It's dark. I can't see. Am I in the afterlife?
I stayed silent for a moment.
My body feels cold. So, I guess I died, huh. But, why can't I see anything?
I questioned myself as everything around me turned dark, pitch black, not a single spark of light. I was drifting in an endless stream of darkness. Void. I felt my body disintegrating into nothingness, though I felt no pain. It was as though my body was a completely different entity, not sharing any consciousness with me. My consciousness was still intact even after my body had been erased. As I continued to drift in the vast ocean of space, a void from which I could not escape, my consciousness began to disappear. As my consciousness began to fade, I thought to myself, "I killed myself to escape from the hell my life had become, and I don't even get to go to the afterlife? I'm going to disappear. Completely and entirely. Erased from existence, leaving nothing behind. I wish I could go back and live the life I always wanted, and not living by other's rules. They say 'never have regrets when you die', I guess I wasn't so fortunate, because I have so many. Look at me, complaining to myself after I died. I really am pathetic even in death. If only… if only I could go back and live for myself… alas, that wish will never be granted."
My consciousness had faded, then suddenly I heard a voice. It felt as though the voice refused to let me disappear. It felt as though it had it's grasp on me and refused to let go.
[ Your new body will now begin to form ]
[ In addition, you will receive 50 extra strength, speed, durability, and agility ]
[ It took longer than expected ]
[ Forgive me ]
I listened carefully, but I couldn't understand what that voice was talking about. And I didn't understand why it apologized. I tried to think what was going on after I had gotten my consciousness back, but I couldn't. As soon as the voice stopped, I felt my limbs grow. I couldn't see but I could feel. I could feel my entire body being made anew. My body began to form, it started from the brain, the heart, the organs, the muscles, the tissues, the nerves, the veins, the blood vessels, blood, bones, skull, the entire skeleton, and finally the skin. I felt my body being made from start to finish. I had no words for what was happening, I stayed quiet throughout the whole process. It was a new experience, but a very weird one. It was an experience I had no knowledge of, and how could I, after all, I had never heard of a human regenerating from nothing, and it was an experience I would rather not experience again.
[ Your new body has been made ]
[ Additional request has been received ]
[ Regressing 10 years ]
[ Commencing Regression 10 years: 10 ]
[ 9 ]
[ 8 ]
[ 7 ]
[ 6 ]
[ 5 ]
[ 4 ]
[ 3 ]
[ 2 ]
[ 1 ]
[ 0 ]
Regression? What is this voice saying? I thought to myself as I heard the voice say strange but familiar words. I was in the void, still drifting with no sense of direction. I couldn't differentiate between left to right, and up to down. Then I suddenly felt my entire body becoming heavy and numb, as if something was pushing me down, and in that moment I could tell what was up and what was down. I struggled, I couldn't move. My eyes refused to open no matter how much I persisted. My breathing became heavy and rigid, I struggled to breathe. I didn't understand why I would need to breathe when I'm already dead.
I began to fall in the void. I kept falling and falling, when suddenly a flicker of light flashed in the darkness, though it was for no more than a second. After that, the light flashed again. It flashed one more time before the light began to slowly shine brightly in the endless dark space. It began as a small white dot, and slowly turned into a bright star. As this was happening, I kept falling to the bottom of the void, it was as if falling from a skyscraper and when you're about to hit the ground, you wake up, realizing it was a dream. Just like that, I kept falling, but I couldn't see what was beneath me. My breathing became more rigid and heavier, to the point where I was certain that if this goes on I would stop breathing entirely.
What seemed like it would be my last breath before I stop breathing, my eyes opened. I struggled to breathe, my heart pounding. I took deep breaths, and calmed myself until my breathing was normal, and my heart was beating at a normal pace. My eyes opened, as if I had a terrible nightmare. I didn't understand my current situation, so I did what any normal person would do in my position; I looked around. I was in my bed, but it didn't look quite right, the room I was in, the furniture, the clothes, everything looked different yet familiar, and I didn't know why that was. I took the blanket off my body, and get up from the bed.
The first thought I had when I calmed down was, "What?!"
I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't wrap my head around this situation. After my initial thought, I had many other thoughts afterward.
What's going on? Wasn't I supposed to be dead? Why am I still alive? And why am I in this room? It does look like the apartment I was living in with Rachel. Wait! This room… I recognize this room, but why does it look familiar? First, I need to know what's happening! Right, my cellphone! I need to call my parents!
I picked up my cellphone from the wooden desk. For some reason, my cellphone looked an older version of the cellphone I had before I died. Even though the cellphone was touch screen, the model was quite old, by almost a decade. I ignored the cellphone model, and opened it. As I was about to open the contact app to call my parents, I saw the date, month, and year, which read, Saturday, January 25, 2025.
What? 2025? Is it broken? It's 2035. They should stop making theseolder models, they're crap, they don't even work properly. And this one has a year issue, crappie older models, says it's 2025 when it's clearly 2035. Anyway, why am I wasting my time with this, just call mom.
I ignored the year, and continued with calling my mom.
*Ring Ring*
The call kept ringing for a few seconds before my mom picked it up.
"Mom! Listen!"
I shouted desperately on the phone when I realized my voice sounded different now.
"Jin, why are you shouting? And why did you call anyway? If you're already up then come down and eat breakfast."
*Click*
What my mom said, confused me, and before I could say anything else, she hang up the call.
Down? Breakfast? What is mom saying?
I tried to think about what my mom said, but I didn't know what to think, because it had been a long time since I heard my mom say, "come down and eat breakfast".
Wait! Didn't mom and dad lived together? Why is she here?
I continued to have thoughts that didn't make sense. Then suddenly, I had a suspicion, and I had to confirm it, only than would I understand my current situation. I ran to the bathroom to confirm my suspicions. I looked in the mirror, and saw my younger self, I was 16 years old. I was not the 26-year-old association member of the magic measurements team.
I ran back in my room, and browsed through it to look for some things. I looked around when my gaze was fixed on a picture in a frame, a picture that was very dear to me. It was a picture of me and Rachel, my future fiancé, as kids. My expression turned dark, I was disgusted by the sight of the picture. I moved closer and stood there, looking at it. I picked up the picture and dropped it in the trash can. If it was the old me, I would've never done that, even if I was offered large sums of money, because to the old me Rachel was everything, and I hate my old self for that. My expression of disgust turned soft after I dropped the picture of me and Rachel in the trash can. I had a big smile on my face, as if I had done something good, and praiseworthy.
I went back in the bathroom, and cleaned, and freshened myself. I went downstairs, and saw my mom and dad in a very long time. Mom was preparing breakfast, and putting it on the dining table, and dad was sitting on the dining chair, listening to the news channels.
After seeing my parents after a long time, emotions welled up inside me, like waves hitting the shore. Before I could say anything, my expression softened with a soft smile, my eyes began to water, tears streaming down my face one after another. Emotions that I thought had died came rushing back.
My mom noticed me, and she had a concerned expression. She came to me, asking, "what's wrong? Is everything okay? Are you feeling sick? Do you need something?"
After hearing that, I thought to myself, "how could such a kind person end up being so cold? What caused her to change like that? Before dying, I thought of you, I thought that if you had believed in me, I wouldn't have killed myself. I know my mom better than anyone, and I know she wouldn't force anything onto anyone. So that means, something or someone influenced her and dad to be like that. And I'll make sure that doesn't happen in this life."
"No, I'm fine." I replied while my mom wiped my tears with her hands, making sure that she doesn't accidentally hurt my eyes.
"Woah, look at you, that's unusual. Gotta save this!" My dad said with his eyes widened, and grabbed this cellphone and started taking pictures of my crying face.
"Hey, you better stop that, or I'll come after you!" My mom said in a threatening voice, telling dad to stop.
"Oh, my bad, my bad." My dad replied like a little kid apologizing for what he did wrong.
"It's okay mom. I don't mind!" I said as I sniffed while mom was still whipping my tears. I stopped mom before she would do something to dad.
"Are you sure? You don't like anyone talking your pictures." My mom said in a soft and sweet voice as she comforted me.
"Yeah. It's okay." I replied with soft smile.
"Ohhh, okay, permission granted!" My dad said with a smile as took out his cellphone again, and began taking ugly pictures of me.
I couldn't care less about my ugly pictures being taken, all I felt in that moment was happiness, and fulfillment, like a part of my soul that disappeared, had finally come back to its original place. I vowed that I would never let anyone else take control of my life ever again. And if anyone dared to do so would meet their end by my own hands.