“Mil—uh—Eddy! Grandpa Joe replied!” Dad called, an hour after lunch.

  I ran down the stairs. Dad was still in the living room by the TV.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Your grandfather sent an email back,” he answered. “He said he hears you loud and clear. He mentioned sending a laptop to you. I’m setting up a time for the two of you to meet in person—he specifically said he wanted to talk to you.”

  “Makes sense. I hope Mom gets the laptop to me sooner than later.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Money. The laptop should give a way for me to access a fair amount of money to start the investment train rolling. I’ll give you a few bucks to buy a lotto ticket for me as well.”

  “That’s a lot of money!” he exclaimed.

  “Yes and no,” I cautioned. “I’m aiming for the second or third prize. It’ll give enough money for living expenses for the next year while the money from Grandpa Joe gets going. And it won’t make the news—which is important, I think.”

  “Because you never know who might come knocking, right?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Well, alright,” Dad nodded.

  “Thanks for letting me know. I’m going to play around outside for a while, I guess.”

  The next day, Dad took me to the library for a thick stack of books. I made sure to get him some light reading as well about monsters, given his lack of knowledge about the subject. I went outside for most of the day to work on quests. With more variety, I could get a lot done—without boring myself to death.

  On the way home, he stopped to get us ice cream. It was Dad’s way of paying me back for the tip I’d given him. He made good money when betting on the final score. Even though the team wasn’t favored to win, betting on a blowout gave him relatively good odds to work with.

  That evening, Mom came over after work. She gave Dad a distrustful look before bending down to give me a hug and kiss. She placed a heavy bag by the front door.

  “So Grandpa Joe tells me you needed this,” she started. “He made it sound serious, too. What’s going on?”

  “Magic and time travel,” I stated.

  “You’re joking, right? What’s really going on? Are you ok? Is your father doing anything he shouldn’t?”

  “Mom, I’m serious. Magic and time travel. Look—”

  I cast Floating Light and moved it around with my finger. Though hard to do, that trick was something I had discovered after practicing it for a few hours. It was a neat trick that I felt helped sell the magic even more. The light lit Mom’s aghast face.

  “What is—I…”

  “Magic, Mom. It’s magic. This also isn’t the first time I’ve lived my life—hence the time travel.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” she said.

  “As did I the first time. Let me tell you a story.”

  I gave mom the run-down about the system, quests, and the coming apocalypse. I also gave a very brief overview of the last loop for context. I chose not to answer any of the questions about relationships or deaths for several reasons. The first was that knowing when someone died wouldn’t make it any easier. Then there was the fact that relationships changed because of me. Saying who each of them ended up with wasn’t helpful—especially before the divorce happened. Mom got frustrated with me for not answering them, but I stood my ground.

  “Mom,” I said. “I understand your concerns, but I will not tell you what happened in too much detail. I can—and will—give you tips about the future that I know about, but that’s it. Here’s your first tip: Dad’s favorite hockey team’s going to win 2-0 tomorrow night. I told him about last night’s game, so now you both can make some cash. I’ll also let both of you know some lotto numbers for next week because I know you’ll need money. Hell, I need money.”

  “Ok, ok,” she said, putting her hands up. “I get it. And thanks, I guess. What did Grandpa Joe give you?”

  “A laptop and some money. I know how the stock market’s going to move over the next couple of years, so I want to take advantage of that. Get a bunch of money together before I have enough capital to influence the market. I need that money for several projects centered on earning as much experience as I can.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “I get it,” she said with a smile. “And please don’t forget that I still love you.”

  She gave me a tight hug that sent tears down my face. Although everything was fresh to her, it wasn’t to me. In a way, she’d died twice. Skiing with her and saying goodbye only a week ago meant the pain was still fresh. It was hard for me to see her as the same person to who she had been only a few days ago. I was thankful she didn’t bring up the tears. Maybe she understood what I was going through.

  Eventually, Mom left, and I went back up to my room. But not before talking to Dad about getting internet installed as soon as possible. I couldn’t do everything I needed with his phone. I needed a dedicated connection.

  I opened the laptop as soon as I sat on my bed. The book of Grandpa Joe’s that contained the flash drive the first time around had been included in the gift. I booted it up with the laptop. Like the first time, there was a message with it and some crypto. Though subtly different, the core message was the same. He hoped I was doing well; he understood the code words, and to be careful with the money.

  Without an internet connection, I couldn’t do any searches about how to invest at my age. I figured I’d need Mom and or Dad’s help with that. I considered what to do about spreading the word about the coming apocalypse. I’d tried writing stories the first time. It had been marginally successful, but that wasn’t really the best way to go about it. I knew there had to be a better way. Maybe with money I could just pay some people to write the stories instead of me? I shrugged and put the idea away for another time.

  What I could do while I waited was get all of my plans down. I didn’t want the pressure of keeping it all in my mind. Getting the ability to bring a flash drive with all the information into the next loop was going to be crucial. I remembered most of what I wanted to, but the headache at the start of this loop was brutal. If each time was as bad or worse, I’d probably forget as much as I remembered. That wasn’t a chance I could afford to take!

  I felt a strong sense of relief when I was done. It was just a small bump to my peace of mind, but that was exactly what I needed. Being in the loop again was a strange feeling—one that I struggled to place. It felt like looking up at a mountain I had to climb—a look behind me showing all the hills I’d already climbed. It also felt like it wasn’t quite real—like everything was off just a little. I did my best to push the feeling away. I had a lot to look forward to!

  Two days later, the internet was turned on. I used the opportunity to research how I was going to invest my money. Why I hadn’t done that before going back in time, I’ll never know. After much wrangling of search terms, I had a solution. I would need a custodial account through one of my parents or grandparents.

  Mom would be fine, as would Dad. Still, my preference wasn’t one of them. I thought that Grandpa Joe would be a better option. It was his money, after all. That gave some separation between my parents and the money—just in case. I didn’t think anything would happen with it, but Grandpa Joe didn’t need any financial help. That made him the safest pick.

  That afternoon, I met with Grandpa Joe for ice cream. He picked me up from Dad’s house and brought me to the same ice cream place Dad had a few days earlier. I loved the place—they had some fantastic ice cream—so I didn’t mind at all. I was in tears from the moment I laid eyes on him. After all the years since his death, I’d missed him so much. Now that he was in front of me again, it was hard not to let the emotions run free. He tried to console me while he drove, but it was difficult. I settled down just in time for him to park the car in the lot one street over.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “I really missed you,” I sniffled. “You died so unexpectedly and it broke my heart. Now you’re back and it’s hard, you know?”

  “I understand. I’ll be here for you as long as I can.”

  I reached forward and hugged him around the chair. I felt relief at his warmth but also sadness with what I’d lost the last loop. He broke me out of my thoughts when he spoke again.

  “I saw what you sent me by email the other day,” he said. “Are the codes correct?”

  “Yup. That’s what I found last time.”

  “How many times has it been?”

  “If you count the time I lived before the accident? This would be the third.”

  “I see. And the aliens?”

  “Monsters or similar. I’m not exactly sure. They may be some aliens as well, but I haven’t been able to confirm that for sure.”

  “So what’s going on?” He asked.

  I explained the system I was building and how long I had. I included the part about my accident. That one got a raised eyebrow.

  “So fantasy monsters come to life, aliens coming to steal our stuff, and an almighty system meant to make us all strong enough to come out the other end alive? I think we can work with that.”

  “Magic, too,” I added.

  “And magic,” he agreed.

  “I can show you a quick bit of magic while we’re in the car and no one’s watching… if you want.”

  “Anything dangerous?”

  I shook my head.

  “Alright, go ahead then.”

  I cast Floating Light and moved it around the car for a few seconds before extinguishing it.

  “Neat. Any other options?”

  “Nothing I’ve taken. The penalties for buying stuff for me means I only want to buy stuff I need. That one’s for demonstration.”

  He nodded.

  “Alright, let’s go out and get some ice cream!”

  “Yeah!”

  I followed him out of the car. We got to the shop and purchased a cone each. I chose butter pecan while Grandpa Joe picked pistachio. We sat at a table outside by the store.

  “Grandpa?”

  “Hm?”

  “I’m going to use my knowledge to make a bunch of money,” I said. “The crypto you gave me should come in handy for that. I didn’t pay attention enough the first time. I’ve fixed that. With what I know, I should be able to get enough money for everything I want to accomplish over the next fifteen years.”

  “Did I give you the warning about the lottery?”

  “You did.”

  “Good. Then I think you’ll be alright.”

  “I do need one thing from you,” I said.

  “Do you now?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

  “I don’t think any of the trading firms would let a 5-year-old manage their own money, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, what about a custodial account through you? As long as I have access to it, I can make the trades I need to over the next year or two. That should give me plenty of cash.”

  “I do love the smell of fraud in the morning,” he laughed. “I’m fine with it. But I have to ask, why me and not one of your parents?”

  “You don’t need the money,” I stated plainly.

  “Makes sense,” he nodded. “I’ll email you what you need after I get the info from your parents to set it up. Expect it to be ready sometime next week.”

  “Thanks, Grandpa!”

  We ate and chatted for another half hour before he dropped me back off at Dad’s.

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