By the time Arthur realized what was happening, it was too late.
He panicked and tried to open the microwave's door as fast as he could, but the door was locked tight by the sparking metal inside and was not opening no matter how much he tried and pulled the door. He crouched and tried to pull from the wall. He was just reaching for the cord when—
BOOM!!!
The microwave exploded, and the whole library caught on fire. The blast threw Arthur backward. He was on fire. His clothes and hair instantly burned. Arthur was burning and screaming in pain…
…
…
…
My dreams…
My family's dreams…
Mom…
Dad…
What will happen to them?
Who will take care of them?
No. I… don't wanna…
I don't wanna die yet…
Not like this…
Just give me one more chance!!
[Ding!!!]
What's this?
[The most unique system has detected a match.]
[Hosting Initiated!]
What's going on…?
[System activation Successful!]
[Welcome, Host.]
Haah! Haah!
Haah! Haah!
Haah! Haah!
Arthur was panicking. He was breathing heavily. He clearly remembered that he burnt to death.
A dream? Was it all a dream?
He looked around. He was still standing right in front of the microwave. His body was shaking. He looked down at his hand. He was still holding his phone. The screen was still on the download page. He was beside Allison, who was still holding the pizza.
"What happened, Art? You're just staring at the microwave like you've seen a ghost. Is something wrong with it?" Allison asked with a confused expression.
"Did… did you feel that?" Arthur was panicked. His breath was heavy.
"Feel what, baby? Are you okay?" Allison asked, her confusion turned to concern.
"Don't start the microwave. It's not working properly. I... I just need a minute." Saying that Arthur walked quickly to the front desk and sat on a chair.
Arthur was still staring at his phone screen. He turned off the phone. His body was still shaking.
What was that? I clearly felt myself burning… I felt the pain… What just happened?
He checked his full body, and it was fine. No skin damage, no blood. Only his heart was pounding very fast. And his breath was heavy, but other than that, he was completely unharmed. He felt like his body had just restarted.
Did I just reincarnate? Into my own body, just before the accident? Ugh! I'm not feeling good. I should head back to my home.
[Welcome, Host.]
A semi-transparent panel appeared in front of Arthur. Seeing the panel and hearing a lite notification 'Ding' sound, his head buzzed with shock.
"What is this? Is this thing just saved my life?" Arthur asked as he felt shocked. Allison came to her and sat on his lap but was not bothered with that semi-transparent panel.
Isn't she bothered by this? Could it be that she can't see it? I can't tell if any of these things actually happened… Or if they were part of a dream.
He looked at the semi-transparent panel again. It was floating in the air like a hologram made of light and glass. The edges glowed blue.
[Welcome, Host.]
Then lines of text started to appear.
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[Host: Arthur Johnson]
[Connection: Stable]
More text appeared, one line at a time
[> Initializing core functions…]
[> Scanning…]
[> Decrypting data flow…]
[> Access granted.]
The light from the panel reflected in Arthur's eyes. He doesn't know what to do except watch.
[Finalizing…]
Suddenly he felt a headache. It was so painful that he held his head with both hands. He felt as if a sudden knowledge of computers and hacking skills burst into his brain.
Arthur, who was a novice in computer skills and didn't know anything about hacking a few seconds ago, now felt like he was omnipotent in computers and hacking.
What happened, baby? Is your head hurting? Allison asked worryingly, seeing his reaction.
"No… I just, I don't feel good. Can you just… take me home, please?" His headache was gone now. He was in shock. The sudden arrival of knowledge of hacking completely shocked Arthur.
"Okay, love. It's already 6:00. I'm going to get the car. You wait here, okay, love?" Allison said and grabbed her keys and headed out the door.
Arthur turned his attention back to the semi-transparent panel floating in front of him.
[You have received the Starter Pack.]
[Skill Obtained: Computer (Max Level)]
[Skill Obtained: Hacking (Max Level)]
Arthur stared at the semi-transparent panel, completely shocked.
Wow… This is a total game changer. So, I didn't just get a second chance... I got a cheat code. And if this is just the starter pack... I can't even imagine what's next. This is insane!
[New Information is still in process.]
[Processing…]
Arthur waited for a few minutes, but the text was the same.
Dammit! Why is this thing still processing? I'm so excited, and this processing is killing the mood.
Arthur wanted to try something out. He thought, 'System close.' The semi-transparent panel disappeared in an instant. Then he thought, 'System.' The semi-transparent panel appeared once again.
[New Information is still in process.]
[Processing…]
Fuck this process!
Arthur closed the system panel when he heard a car horn. He got up, locked the library's front door, and went outside.
He got into the front passenger seat of Allison's car. She was looking at him, her face full of concern.
"Babe, don't worry. I'm okay now. And… sorry about earlier." Arthur said, trying to reassure her.
"It's okay... but what happened to you? You were breathing really hard after looking at that microwave, and now you're sweating, even with the AC on. I just don't understand. Can you please just tell me what's going on so I can stop worrying? She asked.
"I wish I could explain, but I don't even know what happened. I can't tell if it was real or just… a horrible dream." Arthur said with his shaky voice.
"A dream? What dream?"
"I saw it. Or maybe I just felt it. I don't know. I saw myself hand you my phone, and you… you put it in the microwave by accident. And then it exploded. We… we both burned to death, Allison."
"Oh my god, babe. Nothing like that happened. Look, I'm fine, you're fine, and the library is perfectly okay. We're safe. You're just exhausted from all the packing and stress. You must have just imagined it." She said while reaching over to put her hand on his arm.
Arthur thought of System, and it appeared in infront of him.
I know, babe. But I can't explain it, as you can't even see this. I know that was real, and I got a second chance.