4 SECOND LIFE

'Was this what it felt like to be at peace?' 

Terrence's eyes were tightly closed. He wanted to open them since earlier when he gained consciousness, but there was something blocking him from doing so. 

He could feel the softness of something on his back, but he could not distinguish what it was.

The only thing he knew was that it was giving him a relaxing feeling. 

"When was the last time I felt this way?"

That was the question that appeared in his mind. He couldn't hear anything from where he was lying down. 

When he realized what was happening, he froze on the spot. 

'Does that mean I'm really dead?' 

A moment of silence took place in his head. His mind suddenly became blank. That's when it struck him.

He really died...

He's now dead. 

'I can't believe that I died just like that!'

First, he was betrayed by the government. He couldn't believe that they would put his family on the list. He wasn't sure who among the high officials did it, but that wasn't his problem. 

He trusted the government. 

He was loyal. 

He did everything that was instructed to him. 

Not for once did he think that he would be at this place. 

'And that fucking William!' 

Terrence became fuming mad. He remembered how the person whom he trusted the most, betrayed him just like that. 

What's more, William's betrayal resulted in his death!

'I can't accept any of this. I don't deserve it!' he screamed silently. 

"Is this really my end?" 

Terrence was surprised when he heard his own voice. His question was like a magic word that enabled his body to move freely.

He slowly opened his eyes, squinting as he adjusted to the bright light surrounding him. All he could see was the colour white. Every time he looked around, there was nothing but white clouds. 

'Huh? Is this what the afterlife looks like?' He asked. It wasn't like what was described to him in class. 

Terrence stood up from lying down. That's when he noticed that he wasn't lying down on anything. His eyes widened when he realized his feet were just floating in the air.

"Ahh!" He was scared at first that he almost lost his balance.

Curious about the place, Terrence tried to walk. He walked and walked endlessly until he saw a door appearing not so far away from where he was. 

'Will that lead me to see God?' Terrence took a deep breath. He stopped moving for a while.

'But I'm not ready to die yet…' 

Terrence looked back to see the distance that he had travelled so far. With his estimate, he already walked for an hour, or even more than that.

He wasn't sure.

'I still want to correct my mistakes… and experience all the things I haven't.' 

However, as if the gods didn't want him to think any further, the door started to move towards him.

Terrence's eyes widened. He tried to step back. One step led to another and another, but the more he stepped back, the faster the door travelled to him. 

"F*ck!" 

Terrence's jaw fell to the ground when the door opened right in front of him. When he peeked into it, he saw that he was in a very high place. He couldn't see what was at the bottom, aside from the fluff of white smoke that still looked like clouds. 

It looks like he was up in the sky.

Terrence swallowed. "That's it, right?" He awkwardly laughed. He tried to move away from the door, thinking that it was the end of its movement.

However, he hadn't even taken a complete step when cold air surrounded his body. 

Terrence's eyes widened as he felt something cold passing through him. His breathing hitched when he saw that where he was standing before, changed. And before he could even think clearly, the unimaginable happened. 

He fell.

Terrence closed his eyes as he felt his body falling at the speed of light. His automatic response was to shout loudly. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" 

*Pakk! 

Terrence was bewildered when he felt a stinging pain in his cheeks. 

Even though he was scared, Terrence peeked, using one of his eyes to check if he was still falling or if his body had landed on something. 

'Huh?' 

Terrence closed his eyes tightly again, refusing to believe what he had just seen. 'Maybe this was just an illusion or what if...' 

*Pakkk!

Before Terrence could even finish his thoughts, he felt another force hitting him. Now, it was on his other cheeks. 

Realizing that it couldn't be a dream, Terrence instantly opened his eyes, expecting something. He was petrified when he saw that his view didn't change. It was the same view when he peeked a couple of seconds ago.

 He was still in a familiar room— his old room.

"You idiot! Can you stop shouting? You woke me up from my sleep because of your sudden shout!" Abigail's haunting eyes glared at Terrence. 

She was standing in front of Terrence's small bed frame. The two of them were sharing a room, so Terrence's shout earlier woke her up in shock. 

"It's just 4 a.m. and you're being annoying already!" Abigail added. 

Terrence just stared at Abigail's face as she kept on rambling about how loud his shout was and how it woke her up. 

He noticed how Abigail's soft facial features became younger. Her brown hair which used to be long, was now only shoulder levelled. 

'What happened?'

Terrence was speechless. He couldn't even open his mouth to say something. 

"Are you listening? Reply to me, brother!" Abigail sounded irritated. She placed her hand on the side of her waist and glared once again at Terrence. 

Terrence, who still hadn't recovered from the shock, did not know how to answer.

"I'm alive?" That was the first thing that came out of his mouth. 

Abigail slapped her forehead lightly. She couldn't believe what Terrence had just answered after all the things she had said. She shook her head, side to side. 

"You know what? I'm still sleepy and it seems like you're becoming crazy. I'll go back to sleep again. Don't you dare shout again, Brother. I'll kick your balls if you do that." Abigail threatened as she went back to her bed, which was just a few meters away from Terrence's bed. 

"Was it all a dream? But it can't be…" Terrence did not know how everything happened.

He could still remember what it felt like when his family was dying. And he could certainly still remember how painful it felt before he died. Everything felt like it was a reality, so it was impossible for it to be just a dream...

"Was it really a dream? But I thought I died…" 

Terrence was in the middle of thinking when he heard a sudden rigning sound. 

*Ding! 

He looked around, trying to see where the sound came from. He checked his phone and looked at his sister's phone, but both of them were turned off. 

"Am I really going crazy?" Terrence asked himself when a white holographic screen suddenly appeared right before his eyes. It was followed by an unknown robotic voice.

[Welcome, Host! You are transported 2 years back in time.] 

[System Loading…] 

Terrence was left in a state of confusion as the white screen in front of him flashed the words that the unknown voice was saying. 

[The Money Making System has successfully chosen you!]

"What?" 

[Analyzing skills…] 

[Error! No skills detected.]