1 What a life!

Tick! Tick!

Went the sound of the clock like a ticking time bomb.

The room was small like usual, cramped.

The atmosphere was stale and cold.

There was a wooden table at the side, accompanied by a small wooden stool. Accompanied by his small student bed that was damp from the weather, this was the only truly significant piece of furniture in this small room.

The window made creaking sounds as the cold wind blew inside, frustrating the hell out of the only inhabitant of this dilapidated room.

The creaking sounds made by the window seemed to be in a competition with that being made by the old-fashioned ceiling fan.

He was cold, but he was too lazy to stand up and switch off the fan.

Andrew sighed, ruffling his red hair in frustration. "F*ck the creator!" He cursed in a muffled tone.

"What's the use for weather for two when I'm as single as a spoon?"

Creak!

Andrew looked towards the source of the sound, the window, he could already feel it even before he looked.

"Oh, great". He feigned fainting in his small bed.

The cold wind just intensified, pushing the window completely open as his room now seemed like a refrigerator.

Andrew was freezing yet was still too lazy to go close the window.

Each second that passed, he felt his body going limp.

With each breath that he took, the thought kept on swirling in his head.

Sighing once more in frustration, he fished his phone out of the side of his bed before opening his bank app one last time, hoping for a miracle.

Beep!

~Dear Andrew…, your account balance is empty!~

~Account Balance: 0:00~

Andrew chuckled on seeing it.

He didn't just chuckle because of his empty bank account, he chuckled because he remembered a meme that was created relating to stuff like this.

Well, he was not surprised, his daily life was a meme.

'Who even coined the term miracle?' He thought. 'It's just fantasy, miracles are not real'.

His grumbling stomach out of hunger only made the cruel reality sink deeper.

"What a life!" Andrew muttered.

And then, looking at the ceiling again, focusing on the spinning ceiling fan, the thought no longer remained a thought, he voiced it out.

He looked at the looming wall. "If I hit my head against this wall, what would happen?"

"Hehe". He chuckled mischievously.

"Will I die?"

"If I do, will I be reincarnated?"

He chuckled some more. "Who cares so long as I get to escape this cruel reality?"

Andrew's dad died 6 years ago, 2018.

Before that, his dad was the best thing that ever happened to him, his playmate, his best friend, his everything, so do the math yourself.

Inevitably, after 2018, Andrew changed.

Late 2021, he got admission into the university finally after an initial heartbreak that sat him down another year at home with his merciless mom after he completed his high school course.

Unlike with his dad, Andrew didn't have the best relationship with his mom though he wouldn't necessarily say he hated her.

Today was 2024, April.

On 2nd of the month, he lost his mom.

Forget about their relationship, your mom was your mom no matter how you looked at it. It was inevitable, Andrew broke down completely.

And today, April 22nd, he finally gave up on life.

"This life is so boring man". He muttered.

"I'm tired of it".

Looking at the wall, the thought could not help but come back. 'If I hit my head against this wall, what would really happen?'

Andrew looked at the wall, he looked, he kept on looking, and then…

Bam!

He hit his head.

And so, Andrew died.

…

Blink!

Andrew blinked his eyes open in an unrecognizable place.

'What the hell happened?'

'Where am I?'

Looking round, he felt like he was standing inside some unknown stadium and the scary fact was that this stadium was floating in space…, in f*cking space!

Andrew freaked out. "What the hell!"

"Hey, chill out man, you don't make noise in my lab".

"What?" Andrew was shocked, he thought he was alone.

Shrinking in fear, he looked only to see a weird-looking old man.

This old man who seemed like a former Mr. Olympian fitness expert was wearing only a yellow singlet and white women under pants. 

"…!" Andrew just stared, flabbergasted at this old man's dress sense.

The old man didn't seem to care about his clothing though. At this moment, he was staring at a rotating wheel that looked like a lottery wheel.

This wheel was gigantic and it floated before this old man.

Having noticed it since, Andrew finally paid attention to it.

"Magnificent, right?" The old man chuckled. "I know".

"That's the wheel of time, and I'm it's master".

"…"

Andrew was speechless.

"Um, with all due respect old man, where the hell am I?

"I thought I…," Andrew scratched his head in a confused manner, struggling to come to terms with the memories in his head. "I remember hitting my head against the wall, I thought I died".

"Yes".

"Huh?"

The old man chuckled at his reaction. "Yes, you're dead".

"The wheel of time choose you".

Silence; Andrew stared at this old man.

"Huh? Me? Wait, old man explain, what is this even about?"

The old man ignored him. "You're a lonely mother*cker who lived a miserable life on planet earth".

"No father, no mother, no real friend, not even a girlfriend".

"The wheel of time choose you for reincarnation".

Andrew just stared at this old man. "What the heck!"

"Anyway, that's the full gist". This weird old man looked at him one last time. "You said your world was boring right?"

He chuckled. "If you're lucky, you may end up in a far more exciting world".

"Get ready".

"Huh?" Andrew was still confused.

Whoosh!

The next moment, the gigantic wheel started spinning more rapidly and this was when Andrew started feeling a force attracting him towards it.

"Huh? Wait, wait…, let me tell you something".

"Wait, let me tell you something!"

"…let me tell you something!"

It was too late though.

Whoosh!

A bright light erupted from the wheel that engulfed Andrew the next moment even as the weird old man kept a smile on his face.

Andrew heard the old man's last words in echoes.

"Don't fret, you don't get reincarnated with nothing".

"Be lucky though". The old man's laughter was what he heard last.

Bzzz!

Andrew disappeared.

This old man relaxed, about to go about his job of observing timelines again like usual but this was when he shuddered as he felt a strange sensation.

It felt as if someone, or certain people were spying on him, he was spooked.

"What?!" He was shocked.

"Did they just read this chapter of my life?"

"B-b-but the veil is active!"

"Readers?"

"How the heck are they able to read this moment?"

"I feel vulnerable".

"F*ck, I feel violated, f*ck you readers!"

"What a life!"