World Domination: My Rise To The Top

The first thing that James did when he got home was to make his way to his room to begin work on the GPU.

He promised the man to fix it up and bring back tomorrow by 3 PM, but he wants to be done with it before then.

He walked into his room and realized that he had yet to unpack most of his things from the duffel bag he had brought back with him. He quickly got to it and after he was done, he brought out his tools and equipment, placed them on his workstation and took his seat.

"Now, let's see what's wrong with you," he said, as he picked up the GPU and started uncoupling the shroud to take out the GPU.

James didn't ask the man what's wrong with the GPU as he has his own way of finding out.

After taking out the GPU from the shroud, he picked it up to do a visual inspection of it. He checked for dust, any burnt components or possible loose connections.

He checked it for anything that could tell him what's could tell him what's wrong with the GPU, but he found nothing.

"Well, it seems like I'm going to have my work cut out for me with this one," James smiled, as he sets the GPU on the table.

He connected the GPU to his Multimeter to tests power delivery and any circuit issues, but after checking it properly, he found there to be nothing wrong with the GPU.

James smiled when he saw this. He has had a similar experience like this before, so he wasn't fazed by this.

He continued checking as he connected the GPU to his PC and using two softwares to run some system diagnosis, and find what's wrong with it.

At first, the GPU on powered up and everything was working perfectly but it crashed almost immediately, causing James to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

He quickly composed himself and tried powering it again but it didn't come on. James frowned when he saw this.

He knew that since the GPU crashed, then it was either a problem with the VRAM or core damage. He immediately got to work, trying to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

It took James more than half an hour of checking, and testing but he finally found out what was wrong with the GPU.

Unlike what he had thought, the problem wasn't a VRAM issue or from a core damage, but instead it was because one of the components had developed a hole in the middle, causing power to be lost som8 along the board.

James immediately got to fixing the problem after he had pinpointed it. He removed the damaged component and replaced it with another one.

It took him some time but he was able to get it done. After he was done replacing the component, he powered up the GPU and he saw that it was now working perfectly.

It didn't crash and it works just as its supposed to.

"Fuu... That was a lot of work." James exhaled, as he stood up from the chair and stretched his body.

He smiled proudly as he looked at the GPU that was now working perfectly. No matter how many times he has gotten it, James can never get enough of the feeling of pride that comes with get a job done. It has been with him since he completed his first job and the feeling is still as intense till now.

He looked around his room and saw how the the lights lit it. He took his phone to check the time and he saw that more than two hours had passed, and it was almost time for dinner.

"Just in time." He smiled proudly, as he started putting away his tools and equipments.

After he was done, he disconnected the GPU and set aside carefully and in a safe place. He doesn't want anything going wrong with his first job and costing him his hard earned rebate-eligible money. Nothing.

After he was done, he left his room and made his way downstairs. Just as he expected, still on the stairs, the aroma of the food Patty was cooking was already crashing into his olfactory lobe.

He smiled as he took a deep breath, taking in the aroma that enveloped the house.

James would be honest and say that he missed Patty's cooking extremely. Her cooking is one of the reason why he always runs back home the next day after a quarter ends.

He has tried food from different restaurants and diners, though not high-end ones, but they never stood a chance against Patty's.

He couldn't even begin to compare them. It was simply impossible. They weren't on the same scale and couldn't hold a candle to it.

Maybe it's because her food was what he grew up eating but he feels like even if he eats from an high-end restaurant, it still won't compare.

He smiled as he made his way to the living room to make life a living hell for Leslie before food is ready.

"Hey, you," he said to her, taking his seat on one of the sofas.

"Hey, yourself. Were you working in your room? You have been stuck up inside there after you went to get whatever it was from outside," Leslie asked, with her eyes still glued to TV screen.

"Yeah, I was working," James replied, sinking into the sofa.

"You just got back from an extremely stressful quarter at school and working a part-time job late into the night, and you're already went to look for a job? Won't you allow yourself some time to rest? At least, try to go out and have fun once in a while. It won't hurt, you know?" Leslie said, smiling.

James saw the smile on Leslie's face, but he knew that hidden behind that smile were a lot of emotions. And he could only sigh.

"Right now, I don't have the luxury or time to have fun. But after I've achieved everything I want, I will be able to have as much as I want and nothing will be able to stop me."

"Ok but don't waste your youth working and working away. Take some time off for yourself, you deserve it."

James laughed when he heard what Leslie said.

"What do you mean by waste my youth away working? I'm doing this for us. For Patty, you and me. Haven't you heard of the phrase 'cry now, laugh later'? I'm putting in the hardwork now so that our later days can be better," James said.

"I"I know... I just—" Leslie hesitated, biting her lip.

She opened her mouth to say something but shook her head.

"Nevermind."

James also sighed before turning his attention to the TV to distract himself. He felt that something was bothering Leslie, but she probably didn't want to tell him yet, and he wouldn't force her.

He couldn't help but sigh again. He had wanted to mess around with Leslie a little before dinner was ready, but with the way the atmosphere between them was right now, that was no longer possible.

Even though he has no idea what's bothering Leslie, one thing he know is that she was worried about him, and it made him smile.

'Don't worry, Leslie. Things are going to change very soon. I promise.'