Drip!
A cold droplet struck Ray's forehead, snapping him awake.
His eyes snapped open.
Blinding light stabbed into his vision.
"Ah—!"
Pain exploded through his skull as he grabbed his head.
Someone screamed at the side.
[Big news! Big news!
Everyone, we have the latest information. The Lion guild has lost the city war.
Their sponsor, Henris Medicine, has just filed for bankruptcy. Is this the end of the old era?]
Ray rubbed his forehead. 'Where am I?'
He pushed himself up.
A sting shot throughout his body.
"Tch!"
His arm gave out, and he collapsed back onto the cold marble floor.
He took a deep breath, but the very next moment, a thick, rotten smell almost choked him.
Cough! Cough!
The stench burned down his throat.
He clenched his jaw, barely stopping himself from vomiting.
Enduring it, he covered his mouth and rolled away from the stench.
A bad decision, as he slammed against something.
Things blurred around him as he once again heard the annoying shout.
[Professor, now with the Lions losing their third big city in a row, do you think they could bounce back?
Well, it is not impossible to defend, but I don't think anyone will sponsor them anymore.
But professor, the Lion guild has a big role in the Maraid city property. Shouldn't the city government need to support them?
Well, you are not wrong. The loss of the lion has already caused a billion credit loss to the city, I don't think the city will have any more funds…]
"Shut up!" Ray shouted in irritation.
Squinting, he looked up.
There, at the other end of the room, a big screen kept playing live coverage of two men shouting at each other.
He tried to reach toward the remote, but even that small movement made his vision blur.
He almost opened his mouth, but managed to control it at the last moment.
The pain almost blacked him out.
Especially the one from his chest.
He looked down, only to choke when he noticed a massive fist-sized blue mark right in the center of his chest.
Just then, a memory flashed through of him running from that mess. Multiple footsteps were chasing behind him.
Then that cold metal pressed against his forehead.
And the loud click echoed within his head.
Panicked, he touched his forehead.
'Sticky! Is that blood?'
He looked down at his hand but did not find any redness. Instead, it was some sort of fruity liquid.
'They did not kill me!'
The loud click of the trigger continued to echo within his head.
Tap! Tap!
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming toward him.
"Hey, what happened, dude?"
The loud voice snapped him back as he frantically searched for them.
Instead of the dark alley, he found himself inside a room.
There was just a single boy standing next to him.
He noticed multiple boxes scattered around the room. Many rotten food boxes were also scattered around him.
'Did they throw me here? But why?'
The boy waved a hand in front of him. "Hey. Can you hear me?"
Ray stared at him with narrowed eyes. 'Is this guy with them?'
The boy suddenly reached toward him. "Ray."
Ray froze. Shit, he knew my name.
Panicked, he tried to move back but failed.
Helpless, he clenched his jaw, waiting for the punch.
But then he felt a hand around his shoulder. "Come on, get up."
The guy actually helped him sit up.
Before he could ask anything, the guy asked again, "Should I take you to the medical room?"
Just then, something rang inside his pants pocket.
Even the boy groaned. "Who is messaging now?"
Not caring about the boy, Ray pulled out his mobile phone.
The cracked screen made his heart itch a bit, but he tapped on the notification.
Thankfully, the touch still worked as a video started playing.
He instantly recognized it.
It was an old video of him fighting against three others.
Someone still had this video!
Baffled, Ray checked the sender, only to stare wide-eyed.
[3rd Sem Class V.]
'What!! It's in a group chat!! Who added me?'
Before he could piece anything together, multiple responses started pouring in.
[3rd Sem Class V:
Soren: Hahah, looks like someone had a great weekend.
Mika: Wait, when did that happen? Isn't this beside the Parkside Bar?
Lucy: Haha. I looked at him, weeping!
Prosim: Oof, that must hurt.
Mika:...
Lucy:...
Prosim: Did they piss on him in the end?
Lucy: Waaa, I want to see that.
Soren: Oh, should I send the next one?
Aren: Students, this isn't the place for stuff like that.
…
…]
Ray stared at the screen.
His fingers slowly tightened around the phone.
That video, these messages…
The suppressed memory from the past resurfaced in his head.
He took a deep breath and shook his head.
'Too much time has passed. Calm down.'
It did not take him long.
It sure was embarrassing, but compared to what he went through in the past couple of years, it was nothing.
Still, he clenched his jaw and frantically scrolled through the chat group, trying to find out how the hell these old deleted chats were coming back to his phone.
This should be related to some kind of virus.
The boy suddenly went quiet next to him and asked in a careful tone, "Don't worry about them, man?"
Ray raised his eyebrow, but then he saw the same video playing on the boy's phone.
"Oh, sorry." The boy immediately closed his phone.
Ray pointed at him. "How come you get these old messages?"
This time, the boy tilted his head. "Dude, I am Aren, your dorm mate. And what old messages? These were from today."
"What!"
Now a little accustomed to the pain, Ray swiped his phone.
His eyes moved to the corner of the screen.
The date froze him.
23-Sep-2053.
Ray blinked. '2053. That can't be.'
He turned to show the boy. "See, the date is so wrong."
Aren tilted his head. "Did you hit your head? Dude, today is September 23rd."
Ray pointed to the year. "No, look at the year—"
He froze halfway.
'How come the phone's color changed to blue?'
He twisted his phone around and stared wide-eyed.
'Wait, isn't this my old phone? Even the crack on the side is similar.'
Thump! Thump!
His heartbeat spiked.
Still not believing it, he frantically searched on his phone.
'Zenaris Online.'
The moment he typed it, multiple threads opened.
He tapped the most popular one, and another video popped up.
[A woman in a green dress with a smile.
"Good morning, everyone. Today, on the third anniversary of Zenaris Online, we have news for you all…"]
'What the hell? Third anniversary?'
Not stopping there, he checked other trending news.
But no matter how much he looked, the absurd reality started to sink in.
Aren tapped on his shoulder. "Calm down, man. Didn't you tell me you wanted to step away from the game?"
A sense of déjà vu hit him.
His breathing slowed down.
This date. That video.
Ray slowly looked up from the phone and turned toward the screen.
'The Lion news.'
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
No way…
'Isn't this the day I get my dungeon master class?'
'Shit, I came back in time.'