Before the Fall: Rise of the Apocalypse King-Chapter 44: The Billion-Dollar Idea

Early in the morning, Ivan sat alone in his bedroom, his elbows resting on the table, pen and notebook in hand. His eyes were heavy from lack of sleep, and his mind was racing faster than ever. The sky outside was just beginning to light up.

He had come back from death. Reborn into a world that had no clue what was about to come crashing down.

The apocalypse was coming.

He needed a plan. A way to become rich—filthy rich—before it all began. Not just for himself, but for his family. He wanted to build a base, a fortress, a haven where they could survive the end of the world.

"Start a business?" Ivan mumbled to himself, writing it down and quickly crossing it out. "Naaaah Too slow. Takes months or years. I don’t have that kind of time."

He tapped the pen on the paper and bit his lip.

"Steal from a bank? Yeah, right." He scoffed. "I don’t have guns. No getaway car. No plan. Can’t just walk in and say,

’Hey, give me all the cash, or I’ll kill you with my pen.’"

He scratched his head.

"Stock market?" he muttered, then groaned. "Shit... I never cared about those things in my past life. I skipped every article and headline. I was too busy. Fuuuuck..."

He sighed deeply and put the pen down.

His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. His thoughts were spinning.

What should I do?

Should I tell them?

Naaahh... they won’t believe me. They’ll think I’m crazy.

Ivan rubbed his face and shook his head.

"Well, let’s just go to college for now..."

He stood up, packed his bag, and stepped out of his room. His parents were in the kitchen. He gave them a short wave and said goodbye. But he didn’t say a word to Lena, his younger sister. She noticed, but said nothing. She didn’t care either way.

He took the metro and reached his dorm within an hour. As soon as he opened the door, his roommate, Duro, spun around in his chair and snapped.

"Where the fuck have you been? I texted you like a hundred times!"

"Went home," Ivan replied calmly.

"Since when do you visit home? You never leave campus unless you’re forced to."

"Forget it," Ivan said, throwing his bag onto the bed. "Tell me what happened."

Duro crossed his arms. "You missed Porno Day, man!"

"Shit, what?"

"Yeah! We were supposed to film the girls in the swimming pool! Remember?"

"Sorry, bro. Totally forgot."

"Next time?"

"Yeah, I promise. Next time."

Duro rolled his eyes and flopped onto his bed.

Ivan leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

"Duro," he asked, "do you know how to make big money? Like really big."

"How much?"

"Like... a billion. In a week or two."

Duro choked on his soda and spat it out all over his desk.

"A billion?! In two weeks? What the actual fuck?"

"I’m serious."

"Have you lost your mind? A billion? What do you need that kind of money for?"

Don’t tell me you want a billion to fuck that UAE princess.

Ivan didn’t answer. He just stared out the window.

Duro frowned. "You okay, man?"

"You got a way or not?"

"There’s only one stupid way."

"Tell me."

"Crypto."

"Crypto?" Ivan raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Buy some shitcoin at its lowest price and pray to God it explodes to like 200,000 times its value. That’s the only crazy way you’re gonna make that much cash so fast."

Ivan sat down on his bed, deep in thought.

Crypto. Of course.

He shut his eyes and tried to dig through his memories. Somewhere, somehow, he must have heard something about a coin that exploded in value. He had to remember. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing came.

His head ached.

Duro watched him.

"Hey, you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out."

Ivan smiled faintly. "I’m fine. Thanks, man."

In that moment, Ivan decided—Duro will survive this time.

"Let’s get to class," Ivan said. "We’ve got economics. That baldy’s lecture."

Duro laughed. "Baldy’s gonna put you to sleep, bro."

They grabbed their bags and walked across the campus to their lecture hall.

Inside the classroom, Professor Oleg, a short, bald man with thick glasses and a loud voice, stood in front of the board. He was writing something about finance and global markets.

"Economy and finance are like two sides of a coin," he said. "You can’t separate them. If the financial system collapses, so does the economy, and vice versa."

Ivan listened, but his brain was still hunting through the fog of his memories.

Then the professor began referencing real-world companies and their crypto projects.

"Look at this," Oleg said, pointing to a slide. "When Company A and Company B even hinted at a merger, their crypto coin value skyrocketed for some time,

And if you focks remember in 2018 same thing happen and the companies crypto value sky rocketed 40000 times just for 10 seconds.

Ten seconds. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Ivan’s heart skipped a beat.

He remembered.

It was real. In his previous life, two of the biggest metal companies had announced a fake merger. Someone had spread the rumor, and for just ten seconds, their coin’s value hit the sky. People who sold in those seconds became millionaires overnight. Then the price crashed. Gone.

But if he could time it right this time...

He could do it. He could become rich before the world ended.

His eyes widened. He stood up.

"Yes!Yes! I got it!" he shouted, and burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha!"

The entire class turned and stared.

He looked like a monkey laughing in a zoo.

Professor Oleg cleared his throat loudly. "Mr. Ivan. Care to explain what you got?"

Ivan looked around. Everyone was staring. His face turned red.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry, sir." He sat back down quickly.

From the back of the class, a loud voice echoed.

"Maybe he found his lost penis sir!"

The class exploded in laughter.

Ivan turned his head. Rula. The class bully. Always loud. Always annoying.

Ivan smiled coldly and thought to himself, You won’t live long in this life, Rula. I promise you that.

"Silence!" the professor snapped. "Mr. Ivan, whatever treasure you’re looking for, find it in your dorm room, not in my class!"

Laughter erupted again, just as the bell rang. The lecture was over.

Ivan shoved his notebook into his bag and walked straight out, ignoring the chuckles and whispers.

Just as Ivan was about to leave the lecture hall, Rula and his gang blocked the exit.

Rula smirked and crossed his arms. "So, Mr. Treasure Hunter," he sneered, "what did you find, huh?"

He leaned in closer. "Don’t tell me... you actually found your peepee hidden in your bushes?"

Loud laughter exploded across the classroom again.

Even the girls were laughing this time—covering their mouths, shaking their heads, giggling like it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard. A few of them even pointed at Ivan, whispering behind their hands.

Ivan didn’t react.

He didn’t laugh. He didn’t speak. He didn’t even flinch.

He just stood there silently, his eyes cold and sharp, slowly scanning every face around him. One by one.

Rula and His gang members,he memoriesed all their faces.

Every single face.

Not a single expression escaped his memory.

Then, without saying a word, Ivan turned and quietly walked past them—like none of this mattered, like they didn’t even exist.

But deep down, in the pit of his heart, a storm was already brewing.

They laughed at him now...

But they had no idea what was coming.

Even by chance any of them manage to survive the initial gamma blast... if they crawl their way through the ash and fire, begging for food, water, or safety...

They’ll have to come to him.

They’ll stand at his door, faces dirty, eyes filled with fear, pleading for help.

And that’s when he’ll remind them—of this moment.

The jokes. The laughs. The way they all looked down on him like he was nothing.

He’ll look them straight in the eye... and say it without hesitation:

"Fuck off."

Then he’ll shut the door in their faces.

Thinking his revenge, he left the classroom.

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Back in the dorm, he shut the door behind him and sat at his desk.

He pulled out his phone and started searching crypto trends, mergers, timelines, and charts.

He needed to find the exact coin, the exact moment, and the exact date.

He had a window now. Ten seconds.

That was all he needed.

Just ten seconds...

To become a billionaire.

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Author’s note:-

Thanks for reading this far! If you’re enjoying Ivan’s dark journey from humiliation to power, let me know in the comments. Your feedback means a lot and helps me grow this story even stronger. Don’t forget to leave a review and share your thoughts—who knows, your words might shape the next twist!

See you in the next Chapter!

—Author

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com