There is a famous saying about how the moment you say something you can never take them back.
While you can try to do things to repair your relationships the other person will never truly forget what you said to them in that one moment of anger.
I lived my life without filtering my words regardless of the countless times people told me about this saying.
If something were wrong with my order at a restaurant I would "gently" express my disappointment to the staff.
(At a fancy restaurant.)
"Who the fuck cooked this? Does this look medium rare to you? It's overcooked for fuck's sake. You might as well have brought me a plate of charcoal."
I also believed in equality.
(At an amusement park.)
"Dude she is in a wheelchair just let her go in front of you in line."
"What are you talking about? She is in a wheelchair. If anything she should be at the back since she doesn't even have to stand. She is not going to get tired from sitting there. If anything you guys are being too considerate. You're babying her. This is how society works. You get in line and you wait like everybody else."
These were just a few of the times I had "expressed my opinion" during my life, but the one I would say had the biggest impact on me was when I had left a comment on a novel I was reading.
*One day ago*
[AtomSmasher: The book is shit. The writer has some good ideas but he has no idea how power scaling works or how to implement it in a realistic fantasy world.]
[HungryHippo72: I liked it. The characters were fun and I thought while there were times where the mc was op it was still enjoyable overall.]
[AtomSmasher: ^Yeah this is the kind of brainless child who could enjoy this kind of novel. I'd stay quiet on the internet unless you want people to know you're mentally challenged.]
[DeltaDud3: You're the kind of person who can only talk big online. If you were standing in front of me, a veteran, you would be as silent as a mouse.]
I sneered as I looked at the comment. Even if he really was a war veteran: What do I care? This is the internet. A battleground of words. Holding physical superiority over me was stupid.
However before I could type out another comment I saw I received a direct message. Curious, I navigated to my inbox and saw who the message was from.
"The author? Guess he has finally read my comments. Let's see what shameless excuse he will come up with."
[From: GodOfHaldrin]
[To: AtomSmasher]
[Subject: Prove It]
[You have left a lot of comments on every chapter. If I didn't know any better I would believe you had some sort of guide to a perfect ending to my story, but I know you don't.
I would normally ignore someone as pathetic as you but I had an interesting idea come to my mind as I watched you argue. The way you are so cruel to a child who is in the hospital with a terminal disease, to the point of making him cry, or how you can so easily disrespect a man who lost his legs for your freedom to type on the internet gave me a better idea for a punishment.]
I furrowed my brow as I read the message.
"Even the author is fucking delusional... What is this attachment?"
I knew that clicking on random links wasn't safe but something compelled me to ignore that precaution.
The attachment was simply titled "Prove Yourself Worthy".
And the moment I clicked it...
My vision went black.
****
I woke up groggily. I felt like my head was going to split open and an insane wave of nausea assaulted me.
I turned my head to the side of my chair and emptied my stomach onto the floor.
After which I slowly felt better and opened my eyes after a short struggle to pry them open.
My room looked roughly the same, however something in the back of my mind was telling me something was off, but because of the headache I couldn't focus on what my mind was trying to tell me.
I saw the light streaming in from the window and assumed I must have fallen asleep at my desk.
Not something I usually did but I must have been more tired than I thought.
Closing my eyes I began to slowly massage my temple to try and alleviate the pain in my head.
After a few minutes I finally felt the pain slowly go away and with that newfound relief I opened my eyes again.
That was when I took a look at my computer screen to see what I had fallen asleep doing.
"The last thing I remembered was opening that attachment from the author of that crappy novel."
[Watch what you say about me boy.]
A voice sounded in my head that caused me to fall backwards in my chair and landed roughly on the floor.
"Who said that?!"
My head spun like it was on a swivel to scan the room.
However I didn't see anyone.
Anxiety slowly crept it's way into my mind and I scrambled to get to my feet.
I knew no one should be able to get into my apartment other than the landlord, and I always paid my rent on time so there should have been a notice sent out before they could legally enter my home.
I didn't have any family or friends so that also wasn't a possibility.
Fearing it could be a home invasion I quickly dashed to the closet to grab my aluminum bat I kept from middle school.
However I was in for an even bigger shock when I opened the closet to look inside.
This time I didn't fall but I still was surprised.
"These... Aren't my clothes?"
I looked around the room more carefully.
"None of this stuff is mine... Since I lived so minimally I thought it must have been my apartment but this looks like a college dorm."
I completely forgot about the voice I had heard earlier and began to walk around the room. I picked up the laptop and noticed it was a brand I had never heard of.
Hastings Tech
"Who the fuck is Hastings..."
I walked to the nightstand and picked up the cell phone sitting there.
Again, Hastings Tech was on the back of it engraved in the phone and when I turned it on I saw that it was Hasting Tech who also created the OS for the phone.
There was a notification but I couldn't read it unless I unlocked the phone.
I usually wasn't this nosey but something made me feel like I needed to see what this notification was. So when I clicked on the notification I was prompted for a password.
Feeling stumped I decided to take a shot in the dark.
[1-2-3-4]
...
[Welcome Adam!]
The little welcome banner that showed on the screen made me feel a loss for words.
"No way this guy had his password as the most common password in the world..."
After recovering from the shock that someone could be that stupid I quickly clicked on the notification, which was my main reason for even getting the phone to unlock, and read the message it took me to.
It looked like an instant messaging app to me. The weird thing was that there were no other messages. Just the single one which looked more like an announcement message that a bunch of people would get all at once.
[Enrollment!]
I clicked on it.
[Welcome to Gallafrey Academy!
Many of you have worked incredibly hard to get here and we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge your hard work.
However that doesn't mean to road to success is over. It has only just begun.
Classes officially start today, with the first Freshman class starting at 9 am sharp in the auditorium, so don't be late!
Attached is a map of the school along with your schedules.
Work hard and welcome again to Gallafrey.]
"Gallafrey... It's familiar but why?"
[It's where my novel takes place. Idiot.]
I fell backwards again because of how close the voice sounded, but I managed to catch myself on the dresser.
As I looked up at the mirror on the dresser I came to a sudden stop.
I stared at my reflection.
"That.... ISN'T ME!"
I stood up and began pinching my face. The person in front of me began to mirror my movements.
This confirmed what I didn't want to believe.
'That is the body I am in, but I still don't know who the hell it is.'
Then, as if hit on the head, I raised my hands in a karate position.
"WHO HAS BEEN TALKING TO ME?! SHOW YOURSELF!"
[You're more annoying in person than you were on Earth.]
This time I was sure to watch the mirror and I knew for certain that there was no one else near me.
Oddly this calmed me down, as now that I knew there wasn't another actual person near me my hyper imaginative mind began supplying me with possible scenarios based on the hundreds of novels I had read and I slowly smiled as I came to the most logical case.
I looked at my reflection, since it would be weird to talk into the open air, and said while smiling.
"You're the author of that shit novel. Aren't you?"
Slowly, creepily, my reflections smile grew wider and more grotesque.
"Bingo. Dipshit."