Ethan Cole's eyes snapped open to a ceiling he hadn't seen in twenty years — faded plaster, a single bulb hanging from a frayed cord, and the soft creak of snow-laden wind pressing against the window. His breath fogged the air.
He sat up abruptly, heart pounding, the tatami mat beneath him groaning under the sudden shift.
This wasn't Tokyo. This wasn't 2015. And this definitely wasn't the rooftop where he'd died.
He looked down at his hands. No wrinkles. No burn scars from the lab accident. Just smooth skin, slender fingers, and a faint tremble he couldn't suppress.
He stumbled toward the mirror above the dresser. The reflection staring back was unmistakable — seventeen-year-old Ethan Cole, wide-eyed and terrified.
"What the hell…" he whispered, voice cracking.
The room was exactly as he remembered it. Posters of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Dragon Ball Z curled at the edges. A dusty CRT television sat in the corner, blinking faintly. His old school uniform hung neatly on the closet door, untouched by time.
Outside, snow drifted silently over the streets of Sapporo, painting the world in white.
Then came the voice.
"Welcome, Candidate #0457. Billionaire's Path System activated."
Ethan spun around. A glowing interface hovered mid-air, translucent and pulsing with soft blue light. It looked like something out of a sci-fi anime — modular panels, flickering data streams, and a countdown timer ticking ominously.
Objective: Accumulate ¥100,000,000,000 within 20 years.
Failure = Erasure.
Modules Unlocked:
• Market Forecast
• Skill Boost
• Timeline Scan
He backed away, heart racing. "No. No, this isn't real. I died. I fell. I—"
Memories surged. The rooftop. The rain. The failed launch. Investors walking out. His company — ColeTech — collapsing under the weight of its own ambition. And then the flash. The voice. The fall.
He had died.
And now, somehow, he was here.
Ethan dropped to his knees, breathing hard. The tatami mat scratched against his palms. He wasn't hallucinating. This wasn't a dream. The air was too cold. The pain too sharp. The details too precise.
He stood slowly, eyes fixed on the interface. It responded to his gaze, shifting modules into focus.
Timeline Scan: Active
Forecast: January 12, 1995
Economic Status: Post-bubble recession
Opportunity Index: Moderate
Ethan's mind raced. 1995. Japan was still recovering from the burst of its economic bubble. The internet was barely a whisper. Smartphones didn't exist.
Amazon hadn't launched. Bitcoin hadn't been invented. He knew what was coming — the rise of e-commerce, mobile tech, social media, and AI.
He had knowledge. He had time. And now, he had tools.
A strange calm settled over him. He walked to the window and looked out at the snow-covered streets. Students in uniform passed by, laughing, unaware of the future hurtling toward them. Somewhere out there, the world was waiting to be rewritten.
Ethan Cole had failed once. But this time, he had twenty years, a ¥100 billion target, and a system that bent reality to his will.
He smiled faintly.
"Alright," he said. "Let's play."