Honk!! Honk!!
A car sped past, nearly hitting him.
"Hey! Can't you see, you blind piece of shit?!"
The car suddenly stopped.
A bulky man stepped out, glaring.
"You say something?" he asked, cracking his neck.
Rizbi froze. "N-No, sir! I was just saying... drive carefully. Life is precious, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, dickhead. Don't lecture me."
The driver turned away and got back in without even glancing at him again.
Rizbi muttered under his breath, "Huh... who's the dickhead, fatso…"
---
Name: Rizbi
Status: Unmarried, Unemployed
Age: 36
---
The door creaked open.
Rizbi stepped into a small, dimly lit room. He threw his bag on the floor and sighed.
It had been a rough day.
"I live alone," he muttered. "No parents, no relatives, no one. I didn't study well in the past. I thought it'd be fine — I'd just earn less and travel the world. But now I can't even afford to eat three meals a day…"
RING!
His phone buzzed.
He picked it up.
"Yeah, hello?"
"Rizbi," a voice replied. "This is your manager. You're fired. Don't bother coming from tomorrow."
Click.
Rizbi stared at the wall, his face slowly twisting into a mix of anger and disbelief.
"Tch. What a noble job you gave me anyway. Just a goddamn FoodPanda delivery guy…"
He tossed the phone aside.
---
"Life isn't fair," he thought. "Some people live in luxury. Others fight just to eat.
Every living thing wants to survive — humans, animals, even insects.
But what happens when there's no reason left to live?"
He paused.
"Yeah... I've had enough. I have no one. Nothing to leave behind.
My life was full of regrets. But even now… I'm too scared to end it myself."
A bitter chuckle escaped him.
"Should I just... hire an assassin to kill me painlessly?"
He collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Whatever. I'll sleep first."
---
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Huh? Who's there?"
A loud voice shouted, "It's your landlord, motherf—! Open the damn door!"
Rizbi groaned and got up. "Coming, coming…"
He opened the door.
"Hey, Rizbi," the landlord barked. "It's the 15th of March, and you still haven't paid your rent. When are you going to pay?"
"I will, sir, I promise. Just give me one more week. I'll get my check—"
"You have one week," the landlord growled. "After that, pack your things and get the hell out."
"Yes, yes, sir. I understand," Rizbi replied, closing the door.
He leaned against it and let out a long sigh.
"What should I do now…"
CLING!
His phone buzzed again.
"Hm? A security guard post at the train station? The pay looks decent…"
---
Evening
"Huh, this uniform's not bad," Rizbi thought. "Didn't think they'd be this desperate. Gave me the job as soon as I showed up."
"I'll work hard… otherwise, I'm screwed again."
His stomach growled.
"Didn't even eat breakfast..."
A fellow guard walked over, awkwardly scratching his head.
"Uh… sir. Sorry, but we made a mistake. We confused you with someone else. You're not the person we were supposed to hire…"
Rizbi blinked slowly.
"Oh. I see."
He quietly removed the uniform and handed it back.
---
He stood outside the office.
"So I'm jobless again.
Can't pay my rent.
Can't eat.
Can't live.
And there's no one to help.
No one to remember me when I'm gone."
"I guess… this is it."
He walked silently to the nearby train tracks. The station was busy, but no one noticed him as he stepped down toward the rails.
"One hit… and it's all over.
From childhood till now…
I wish I had a better life.
Maybe next time…"
A train came rushing toward him at full speed.
---
CLICK.
System Rebooting...
"Huh...? What's this?"
A strange voice echoed in his mind.
"A system? Wait... is this my cheat?! Did I finally get a goddamn cheat skill?! I'm not unlucky after all?! God exists!! YES!!"
System:
You died.
"Huh…? Wait, what?
No, no, no! This was supposed to be the beginning of my new life!
I can't be dead!
NOOOOOO!!!
F*ck! Damn it!
LIFE ISN'T FAIR!!!"
---
Black space surrounded him.
"...Is this hell?
Did I go to hell because I committed suicide…?"
But then—
System: Reboot Complete. Mission Accomplished.
[Die Once] – Completed.
Time taken: 36 years, 2 months, 15 days, 17 hours.
Reward: 999 Million Tokens.
"Wait… dying was a mission?"
"And that time... it started just after I was born?"
He laughed bitterly.
"What does it matter now? I'm already dead. This reward means nothing…"
He turned his back on the glowing interface.
DING!
Notification: You Have Died. Please Choose One Option Below—
1. Revive
2. Time Shatter
3. Trillionaire Status
"What the hell...?
Are these my rewards for dying?
Revive? For what? So I can go back to being a cockroach?
Trillionaire? I'm DEAD, damn it. Why would I care about money?!"
He stared at the third option.
"Time Shatter, huh…?
Please… just give me one shot. Let me be lucky this time. Just once…"
System: Time Shatter selected.
Shattering time and space... connecting worlds…
Connection complete.
Please choose the time and date for regression.
---
Rizbi's eyes widened.
"Wait… is this one of those regression things?! Like the novels?!
Where the MC goes back in time and uses future knowledge to rise above everyone else?!"
He grinned, his eyes filled with renewed fire.
"Then I choose... 19 years ago.
When I was 17.
The year… 2025."
---
To be continued…