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Buzz!
Buzz! Buzz!
The sound of the alarm ringing echoed through the light depraved room, awakening the man sleeping on the bed.
“Urgh.”
The man, sluggishly rolled over to the right side of the bed, placing his hand on the table which stood beside it as he desperately searched for the alarm clock, following its constant buzzing.
“Just shut up already.”
He sighed as his fingers finally found the snooze button of the alarm clock, and as he gently tapped it, the room was instantly filled with blissful silence once again.
Sigh. “What was I supposed to do again today?” The man questioned himself as he slowly sat up on the bed.
“Ah… work,” he muttered as he stood up and walked sluggishly towards the window located at the opposite side of the bed, using the tiny pieces of light making its way from in between the curtains to avoid hitting his leg against the frame of the bed stand.
Shhhhhh!
He slid the curtain open, allowing the sunlight to rain into his room, touching each corner as it brightened it up.
The man turned and looked around, his eyes slowly adjusting to the brightness which had engulfed the previously dark room.
The floor was littered with files and papers of different kinds. To the left from where he stood was a medium sized desk made of wood, and on it was a pile of neatly stacked books on each opposite edge of the desk. In the middle was his phone, and from it, the current time “07:30 A.M” was clearly visible.
“Argh! I’ll be late,” he grumbled as he unenthusiastically scratched his black disheveled hair.
He then picked up his pace as he scurried off to the bathroom, removing one piece of clothing at a time.
This man is Jin Inoue, age 22, single, and lives alone in a one bedroom apartment. He is also employed as a game developer in ‘Play Games INC.’ A company focused on the production and development of thriller video games for a more mature audience.
He has no parents, and used to once live in an orphanage—along with his now deceased younger sister, Nana Inoue—until he was old enough to fend for himself.
Jin emerged from the bathroom, gently drying his hair with a towel. After which, he went up front to the cupboard, pulled it open and donned the attire he took out.
A white shirt and a black tie, which he knotted perfectly; trousers which hugged his waist and were a comfortable fit allowing ease of movement, and an elegant black coat which embraced him.
With his outfit done, he squatted and picked up three pieces of paper from the floor, all detailing the new game he stayed up all night working on. He put them into a folder and dipped it under his armpit, letting out a deep breath as he exited the room.
Honk! Honk!
“It’s Monday morning, do you think I wanna be late for work.”
“Hurry up, school’s starting soon.”
Jin carried on his way to the bus stop as he passed through the busy roadside carefully, so as not to bump into anyone.
“Ugh, gross. Is he crazy; it’s better to just avoid him.”
“Scammer, who’d fall for such a stupid trick.”
Jin heard the whispers of people in front of him, each one of them avoiding a certain flyer distributor.
He chose to follow the majority and ignore the flyer distributor, but as he drew closer, the words of the man gradually intrigued him.
“If you have a chance to go back in time and right your wrongs, won’t you take it? I’m offering you that chance now, take it; this is your chance.”
As Jin got to where the man stood, he slowed down his pace, subconsciously taking a peek at the flyers in the man’s hand. The flyer was in no way aesthetically pleasing, it was plain and unassuming; it’s white surface devoid of any colorful graphics. Instead, there was only a block of black text in the center bearing the word “Chance,” and an address beneath it.
“Hmph.”
Jin scoffed, losing interest almost immediately. Just as he was about to leave, the man grabbed his hand suddenly.
“Hey, Mister! Take a flyer.”
Jin’s lifeless eyes fell upon the man as he said, “I’m not interested.”
“No! You have to! I saw you looking at it. You’re interested, aren’t you?! Take it, take one, I know you need it, you know you need it!” The man forced, spits flying out of his mouth and onto Jin’s coat as he further tightened his grip on Jin’s arm.
Jin, taken aback, tried to pull his arm free from the man’s grasp, but it was impossible. It was unyielding, like iron clasping an object.
“What’s wrong with you?! Leave me alone!”
Jin wailed as he noticed his attempts to free his arm was futile.
People in the streets walked by quickly, murmuring as they passed them. None intending to lend Jin a helping hand.
“Take it!” The man continued. “I can see it, you need it! YOU NEED IT!”
“Alright! Alright. I’ll take it,” Jin said in an attempt to free himself from this dire situation he was stuck in.
He took one of the flyers, and as the man relented his grasp, he pulled his arm free and hurried away, not taking a single glance back.
“You have to go! You have to! It’s your only chance to right your WRONGS!”
0.1
You have to go! You have to! It’s your only chance to right your WRONGS!
Jin’s mind drifted towards the strange scenario he had encountered with the flyer distributor during the day. As water trickled down his face, he stared blankly at the sink, water gushing out from the tap hitting the porcelain basin as it filled it up, echoing throughout the bathroom.
He grabbed his face towel, cleaning his face as he emerged from the bathroom.
No, that can’t be possible.
He thought as he made his way into his room which was encompassed by the white light spawning from the fluorescent bulb hanging high.
Jin placed the face towel on the bed and proceeded to sit in front of his desk, clutching his palm together as he stared intently at the flyer he had collected.
“You have to go.”
It’s impossible.
“It’s your only chance.”
There’s no way it’s true.
“To right your wrongs.”
Jin’s mind was torn in between believing what the strange man had said or not. And as he stared at the flyer, his sister’s face—lit up with a smile—suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Big brother Jin.”
Pa!
Jin jolted up to his feet, stumbling backwards as the chair he sat on crashed to the ground, the sound reverberating through the room. His usual lifeless eyes became wide with shock and guilt. His breathing increased, and his heart began pounding in his chest as if to escape from the confinement of his rib cage. It was as if an electric shock had coursed through his body, pushing him up to his feet instinctively.
I have a chance…I have a chance…I have a chance, I have a chance.
Jin’s rapid breathing further increased as he clutched his chest tightly, falling to his knees as images of the past kept flashing through his head.
“Relax Jin, relax,” he said, taking a deep breath as he steadied his breathing.
He stood up from his knees and picked up his phone which was sitting on the desk.
“20:00 P.M.”
Jin took quick glances at the time popped up on his screen and the flyer gazing back at him from his desk.
After several glances, he picked up the flyer, took a black leather jacket out of the cupboard, and dipped his phone into his pocket as he hurried out of the house, all the while reassuring himself.
“I have to do it. If there’s even a slight chance I can change what happened, then I have to take it.”
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