their body before because it would be better if the two men confess on their own will. This time, he carefully searches their body.
He found their military ID, cell phones, and wallet. These things aren’t anything special as he couldn’t get anything out of it. He checked their phones and goes through the messages and call history but it was empty and have no other trace.
“Should I really resort to torture to make them talk?”
Just when he was about to give up, he saw a tattoo on Roy’s neck. The picture tattooed is one of the things he draws on his note. It was a tattoo of a broken shield pierced by a spear.
“Brunhild?”
It was the name of an organization that wasn’t a stranger to Pluto. Even on the apocalypse, the name Brunhild was famous. It was the main suspect of the organization that is causing the apocalypse. They leave no traces behind them and the member of the organization is a secret. Even after the apocalypse, the information about them wasn’t that much. Still, if it was really Brunhild, he roughly knows some location of their bases.
The military guard on the apocalypse wanted to raid their base to investigate the truth. Whether the Brunhild is really the organization behind the world catastrophe or not. Also, if it was really the Brunhild that is behind the accident that involved his father, things would get messy.
Looking at the two men in front of him, only Roy has the tattoo. However, it wasn’t safe to say that Bob isn’t one of them too. It was a common tactic in the industry when they planted spies. One in the dark while one in the light. When something happens, the spy in the dark could sell the other one to save their ass and a perfect cover was completed. The spy in the dark will be able to act freer as they will be trusted more after selling out the sacrificial lamb spy.
One thing for sure, he knows that his father is still alive out there. He is sure that the one who sends the money to his bank account is his father and if he is already caught by Brunhild, these two men won’t come searching over. He might be hiding somewhere else too if the military is really looking for him here. At least he is still safe out there but he needs to find him fast. He doesn’t want any mishap to happen.
He really needs money. If he has money, it will be easier to look for his father. If not, he could get himself on the TV so if his father saw the news, he will come looking for Pluto by himself. It’s always money that Pluto needs.
He goes to his father's room and tried to look for a name card from the military. He found two people. Colonel George and Lieutenant Jefferson. He makes a call to both of them and explained the situation. He doesn’t want to be involved deeper into the mess. If Brunhild is targeting him, it would make his plan goes into the sewer. It would be harder for him to move and it would be even worse if he gets killed by them.
He will leave it to the military to handle and let them be the scapegoat. Colonel George and Lieutenant Jefferson already promised him that his identity won’t be known to the people and his involvement in this incident won’t be divulged.
The military is efficient, not even thirty minutes have passed yet they already arrived in front of his house. After Roy and Bob is taken away by Lieutenant Jefferson and his men, Colonel George stayed behind to chat with him.
“You are smart and brave at the same time Pluto. I believe that you inherited your father’s brain and your mother’s boldness at the same time. You are a promising young man. You can contact me in case you want to get into the military.”
“You are praising me too much Colonel George. There is one thing that I want to know and I hope you could tell me the truth, is my father really gone missing?”
“I hope you won’t be sad; indeed, we couldn’t find him. But you don’t have to worry. Your father is a smart man. He knows how to take care of himself. Alright then, I will take my leave. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”
After seeing Colonel George off, he knows that there is something more to it. The project that his father is working on with the military should be something special as it causing Brunhild to openly attacked the facility where his father is working. He also knows that the pressure for him to earn money is getting bigger.
“Tomorrow, I will go to wall street.”
Chen
“So, is this the correct address?”
Pluto arrived in front of a small office building near wall street. The office isn’t suitable for the image of a successful trading firm but this is a few years back and Boromir might haven’t succeeded yet in the present time.
“Excuse me.”
Pluto opened the door with the sign ‘Boromir Trading Firm’. There is one small reception table but no one is sitting there. There’s another door inside with a small glass window and he can see two people arguing inside the room. One of them is Boromir, a middle-aged man with blonde hair that is unkempt and messy despite his attire in a suit. The other one is an Asian man who seemed to just have passed his teens. Both of them are in a heated argument as they didn’t even realize Pluto comes to the office.
He walked near the room and he could hear what they are saying.
“Chen, I already told you that what you’re doing is illogical. How can the program you create to predict the trend in the stock market? Not to mention you firmly believed that it cracked the binary trading open. A 100% guaranteed success, who are you kidding?”
“That’s why I tell you to see for yourself. You didn’t even bother to listen to me and let me demonstrate the program I developed. I guarantee you that the program has no error at all.”
You also said the same thing yet the result was the opposite..”
“Boromir, trust me one more time. This time it really is perfected. What happened last time was a mistake but I promise you won’t regret your decision this time.”
“Just take your leave for today Chen. I know that you are a genius programmer so I helped you to pay your , but everyone has their bad days and good days. Just come to me when you’re on good days and create another program that might be useful to me.”
Chen looked dejected and decided to leave the office. He was surprised when he saw Pluto standing outside the room but then he ignores him and leaves the building. Boromir cursed as he sat down on the chair: “That Chen must have gone crazy. Just because he is a little bit smart, he thinks that everything is going his way. Two million dollars already lost because of him and he still wants to make me lose more money. I shouldn’t have paid his in the first place. That will save me some money and I won’t lose my two million dollars.”
Boromir suddenly realized that Pluto is standing there outside of the door. He was going to greet him as he thought that he is a potential client that comes to his firm but when he saw that Pluto is still a teenager, the smile from his face immediately gone.
“What do you want boy?”
Pluto who is standing outside the room is now lost in thoughts. Is it really the same Boromir that is dubbed as the gambler of the wall street? Hearing his conversation with Chen just now, it seemed that Boromir indeed has a gambling side to him as he already lost two million dollars but his intuition tells him that Boromir isn’t the one he is looking for.
“Who is that Asian man just now?”
“David Chen, a computer prodigy or so they said. But in reality, I lost two million dollars because of him. You still haven’t answered my question, tell me why are you here?”
“David Chen… David Chen…”
Pluto calls out David Chen's name a couple of times until he suddenly knows why the name sounds familiar. David Chen, a computer prodigy that created many programs that is used by the military when the apocalypse happened. One of his biggest achievements is creating the control program for the shelter and predicting the second wave of the apocalypse. It can be said that he is the main brainpower on the apocalypse. It was such a nice coincidence to have met him here.
Chen was talking about a program in predicting the binary options trading. Pluto looked at Boromir and then think about David Chen. It seems now he got the answer. Boromir, the gambler of wall street. There is no way a person could make a lot of money just relying on their feeling on binary options trading. Even if that person was really lucky, he will make a mistake at least one or two times out of ten tries. But Boromir was well known for his 100 consecutive winning streak and there is no way he could do it just based on gut feeling.
Pluto immediately left Boromir’s office and leave him flabbergasted because he didn’t know what is going on. Pluto is now chasing after David Chen; he was lucky as he saw him just across the street.
“Boromir. I know that I made some mistake last time but I swear that the correction I made to the program has made it foolproof. If only he wants to see the program and let me demonstrate. He will be a billionaire in no time.”
Pluto knows that he is lucky. If this is the same David Chen known as the genius programmer of the apocalypse, his plan of earning money is not only a dream.
“What do you want boy?”
Pluto was standing in front of David Chen for some time but he doesn’t say anything. Its annoyed David Chen who is already in a bad mood.
“Say, if I give you ten thousand dollars, can you make me a billionaire in one year?”
It was now David Chen turn to be stunned. Is this boy crazy? Becoming a billionaire isn’t a joke that could be casually spoken.
“Get lost boy. I don’t have time to play jokes with you.”
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you confident in the program you created?”
“You! You heard my conversation with Boromir earlier. You are that boy outside of his office.”
“So, don’t you have trust in your own program?”
Of course, David Chen believes in the program he created, it is just that he already make Boromir lost two million dollars last time and he couldn’t force him again to use his program. He was planning to borrow some money and test the program himself before persuading Boromir again but now someone comes to his front door.
“Tell me first, why do you want to be a billionaire?”
“Because I want to have enough money to buy everything I need.”
“Why me?”
“Because I believe in you.”
Pluto replied David Chen earnestly. He can tell that Pluto isn’t lying when he said he believed in him. Even Boromir get him out of his not because he trusted him, but because he wanted to gain profit from Chen. Pluto was the other way around. He wanted to gain profit from Chen because he trusted him.
“Such a crazy answer. But I like it. Follow me.”
After that Pluto followed David Chen to his apartment.
The apartment was just a small 4x6 and it was messy. The only highlights of the room were the corner beside the bed where his computer with six monitors filled with moving graphs.
“Don’t mind the mess. You can sit wherever you want.”
Chen sit down in front of the computer and Pluto sit on top of the bed since it was the only other place that isn’t covered with things.
“So, what’s your name? Mine is David Chen. You can call me David or Chen, up to you.”
“My name is Pluto. I overheard your conversation with Boromir and I am interested in the program you created.”
“Alright, just look at the screen and I will demonstrate it to you. This is the program that I create and it is using a special algorithm to read the movement of the market. It is reading data from the news and 112 different countries' real-time economic trade including forex, oil, and gold. You see the green line over here is the prediction while the red line is the actual movement of the stock in binary option.”
Pluto looks at the screen and he can see the green line is the prediction as the red line followed exactly behind the green line. So far, there is no error made.
“I have one question though. If the program is as perfect as you said, why didn’t you invest using your own money?”
“Because I have no money right now. Even though Boromir paid my , he is still expecting me to pay him back. I wanted to use the program to make money for him but he outright rejected my idea.”
“Isn’t it because you wasted his two million dollars?”
“To be honest, two million dollars is his own fault. The earlier version of my program wasn’t this perfect. He was winning ten times in a row before he lost in the eleventh. He was just too greedy.”
“So, the current version of your program can guarantee to win all the time?”
“Not 100% but maybe 99.99%. Let’s leave 0.01% for unforeseen circumstances.”
Pluto lost deep in his thoughts before he makes his decision.
“Alright, I will entrust you with $50,000. How long will it take to get a billion?”
“Give me one week if you want to ignore the 0.01% chance. One month if you want to play it safe. If it was Boromir, I would answer him in three years.”
“So why one week and one month for me?”
“Because I can tell you trusted me. Why do you need that much money anyway?”
“For the future of humanity. All the things I need to get can only be earned using a lot of money.”
“Strange enough I can tell that you are not lying.”
From the start, David Chen can see from Pluto’s eye that he is putting his trust in him. If not, he will be hesitating to give him $50,000.
“Why you’re not interested in making money? You make this program isn’t it to make money?”
David Chen however shook his head.
“As I tell you before, I created this program just to pay my favor back to Boromir. Since you are here and trusted me, I will have to pay Boromir back in another way.”
“Why not? Just give him his money back. The money he used to pay your , the two million he lost, and some extra interest. You can pay him back using the money you earned for me.”
“You’re letting me use your money?”
“Is that strange? You are the one who will earn me that money anyway. And one or two million won’t make a difference since the amount I need is a billion at the minimum.”
Hearing Pluto’s answer Chen can only laugh out loud.
“Haha, you’re a strange boy. You needed money but don’t mind if I use the money.”
“You’re also strange. You definitely need the money and able to earn the money but you didn’t want to.”
“Because earning money is not my purpose. I wanted to create a program that could help a lot of people.”
“That’s more reason for us to work together. I am earning money so I can help a lot of people.”
Chen and Pluto look at each other in the eye and laughed together. There is a strange magnetism in Pluto’s eye that makes Chen believe that Pluto won’t misuse the money that he will earn and they are actually striving for the same thing.
“So, do you want to work together with me?”
Pluto offered his hand and Chen gladly shook hands with him.
“For our future. No, for the future of the people.”
“For the future of the people.”
Interview
$50,000 becomes $100,000. $100,000 becomes $200,000. And it continues like that to raise exponentially. It increases very fast as every transaction was done in a matter of minutes.
One week later, Chen comes to Boromir’s office with a cheque valued at $3,000,000. That is the total amount of Chen’s , the two million that he lost, and some extra interest. Boromir can only stare hard to the cheque until his eyes wanted to go out from his eye socket.
He didn’t believe it. Chen actually succeeds in developing the program and this time the success rate is definitely higher than the last. Boromir wanted to say something to Chen but while he was in a stupor, Chen already left. There is no other way for Boromir to chase after Chen as he already moved to a new place three days before.
It was one of the best apartments in Manhattan. Chen and Pluto are discussing something.
“So, you say you want to make a cryptocurrency?”
“Yes, cryptocurrency can earn us more money and it is easier to make a transaction with. No trace, safe, and can be completed in a matter of seconds. That is also why the swiss bank is famous. We will need it later to transfer the amount that we earn from binary options trading.”
“How much money do you actually need Pluto?”
“A lot. There are so many things that I need to buy. There are also a lot of things that I needed you to make after the cryptocurrency.”
“Alright, we’re still a day short from getting a billion so I got time to spare to make this cryptocurrency.”
At first, Chen didn’t take Pluto seriously. He only helped him because Pluto fully trusted him. But the more Chen talked with Pluto, the more motivated Chen is. Pluto’s idea basically comes from 20 years in the future so when he tells Chen about it, Chen feels as if he was enlightened and couldn’t wait to make the program that Pluto tells him about.
However, Pluto keeps on reminding him that making money comes first so he agreed with his plan. He knows that if he keeps on following Pluto, he will be able to experience something that he could never imagine. He no longer looks down on Pluto just because of his age. He fully believes that Pluto is striving for a better future for mankind.
“Are you going out again? You just come back from your morning exercise.”
“Yes, I need to find a laboratory and scientist. This is one of the pressing issues after getting enough money.”
Pluto still need to invent the materials needed for his shelter. He wanted the research for this comes first as he didn’t know how long will it take for the research to be done. He only knows that he needs to recruit as much scientist as he can, and the best one he could find to make the progress faster.
To be honest, there is no talented scientist when the apocalypse happened. Naturally, there are almost no funds allocated for other research as surviving alone is hard enough. The only kind of research done on the apocalypse is to search for staple food and firearms to fight against the enemy.
Should he poach some famous military scientist? If his father is still here, he can help Pluto with this issue and he can also get some research done. Recruiting scientists isn’t as easy as it seems. He needs to know which field that the scientist that he wanted to recruit is specializing in. Not to mention he still needs to find a laboratory that is big enough for researching and testing the result.
Should he build the research laboratory inside the shelter? Pluto shook his head as he already decided that he want to use the best material for the shelter. He is now looking online for professors and scientist that focusing their research on minerals.
Diamonds are one of the strongest materials in the earth but it would be impossible for Pluto to make a shelter entirely made out of diamonds. Aside from the money needed, the process to shape the diamonds into a shelter shape, stack them together, and repairing them later is an issue.
Graphene is another alternative as it is said to be the strongest material on earth. The shelter for apocalypse used graphene as their materials but in the end, it is still breached. He needs to recruit scientist that have research on these carbon-based materials and try to see if they could create a stronger one.
Next on the list after shelter materials, it would be a food supply. On the apocalypse, he was given a liquid nutrient pack 3 times a day for his meal. Just from the name, it was something that tasted disgusting with the only goal is to provide nutrients. This time if possible, he wants to still enjoy a normal meal. That is why he also need to recruit scientist that is focusing on food technology and agricultural.
While doing all of these things, he suddenly laughed as he remembered a movie that he used to watch. It was a movie about a crazy scientist that revive dinosaur on a private island. What he did today is strangely similar although the focus of the subject is different.
As expected, he couldn’t find a good location in New York. He needs to make his base in another location where he can build a large research base. This research base will be in use for 10 years until the apocalypse arrives or even shorter for 9 years. The remaining one year will be used to move all of their research results to the new research base in the shelter.
Before recruiting all of these researchers and scientists, he feels the need to recruit an assistant. It would be best if he could get an omnipotent artificial intelligence like the red robot man but he knew that he is asking for too much. The best he can get right now is a competent assistant that could take care of the recruitment process and also legal matter when he is going to acquire the land for the shelter and research base. Right now, with him searching the location for the laboratory by himself, it was not efficient. He needs someone who knows how to do these small things for him. Maybe 5 beautiful assistants with each excelling in different fields of the general affair.
“Alright, it’s been settled. Finding assistants will indeed improve the speed of my work in the future. I am not afraid that I won’t be able to find some capable people. After all I will be offering more money than normal.”
When Pluto gets back to the apartment, he immediately asked Chen to post an online job vacancy. Recruiting assistant with $50,000 salary/ month and there will be 5 positions recruited at least. Chen was shocked at first but after Pluto explained the reason that they will be taking care of legal matters and general affairs, he immediately understood. The high salary offered also isn’t something that Chen objected to. After all, for one successful transaction every minute, he could earn millions. Not to mention the profit gained is already been spread into normal stocks and real estate as per Pluto’s instruction based on his memory.
Soon enough, they will also enter the tech industry with the program that Chen will make under Pluto’s idea. The first step towards it is by creating the cryptocurrency.
**
Another week has passed and Pluto didn’t forget to train every day. He knows that even if he got a lot of money when the apocalypse happened it all will amount to nothing. What he needs is his ability when the time comes.
Today is also the day Pluto will hold the interview for the assistant position. Just for this occasion, he rented the highest office floor on the Empire State Building. Chen decided not to come as he is busy coding a new program so Pluto needs to do it all by himself.
Since he didn’t have any employee yet apart from Chen that doesn’t come, he will be in charge of registering the interviewee and give them their queue number. The time set for the interview is at 10:00 A.M. The time is chosen so Pluto can finish his morning jog, eat breakfast, and taking a shower. Dressed in a casual shirt, Pluto sits at the registration table and wait for people to come.
One after another, people come to the interview site and registered with Pluto. They also took their queue number and sit down on the chairs that have been prepared. It was a feast for his eye for almost 95% of the interviewee is a beautiful and mature office lady. Some even dressed in a tight suit that looks like their bust is going to explode. Their skirt even barely covered anything. Pluto knows that these assistants are in fact 'assisting needs'.
The second problem that occurred is the number of applicants doesn’t even fit the office. There are already more than a hundred applicants so Pluto decided to close the queue. After all, it was their fault for coming late than the rest of the applicants.
“Alright, you will now enter one by one into the interviewee room according to your numbers. Number one, come follow me inside.”
They are a bit confused as to why Pluto entered the room too but they didn’t think much about it. Maybe he is the assistant that will handle everything from registering applicants to calling up their numbers later to manage the queue.
It was a clean office room with a table and two chairs. Pluto sits behind the table and gesturing the number one applicant to sit down.
She was surprised at first but regained herself. There are many different types of interview nowadays. Maybe this is a test whether they will take the teenage boy seriously or not. After all, in the business world, there may be prominent figures that look like normal people and down to earth. There must be a hidden camera in the room connected to the real interviewer she thoughts to herself.
“Lily Hawk, 25 years old. Graduates from Harvard majoring in business management with cum laude. Very impressive. In just 3 years you have been promoted as a director of operations. Your future looks bright, why do you decide to attend this interview?”
In a professional manner, she replied: “Because of the salary. Even as a director of operations my salary barely reached $20,000/months and that is after taking account all of my contribution to the company and hard work for 3 whole years. $50,000/months salary is just too good to pass on as I still have some mortgage to pay.”
Such a simple reason but Pluto liked the straightforward answer.
“Tell me why I should hire you?”
“Because I am one of the best. My track record said it all. The achievements I made for the company managed to raise the company stock triples the original. I am also strict with time as I managed to come first for the interview.”
“1 point for speaking the truth, -3 for being arrogant. +1 for your achievements. And +1 for being on time. Now with a minus 1 score, I doubt you will be hired. Do you have anything to say?”
Lily was stunned by Pluto’s word. Did he really make her fail the interview or they are testing her resolution and answer?
“If you give me a chance, I will prove my ability to you.”
Honestly, if she wasn’t this arrogant, Pluto really wants to hire her. Her ability is good but arrogance is not something he needs from his subordinate. Because of his time in the military, what he needed is obedience. As long as his subordinate could follow his instruction precisely to the tiny details, he will choose that person. For people like Lily, they are bound to make mistake sooner or later because of their arrogance.
“I’m sorry, please leave the room and call out applicants’ number 2.”
Pluto want to keep the interview simple and short. He has a hundred applicants that he needs to interview today so he doesn’t want to waste time for someone who he deemed unsuitable.
Seeing that Lily was still sitting there, he repeats it again: “Ms. Lily, please take your leave.”
Lily was about to refute him but Pluto raises his hand. “Please, you don’t want to embarrass yourself here.”
After Lily goes out of the room and he doesn’t hear that she is calling out for the next applicant, Pluto sighed before walked to the door and call out number 2.
“I really need assistants for this kind of thing.”
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Headline ：I Bought An Island To Survive Apocalypse
Text ：Prologue
*Beep Beep Beep*
The alarm has been ringing non-stop for the last fifteen minutes. The target for the noise is laying down on the bed. He is sweating profusely while turning left and right uncontrollably. His jet-black hair is now wet and sticks to his face.
He finally wakes up and his eye was opened wide. He immediately rises from the bed while shouting out loud.
“Noooo!”
With regret on his face and agony coming deep from his soul reflected in his eye. Unfitting for his teenage looks, he showed such deep emotions that could only be gained with the passing of time.
The sudden change in his surroundings makes him confused now. He fell into silence as the alarm clock still beeping from the table beside the bed.
“Where am I? Where is the ‘Queen’? What actually happened?”
He tried to recall his memory and the scene from before he wakes up still engraved deeply. It was a scene that he won’t be able to forget even if he wants to.
He still remembers. Shelter F-53 is the name of the place that he is guarding. The defense was breached and the civilians inside fell victim to the enemy. He can only watch as they are being killed and the buildings are burned. He is the last survivor of the shelter. Not because he is strong but because the Queen wanted to kill him last.
As a guard, he stands on the front line and become the first prisoners of war. It was still vivid in his memory. The scene of people being decapitated as their body slowly fell and their blood colored the ground red.
He was forced to witness all of that. He wanted to kill himself to stop the suffering and pain but the ‘Queen’ rendered him of all movement.
She whispered the hell’s chorus as she spoke: “Look at that, isn’t it beautiful. Their meat tastes better if they experience intense emotions before their death. Pain, despair, agony, it is the perfect seasoning.”
Tears come out from the edge of his eye. He never felt so helpless in his life. Even when he is so near to death’s door fighting on the front line, he prefers to die rather than witnessing all of this.
The Queen licked the tears from his face and she shivered elatedly.
“Ah, so sweet. I never taste it before. What is this? Is it a misery? Hopelessness? I couldn’t wait to taste your meat.”
The Queen lifted his body. Her claws are clinging tightly to his neck as she looked straight into his eye.
“Did you hear that? Their scream is already making my saliva overflow. Don’t worry, I will savor you slowly. I have cooked you long enough. I wonder how tasty you will be?”
He takes one last look at the Queen. He only hopes that the Queen ends his suffering immediately. He feels so disgusted seeing the expectation from the Queen’s eye.
“I hope you will give me an unforgettable gastronomic experience.”
Her claw is digging deeper into his neck as easily as a hot knife into butter. He felt regret, despair, yet relieved at the same time. Finally, this torture will end. How great it is if he could return to the time when he is still young. When the apocalypse hasn’t occurred. How wonderful it is to once again be that naïve boy who doesn’t give a care for the world and live freely without worry?
*slash*
His head slowly falls down from his body. He couldn’t believe that he actually didn’t die instantly. He saw his own headless body and the neck that is slowly spurting out blood. There is a glimmer of green lights glowing from his chest area.
The source of lights is a pendant that he always wears for the last twenty years. It slowly becoming brighter as he felt pain so great. As if his soul is being split apart and rending to dust. He couldn’t help but screamed out and closes his eye as he grits his teeth.
“Noooo!”
Finally, he opened his eye again and found himself on top of his old bed.
Looking at the alarm clock that has been beeping nonstop, the date is the 31st of October. The day of Halloween, also his own birthday. He remembers the pendant he saw was given to him by his father. He got it as his sixteenth birthday present, today, wrapped nicely in a box beside the alarm clock. However, this time, the present box is no longer there.
Was it a miracle? One time use item? Or will he get the chance to acquire the pendant again?
He even wondered was it all only a dream? Or he really experienced all of that and reincarnated to the past again?
“No, it wasn’t a dream. I really experienced all of that. The pain I felt, the feelings of helplessness, misery, and agony is too real to be a dream. I must have somehow returned to my younger self.”
Looking at his thin and fragile limbs, he clenches his fist so hard that it started to bleed. The determination and anger in his eye could make anyone shivers when looking at it.
“The Queen. Just you wait! This time, it will be me who is bringing the executioner’s blade to your neck.”
Future Plan
Pluto goes out of his room to look for his father. In his past, his father leaves a message on the table saying that he will be leaving for a business trip but he never returned again. His last present for Pluto is the pendant which saved him in a critical moment and saved him to the past. However, this time there is no pendant for his birthday present.
He checked the table and just like what he predicted, the message from his father is there. He really is reincarnated to the past.
Clenching his fist, he determined to change the future. If it really was the same as his past life, 10 years from now the world will welcome the apocalypse. It happened so fast and no one is prepared. Even a super-powered country falls as a victim as the disaster struck without notice. This time, he needs to do his best.
Even though he knew about what will happen in the future, will anyone believe him? If he tells them that 10 years from now there will be a disaster befall the earth, who will trust the words of a 16 years old boy? It would already be great that they didn’t think of him as a crazy boy.
He also thinks that in this life he needs to find his father. The pendant that his father gives him saved his life and it could lead to a bigger secret. Pluto also know some clue about the apocalypse that is discovered 8 years after it happened and he finally got the chance to investigate about it now. The people couldn’t investigate it before as even surviving is hard enough. This time, he might get the chance to know more about why the apocalypse happened and the reason behind it.
Pluto recollected his mind and sat down at the table. Looking at his father's handwriting, he organized his thoughts. What should he do to prepare for the apocalypse?
The first thing that crossed his mind is shelter. He needs to make a shelter that is ready for the apocalypse.
When the apocalypse hits, the first problem that occurred in the world is finding a safe haven. Mankind finally built several shelters after the apocalypse occurred but it comes at the price of countless life.
The shelter can act as a base. Humanity can’t even go on an expedition to reclaim the lost land apart from some area near the shelter as their resources are drained up. He needs to create a shelter that is self-sufficient to survive.
Apart from shelter, when the apocalypse happened, mankind is hard-pressed on procuring food. As farmers couldn’t go out and farm on fields, humans still need food to survive. Death from starvation on the apocalypse wasn’t a small number. He needs to make a shelter that could produce its own food.
To prepare for the apocalypse, he knew that he first needs to build a shelter that could produce its own food. The next question is, how?
Building a shelter isn’t a simple task. Besides the design of the shelter, the materials needed to build it, and the location is also a problem. The military-grade buildings material used to make the shelter in his past life couldn’t be easily acquired. He didn’t even know whether the materials are already been invented or not.
Normal bricks won’t stand a chance in the apocalypse. Even using special military-grade material, his shelter F-53 is still breached. This time, he needs to make it from even stronger materials if possible. Either he used the military-grade material first and reinforce it later or he could always try to invent new material.
As a guard in the apocalypse, although he wasn’t privy to the confidential documents, he still has a rough idea of what the researchers are doing. Not to mention that the technology he used and well versed in, come from 20 years in the future.
The location of the shelter also becoming an important issue. It should be at a place that is isolated from elsewhere to increase the defense as well as the location need to be strategic enough. If his plan really comes to fruition then humanity could try to reclaim lost land during the apocalypse with his shelter as the center.
If the problem of the shelter is solved, the next thing he needs to do is acquiring some talents. Talented people will be needed when the apocalypse occurred. He also knows of some famous people that managed to make a name for themselves despite the apocalypse. If he wanted to increase his chance to survive and save mankind in the apocalypse, he will need them in his shelter.
Last but not least is technology. He needs to research the materials that he needs to build the shelter. Transportation means, firepower, efficient food source, all of it needed to be researched and invented to further increase the hope of humanity.
Having a clear goal in his head, he knows that he needs three things. A shelter, talented people, and researching technologies. All of that has a 10-year deadline from now on. It wasn’t easy but he needs to do it. Talented people need to be recruited first as he needs them to research the technology, whether it was for the shelter materials or for essential future usage.
Before executing the plan that he has come up with, there is one thing that he needs to do. Without it, all his plans will come to nothing. And that is, earning money.
The money will be needed for everything. From recruiting talented people and researching technologies to making the shelter. It needs an enormous amount of money. It wasn’t just one or two million dollars. It might even need billions of dollars to make. It might be a small number for billionaires out there but it is an almost impossible number for the 16 years old Pluto.
He returned to his room, takes out a book, and write with a pen: “How to become a billionaire in 5 years.”
He set the time to 5 years since the time needed for research might even take longer than the remaining 5 years until apocalypse hit. Looking at the writing on the book which seemed like a scam mail subject, he checked his pocket at the same time only to found 10$ on it.
“How in the world I could earn that much money?”
Options
Pluto remembered that after his father goes missing, he suddenly found a lot of money in his bank account. That was the money he used to grow up and enter university. All in all, it wasn’t that much but it is sufficient until he graduated from university and finding a job. It might not be much but it is enough as capital if he wanted to open a business.
Since he also knows that the world will go through the apocalypse 10 years from now, he doesn’t have any time to spare. Going to the school will be pointless at this point, not to mention university. He decided to stop going to school entirely and focus on making money.
“First I need to wait for the money from my father to come before I can do anything. This also gives me time to deduct some things. Father used to work with the military and never go for a business trip for more than a week. Ever since mother died, he seldom goes on a business trip too. Maybe it was his way of taking care of me in my mother’s place but he still left me alone this time. He mustn’t do this on purpose. Even after the apocalypse arrived, he never come back. His name isn’t even registered in the list of survivors in the shelter. Either if he didn’t make it or his location wasn’t known to the world.”
Pluto scribbled on his book again while listing all the important information that he knew. Starting from the company where his father works, the bits and pieces of clue he found out about the apocalypse, the pendant, the queen, the shelter, all the technologies used 20 years from now, and finally, he found a lead.
“If I remember correctly, a few days after my bank account receive money, some suspicious people come here to ask about my father. They might be able to give me more information.”
He knows that the thing that he needs to do is waiting. Waiting for the money to come to his bank account and waiting for the people who are looking for his father to come. Standing up, he realizes that his body is no longer of that 36 years old guard anymore. It was an untrained 16 years old body. He knows that the first to-do list in his journal is now to train his body. Either it is to anticipate an unforeseen event of a melee fight when he engages with the people who is looking for his father or to prepare for the incoming apocalypse. 10 years might be long but with all the list of things he needed to do, he thinks that he needed a lot more time.
“Alright, let’s train this body first!”
**
Every morning after his birthday, Pluto started to run for 10km every day. At first, he seemed like he was about to pass out but now he could finish it after some hardship. His body isn’t at the level he wanted to but at least his stamina is now improved.
In the afternoon he did some shadow boxing, trying to adjust himself to his present body. He is not in his former well-trained body so it is taxing for him but he still persists for the future. After all, he can be considered as humanity's last hope. Every time he remembers the Queen, his body suddenly filled with anger, and able to train for a bit more.
At night, he uses the time to research. He is trying to find the location where to build his shelter, along with the latest trend. He is looking for an opportunity to make money and tried to remember from his memory, where he could earn a quick profit. He is definitely doing his homework to earn a billion dollars.
If he is not mistaken, tomorrow is finally the day the money is transferred to his bank account. He has some plans on what to do to earn some money. First on the list in the stock market. No one can be rich faster than the stock market. It is also one of the places where anyone can go bankrupt in a blink of an eye.
He didn’t know the exact day, time, or date for the stock to rise and fall but he knows the general trends, whether the company will rose to prominence in a few years or not. He decides to buy some stocks that could give him profit if he sees the chance.
The second option is to get into the technology industries. Either by inventing a futuristic product or a trending phone app that could net him some profit. This however needs more money than what he has now.
The third option is investing in real estate. This gives a lot of return on investment but the time needed for the price of land or building to go up is taking years and the money needed also not small.
If only he could tell the truth and the whole world is preparing for the apocalypse together, that would be the best. However, the reality isn’t as simple as what you think. Conflict of interest will arise even if several countries agree to the plan.
Doing it independently is the best course of action as everyone he paid for will follow his design. The hardest part is gathering the money himself until he could execute his plan.
Options
Pluto remembered that after his father goes missing, he suddenly found a lot of money in his bank account. That was the money he used to grow up and enter university. All in all, it wasn’t that much but it is sufficient until he graduated from university and finding a job. It might not be much but it is enough as capital if he wanted to open a business.
Since he also knows that the world will go through the apocalypse 10 years from now, he doesn’t have any time to spare. Going to the school will be pointless at this point, not to mention university. He decided to stop going to school entirely and focus on making money.
“First I need to wait for the money from my father to come before I can do anything. This also gives me time to deduct some things. Father used to work with the military and never go for a business trip for more than a week. Ever since mother died, he seldom goes on a business trip too. Maybe it was his way of taking care of me in my mother’s place but he still left me alone this time. He mustn’t do this on purpose. Even after the apocalypse arrived, he never come back. His name isn’t even registered in the list of survivors in the shelter. Either if he didn’t make it or his location wasn’t known to the world.”
Pluto scribbled on his book again while listing all the important information that he knew. Starting from the company where his father works, the bits and pieces of clue he found out about the apocalypse, the pendant, the queen, the shelter, all the technologies used 20 years from now, and finally, he found a lead.
“If I remember correctly, a few days after my bank account receive money, some suspicious people come here to ask about my father. They might be able to give me more information.”
He knows that the thing that he needs to do is waiting. Waiting for the money to come to his bank account and waiting for the people who are looking for his father to come. Standing up, he realizes that his body is no longer of that 36 years old guard anymore. It was an untrained 16 years old body. He knows that the first to-do list in his journal is now to train his body. Either it is to anticipate an unforeseen event of a melee fight when he engages with the people who is looking for his father or to prepare for the incoming apocalypse. 10 years might be long but with all the list of things he needed to do, he thinks that he needed a lot more time.
“Alright, let’s train this body first!”
**
Every morning after his birthday, Pluto started to run for 10km every day. At first, he seemed like he was about to pass out but now he could finish it after some hardship. His body isn’t at the level he wanted to but at least his stamina is now improved.
In the afternoon he did some shadow boxing, trying to adjust himself to his present body. He is not in his former well-trained body so it is taxing for him but he still persists for the future. After all, he can be considered as humanity's last hope. Every time he remembers the Queen, his body suddenly filled with anger, and able to train for a bit more.
At night, he uses the time to research. He is trying to find the location where to build his shelter, along with the latest trend. He is looking for an opportunity to make money and tried to remember from his memory, where he could earn a quick profit. He is definitely doing his homework to earn a billion dollars.
If he is not mistaken, tomorrow is finally the day the money is transferred to his bank account. He has some plans on what to do to earn some money. First on the list in the stock market. No one can be rich faster than the stock market. It is also one of the places where anyone can go bankrupt in a blink of an eye.
He didn’t know the exact day, time, or date for the stock to rise and fall but he knows the general trends, whether the company will rose to prominence in a few years or not. He decides to buy some stocks that could give him profit if he sees the chance.
The second option is to get into the technology industries. Either by inventing a futuristic product or a trending phone app that could net him some profit. This however needs more money than what he has now.
The third option is investing in real estate. This gives a lot of return on investment but the time needed for the price of land or building to go up is taking years and the money needed also not small.
If only he could tell the truth and the whole world is preparing for the apocalypse together, that would be the best. However, the reality isn’t as simple as what you think. Conflict of interest will arise even if several countries agree to the plan.
Doing it independently is the best course of action as everyone he paid for will follow his design. The hardest part is gathering the money himself until he could execute his plan.
Brunhild
*groan*
The two men slowly wake up from their stupor only to found out that they have been tied up and handcuffed.
“What is the meaning of this?”
They both look at Pluto who is calmly sitting down on the sofa while sipping on coffee.
“It’s nothing much. I just want to know some things.”
The two men looked at each other and giving signals to each other using their eyes.
“Alright, we’ll try to cooperate if we can.”
Clearly, they both are still looking down on Pluto. Even in their current tied up condition, they didn’t believe that Pluto can do anything more to them.
“First question, who are you guys?”
“I’m Roy and he’s Bob. As we already tell you before, we’re your father's colleague.”
“Strange, I believe my father is a scientist. The both of you looked more like a soldier. How come it is possible that you work with my father?”
Pluto’s father has a normal figure that is leaning to being skinny while the two men in front of Pluto are clearly trained. He knows because he used to be a guard himself and trained in the military on the apocalypse.
“Your father works for the military.”
Pluto didn’t faze even for a bit because that was something that he already predicted.
“Why has he not come back for the last two weeks?”
“He was working in one of our secret bases, however, the base is attacked and we couldn’t find him after the incident.”
“So, you are suspecting him as the culprit as he went missing?”
“No, we never have that thought. The biggest possibility is that he was kidnapped. The project that he is working on is highly classified. We don’t want any mishap to happen. As he is also a smart man, we thought that he might leave you something as a clue but as you didn’t know anything, I guess he is in a much more serious condition.”
Pluto fell into deep thoughts.
“How can I believe you?”
“Just look into our pocket and you’ll find our military ID.”
The two men have a confident look in their eyes. Either because they are really telling the truth or they didn’t even consider Pluto as a threat. If it was the old Pluto, he will believe them and let them go. He will also lose the only lead that could lead him to his father. However, the current Pluto has experience as a military guard. He knows that the two of them are still hiding things.
“I was hoping that we could do it like civilized gentlemen and talk it out. I guess you guys want to do it the hard way.”
The two of them suddenly feels chills on their back. The gaze that Pluto sends them is not a look that a 16 years old boy could give. It was like a veteran in the military just like them.
*bzz bzz*
Once again, Pluto used the stun gun and rendered Roy and Bob unconscious. Pluto didn’t bother to search their body before because it would be better if the two men confess on their own will. This time, he carefully searches their body.
He found their military ID, cell phones, and wallet. These things aren’t anything special as he couldn’t get anything out of it. He checked their phones and goes through the messages and call history but it was empty and have no other trace.
“Should I really resort to torture to make them talk?”
Just when he was about to give up, he saw a tattoo on Roy’s neck. The picture tattooed is one of the things he draws on his note. It was a tattoo of a broken shield pierced by a spear.
“Brunhild?”
It was the name of an organization that wasn’t a stranger to Pluto. Even on the apocalypse, the name Brunhild was famous. It was the main suspect of the organization that is causing the apocalypse. They leave no traces behind them and the member of the organization is a secret. Even after the apocalypse, the information about them wasn’t that much. Still, if it was really Brunhild, he roughly knows some location of their bases.
The military guard on the apocalypse wanted to raid their base to investigate the truth. Whether the Brunhild is really the organization behind the world catastrophe or not. Also, if it was really the Brunhild that is behind the accident that involved his father, things would get messy.
Looking at the two men in front of him, only Roy has the tattoo. However, it wasn’t safe to say that Bob isn’t one of them too. It was a common tactic in the industry when they planted spies. One in the dark while one in the light. When something happens, the spy in the dark could sell the other one to save their ass and a perfect cover was completed. The spy in the dark will be able to act freer as they will be trusted more after selling out the sacrificial lamb spy.
One thing for sure, he knows that his father is still alive out there. He is sure that the one who sends the money to his bank account is his father and if he is already caught by Brunhild, these two men won’t come searching over. He might be hiding somewhere else too if the military is really looking for him here. At least he is still safe out there but he needs to find him fast. He doesn’t want any mishap to happen.
He really needs money. If he has money, it will be easier to look for his father. If not, he could get himself on the TV so if his father saw the news, he will come looking for Pluto by himself. It’s always money that Pluto needs.
He goes to his father's room and tried to look for a name card from the military. He found two people. Colonel George and Lieutenant Jefferson. He makes a call to both of them and explained the situation. He doesn’t want to be involved deeper into the mess. If Brunhild is targeting him, it would make his plan goes into the sewer. It would be harder for him to move and it would be even worse if he gets killed by them.
He will leave it to the military to handle and let them be the scapegoat. Colonel George and Lieutenant Jefferson already promised him that his identity won’t be known to the people and his involvement in this incident won’t be divulged.
The military is efficient, not even thirty minutes have passed yet they already arrived in front of his house. After Roy and Bob is taken away by Lieutenant Jefferson and his men, Colonel George stayed behind to chat with him.
“You are smart and brave at the same time Pluto. I believe that you inherited your father’s brain and your mother’s boldness at the same time. You are a promising young man. You can contact me in case you want to get into the military.”
“You are praising me too much Colonel George. There is one thing that I want to know and I hope you could tell me the truth, is my father really gone missing?”
“I hope you won’t be sad; indeed, we couldn’t find him. But you don’t have to worry. Your father is a smart man. He knows how to take care of himself. Alright then, I will take my leave. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”
After seeing Colonel George off, he knows that there is something more to it. The project that his father is working on with the military should be something special as it causing Brunhild to openly attacked the facility where his father is working. He also knows that the pressure for him to earn money is getting bigger.
“Tomorrow, I will go to wall street.”
Chen
“So, is this the correct address?”
Pluto arrived in front of a small office building near wall street. The office isn’t suitable for the image of a successful trading firm but this is a few years back and Boromir might haven’t succeeded yet in the present time.
“Excuse me.”
Pluto opened the door with the sign ‘Boromir Trading Firm’. There is one small reception table but no one is sitting there. There’s another door inside with a small glass window and he can see two people arguing inside the room. One of them is Boromir, a middle-aged man with blonde hair that is unkempt and messy despite his attire in a suit. The other one is an Asian man who seemed to just have passed his teens. Both of them are in a heated argument as they didn’t even realize Pluto comes to the office.
He walked near the room and he could hear what they are saying.
“Chen, I already told you that what you’re doing is illogical. How can the program you create to predict the trend in the stock market? Not to mention you firmly believed that it cracked the binary trading open. A 100% guaranteed success, who are you kidding?”
“That’s why I tell you to see for yourself. You didn’t even bother to listen to me and let me demonstrate the program I developed. I guarantee you that the program has no error at all.”
You also said the same thing yet the result was the opposite..”
“Boromir, trust me one more time. This time it really is perfected. What happened last time was a mistake but I promise you won’t regret your decision this time.”
“Just take your leave for today Chen. I know that you are a genius programmer so I helped you to pay your , but everyone has their bad days and good days. Just come to me when you’re on good days and create another program that might be useful to me.”
Chen looked dejected and decided to leave the office. He was surprised when he saw Pluto standing outside the room but then he ignores him and leaves the building. Boromir cursed as he sat down on the chair: “That Chen must have gone crazy. Just because he is a little bit smart, he thinks that everything is going his way. Two million dollars already lost because of him and he still wants to make me lose more money. I shouldn’t have paid his in the first place. That will save me some money and I won’t lose my two million dollars.”
Boromir suddenly realized that Pluto is standing there outside of the door. He was going to greet him as he thought that he is a potential client that comes to his firm but when he saw that Pluto is still a teenager, the smile from his face immediately gone.
“What do you want boy?”
Pluto who is standing outside the room is now lost in thoughts. Is it really the same Boromir that is dubbed as the gambler of the wall street? Hearing his conversation with Chen just now, it seemed that Boromir indeed has a gambling side to him as he already lost two million dollars but his intuition tells him that Boromir isn’t the one he is looking for.
“Who is that Asian man just now?”
“David Chen, a computer prodigy or so they said. But in reality, I lost two million dollars because of him. You still haven’t answered my question, tell me why are you here?”
“David Chen… David Chen…”
Pluto calls out David Chen's name a couple of times until he suddenly knows why the name sounds familiar. David Chen, a computer prodigy that created many programs that is used by the military when the apocalypse happened. One of his biggest achievements is creating the control program for the shelter and predicting the second wave of the apocalypse. It can be said that he is the main brainpower on the apocalypse. It was such a nice coincidence to have met him here.
Chen was talking about a program in predicting the binary options trading. Pluto looked at Boromir and then think about David Chen. It seems now he got the answer. Boromir, the gambler of wall street. There is no way a person could make a lot of money just relying on their feeling on binary options trading. Even if that person was really lucky, he will make a mistake at least one or two times out of ten tries. But Boromir was well known for his 100 consecutive winning streak and there is no way he could do it just based on gut feeling.
Pluto immediately left Boromir’s office and leave him flabbergasted because he didn’t know what is going on. Pluto is now chasing after David Chen; he was lucky as he saw him just across the street.
“Boromir. I know that I made some mistake last time but I swear that the correction I made to the program has made it foolproof. If only he wants to see the program and let me demonstrate. He will be a billionaire in no time.”
Pluto knows that he is lucky. If this is the same David Chen known as the genius programmer of the apocalypse, his plan of earning money is not only a dream.
“What do you want boy?”
Pluto was standing in front of David Chen for some time but he doesn’t say anything. Its annoyed David Chen who is already in a bad mood.
“Say, if I give you ten thousand dollars, can you make me a billionaire in one year?”
It was now David Chen turn to be stunned. Is this boy crazy? Becoming a billionaire isn’t a joke that could be casually spoken.
“Get lost boy. I don’t have time to play jokes with you.”
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you confident in the program you created?”
“You! You heard my conversation with Boromir earlier. You are that boy outside of his office.”
“So, don’t you have trust in your own program?”
Of course, David Chen believes in the program he created, it is just that he already make Boromir lost two million dollars last time and he couldn’t force him again to use his program. He was planning to borrow some money and test the program himself before persuading Boromir again but now someone comes to his front door.
“Tell me first, why do you want to be a billionaire?”
“Because I want to have enough money to buy everything I need.”
“Why me?”
“Because I believe in you.”
Pluto replied David Chen earnestly. He can tell that Pluto isn’t lying when he said he believed in him. Even Boromir get him out of his not because he trusted him, but because he wanted to gain profit from Chen. Pluto was the other way around. He wanted to gain profit from Chen because he trusted him.
“Such a crazy answer. But I like it. Follow me.”
After that Pluto followed David Chen to his apartment.
The apartment was just a small 4x6 and it was messy. The only highlights of the room were the corner beside the bed where his computer with six monitors filled with moving graphs.
“Don’t mind the mess. You can sit wherever you want.”
Chen sit down in front of the computer and Pluto sit on top of the bed since it was the only other place that isn’t covered with things.
“So, what’s your name? Mine is David Chen. You can call me David or Chen, up to you.”
“My name is Pluto. I overheard your conversation with Boromir and I am interested in the program you created.”
“Alright, just look at the screen and I will demonstrate it to you. This is the program that I create and it is using a special algorithm to read the movement of the market. It is reading data from the news and 112 different countries' real-time economic trade including forex, oil, and gold. You see the green line over here is the prediction while the red line is the actual movement of the stock in binary option.”
Pluto looks at the screen and he can see the green line is the prediction as the red line followed exactly behind the green line. So far, there is no error made.
“I have one question though. If the program is as perfect as you said, why didn’t you invest using your own money?”
“Because I have no money right now. Even though Boromir paid my , he is still expecting me to pay him back. I wanted to use the program to make money for him but he outright rejected my idea.”
“Isn’t it because you wasted his two million dollars?”
“To be honest, two million dollars is his own fault. The earlier version of my program wasn’t this perfect. He was winning ten times in a row before he lost in the eleventh. He was just too greedy.”
“So, the current version of your program can guarantee to win all the time?”
“Not 100% but maybe 99.99%. Let’s leave 0.01% for unforeseen circumstances.”
Pluto lost deep in his thoughts before he makes his decision.
“Alright, I will entrust you with $50,000. How long will it take to get a billion?”
“Give me one week if you want to ignore the 0.01% chance. One month if you want to play it safe. If it was Boromir, I would answer him in three years.”
“So why one week and one month for me?”
“Because I can tell you trusted me. Why do you need that much money anyway?”
“For the future of humanity. All the things I need to get can only be earned using a lot of money.”
“Strange enough I can tell that you are not lying.”
From the start, David Chen can see from Pluto’s eye that he is putting his trust in him. If not, he will be hesitating to give him $50,000.
“Why you’re not interested in making money? You make this program isn’t it to make money?”
David Chen however shook his head.
“As I tell you before, I created this program just to pay my favor back to Boromir. Since you are here and trusted me, I will have to pay Boromir back in another way.”
“Why not? Just give him his money back. The money he used to pay your , the two million he lost, and some extra interest. You can pay him back using the money you earned for me.”
“You’re letting me use your money?”
“Is that strange? You are the one who will earn me that money anyway. And one or two million won’t make a difference since the amount I need is a billion at the minimum.”
Hearing Pluto’s answer Chen can only laugh out loud.
“Haha, you’re a strange boy. You needed money but don’t mind if I use the money.”
“You’re also strange. You definitely need the money and able to earn the money but you didn’t want to.”
“Because earning money is not my purpose. I wanted to create a program that could help a lot of people.”
“That’s more reason for us to work together. I am earning money so I can help a lot of people.”
Chen and Pluto look at each other in the eye and laughed together. There is a strange magnetism in Pluto’s eye that makes Chen believe that Pluto won’t misuse the money that he will earn and they are actually striving for the same thing.
“So, do you want to work together with me?”
Pluto offered his hand and Chen gladly shook hands with him.
“For our future. No, for the future of the people.”
“For the future of the people.”
Interview
$50,000 becomes $100,000. $100,000 becomes $200,000. And it continues like that to raise exponentially. It increases very fast as every transaction was done in a matter of minutes.
One week later, Chen comes to Boromir’s office with a cheque valued at $3,000,000. That is the total amount of Chen’s , the two million that he lost, and some extra interest. Boromir can only stare hard to the cheque until his eyes wanted to go out from his eye socket.
He didn’t believe it. Chen actually succeeds in developing the program and this time the success rate is definitely higher than the last. Boromir wanted to say something to Chen but while he was in a stupor, Chen already left. There is no other way for Boromir to chase after Chen as he already moved to a new place three days before.
It was one of the best apartments in Manhattan. Chen and Pluto are discussing something.
“So, you say you want to make a cryptocurrency?”
“Yes, cryptocurrency can earn us more money and it is easier to make a transaction with. No trace, safe, and can be completed in a matter of seconds. That is also why the swiss bank is famous. We will need it later to transfer the amount that we earn from binary options trading.”
“How much money do you actually need Pluto?”
“A lot. There are so many things that I need to buy. There are also a lot of things that I needed you to make after the cryptocurrency.”
“Alright, we’re still a day short from getting a billion so I got time to spare to make this cryptocurrency.”
At first, Chen didn’t take Pluto seriously. He only helped him because Pluto fully trusted him. But the more Chen talked with Pluto, the more motivated Chen is. Pluto’s idea basically comes from 20 years in the future so when he tells Chen about it, Chen feels as if he was enlightened and couldn’t wait to make the program that Pluto tells him about.
However, Pluto keeps on reminding him that making money comes first so he agreed with his plan. He knows that if he keeps on following Pluto, he will be able to experience something that he could never imagine. He no longer looks down on Pluto just because of his age. He fully believes that Pluto is striving for a better future for mankind.
“Are you going out again? You just come back from your morning exercise.”
“Yes, I need to find a laboratory and scientist. This is one of the pressing issues after getting enough money.”
Pluto still need to invent the materials needed for his shelter. He wanted the research for this comes first as he didn’t know how long will it take for the research to be done. He only knows that he needs to recruit as much scientist as he can, and the best one he could find to make the progress faster.
To be honest, there is no talented scientist when the apocalypse happened. Naturally, there are almost no funds allocated for other research as surviving alone is hard enough. The only kind of research done on the apocalypse is to search for staple food and firearms to fight against the enemy.
Should he poach some famous military scientist? If his father is still here, he can help Pluto with this issue and he can also get some research done. Recruiting scientists isn’t as easy as it seems. He needs to know which field that the scientist that he wanted to recruit is specializing in. Not to mention he still needs to find a laboratory that is big enough for researching and testing the result.
Should he build the research laboratory inside the shelter? Pluto shook his head as he already decided that he want to use the best material for the shelter. He is now looking online for professors and scientist that focusing their research on minerals.
Diamonds are one of the strongest materials in the earth but it would be impossible for Pluto to make a shelter entirely made out of diamonds. Aside from the money needed, the process to shape the diamonds into a shelter shape, stack them together, and repairing them later is an issue.
Graphene is another alternative as it is said to be the strongest material on earth. The shelter for apocalypse used graphene as their materials but in the end, it is still breached. He needs to recruit scientist that have research on these carbon-based materials and try to see if they could create a stronger one.
Next on the list after shelter materials, it would be a food supply. On the apocalypse, he was given a liquid nutrient pack 3 times a day for his meal. Just from the name, it was something that tasted disgusting with the only goal is to provide nutrients. This time if possible, he wants to still enjoy a normal meal. That is why he also need to recruit scientist that is focusing on food technology and agricultural.
While doing all of these things, he suddenly laughed as he remembered a movie that he used to watch. It was a movie about a crazy scientist that revive dinosaur on a private island. What he did today is strangely similar although the focus of the subject is different.
As expected, he couldn’t find a good location in New York. He needs to make his base in another location where he can build a large research base. This research base will be in use for 10 years until the apocalypse arrives or even shorter for 9 years. The remaining one year will be used to move all of their research results to the new research base in the shelter.
Before recruiting all of these researchers and scientists, he feels the need to recruit an assistant. It would be best if he could get an omnipotent artificial intelligence like the red robot man but he knew that he is asking for too much. The best he can get right now is a competent assistant that could take care of the recruitment process and also legal matter when he is going to acquire the land for the shelter and research base. Right now, with him searching the location for the laboratory by himself, it was not efficient. He needs someone who knows how to do these small things for him. Maybe 5 beautiful assistants with each excelling in different fields of the general affair.
“Alright, it’s been settled. Finding assistants will indeed improve the speed of my work in the future. I am not afraid that I won’t be able to find some capable people. After all I will be offering more money than normal.”
When Pluto gets back to the apartment, he immediately asked Chen to post an online job vacancy. Recruiting assistant with $50,000 salary/ month and there will be 5 positions recruited at least. Chen was shocked at first but after Pluto explained the reason that they will be taking care of legal matters and general affairs, he immediately understood. The high salary offered also isn’t something that Chen objected to. After all, for one successful transaction every minute, he could earn millions. Not to mention the profit gained is already been spread into normal stocks and real estate as per Pluto’s instruction based on his memory.
Soon enough, they will also enter the tech industry with the program that Chen will make under Pluto’s idea. The first step towards it is by creating the cryptocurrency.
**
Another week has passed and Pluto didn’t forget to train every day. He knows that even if he got a lot of money when the apocalypse happened it all will amount to nothing. What he needs is his ability when the time comes.
Today is also the day Pluto will hold the interview for the assistant position. Just for this occasion, he rented the highest office floor on the Empire State Building. Chen decided not to come as he is busy coding a new program so Pluto needs to do it all by himself.
Since he didn’t have any employee yet apart from Chen that doesn’t come, he will be in charge of registering the interviewee and give them their queue number. The time set for the interview is at 10:00 A.M. The time is chosen so Pluto can finish his morning jog, eat breakfast, and taking a shower. Dressed in a casual shirt, Pluto sits at the registration table and wait for people to come.
One after another, people come to the interview site and registered with Pluto. They also took their queue number and sit down on the chairs that have been prepared. It was a feast for his eye for almost 95% of the interviewee is a beautiful and mature office lady. Some even dressed in a tight suit that looks like their bust is going to explode. Their skirt even barely covered anything. Pluto knows that these assistants are in fact 'assisting needs'.
The second problem that occurred is the number of applicants doesn’t even fit the office. There are already more than a hundred applicants so Pluto decided to close the queue. After all, it was their fault for coming late than the rest of the applicants.
“Alright, you will now enter one by one into the interviewee room according to your numbers. Number one, come follow me inside.”
They are a bit confused as to why Pluto entered the room too but they didn’t think much about it. Maybe he is the assistant that will handle everything from registering applicants to calling up their numbers later to manage the queue.
It was a clean office room with a table and two chairs. Pluto sits behind the table and gesturing the number one applicant to sit down.
She was surprised at first but regained herself. There are many different types of interview nowadays. Maybe this is a test whether they will take the teenage boy seriously or not. After all, in the business world, there may be prominent figures that look like normal people and down to earth. There must be a hidden camera in the room connected to the real interviewer she thoughts to herself.
“Lily Hawk, 25 years old. Graduates from Harvard majoring in business management with cum laude. Very impressive. In just 3 years you have been promoted as a director of operations. Your future looks bright, why do you decide to attend this interview?”
In a professional manner, she replied: “Because of the salary. Even as a director of operations my salary barely reached $20,000/months and that is after taking account all of my contribution to the company and hard work for 3 whole years. $50,000/months salary is just too good to pass on as I still have some mortgage to pay.”
Such a simple reason but Pluto liked the straightforward answer.
“Tell me why I should hire you?”
“Because I am one of the best. My track record said it all. The achievements I made for the company managed to raise the company stock triples the original. I am also strict with time as I managed to come first for the interview.”
“1 point for speaking the truth, -3 for being arrogant. +1 for your achievements. And +1 for being on time. Now with a minus 1 score, I doubt you will be hired. Do you have anything to say?”
Lily was stunned by Pluto’s word. Did he really make her fail the interview or they are testing her resolution and answer?
“If you give me a chance, I will prove my ability to you.”
Honestly, if she wasn’t this arrogant, Pluto really wants to hire her. Her ability is good but arrogance is not something he needs from his subordinate. Because of his time in the military, what he needed is obedience. As long as his subordinate could follow his instruction precisely to the tiny details, he will choose that person. For people like Lily, they are bound to make mistake sooner or later because of their arrogance.
“I’m sorry, please leave the room and call out applicants’ number 2.”
Pluto want to keep the interview simple and short. He has a hundred applicants that he needs to interview today so he doesn’t want to waste time for someone who he deemed unsuitable.
Seeing that Lily was still sitting there, he repeats it again: “Ms. Lily, please take your leave.”
Lily was about to refute him but Pluto raises his hand. “Please, you don’t want to embarrass yourself here.”
After Lily goes out of the room and he doesn’t hear that she is calling out for the next applicant, Pluto sighed before walked to the door and call out number 2.
“I really need assistants for this kind of thing.”
Basic Info of Top 3 Ad Creative
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| Duration | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Popularity | 146 | 146 | 146 |
| Dimensions | 600 x 600 | 600 x 600 | 600 x 600 |
| Creative Type | Image | Image | Image |
| Network | Audience Network | Audience Network | |
| Related Ads | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Countries | Nigeria,Taiwan,Turkey,Qatar,Kuwait,Macau,Bahrian,Vietnam,Malaysia,United Arab Emirates,Lebanon,India,Thailand,Hong Kong,Singapore,Israel,Japan,Indonesia,Oman,Azerbaijan | Pakistan,Vietnam,Nigeria,Malaysia,Macau,Korea,Philippines,Turkey,Japan,Saudi Arabia,Thailand,Hong Kong,Kuwait,Singapore,Taiwan,Qatar,Israel,India,Lebanon,Oman | Taiwan,Nigeria,Turkey,Qatar,Kuwait,Macau,Bahrian,Vietnam,Malaysia,United Arab Emirates,Lebanon,India,Thailand,Hong Kong,Singapore,Israel,Japan,Oman,Indonesia,Azerbaijan |
| Language | English | English | English |
Through the above analysis, we can see that the most effective channel for Ringdom in recent advertising is Audience Network, and the main creative type is Image.
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If you want to check the relevant intelligence analysis of other apps similar to Ringdom, you can click the app name below to view related reports, or you can find more info in ASOTools.