Chapter 4 — The First Pill
The streets of New York were still busy even though it was already late at night.
Yellow taxis moved through the traffic, their headlights reflecting on the wet road. The rain earlier had left the sidewalks shining under the streetlights.
Anshul walked calmly along the street, his backpack resting on one shoulder.
Inside the bag were several small containers.
Each of them held the same thing.
NZT.
The pill that had changed the life of the protagonist in the original story.
Now it was in his possession.
But Anshul did not immediately take one.
Instead, he continued walking for another ten minutes until he found a small public park.
The park was quiet.
A few benches stood under tall trees, and only two or three people were passing through.
Anshul chose a bench near the edge of the park and sat down.
Only then did he open his backpack.
He carefully removed one of the pill containers.
Inside were several small transparent pills.
Under the streetlight they almost looked like pieces of glass.
Anshul stared at them silently.
"So this is NZT."
In the original story, the drug allowed a person to access the full capacity of their brain.
Perfect memory.
Extreme focus.
Incredible learning speed.
But it also had dangerous side effects if used too much.
Anshul knew all of that.
Because he had watched the movie multiple times.
Still, even knowing the risks, he could not deny the opportunity in front of him.
If the pill worked the same way here, then the advantage it would give him was beyond imagination.
Especially for someone who could travel between different worlds.
But before taking it, Anshul opened the World Theater website again.
The interface had changed slightly.
Traveler Level: 1
Current World: Limitless Mind
Completion Condition:
Survive until the end of the story timeline.
Anshul raised an eyebrow.
"So I don't need to follow the plot exactly."
That made things easier.
He could take the pills without worrying about interfering with the original protagonist.
Another message appeared beneath the first.
Traveler Inventory:
Empty
So the system also had an inventory function.
Interesting.
Anshul leaned back on the bench and looked at the pill in his hand.
For a moment he hesitated.
This was the kind of decision that could change everything.
But eventually he smiled faintly.
"Well… if I came this far, there's no reason to hesitate."
He broke one pill in half.
The transparent surface cracked easily.
Then he placed one half in his mouth and swallowed it.
For several seconds nothing happened.
The park remained quiet.
Cars continued passing on the street nearby.
Anshul began to wonder if the pill might not work.
Then suddenly—
Something changed.
It felt like a switch had been flipped inside his mind.
The world around him became sharper.
The sound of distant traffic grew clearer.
He could hear individual conversations from people walking across the park.
Even the faint rustling of leaves in the wind seemed louder.
But the biggest change was inside his head.
Thoughts began moving faster.
Much faster.
Memories he had forgotten years ago suddenly appeared clearly in his mind.
Conversations.
Books he had read.
Scenes from movies.
Every detail felt perfectly organized.
Anshul sat upright.
"This…"
His eyes widened slightly.
It felt as if his brain had suddenly been upgraded.
Ideas formed instantly.
Connections between information appeared automatically.
Even the English language around him became easier to understand.
He pulled out his phone and opened a random news article.
Normally he would read at a moderate speed.
Now his eyes moved across the screen rapidly.
Paragraph after paragraph.
Yet every sentence remained perfectly clear in his mind.
Within seconds he had finished the entire article.
And he remembered every line.
Anshul slowly lowered the phone.
"Incredible."
A quiet laugh escaped his lips.
This was far beyond what he expected.
With this ability, learning new skills would become unbelievably easy.
Languages.
Programming.
Finance.
Engineering.
Anything.
For a moment Anshul simply sat there, enjoying the clarity of his thoughts.
Then another idea appeared in his mind.
If NZT worked in this world…
Would it also work in his original world?
If the answer was yes, then his future would change completely.
Anshul carefully placed the remaining pills back into the container.
He could not afford to become addicted to them like the protagonist in the movie.
Using them wisely would be important.
But right now, he could already feel the power flowing through his mind.
His brain was operating at a level he had never experienced before.
He looked up at the night sky above the park.
Clouds drifted slowly across the dark sky.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"This system…"
"…might be the greatest opportunity of my life."
And this was only the beginning.
Because beyond this world, the World Theater still contained many other worlds waiting to be explored.
Royal kingdoms.
Business empires.
Even futuristic civilizations.
Anshul Giri had just taken his first step into that universe.
And the journey had only begun.
.