A man who appeared to be in his forties sat on a bench in the park.
He looked a little shabby, with dark circles under his eyes and gray hair that had taken over half his head, so much so that baldness had begun to take hold.
Despite this, some of his features were still attractive.
He looked calmly at the park in front of him, children were playing and smiling, and mothers were gathering and chatting animatedly.
"What a miserable state I'm in… If I hadn't become such a gambler, I'd at least be married to a beautiful woman and have children of my own." the man thought to himself.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Debts are drowning me now, I'll die anyway if I don't pay off the bank and my creditors. What a foolish obsession this is, how did it even start?"
The man's heart was lost in his thoughts.
After trying to find work but being rejected, he had been in prison before, so no one would hire him…
He tried fighting and collecting lines from monsters at the Gates of the Horizon, but was kicked out for being too low level.
The reason he was so low level was that upon graduation, he could have gone on to become one of the Sunset or Sunrise, but he wanted to be an office worker.
"I refused to fight, so I refused to evolve, even the system's status no longer appears to me."
"Haaaaa." The man sighed, adjusted his posture, and raised his head to the sky.
He didn't truly regret it, but he considered himself a fool for his wrong choices.
He stood up quietly and headed toward his home, one step after another.
His steps were extremely heavy.
Half an hour later, he finally arrived.
His house was in a working class neighborhood, but it stood out for one thing.
Blood everywhere, and graffiti on his door.
This had been his deceased parents' home when they moved in during their final years, when they died, despite his simple grief, he had wanted to sell the house to pay off some of their debts, but its value was negligible.
So he left it, and when he was evicted from the place he was renting, he found nothing but this house to shelter him.
He climbed the steps to his home, calmly looking at the scattered pieces of wood and stone by the door, he had been cast out and hated by everyone in this place.
He was the cause of the problems, because of him, gangs and creditors had come here and created chaos just for the sake of it, if not for him, they would have lived their lives in peace.
"How persistent you all are. Do you think I'm going to leave here just because of this?" His tone was cold and calm.
Despite his situation and despite knowing he might die, he did not break.
He had survived even though this situation had lasted for years. What was the worst that could happen to him?
The man entered his home, there was a faint, foul odor in the house.
He hadn't taken out the trash in days.
He would leave in the morning and return only to sleep and eat, so he had neglected the cleanliness of the place.
He passed by a broken mirror hanging on the wall, he looked at himself and found no reflection of life in his body.
His eyes were dead, the depths of his soul were worn out.
The man headed to the kitchen, then opened the fridge, the foul smell didn't bother him, after all, eating was what mattered.
Unfortunately, there wasn't any food in the fridge either.
He looked above the fridge and found a can of tuna, he opened it and began eating it, leaving nothing behind.
It was a small meal for him, but it was enough for now.
The man headed to the bedroom, just as he tried to fling himself onto the worn out bed, he heard an annoying knock on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
The man went to the door with a heavy heart and annoyance, he knew who it might be.
Creditors? Neighbors? Annoying kids? It was nothing more than that.
The man opened the door, and what he encountered was neither creditors nor some neighbors or annoying kids, there was no one there.
The man felt a sense of strangeness. Who could be knocking on his door?
The man closed the door, then collapsed to the floor.
Darkness engulfed his vision.
"Did I lose consciousness?" the man wondered.
Even though he had little food and was in poor physical condition, he knew he wouldn't have reached the point of losing consciousness.
But darkness swallowed him up in the end.
…
The man opened his eyes, looked around, and found no walls of his room or any place he recognized.
He lifted his head and looked around more broadly, it was a street.
Lots of people.
Beep, beep, whoosh.
The sounds of cars, bicycles, and trucks.
It was an ordinary street, but he felt he knew this street.
The man looked down and realized he hadn't been lying on the ground when he opened his eyes, rather, he had been standing… Or rather, walking.
"What happened?"
The man moved quietly and followed his instincts, he felt that this street was familiar to him, so he chose to walk.
He kept walking without a clear destination, but he felt he was on the right path nonetheless.
The man bumped into a few people, some cursed at him, but he didn't respond to anyone. He kept walking.
The man looked at his body, he felt that his body was in good condition. He wasn't hungry, and he wasn't shivering from the cold.
Even his clothes, when he looked at them, seemed familiar.
"What is this? Where am I? Why do I feel like I've forgotten something? Why do I feel this sense of familiarity?" Thoughts were swirling in the man's mind.
Suddenly, the man stopped.
He looked at his reflection in the shop window.
He was a young man with sharp features, light honey colored eyes, and thick, wavy black hair that reached his shoulders.
There were a few chains around his neck, four, to be exact.
"Status." The man uttered a single word, and it appeared before him.
[Name: Deebt Jacks.]
[Age: 17.]
[Health: Full.]
"Information." The man uttered another word.
[Strength: 15.]
[Stamina: 12.]
[Agility: 13.]
[Speed: 9.]
[Intelligence: 21.]
[Number of Lines: 0.]
[Talent: Night.]
[Ability: None.]
[Ability Development: 0%.]
[Weapon: None.]
"What is this? Are you kidding me?" the man shouted loudly.
But even his voice was young.
Was he dreaming?
The man felt lost.
'Have I gone back in time? But how? Why?' The man sank deeper into confusion, feeling a strange sense of anxiety and caution.
'Is this even real? Maybe it's just an illusion?'
The man dropped to his knees and slammed his hand hard against the ground.
Thud.
"Ouch, that hurts. If this is real, an illusion couldn't be this big."
The man smiled, then laughed, then realized.
"What? I've forgotten everything?" the man shouted loudly, or rather, the young man, Deebt Jacks.
"What an idiot. " He kept yelling at himself.
He screamed like a madman in the middle of the street, everyone looked at him in shock and bewilderment, and some even looked at him with contempt.
Tears were streaming down his face, but he laughed anyway.
"Hahaha, okay, no problem."
Deebt laughed loudly.
He got up slowly and searched his pocket, there were a few bills.
He entered a café and sat down.
The waiter came over quickly.
"Hello, sir, what would you like?"
"Black coffee."
The waiter nodded and left.
Deebt looked at the sky outside, it was night, but the sun was shining as if it were midday.
'Have I forgotten what happened? But how? And why have I retained my current state of mind?'
'I only remember the walls of my room and that I'm 43 years old and drowning in debt, but all my other memories have vanished, they don't exist.'
'Now I'm 17 again. As far as I recall, this will be my senior year. What will I do after that? Get a job? No way. I was drowning in debt, how could I get a job again? I won't be able to, especially since I don't even know how I got into debt in the first place.'
'Aren't heroes supposed to have some idea of what happened when they travel back in time, and have better plans for what they'll do? Why is this nonsense happening to me? Why do I forget? Or rather, who made me forget?'
Deebt was lost in a cycle of thought, he couldn't break free from this shell.
His situation was troubling to him, lost memories but a mature personality.
He didn't know what would happen, but he felt his decisions would be sound.
The waiter brought his black coffee and placed it on his table.
Deebt sipped the coffee and felt the bitterness run down his throat.
'What a bitter yet beautiful taste.'
Deebt finished his coffee quickly and stood up.
His destination was now clear: home.
It was true that he had lost the memories of his life from age 17 to 43, but he hadn't lost what came before.
His current memories were the ones he had, he remembered his home, his parents, and his brother.
He remembered his friends, his memories were the same now, they hadn't changed, and no new memories had been added.
His personality was the only thing that had changed, as the maturity of age had taken hold of him. True, he had no memories of the future.
But that didn't mean anything.
Was this an opportunity? He felt he would make the most of this opportunity.
"I'll make wiser decisions, I don't want to end up where my previous self did." Deebt thought as he left the café.
Deebt headed out onto the street, then made his way toward his home.
He decided to leave everything related to the past behind for now, in his strange state of having traveled back in time without memories but with only a mature personality.
It was strange and raised doubts, but it wasn't the right time for that.
One street after another, the streets changed, but the crowds didn't disappear.
The night was packed with endless people.
He was in the city center, so that was to be expected.
The huge, crowded streets faded from Deebt's view, he was approaching the houses along the riverbank.
He crossed the bridge and headed to the other side, unlike the previous streets, this place was quiet and sparsely populated.
Deebt continued walking.
"Deebt, where are you going?"
Deebt heard a voice coming from behind him, he stopped and turned to look.
"Deebt, I just walked past you and said hello, but you didn't respond. Are you okay?" It was a beautiful girl with glowing white skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair that reached her waist.
She was stunning.
"Hi, I didn't hear you, I was lost in thought." Deebt said in a distracted tone.
"What were you lost in thought about?" the girl asked, furrowing her brows.
"Nothing. Is there something you want?" asked Deebt.
"No, I just saw you didn't answer me, so I spoke to you."
"Well, if that's the case, I'm leaving. I have things to do." With that, Deebt walked away without paying attention to the look on the girl's face.
"Huh? What? Fine, do whatever you want." The girl looked stunned, by the time she spoke, Deebt had already walked away.
…
'A nuisance.' That was Deebt's previous opinion of the girl.
'Milly Hamilton, she looks like a fairy. I think I liked her, but there's no point in that. Nothing good comes from love, just an obstacle. I think I was foolish to believe I had a chance just because we live in the same alley." Deebt thought to himself and analyzed the situation. Perhaps his soul was mature and reflected the mindset of a 43 year old man, but he was self aware enough to understand his feelings toward her when he saw her.
His younger self loved her, but his wiser self told him that love was pointless.
He chose the safe option for himself.
Deebt arrived home after a while. He looked at the house, lit by the lights in the kitchen, the living room, and a room on the second floor.
Deebt put his hand in his pocket and took out the key.
His hands were trembling, it was true that he had only seen his parents that morning.
But he felt a strong desire to see them, even his brother.
He had eaten breakfast with them, but it felt as though ages had passed since he'd last seen them.
"What on earth has happened to me in the past 43 years?" Debit asked himself before taking his first step inside.
A pleasant smell hit his nose, he felt happy.
It was his mother's cooking.
He took a step, then another, then another inside, the living room, where everyone had been sitting, was still just as he had left it that morning.
But he felt as though he hadn't been here for years, it was a strange feeling.
Deebt looked at the bookshelf on the living room wall, it belonged to his father.
Deebt approached again and sat down in one of the chairs.
"Deebt, don't you say hello anymore?" his father asked in a deep voice.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought."
"Deept, now that you're here, go call your brother." His mother's soft, gentle voice melted his heart.
"Okay." Deept got up from the chair and headed upstairs to call his brother.
'Even if this is a feeling, even if I miss them, I can't show it.' Deebt couldn't laugh with them or tell them he missed them.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Coming."
Deebt heard a voice coming from behind the door, it was his brother.
Cliiiiick.
He opened the door.
Standing there was a young man with dark black eyes and wavy brown hair that reached his shoulders.
His only brother.
"Mom's calling you for dinner." Deebt said in a calm voice.
His brother looked at him in surprise, but said nothing.