CHAPTER 1 — STARVING IN THE DARK
The room was silent.
Too silent.
It was 2025, but it felt like the end of the world.
A single dim bulb flickered above Aiden's head as he curled into himself on the thin mattress. The air smelled of dust, damp walls, and the instant noodles he ate two days ago—the last food he had.
His stomach growled painfully.
"Just… one more day," he whispered, but the voice came out like a dry scratch.
He hadn't eaten.
He hadn't slept properly.
He hadn't worked for months.
The global crisis had destroyed everything.
Companies shut down.
Countries banned foreign workers.
Prices skyrocketed.
Every application he sent abroad returned with rejection.
He felt useless.
Hopeless.
Like the world didn't need him anymore.
Rent was due tomorrow.
If he couldn't pay, the landlord would throw him out.
Again.
Aiden covered his face as the tears finally broke.
Hot, bitter tears that soaked the pillow.
"I tried… I really tried…"
He remembered skipping meals to save money.
He remembered pretending to be okay in front of his family.
He remembered chasing opportunities that never accepted him.
The war.
The economy.
The pandemic aftermath.
It crushed people like him first.
His body shook.
The hunger stabbed him like knives.
He pressed a hand against his stomach, trembling.
"Please… not like this…"
But the room didn't care.
The world didn't care.
His vision blurred.
The bulb flickered again—
then everything went dark.
Aiden's body collapsed onto the mattress, weak like a dying leaf.
His heartbeat slowed.
His breathing stopped.
His final thought before darkness swallowed him was—
"I don't want this life… If I could just start again…"
Darkness.
Cold, endless darkness.
Then… a voice.
Not a mystical voice.
Not a system.
Not a goddess.
Just a memory inside his mind.
"If only I had another chance… I would never be poor again…"
Then—
Light.
Warm.
Soft.
White light.
He opened his eyes.
And froze.
Everything was gigantic.
The ceiling was high and bright.
A mobile toy hung above him, spinning slowly.
A woman moved into view—
a young woman he recognized instantly.
His mother.
But she looked younger.
Much younger.
"What…?"
Aiden tried to speak.
But no sound came out.
Only a tiny cry.
His heart dropped.
He lifted his hand—
and it was small.
Tiny.
Baby-like.
His breath shook.
"No… way…"
He tried to talk again, but only a baby whimper came out.
Then reality hit him like a thunderbolt.
He had returned to his childhood.
A baby.
Unable to speak.
But with the mind of a 27-year-old.
His chest tightened.
His tears welled again—
but this time, not from suffering.
But from relief.
He whispered in his mind:
"I got another chance…"