1 Andrey

It was mid-June today and it was going to be Andrey's first day of high school after a long summer vacation. 

This was going to be his last semester as after that the race to find a suitable university would begin for him.

"Sigh...summer vacation's already over. It feels just like yesterday when it started," Andrey sighed to himself as he slouched down his shoulders in disappointment. 

He had promised himself that he would finish his whole syllabus during the summer vacation and this would lead to him being able to enjoy his last semester of school to the fullest. 

Unfortunately, things didn't go as he had expected...

"Arghh it's not my fault! It's all that bastard's fault...If he had not recommended him that bloody anime then things would have been different for him." Andrey said to himself as he was making his way to the school.

"Just you wait you bastard! I'll make a paste out of you when I get my hands on you," Andrey started imagining all the moves he would be using on that guy to make him suffer as a sadistic smile emerged on his face.

While he was on his way he saw a pebble that was lying in the middle of the road and letting his intrusive thoughts win over him he ran towards it.

"Face my kick, you bastard!" Andrey rushed towards the rock and kicked it with great ferocity while imagining it to be his classmate.

"Ouch!" The rock went and hit a man who was walking towards Andrey's direction right in his stomach.

'Fuck!' Without a second thought Andrey turned around and ran for his life. He had no intention of apologizing to the man as looking at his ferocious expression he knew that he wouldn't be able to get away with this scot-free.

"Wait there, you bastard!" The man roared as he started running after him and soon a game of chase between a 17-year-old boy and a White-collar worker in his 20s began.

"Like hell, I would!" Andrey shouted back and instantly regretted it as his words only provoked the man further and he increased the pace with which he was running after him.

'Goddammit,' Andrey turned left with the intention of running back to the point where he kicked the rock as reaching school on time was still his priority.

The sidewalk was quite empty so he tried his best to leave the man behind but the bastard seemed to be quite fit for his age and was still keeping up with him.

'What the hell?! Aren't office workers supposed to have fucked up bodies thanks to their unhealthy drinking habits?! Why is this one not the same?'

Andrey increased the pace of his running while disregarding the constant pain his legs were going through.

He soon got his eyes on a small puddle that was ahead and a devious plan to soil the office worker's clothes entered his mind.

Since he's an office worker then spoiling his bright white shirt would not only slow him down but might make him stop chasing after him.

'Hehe,' Here I go.

Andrey stepped onto the puddle intensely while running so that the splashed water would travel a long distance and soil the man's clothes but the intended big splash didn't occur as his foot didn't meet the ground and instead submerged fully into the puddle.

Due to this sudden shift in balance, Andrey's upper body fell forward while his lower half kept on descending into the puddle.

His head then hit the edge of a circular boundary of some sort and before he could do anything else he found himself inside the depths of the murky water with the only source of light a few feet above his head.

"Wha-" Andrey tried to articulate his chaotic thoughts but was instead welcomed by the ingress of nasty-tasting water right into his mouth. He almost felt like puking as the taste of the water soon made him realize where he was at the moment.

It was inside a freaking manhole and the water that had just entered his mouth was sewage water!

If it was a normal situation then he would start retching at even the thought of something like this happening to him but now that it was really happening in the given situation, he couldn't even retch it out as he knew that if he did then his emptied lungs would make sure that this manhole would become his grave.

Andrey soon calmed down his chaotic thoughts and looked towards the only source of light barely visible through the murky water, 'This should be the place from where I fell,' he said in his mind.

Andrey had won a gold medal in a swimming competition in middle school so he was quite confident in coming out of the given situation alive but all of a sudden, his pupils contracted.

'My arms…they won't move…" Upon checking further, he soon realized that it was the same for his legs as well. Andrey had no idea what was wrong with them when suddenly the image of his head banging on the edge of the manhole edge entered his mind.

'Was it that?' Andrey thought to himself as all the thoughts about surviving his predicament left his mind and he was left with a sense of despondence.

Maybe it was because of the injury that even though he had ample amount of oxygen still left in his lungs he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

It was at this moment a bit of defiance entered his mind as he thought to himself, 'No! I can't die like this! I don't want to!' but alas it was only the thoughts of a dying young man. It was only now he realised how powerless he was in the face of death.

All of a sudden, the memories that left a deep impression in his life burst into his mind altogether leaving him with a bitter taste as he became aware that he would no longer be able to experience things like them.

'If only I could go back a bit…" Andrey said to himself as he finally closed his eyes to accept the fate that he didn't want to accept.

Dormant Skill "Time Rewind" Activated

The following words echoed in his mind making him open his eyes and the moment he did his surroundings changed as he found himself running in a familiar road while being chased by a familiar person.

This sudden change of perspective made it difficult for him to maintain his balance and he fell face first on the ground and the momentum carried his body a few centimetres further.

When he lifted his face up, he saw the small puddle of water which took his life a few seconds ago right around fifteen centimetres away from him.

"You punk! I finally caught you!" The man finally caught on to Andrey and lifted him up by his collar. He wanted to beat the shit out of Andrey but after seeing the messy state of his face from the fall he showed some mercy and only knocked him on the head and hurled him with abuses before going his own way.

As for Andrey, after the man went away a bright smile soon emerged on his face as he laid back on the concrete floor and observed the blue sky.

"Was the sky always so beautiful?" Andrey said to himself with the smile still plastered on his face.

"I'm Alive! I'm alive! I'm freaking Alive! Hahahaha" A few minutes later he started laughing like a maniac while lying on the concrete pavement attracting a whole lot of gazes.

After a while, Andrey stood up and after checking the time on his phone he quickly started marching towards his school and managed to get in just a few minutes before the gate closed.

______

Under the curious gazes of everyone in the classroom, Andrey soon reached his designated bench.

"Andrey, what happened? Why are you all bruised up?" Jacob, Andrey's seatmate, asked him.

"Oh, this? Shit happened and I ended up falling on the ground on my way," Andrey explained.

"Sounds tough man...but why do you look so happy?" Jacob asked while looking at the bright smile on Andrey's face that seemed to have been stuck there.

"I'm alive...why shouldn't I be happy?" Andrey replied while still having that irritating smile on his face.

"Look who's talking! Are you the same person who used to whine about ending his life because of all the pressure from studies?" Jenny who had been secretly hearing their conversation turned around from her seat and said.

Jenny had always been like this and had always tried her best to poke Andrey where it hurt. It might be because she liked to see his speechless expression but she was unfortunately not going to be able to witness that today.

"You wouldn't get it," Andrey said with a beaming smile still present on his face as he comfortably sat down on his seat.

"Hmph, whatever," Jenny turned back to face the board as things didn't go the way she had expected and the constant smile on Andrey's face was getting on her nerves.

'Why is he so happy? Did he win a lottery or something' Jenny thought to herself in annoyance.