Thud!
Bryan fell on the ground as a car crashed into him.
He popped off like a ball as he dropped a few metres away before rolling off even farther away. He felt his head which seemed like it had been hit from the inside.
[Fuck, it's bleeding. Call 911] He thought as he tried looking at the car to report the number. He did not want it to be a hit and run. He wanted justice for such reckless driving.
He saw a big group of women coming out. Big not in the sense of how many there were. It was just two of them.
"REEEEEEEEEEE."
[Did she just Reee me?] Brain thought.
Bryan was not being a jerk here. His eardrums had been ruptured by the impact. Everything seemed to a ree at this point.
"Girls" He spoke very loudly because of loss of hearing. He saw the change in their expressions. He knew he had made a big mistake.
It was one thing to hit a car and die but to be politically incorrect, he couldn't commit a crime that big, he was just a regular employee after all and couldn't afford a cancellation. He quickly looked at their clothes to see their gender pins.
Blank, he looked back at the white car. He saw it.
"Trucks please help."
It's not like he wanted to call a woman a truck but that was how she identified. Atleast, it was written on the bumper of her car.
Bryan was not a body shamer, infact he himself was on the chubbier side. It was a common thing in the Undivided States of America. Free cola refills did that to anyone.
"REEEEEE." He could not make up anything.
"Call 911." He shouted as he could not find his phone.
Slowly, he felt like his hearing got better.
He could pick up certain words like chicken as she pointed at the chicken wings in his grocery which had fallen on the road. The truck was parked closer to the fallen grocery.
"911" Bryan pleaded loudly.
His vision was turning hazy as he heard words like 'mansplaining'. He could do nothing.
He felt like he heard racist chants as he fell asleep. It was true, he had died because he bought groceries from a 'racist' store and tipped a racist store. He was a white supremacist and died for it. Justice had been served.
......
Back to the present in hostel room in 2013.
"So that's what it is? I didn't make it out alive of this accident." Bryan confirmed as he saw his old phone and his old college room.
The infamous truck kun or rather the truck Chan got him in the end.
It was like destiny but with bigger mass.
"I wasn't even doing any good deed that I got a chance to reincarnate?"
"Or does everyone have the same fate after death?" He wasn't curious enough to find out.
Like the old adage of "Once die, twice shy", Bryan was done with his fair share of dying.
What he wanted to do now was to live. Not just live but thrive.
He was not a normal guy, he was a scholar, a scholar of isekai novels. He knew what he had to do.
[Fuck, I can't stay live like my last life, acting like a conformist. I should have been more assertive, a rebel.] He thought
[Use my future knowledge and make it large.] Bryan thought as he confirmed his surroundings.
"What should I do?" Bryan opened his phone password.
Luckily, he had used the same password for decades. If he had used the advice of people who suggested changing passwords frequently, he would be locked out of his own phone.
"2013... First month of college life...Wait, this is?" He thought.
The names of countries had changed, borders had changed, some countries altogether did not exist, even companies seemed to be a little different.
The map was mostly the same with little differences. It confirmed his suspicions that it wasn't the same Earth that he knew.
It seemed like a parallel world which was mostly similar to Earth but not a copy. Any similarities were coincidental and did not represent Earth.
Like, the African continent was more divisive. The great country of China, the "mysterious east" did not exist here.
It wasn't because Bryan did not want the ban on his story, definitely not. Bryan would stake his life for the freedom of speech but bans only happened if you maliciously criticized See See Pee but why would Bryan do that.
There was nothing to criticize in the great country. Intact, he was awed by its history, its traditions. It wasn't just Bryan, it was a well known fact that even superheroes like batman feared the mysterious east.
"So, it's a parallel world. There might be some changes then."
"Still, there are lots of ways I can make money right?"
"Bitcoin? Tesla boom? Football World Cup bet?"
"2017, 2020, 2016."
A moment ago, Bryan had a confident look on his face which turned into worries as he tried to think of money making ways.
[I can invest in certain winners, spaceX, apple. But what will I invest in?] Bryan tried to make a mental list.
Bryan didn't want to go through the grind of college life. Maybe, he could do some freelancing while he studied again.
"No."
"Why didn't I get some cheat?"
"System!"
"Oh system!"
"Hello!"
"Mushi mushi!"
"Panel!"
"Ohaiyo!
"Ola!"
"Ora Ora Ora!"
"Muda Muda Muda"
Bryan tried anything he could think of to trigger a system activation. He sighed as even the magical words did not seem to work.
THUD!
Bryan sat back down on the bed in disappointment with his hands on his head. He had to change some plans now.
"Do I have to copy some song lyrics or some movie story?" He tried to think hard of any song which was popular but could only remember beats of that cowboy song and rover song.
"eee eeeyye lalala." He tried singing the cowboy song but stopped when lyrics didnt roll off his tongue.
"Fuck! I am so dumb, I can't remember any lyrics,." It was not his fault, he was a hummer, he hummed his songs away. He tried to focus on something more present.
"2013..2013..What the fuck happened in 2013?"
He googled the bitcoin price.
"200$... Wasn't it 1000 in 2013?" This was the only piece of information Bryan remembered. He knew it went over 1000 but didn't know when.
"Fuck, I don't remember much." He didn't properly think it though and gave up half heartedly.
The shock of travelling to a parallel Earth hadn't been washed away.
"I can't work for a company, that's too brutal."
[It's fine, even if I can't be the richest man. I can definitely live a lavish life.] Bryan tried consoling himself.
[I know the companies which made it big in tech. I can invest in them.] He thought of Fakebooks and Aples of this world which should be similar to last life."
"Atleast, I won't have to worry about mom and Belle, I can definitely be a good son and a good brother.. Still, this is too real, fuck me." He felt betrayed by the lack of system.
To escape this damned reality, Bryan shut his eyes and that's when he saw it.
In the corner of his eye, it was there, a white dot of light.
A great poet had said,
'Look inside you,
everything that you want,
you already are.'
Bryan wanted to go and kiss that guy for such a lovely line. He wanted to see what type of system it was.
[I hope it's not an abusive system.] Bryan hoped.
Bryan tried looking at it and it got bigger as he heard the sound which almost made him wet his pants.
Ding!