'Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?' Those were some of the thoughts that were going through Ashton's head, as he looked at the building in front of him, that being the university he used to attend, all the while wondering how he was convinced by his uncle to come here. He didn't exactly have any important memories from this place, aside from learning about some electronics and then dropping out of it. He didn't have that many acquaintances either during his time here, so he might be able to recognize some people, but he had no intentions to associate himself with anyone here, since he felt weird becoming friends with people who had just come out of high school.
"Let's just get through the day quietly and then check things back at home." Ashton exclaimed quietly, as he steeled himself for the most bizarre day of his life. After that, he entered the building, slowly made his way towards the first class and picked one of the back seats that were available. He knew he was late, so that brought a few stares from some of the others, but he just ignored them and decided to pretend to pay attention to the lecture, as he was doing research on his phone about the current time, as he wanted to be sure this wasn't some massive elaborate prank from his uncle.
After the lecture was over, everyone was slowly leaving and Ashton did so quietly as well, since he didn't want to be noticed and intended to leave after the first lecture was over, but he didn't realize that the lecture would last for two hours. During that time, he searched on all kinds of things that would either exist during his time, or would have happened in the future, but there were no such things on the internet, as they had never happened. There was barely any information on Teamfighters Online, aside from the release date and the website with just a couple of trailers and not only that, the lack of major events that would happen in the future, such as a couple of major earthquakes that would happen in Asia, or the resurgence of an old virus and such other events, cemented the fact that he had, indeed, returned to the past.
"How... Why... Just, f*ck..." Ashton couldn't help but exclaim helplessly, as he was barely holding back himself from having an emotional outburst. In an attempt to somewhat vent, he decided to write a message of sorts in the notebook application on his phone, but his mind wasn't clear enough and could only write curses and gibberish that was barely readable. In the end, he could only close his phone, as he was barely holding himself back from throwing his phone on the floor, out of sheer frustration.
'So much about this kind of therapy...' Ashton thought to himself, as he left the university. He knew it would be pointless sticking around here, since he had no intentions of paying attention to any of the classes and it's not like he remembered any of the curriculum that would be able to help him to get through the first couple of years. As for his next destination, he wasn't sure of anymore. Normally, he would have gone to his home without a beat, but with the current situation, he needed some time think and process everything that had happened, as well as retracing his actions and maybe find the reason he returned to the past.
"Let's see... Yesterday, I woke up as normal. It was already 3 days after the end of the 5th Teamfighters Online Championship and it was the day of the victory ceremony with all of the major teams and many famous and influential players present. That day I had a commission to teach a team how to get through the Level 45 Crystalline Mirror Cavern and the boss's patterns and after 6-8 hours, I finished the job and got an extra tip for my work. After that, I just went to one of my usual grinding spots to grind Level 145 Fallen Virtues and get some extra cash for the day and then logged out after having completed my 15-hour long session, ate my meal and went to sleep, before taking on another commission for today."
"Nothing seems like out of the ordinary... Maybe I ate something expired, but I know that I always make my own meals with fresh produce, so I doubt it would be some poisonous food that gave me a heart attack. Maybe I got silenced by some acquaintance of that day's clients, but as far as I know, they were some no-name teenagers who had been playing the game for around half a year. Hmmm... Nothing comes to mind... Tsk. Do I really have to chalk it up to some divine providence or some sh*t like that? Gods are not real, for Pete's sake, don't make such ridiculous thoughts." Ashton monologued to himself, as he shook his ridiculous thoughts away.
He knew for a fact that he had returned 5 years into the past. The reason was completely unknown and the means were no different. With no concrete answers, his thoughts were the same as his body, wandering aimlessly with nothing to go on. But as he was walking past an electronics store and saw a VR Helmet that was on sale, the idea struck him like a bolt of lightning and he knew what he would do.
'I guess I'll be doing what I have been doing for the past 3 years. Get a job through this game, maybe try to become one of the best players in the game and definitely, avoid the melee classes and melee combat altogether.'
With that mental declaration, he bought the VR Helmet that would be used to play the game, even if it came at a heavy expense of his current savings, but he knew he would be able to make his money back eventually, so he wasn't worried about it. He would be lying to himself, if he said that his plan was without problems though, since he had to pay with a credit card for the helmet and he knew that he would be scolded hard in the future from his uncle. Not only that, but he knew that the early phases of the game were some of the grindiest phases of the game, to the point of even the process of leveling up, was a test of stamina and perseverance.
But he was far from deterred from that thought. If anything, he was more than ready to throw himself into the grinder, so long as it meant to get a strong standing, a safe and stable future and maybe, some answers about himself. But he knew that the game wouldn't start for another week, so if anything, he was going to make a plan for not only laying a strong foundation for himself, but to obtain rare and valuable items and abilities as well, with as minimal effort and thinking, as possible.