#include <iostream>

bool isAlphanumeric(char ch) {
	return (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9') || (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z') || (ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z');
}

char* minWord(char *str) {
	int startIndex = 0;
	while (str[startIndex] != '\0' && !isAlphanumeric(str[startIndex]))
		startIndex++;

	char *ptr = &str[startIndex];

	for (int i = startIndex, wordStart = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) {
		for (int j = i; isAlphanumeric(str[i]) && isAlphanumeric(ptr[wordStart]); i++, wordStart++) {
			if (str[i] < ptr[wordStart])
				ptr = &str[j];
			else if (str[i] != ptr[wordStart])
				break;
		}
		wordStart = 0;
	}

	return ptr;
}

int main() {
	char input[] = "me? why always me?";
	char *str = minWord(input);

	for (int i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++)
		std::cout << str[i];
	std::cout << std::endl;
}