Another Chance

Thud...

I stumbled out of the bar, my vision blurred and my head pounding.

I had been drinking for hours, trying to forget about the betrayal. It was like a bleeding wound that kept me trapped in a cycle of pain and anger.

At one point, I thought that alcohol could help me but it only made it worse.

Tap... Tap...

The rain was also coming down in sheets, and the wind whipped at my clothes.

It was probably the shittiest night to be wandering the streets, but somehow it felt fitting.

"How could they do this to me? Those fuckers..."

Thoughts about all the years I had spent playing Realm of Legends and all the hours I had dedicated to my guild passed through my mind.

Through the years of gaming, I had helped them build one of the most powerful guilds in the game, and in return, they had betrayed me.

"Bastard fucks..."

Stopping in the middle of the street, I let out a frustrated scream. I felt like the world was closing in on me.

I had nothing left, except for a few pennies in my pocket and the anger burning in my chest.

"At least I still have my dignity..."

Muttering under my breath, I turned and started walking again, not knowing where I was going. I just needed to get away from the bar, away from the memories.

Being drunk, somehow, I stumbled on a crack in the sidewalk and fell to the ground.

I lay there for a moment, too drunk to move. The rain drenched my clothes, and the wind whipped my hair around my face.

"I'm such a loser... I'm nothing without the Realm of Legends."

A sad giggle left my lips.

I had spent 10 years playing the game, completely ignoring the outside world and focusing on the game. I didn't even exchange a single penny worth of in-game currency for real money, which made me even more mad since now my account was stolen by those once trusted guild members.

It was probably worth more than I could have ever imagined.

Usually, such a thing shouldn't happen since the gaming pods everyone uses are equipped with high-security measures to protect players' accounts.

There is a special fingerprint and retinal scanning system in place to ensure the safety of players' accounts.

However, mine was cloned.

Like a dumb ass, I had fallen for a phishing scam, giving away my login details without even realizing it.

"..."

Looking at the sky I gritted my teeth.

If I were to buy a better gaming pod and place higher security measures on my account, maybe I would still have a chance to reclaim what was mine.

"Fuck... Fuck... Fuck!!!"

Letting out a series of curses and expletives, I slowly stood up from the wet pavement.

Rumble...

Thunder rumbled in the distance, making my head throb even more.

'Shut up, just shut up...'

I winced in my mind, holding my hands to my temples. It felt as if my skull was splitting open with every clap of thunder.

Somehow, I managed to gather my thoughts and stumble forward, trying to escape the sound of the thunder.

As I walked, the storm intensified.

Thud...

Lightning began to strike across the sky, illuminating the city with its jagged brilliance.

Some of the lightning bolts seemed dark in color as if they were infused with some kind of otherworldly energy.

"I'm probably just imagining things..."

Shaking my head I tried to dismiss the strange occurrence, chalking it up to my intoxicated state.

However, suddenly one of the dark-colored lightning bolts struck a nearby building, causing it to explode in a shower of debris.

"What!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

All the alcohol seemed to evaporate from my system as adrenaline surged through my veins.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

My body tensed up and I dashed in the opposite direction, desperately trying to escape the chaos unfolding before my eyes.

Thud...

However, no matter how fast I ran, the dark lightning bolt seemed to follow me, striking buildings in its wake and causing destruction all around me.

At one point, the dark lightning bolt struck the ground just a few feet before me, sending a powerful shockwave that knocked me off the ground.

As I flew through the air, I realized that this was my end.

"Fuck..."

My last word was a curse that echoed through the chaos as another dark lightning bolt struck me directly, making everything go black.

***

"Ughhh..."

My head throbbed as I stirred awake, my vision blurry. I was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by white walls and beeping machines.

What happened? Where am I?

I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in my chest stopped me. I groaned and lay back down, my heart racing.

A nurse entered the room and hurried over to my bed.

"Easy there... You're in the hospital."

She sighed, looking at my pained expression.

"What happened with the Dark Lightning, what was that!?"

I spoke, however, the nurse simply shook her head.

"I don't know, there was no such thing, we simply found you drunk on the street."

She flipped through her notes and threw me a confused look. For a moment, I stared into her eyes, trying to process what she was saying.

That couldn't be true, however, it didn't seem as if she was lying either.

Huff...

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

I had seen it with my own eyes, but the nurse had no idea what I was talking about.

Was I going crazy?

I opened my eyes again and looked around the room. My eyes fell on a holographic calendar on the wall.

The date was wrong.

It was ten years in the past.

I sat up in bed so quickly that the nurse had to catch me before I fell.

"What the hell is going on?"

I demanded and the nurse looked at me with concern.

"I think you should rest, you're still recovering from being so drunk"

However, I merely shook my head.

"No, I need to know what's happening."

Throughout the entire interaction, the woman stared at me with a polite smile but now it had faded and only an angry grimace was left.

"Hey, drunk-fuck..."

She hissed through her teeth.

"I don't want to deal with this shit so you better shut the fuck up and go rest. You are still drunk and spouting nonsense, go to sleep before I call security."

As if nothing had happened, her expression shifted back to normal and she smiled.

"Have a good rest~"

Closing the ward's room, she waved and disappeared leaving me alone in the white room.

For a second, I kept staring at the closed doors before a wave of confusion and disbelief washed over me.

"What the hell is happening..."