Haven Online

"Ahh!!"

A sudden scream echoed throughout a decrepit looking bedroom, followed by the loud thump of a body hitting the floor with a strong impact. A beautiful black-haired young man appeared to be in his late teens, lying on the dirty floor next to a tiny mattress motionless in what appeared to be, shock.

After a few minutes, he managed to pull himself up from the dirt-stained floor and looked around his surroundings in bewilderment. He couldn't quite understand what was going on because the last thing he remembered was dying by falling down a pothole in the attempt to rescue a small child.

Leaning against the bed, the young man searched his memories in an effort to figure out what had happened. He remembered logging out of the VRMMO he was playing because his VR headset needed an hour to cool every four hours, as one would expect of the cheapest model.

While the headset was cooling, he decided to go out and buy something to eat for dinner from the mini-mart down the street. After getting some rice and a few other items that were within his meager budget, he started to head home. He was a mere block away from his run-down apartment when he saw a young girl on the street while a car sped towards her.

It wasn't as if he was trying to become a hero, it was just that he reacted without thinking. He wheeled himself out into the street as fast as he could to push the girl away from the oncoming car only for one of his wheels to get caught on a rock causing him to flip out of his chair and fall down an open pothole.

The last thing he saw before falling was the car turning a corner. It was no way near to hitting the young girl. As he was falling, the only thought in his mind was, 'I'm an idiot." Hitting the ground head first, he heard a loud snap, and his world turned black.

Coming out of his thoughts, the young man was confused. He could have sworn that he had died, and even if he didn't, wouldn't he be in a hospital. Panicking, he started to frantically check his body only to realize that besides his paralyzed leg that he had for years, there was nothing wrong with him.

"What the hell is going on?" He asks himself, trying not to become hysterical. 

Gathering his courage, he pulls himself back up on the bed and looks around. The black-haired youth is startled by what he sees, he isn't in a hospital or even his crummy apartment located in the slums but what appeared to be a run-down motel room. 

He remembers having stayed here for a month because it was the only thing he could afford after being kicked out by his father.

Different thoughts rapidly swept through his mind while he was looking around the room such as, not believing this was real and wondering if this was just part of an elaborate dream. He quickly ruled The latter out because if this was just a dream, his legs wouldn't still be paralyzed.

Seeing a cell phone next to his pillow, he picked it up and started examining it. Only to see that it was the same exact phone he had three years ago down to the deep scratch on the back due to him throwing it at the wall because he was pissed at his father.

Fingering the scratch, he was sure that it was his, but he also knew that he pawned it for money to buy food two years ago. Switching his handphone on, he looked at the date. What he saw made him drop the phone in shock. 

After double-checking with the television and the electronic assistant on the motel's dresser, only then could he be 100 percent sure.

In what seemed to be astonishment, he whispered, "It seems that I, Yin Xinya, have traveled back in time by three years." After his surprise wore off, there was a bit of petulance, "Was my death such a joke that the gods pitied me enough to give me a second chance?"

"If that is so, I will make sure to make the most out of this new chance." He said with determination.

Yin Xinya didn't know, but somewhere out in the darkness of space, a star twinkled brightly as if to cheer him on.