The first thing I noticed was the silence. A void where there should have been noise, a stillness where there should have been life. Then, as if the world had only just remembered its purpose, sound and light rushed back in. A distant bell ringing, the murmur of voices, the dull echo of footsteps against tile.
I knew this place.
Or rather, I thought I did.
My old high school loomed ahead, its structure familiar yet alien. I recognized the halls, the layout, the little details that should have been insignificant—scratches on lockers, the hallway lights that were turned off by students, the footsteps of students who were skipping. But the people? Strangers. Or so they seemed.
I knew their faces. I knew their names. I even remembered the way they laughed, the way they spoke. But when their eyes met mine, there was nothing. No recognition, no flicker of memory. To them, I was just another new student, a nobody stepping into their world for the first time.
But I wasn't new. I have been here before.
And I had been given a second chance.
A translucent screen flickered into existence before my eyes.
[Welcome, Player.]
[Initializing Regression Protocol…]
[The System is Online.]
Numbers, stats, and abilities unfolded before me. Strength, Intelligence, Charisma, Stats that I can invest in right before my eyes. A set of skills, most locked, a handful accessible. A quest log, some objectives marked incomplete, others waiting to be discovered.
This was no dream. No illusion.
I had been thrown into an alternate reality, one where my past remained intact, but my future was unwritten. A world where I could start again, but with the weight of my past mistakes pressing against my shoulders.
Yet, this was not my only tool.
Another screen layered itself over the first, darker in design, its symbols pulsing with something ancient, something beyond human comprehension.
[The Connection Platform is now accessible.]
[Constellations are watching.]
[Historical Figures have taken an interest.]
[Alternate Versions of You are Online.]
A world within a world. A space where gods, legends, and even versions of myself from countless other realities are watching and interacting. Some I know would aid me. Some would seek me as a vessel and take control. And some? Some would watch in silence, waiting to see what I would do.
This isn't just about me.
The world around me moves forward, indifferent to my presence. Others had their own stories, their own struggles, their own battles to fight. I was not the center of this universe, merely another piece in the grand design.
And yet, I had been given a chance to rewrite my story.
To confront my past. To reclaim what was lost.
To face the trauma I had buried and the memories I had forgotten.
This was high school, but not as I remembered it.
This was something else entirely.
And this time, I would not be the same person I once was.
This is My Highschool Experience Told As Fantasy.