Reincarnate

In the dead of night, at the green bamboo upper class area of New Jordan City, Jason held a folder of documents as he sat silently on the leather sofa, easing in the pool outside through the French window, Jason was built with both frustration and unwillingness.

He was the captain of the Shadow workshop, one of New Jordan city's top four gaming workshops. He had commanded a guild of thousands of people. What's more, he was famous in new Jordan City as an expert. He was known as the sword magician. However, now the only thing he could do was drink away his sorrows sitting inside his home.

10 years he had spent in gaming, 10 years he had fought blood-soaked battles for shadow. He experienced countless trials and suffering. Under his leadership Shadow had successfully established 10 Virtual Reality cities in the game, Grand domains, they were finally capable of rivaling the first raid guilds. However before he could enjoy any of the endless glory, a single document and turned everything into passing smoke, once it was gone, was never coming back.

Jason never thought 10 years worth of effort would go down the drain. He had sacrificed so much for the game and yet, all he did was lead the others to the path of doom. All of this had happened because he had opposed the decision for Shadow to join the super guild world dominators. The next day, Liam Hair Financial Group gave him their reply. He had to delete his sword King account which had reached level 200, and on which he had spent 10 years of blood and sweat. He had to collect his settlement cheque from the financial department the next day, and all he received was 5 million credits in a single mansion. When compared to the 10 well established Virtual Reality cities inside the money generating virtual Kingdom, the amount he received couldn't even be considered a drop in the ocean.

Jason thought about how much he contributed to Shadow. He thought about how his effort to turn the Liam Hair group into a large financial conglomerate. Then he thought about how they still throw him away. As if he was a piece of trash. Jason's swore he would take revenge for their actions.

“I won't just let this go. At worst, I'll just start over.”

Jason’s eyes flashed with competence and resolution; his hands teared the termination contract into little pieces. Grabbing the bottle of wine on the table, he gulped down several mouthfuls. Even if he no longer had his sword King account, even if he no longer had his team support, the skills and knowledge he had obtained from the game would not be drained. As long as his skills remained, he could still rise once more within the Grand domain. He could rebuild a virtual kingdom of his own.

It was early morning and the sun had just arisen. The phone was ringing continuously. Jason woke up resentfully. He helplessly reach for his phone by the bedside. The effects from yesterday's drinking still loomed over him.

“Hey, what's up Jackie?” said Jason rubbing his eyes still half asleep.

“Jason, you're asking me what's up? Do you know what time it is?” Jackie was clearly frustrated.

“What, what are you going on about?”

Jason held his pounding head

“ Didn't we agreed to become professional gamers. Shadow workshop is recruiting in our school today. Haven't you always wanted to become shadows core member?” said Jackie in a rush voice.

Jason was slightly confused. Liam Hair Financial Group just fired him. So why would he attend Shadow’s gaming trials.

“Jason, can you hear me? They're testing the applicants at 10 o'clock. Hurry up. You're not going to make it.” Explain Jackie.

“Jackie, stop joking around, you know, I just got fired from Shadow yesterday,”

“Fired? What the heck? Jason, how much did you drink last night?” Jackie asked in a worried tone, “You're still not awake. How could you be fired if shadow hasn't even recruited anybody until now? Alright, whatever. Just come quickly.” Jackie had cut the call before Jason could respond.

When Jason looked at his phone in a daze, he discovered that this old damaged iPhone six was his old phone and wasn't what he was using currently, his phone was the latest iPhone 13. Jason woke up immediately and inspected his surroundings only to get the biggest shock of his life. What met his eyes was a messy room. Not larger than 15 square meters. All around, there were books on gaming strategies, and at the corner of the room above the study table, there was an extremely outdated laptop. Inside the Wardrobe by the wall, there was a mound of clothes. Outside the wardrobe, there was a mirror, a mirror that currently showed a familiar face. Jason jumped up in shock when he saw this extremely familiar face.

“How am I looking so young?” Jason immediately walked towards the mirror.

Only after having a good look at the mirror and the reflection on it for several minutes, did Jason believe that he had indeed become 10 years younger. He slept in his luxurious and spacious bedroom yesterday but now he was in a tattered apartment after waking up not only that, but he also had become so, so young. There was no getting over this mind battling fact. Jason knew this place very well. He had lived here 10 years ago. For over six months Jason had rented this place in reluctance. Also that he could play Grand domain while also attending university. Only after he had earned some money in Grand domain and he rented a large condo.

Jason reminisced about those unfortunate years. His family circumstances at that time weren't so good. So that Jason could go to college. His parents had taken up some dents. Even so his parents made sure to send them sufficient living expenses every month, suffering themselves in return.

Jason wholeheartedly wanted to change his family circumstances, however, finding a well-paying job while the streets were filled with university graduates was tremendously hard. So he thought of the highly profitable virtual reality games, settling for being a professional gamer as his goal. He even bought a virtual gaming helmet, training arduously within the game to improve his skills. At that time, bread and instant noodles became his daily meals. To save money, he also had avoided participating in social gatherings held by his classmates, causing him to become an invisible entity in his class.

The boys would look at him with disdain, while the girls would distance themselves from him. Every time Jason went shopping for cup noodles, his wallet would have no more than 10 credits. He did not even dare buy a ham sausage that only cost a single credit. In pity the lady at the counter had offered him the sausage at a discounted price once. However, the feeling of his empty wallet made Jason refuse with great reluctance. Much to his horror, he was now back to those miserable days.

“Someone playing a prank on me? How was this possible?” Jason said still in disbelief.

Jason stared at his younger self through the mirror and at the familiar surroundings. Jason couldn't help but shake his head, denying his new reality.

“America, despite being the world's most developed country couldn't possibly have a technology that would transport someone back to his past,” thought Jason. Jason looked at the data on this phone, 19 April 2129 .

“Don’t tell me that I have reincarnated,” Jason said to himself with a bitter smile. He remembered today was the fifth of August the year 2139. It couldn't possibly be April of 2129, the year he was still attending university. Jason shook his head trying to wake himself up yet deep down, he still held on to a thread of hope, wishing that he was indeed reincarnated. He walked towards the desk powering up the laptop. Even if the time displayed on this phone turned out to be fake. The information on the internet definitely could after surfing the web for several minutes, Jason was utterly devastated. All the information he found on the internet showed that today was the 19th of April 2129. Even the highly anticipated official release date of Grand domain was clearly displayed on its official site. Counting down to six days from now the 25th of April.

“I really have been reincarnated. Have I really returned to my life 10 years ago?”

Jason stared at the news report of grand domain, tears streaming down his face. Jason's feelings were hard to describe at that moment. He felt both regret, sadness and joy. It was as if everything before him was just a dream. Nonetheless, the chirping of insects and the cold wind blowing from the air conditioner told him otherwise. It told him that everything was real. Scrolling through his phone, he came across the family photo he taken just before he left home to join the university. Jason never realized how old his parents looked. He noticed that both his parents had gray hair. The corners of his mother's eyes even had wrinkles. They were no longer as lively as before. They were aging.

A year and a half and already passed since Grand domain’s release when Jason noticed how aged his parents were. The large amounts of debt, excessive laboring in stress caused both his parents to fall gravely ill during them required millions of credits but during that time, Jason was merely a squad captain at Shadow.

The money he earned was far from enough to foot such expensive costs. Jason tried everything to make sufficient money. It was not enough. Even after giving his all, Jason's parents passed away a few months later. In his previous life, he failed to care for his parents properly. How could he have known the pain and suffering that they would have to go through? After Jason earned millions of credits, this pain remained with Jason and his heart ached for them all the time. Never would he have thought fate would play such a joke on him. He unexpectedly returned to the starting point starting up from zero. Now finally he had the chance to undo all of the pain and suffering. Jason's eyes gleamed as a plan started brewing in his mind.