Life... is unpredictable.
I learned this when I was just 14 years old. I remember that day clearly. My younger sister and I were playing with my father, a jolly guy who worked as a construction worker to earn a living, after coming back from school when he suddenly got a call from work.
After kissing our forehead, he rushed inside the house, took his truck's keys, kissed my mom, and left the house, telling us he might come a little late but would bring us chocolates.
But...
Instead of him, a call came informing us that he had died in an accident on the site he was working on.
My mom, younger sister, and I were devastated by the news. Though we were not rich, we were happy, but this sudden accident destroyed our happiness.
Without Dad's income, Mom, who hadn't done any job after I was born, had to start working again, but because she came from a not-so-well-off family, she didn't have many qualifications and could only work as a waitress in a nearby restaurant.
With her little income and some money we got from father's insurance, things were fine for the next year, or so we thought.
Though my father's death had affected my sister and me quite a bit, and we weren't as jolly as before, it had affected my mother a lot more.
After a year of bottling up her emotions, she fell ill. I don't remember what exact illness she had because she refused to get proper checkups at a hospital thanks to the exorbitant hospital bills in America, but she always had a high fever, her breathing would be rough, and she became very weak. She was having difficulty even walking properly.
I was worried because covid-19 had spread throughout the world and people were dying. Fortunately, whatever mom had, it wasn't covid, so she survived.
So, back to the topic. With her sick, there was no income to keep us afloat. So, I, 15 at that time, started working. Though it was very difficult to find work in those trying times. Fortunately, I found two part-time, hard labor jobs.
Though they were hard, leaving me too exhausted and with little time to sleep and do other things, I had no choice but to push through. I had to take care of my family after all, keep my mother alive, and let my sister continue studying, something I wasn't going to do now.
The next two years were rough; several things happened. But then things stabilized,, and I felt our lives were slowly coming back on track.
But then came the year 2025.
I was 19 and some months old at that time. We celebrated the new year and then went back to the same routine, with my sister studying, my mother staying at home, and me working outside to earn money.
On January 3rd, I had heard the woods near the area we were living in, our small home, Pacific Palisades, Southern California, had caught on fire. Since it had happened a few times before, I thought it would soon come under control, but the next few days proved me and many others like me wrong.
The fire spread.
Evacuation orders arrived, and people started leaving. I, unfortunately, was late.
I vividly remember when I rushed home that day, wanting to take my mother and sister and leave because the fire had engulfed several houses in our neighborhood; I saw the fire had engulfed my home too.
My heart trembling in fear, I rushed into the house, not caring if I would be burned or not. I had to save my sick mother and sister, who's crying voices I could hear from outside.
Unfortunately, I couldn't. I watched as the roof of the house fell on my mother and sister. I blanked out at that moment, and when I woke up hours later, I was in my neighbor's car, leaving southern California.
The next several years passed with me trying to come out of the depression I had fallen into while earning barely enough to survive.
And then 10 years later, on the exact date I lost my mother and sister, a truck hit me while I was walking on the sidewalk, killing me.
All that happened in my life was... unpredictable.
But it seemed a truck hitting me out of nowhere wasn't the last of the unpredictabilities of my life because...
Right now, I was looking at myself in the mirror, at the place I was working ten years before, seeing my younger self.
I touched my face, my expression one of disbelief. "I came back in time?"
Suddenly, I heard a loud voice, filled with urgency.
"Fire has spread. Everyone leave! Ryan, go take your family and leave! Hurry!"
"Huh? Fire?"
Suddenly, I remembered this day. It was the same day my mother and sister died, and my life was completely ruined.
Swoosh!
I rushed out of the place, not bothering to thank the man who warned me, took my bicycle, and moved my legs as fast as I could, and shot through the crowded road due to everyone trying to leave.
I hit a few people, got scratched by vehicles zooming past me, but I didn't care and only focused on moving my legs that felt as if they were burning.
'Please don't let me be late! Please don't let me be late!' I continuously prayed to God, to the power that sent me back to the time.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Honk! Honk!
Sizzle! Sizzle!
When I reached my neighborhood, I saw the horrifying scene of all houses burning, people rushing away in their cars and trucks while crying and shouting.
Clank!
Bang!
I jumped off the bicycle, letting it crash into the fence, and rushed toward the door before kicking it.
However, it didn't open, just like it hadn't last time.
My fears were coming true, and I was feeling I wouldn't be able to save them this time too.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I kicked the door again and again until it broke. Then I opened it through the crack and rushed into the house.
The house was filled with smoke and the sound of my sister's crying.
"Mom! Mom! Wake up! We need to leave! Mom!"
From the living room, despite the smoke, I could see my sister sitting on the bed, trying to wake up my mother. She was even trying to pick her up, but because of how weak she was, she wasn't able to.
"Cat!" I shouted and was about to rush over when...
Creak! Crack!
I heard the sound of the roof of the room they were in creaking, and splinters started falling.
My eyes widened and my heart almost stopped. I knew the roof was going to fall the next second and...
"No!"
'Please, God! If you have sent me back, please let me save them! Please!' I shouted in my mind, pleading.
I hadn't thought it would be of any use and was about to rush over, wanting to die with them when...
Weng~
A ringing noise filled my head, and everything became still.
[...Soul bonding complete.]
[System initializing. 1%... 2%... 5%... 10%... 50%... 99%... 100%]
[Initializing complete.]
[Welcome, host! The lord has taken pity on your miserable existence and has granted you the Conqueror System.]
[You have been granted the welcome gift package!]
[Open the gift package? (Yes/No)]
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[A/N: This book is in WPC. Please support it however you can. Thank you!]