After hitting rock bottom, Max makes a decision with serious consequences, but fate has a different future in store for him. What will Max do with this second chance?
One new chapter every two days.
The cold drizzle clung to Max's skin like a miserable second skin. Standing by the bridge railing, he watched the city lights reflect in the river—a neon blur on the freezing black water flowing below. The dull hum of traffic surrounding him was the only requiem for a life that had been, essentially, a bad joke.
His name was Max, and at thirty-two, he had become a walking monument to failure.
In his mind, a merciless carousel of images spun. His parents' disappointed faces, unable to fathom how their son, their "little genius," had ended up a nobody. The mocking laughter of his so-called college friends, whose work he had done while they took the credit and hit the parties. And then, the clearest image, the one that stung with surgical precision: the cold gaze of Ada, his fiancée, right before she delivered the words that sealed his fate. "It's over, Max. You've ruined me."
She was right. The "investment of a lifetime," that supposed goldmine that was going to pull him out of the gutter, was nothing but a scam. A mirage into which he had sunk not only his meager savings but also the money he'd begged from his friends and from her. Now he had nothing. No job, no money, no friends, no love. Only the crushing weight of his own gullible stupidity.
I was a genius,a bitter voice echoed in his head.And all I built was my own ruin. Always "Good Old Max," the nice guy everyone could walk all over.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A final gust of icy wind hit him, as if the world itself were nudging him over the edge.
If only I could go back...he thought, with a fervor that burned hotter than the cold.I swear I wouldn't be "Good Old Max" again. No. This time... I'd take it all.
With that final resolution, Max closed his eyes, leaned forward, and surrendered to the void. The fall was an eternal second of silence, followed by the brutal impact of the water. The shock stole his breath. The cold seeped into his bones, and the current began dragging him down. Darkness.
Just as his brain was on the verge of collapsing, an anomalous sound—a crystallineding—resonated not in his ears, but directly in the core of his being. A genderless, calm, and ethereal voice spoke into the void of his dying mind.
[Welcome, Host!]
[Second Chance System activated.]
[Strong desire to rewrite fate detected. Analyzing regrets...]
[Analysis complete. Primary objective established: Wealth and Status Accumulation.]
And then, nothingness claimed him.
...
A thump. And another. A dull, rhythmic sound breaking through a veil of unconsciousness.
Max snapped his eyes open, gasping for air. Not on dirty river water, but on warm, soapy water. He was in a bathtub. Sunlight filtered through a small window, filling the bathroom—which he hadn't seen in over a decade—with steam. The blue and white tiles, the shower curtain with its pathetic ducky print. His parents' bathroom.
