In Chapter 1, we saw our protagonist's obsession with the idea that money is the ultimate power and love. After falling from a building, his life ended—only for him to open his eyes in a world he never imagined.]
"Where... where am I?" the boy muttered, clutching his head. "This isn't Earth. How is this possible?"
He looked at his small, fragile hands. "I look like I'm barely ten years old. Wait... I understand now. I was seeing my past. Those memories... they were just a reminder of who I used to be."
A cold, bitter laugh escaped his lips. "I was such a fool. I wasted my previous life trying to help someone else with that presentation, and look where it got me. Dead."
He stood up, his eyes turning sharp and cold. "In this world, the more you think about yourself, the further you go. The more you care for others, the faster you fall. I am the living proof of that mistake. I threw away a perfectly good life for someone else's dream."
He took a deep breath, looking at the strange horizon. "But there's no point in crying over spilled milk. Those who cling to their past mistakes will spend their whole lives weeping. I will learn from mine and enjoy the journey."
"I was 25 in my world," he calculated, his mind working like a machine. "To reach that world again, or to conquer this one, I need knowledge. Can I do it? Can I build a time machine? No... I shouldn't ask 'if' I can do it. I should ask 'how well' I will do it."
A chilling smirk appeared on his young face. "We all know we have to die one day. So why not die chasing a goal so grand it terrifies the world? These challenges... they are nothing but child's play to me now. It's time to study. It's time to become the master of my own
Recap: Richard accepts his 10-year-old body and realizes his 25 years of Earth's knowledge are crystal clear—as if he read those books only yesterday.]
"Wait..." Richard paused, his eyes widening. "My memory... it's too perfect. Every book I ever read on Earth, every formula, every theory—it's all there, fresh as if I studied it a minute ago."
He looked at the sky, a chilling thought crossing his mind. "Am I in a game? It feels like someone... or something... is controlling the narrative. I died in the present and woke up in the past? That's not how physics works. If I died, I should have gone to the future or stayed dead. Why did I remember my past life exactly 25 years later in this new world?"
He gripped his chest, feeling his heart race. "Is there a 'Player' behind me? Am I just a puppet?"
Suddenly, he shook his head violently, his expression turning cold and arrogant. "No. Nothing controls me. Not Fate, not God, and definitely not some invisible strings. If this is a game, then I am the one who will break the rules."
As he stood there, lost in his dark thoughts, a voice snapped him back to reality.
"Bhai, sun! Tujhe Vampire wali dress chahiye?"
Richard blinked. It was his new world friend, looking at him with excitement.
"Vampire...?" Richard whispered, a strange smirk forming on his face. "Vampire, huh? A creature that lives forever and feeds on others... Interesting."
[TO BE CONTINUED...]