Chapter Title: Another World?!
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Zane: Why do I look younger?! What is happening to me?!
Zane keeps on touching and pinching his face to make sure that what he was seeing is real.
He’s not even drunk yet, but he was seeing something crazy.
After awhile, the car window Zane was using as a mirror suddenly rolled down, revealing a middle aged man who’s looking at him, confused.
Middle aged man: Hey, young man, is there something wrong?
The man asked Zane who is also as confuse as him on what is happening.
Zane: Young man? Do I look young to you?
Zane ask the man curiously and held onto him, begging him for an answer. The man got startled by Zane’s action and started the engine of his car.
Middle aged man: Gosh, what’s wrong with you?
The man said but got ignored by Zane who is still bugging him and keeps on questioning him about his looks.
Zane: How young do I look, huh? Do I really look young to you?!
Getting creeped out by Zane, the man rolled up the window of his car and started moving while Zane still keeps on questioning.
As the car moves far away from him, Zane clutched his head, still confuse on what is going on.
He looked back at the store where the two girls are in and started running to them.
Manager on the phone: there’s a crazy man at the convenience store. Hurry! You must hurry!!!
As soon as Zane left the store, the manager started calling the police to seek help from them while Yu Jimin locked the glass door to keep Zane from entering.
Seeing that the door was locked, Zane looked at his supposedly, little sister and said…
Zane: Karina, open the door...
Zane said in a serious manner.
Meanwhile, the two girls inside, trembles, scared of the strange man outside their store.
Manager: W-we called the police, you c-crazy jerk!
Zane: What? Crazy jerk?!
Hearing those words made Zane angry. He was really confuse on what is going on.
He looks younger, maybe around the age of 15. His supposedly, little sister can’t recognize him, and now they are calling him crazy jerk!
It’s driving Zane crazy.
Zane keeps on grumbling onto himself, wanting to let out his frustrations. He clutched his head again and walks back and forth, questioning literally everything.
Meanwhile, the two girls inside the store looked more terrified than ever. They look at Zane as if he was crazy, a criminal that got escape from asylum.
Zane: Am I dreaming?! *Slaps himself*
Zane said and slap himself, hard, on the face which made him scream in pain in return.
Zane: AAARG! Darn it! I’m not dreaming! This isn’t a dream!
Seeing the weird action of Zane scared the two girls inside and hugs each other, searching for security on each other's embrace.
Zane: Gosh, I’m about to lose it!
Zane said again while clutching his head and walking back and forth in front of the store.
It was already midnight so the pedestrian was almost empty.
Zane looked again inside the store where his sister was in and said…
Zane: Karina, you stay there, okay?! I’ll comeback once I fix this problem!
Zane said while pointing at his face and started walking away.
Meanwhile, Jimin got scared on what Zane said and replied…
Jimin: Why are you coming back? Don’t ever comeback, you lunatic!
Jimin said loudly and hugged her manager for comfort.
It sure was the strangest thing that ever happened in her entire life. And she would never forget the face of the crazy jerk who made her scared out of her life.
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Walking on the freezing street of unknown place, Zane sigh and calm himself down to think.
He was sure that he got younger but what he didn’t notice earlier is that, he was talking in a language that is not familiar with him and yet he was so fluent in it.
Korean Language.
Yes, Korea.
In an unknown reason, he got younger, and got transported to Korea.
To be specific, in South Korea.
Instead of year 2022, it was year 2020.
It’s either he got transported back into the past or worst, he was on entirely different universe.
Zane is not Korean, he was half American and half Filipino. But if he really got transported in a different universe, the girl at the convenience store is probably not his little sister, Karina, but an entirely different person which is Korean.
He hopes that he was just overthinking things but he knows that the probability of it happening was almost a hundred percent.
Zane decided to wait for his sister’s look-a-like and follow her to her home to see if there is someone taking care of her or not.
On his previous world, Zane and Karina are both orphans after losing their parents. Zane took the position of a mother and a father to Karina and took care of her while also taking care of his studies and career.
So Zane wanted to know if the woman he saw from earlier has someone taking care of her.
Who knows, he might see his older self again. The 35 years old Zane.
Once Zane saw his sister’s look-a-like, he made sure to keep his distance from her while following her.
It didn’t take long before Zane saw her standing in front of a house and started knocking on the door.
After a second, a Middle aged woman comes out behind the door with a smile on her face.
Seeing the familiar woman from where Zane was standing, his knees weakened and started trembling.
His eyes were filled with tears and his heart keeps on banging out from his chest.
The woman behind the door is none other than his mother, Celine.
As if what he felt wasn’t enough, another person comes out behind the door, revealing a bulky middle aged man and embrace his sister’s look-a-like as soon as he sees her.
Seeing him made Zane’s legs to give up from standing and fell to his knees.
It was his father, Marco.
Seeing his long lost parents bursted out his tears from his eyes and started crying. It was a painful yet joyful feeling he ever had.
After the greetings, the family of three started going inside leaving Zane far outside in the dark, alone.
He is now sure about his theory, he is probably in another universe because there is no way that his parents are still alive.
They look exactly like them, they sound exactly like them, and they smile exactly like them.
He felt it, the connection between his family, it was there. The feeling of sorrow and sadness filled his heart knowing that, his parents probably don’t know him too.
After all, he came from a different world.
Soon, a feeling of worry came after.
'How about my real Karina? What's gonna happen to her?' Zane ask himself while thinking about his little sister.
Karina got a stable job now as an accounting manager in a small bank but still, he can't help but worry for her, he's still her guardian after all.
But Zane put aside his worry for now. With his current situation, worrying about things he can't control won't help him. So he gotta do something to survive first.
Zane continue to look at the family from afar on their window for a little bit longer before deciding to walk away.
He wanted to at least hug them, to feel them again, to be in their warm embrace once again. But he knew, he can’t.
Not now, at least.
He can’t stay on the same place without doing anything. He must survive in this world and see them again. Even from afar.
Then go back to his world.
But first, he gotta find a place to stay for the night.
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Walking on the cold street of Seoul, Zane manage to gather small but important information he needed to survive.
This world is still earth, with a small changes here and there. The only big difference from here and his previous world is their technology advancement.
The technology in here is more advanced compared to his previous world, with high-tech cars, flashy phones, and much realistic VR games.
What took his interest is this specific game called, VLBB or Virtual Reality Legends: Bang Bang.
He doesn’t want to assume things but he felt excited hearing a very familiar yet different game name.
And apparently, it was the biggest game in the world and one of the best way to earn money.
Unlike his previous world, VLBB is a big thing in here. If you're a pro player, you'll be as good as a huge celebrity.
Zane was currently standing outside of he assumed as what they call, Virtual Cafe or Internet Cafe on his previous world.
Internet Cafe is place where you can rent a computer to play. But in this place, you will rent the machine they call, VR Machine to play.
Looking at the glass door of the shop, Zane saw a hiring poster that said “Shop Attendant for hire. Night shift only”.
Reading that puts a smile on Zane’s face.
It was perfect for him because he can play and earn money at the same time. He was a pro-player on his previous world so this kind of jobs will really excite him.
And besides, it’s probably the only job he could get given the fact that he was homeless and nameless person in this world.
He doesn’t have any identification ID with him to prove his citizenship. So this job is perfect.
Without waiting any longer, Zane made his way inside the shop..