Six months had passed since Aion discovered his rewind ability.
His life now felt like a dream—perfect grades, praised by professors, his savings growing, and his face often a hot topic on campus. He'd become the popular student he once only dreamed of being.
But behind his winning smile, something strange lurked. Something only Aion noticed.
That day, inside his physics class. Professor Morgan stood by the projector.
"Who can answer this? Who discovered the theory of relativity?" His tone was casual.
An easy question. Aion confidently raised his hand. "Albert Einstein, sir."
Silence.
Then the entire class burst out laughing.
Lisa beside him covered her mouth, trying not to laugh out loud.
"What's so funny? Did I say it wrong?" Aion frowned.
Professor Morgan stared at him like he'd just heard nonsense. "Einstein? Discovering relativity? Are you serious? Everyone knows James Maxwell discovered that. Einstein is the legendary astronaut, the first man on Mars."
Aion froze. Astronaut?
Since when?
After class, he immediately searched online. Every article, book, and archive showed the same thing: Albert Einstein was an astronaut.
No record of him being a physicist. Even online museum exhibits showed him wearing a spacesuit.
"Am I insane? Or is the world insane?" he muttered.
But the strangeness didn't stop there.
The next day, Einstein's history changed again.
In history class, the professor said, "Albert Einstein, inventor of the nuclear bomb, born in Ulm, 1879…"
The day after, he was described as a president. The next day, a legendary football player.
Every day, Einstein's history kept changing. Books, the internet, the news—everything adjusted itself.
And only Aion remembered the previous versions.
He tried rewinding to the previous day, hoping to catch the difference, but it was useless. Every time, the world had already "edited" itself.
"Why only Einstein? Why not Newton or Galileo?" he thought in frustration.
Aion was convinced something was wrong with time itself.
Semester break came. Aion couldn't sit still anymore. He had to find the answer at the source.
He remembered Einstein had lived in Bern, Switzerland before moving to America. If there was a clue, it had to be there.
Using the money he earned thanks to his rewind ability, he booked a ticket and flew to Switzerland.
Bern greeted him with cool air and old architecture. Cobblestone streets, ancient buildings, and an old clock tower. The city felt like it was trapped in time.
Asking around, almost everyone pointed him toward the Einstein Museum.
In front of the three-story building with antique ornaments, he looked up at the sign: Einstein Museum.
"Please… let there be an answer here," he muttered.
The moment he stepped inside, his heart pounded.
That day, Einstein's history recorded him as an astronaut.
The walls were filled with photos of Einstein in a spacesuit, rocket replicas, posters of Einstein: The First Man on Mars.
Aion joined a group of tourists led by a neatly dressed woman.
"Welcome to the Einstein Museum," the guide said cheerfully. "Here you'll see the journey of Albert Einstein, the pioneer astronaut who opened the era of Mars colonization."
The tourists were amazed, taking photos, whispering in awe.
Only Aion felt like he was living in a fake world. This… is completely wrong, he thought.
The tour continued. The guide proudly told stories about Einstein's Mars missions as if they were unquestionable facts.
They stopped in front of a glass display. The guide pointed to an antique object inside.
"And this is one of our most treasured artifacts: Einstein's beloved pocket watch. He carried it everywhere, even to Mars. It's said the watch never broke despite being exposed to cosmic radiation."
Aion stared at it: old bronze, intricate engravings, its hands frozen at 11:55.
For some reason, it felt alive. The air around him vibrated.
A ticking sound that shouldn't exist echoed in his ears.
The air grew heavy, the faint scent of ozone filled his nose.
"What the—"
Before he could finish, a blinding light burst from the watch.
Aion's body was sucked into an unseen vortex.
"AAARGH!" His scream vanished into the roaring storm of time.
Darkness.
Then, cold.
The smell of wet grass, earth, and wood smoke hit his nose.
Aion slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on grass.
The sky above was crystal blue, the air impossibly fresh.
In the distance, he heard the clatter of wooden wheels on cobblestone, church bells ringing. Old, rounded cars chugged by, puffing out thin smoke. No skyscrapers. No sound of modern engines.
He sat up, panic rising. Where am I?
Ahead stood a grand European-style house with a vast yard and tall iron fences.
Before he could gather his thoughts, a loud voice startled him.
"HEY! Who are you?!"
Two men in black uniforms ran from the house. Guards.
Aion scrambled to his feet, ready to run. Instinct kicked in: rewind.
He squeezed his eyes shut, focused—but… nothing happened.
His rewind ability didn't work!
"What's happening?! Why can't I rewind?!" Panic surged.
Before he could flee, the guards grabbed his arms. He was pushed and dragged across the wide yard toward the mansion.
He was hauled into a lavish living room filled with antique furniture.
An elderly man in a suit, likely the head butler, glared at him. "Who are you? A spy? A thief?"
"I… I don't know why I'm here! Please, I didn't mean to trespass!" Aion tried explaining, which only made him sound more suspicious.
The guards looked to the butler, waiting for orders.
"Take him to the Master," the butler finally said. "He'll decide what to do with him."
Aion's heart pounded as they dragged him to another room.
The massive doors opened. The scent of old books and wood filled the air.
There, behind a large desk stacked with papers, sat an old man in a wheelchair.
His hair was white and messy, his face lined with deep wrinkles, his eyes sharp and alive.
His face… looked strangely familiar, like something Aion had seen in history books.
The old man studied him for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"So, this is the boy causing trouble in my yard?" His voice was hoarse but carried authority.
Aion stood frozen.
The old man exhaled slowly, his gaze penetrating.
"My name is… Albert Einstein."
The room felt like it froze over.
Aion swallowed hard, words stuck in his throat.
The legendary figure was real, sitting right before him.
And in that moment, Aion realized—
his true journey through time had only just begun.