It was early evening, around 7 p.m., on the bank of a river that ran through the City of Old Port.
A silhouette emerges from the water with difficulty. Then, panting, it collapsed onto the short grass.
"Pant, pant."
The figure spends a few minutes catching its breath. Once its breathing finally stabilized, it cursed at the top of its lungs.
"Damn!"
After a few more seconds of silence, it finally sat down on the grass and began to look around.
"Where am I?" This place looks familiar, but it also feels strange and out of place, as if it were the same but different. Ah, fuck it."
He searches for his clothes, feeling around in his pockets until he finds a cell phone and a wallet. He pauses for a few seconds, staring at the wallet, unsure if it is really his.
"This wallet isn't mine...or is it?"
He opens the wallet and rummages through it in the dark, pulling out papers, an ID, and a Polaroid-style photo. The papers seem to be grocery receipts, saved for some unknown reason. The ID looks like his but has a photo of his younger self, maybe 18 years old. He remembers the Polaroid photo.
"I thought I lost this photo. Why is it here?"
The photo shows the most important people in his life: His younger brother, Kailo, who is four years younger, and his childhood friend, Sam.
They were at an amusement park, smiling from ear to ear. He fondly remembers that day, since just a few months later, tragedy struck for the first time.
He's known Sam since he was young, even before Sam's brother was born. Their parents were old friends from school who worked together, so the two boys were always inseparable. When Kailo was born, the trio was complete. Even though Kailo was younger, they never excluded him from anything.
Whatever they did, they always found a way to include the youngest.
Kailo, the younger brother, wasn't as energetic as them, but he was smart—too smart. He had always been a quick learner, and he thought fast and precisely.
When they were 16 and Kailo was 12, their parents disappeared in a plane crash.
Since neither he nor his brother nor Sam had any blood relatives, a family friend took responsibility for them so they wouldn't have to grow up in an orphanage.
They had been sharing a small apartment ever since. Their parents' savings were handed over to them, and their family friend, Uncle Carlos, always came by to make sure the pantry was stocked.
After standing there for a few minutes, reminiscing about the past, he snapped out of his trance and resumed his search.
Finding nothing else, he reaches for his cell phone.
At first, he tries to turn it on, but nothing happens. Thinking it might have shorted out from the water, he taps it a few times, as if trying to shake the water out of the device. He tries to turn it on again.
This time, the screen glows for a few seconds. But before it can turn on, the screen goes dark again.
"No, no, no! Turn on, you old piece of junk!"
Just as he's about to give up, the phone lights up again, right after it goes dark. This time, it's much brighter. The light shines intensely, and when the man tries to close his eyes, he realizes he can't.
His gaze is fixed on the phone. As the light burns his retina, he sees several lines of code behind it. Then, a beam of light enters his forehead.
Shortly after, the phone returns to normal and an update screen appears.
[Emergency update in progress. Ends in: 7 hours, 59 minutes, and 47 seconds!]
"What?"
But before he can figure out what happened, excruciating pain takes over his head.
Then, a flood of memories takes over his mind. Memories just like his own, but slightly different.
He remembers his favorite TV shows, but in these shows, people have powers, and he knows they're real:
There are news reports showing people fighting real monsters.
He remembers his school classes, like biology and animal science, but the animals are all kinds of different: magical and colossal.
Everything is similar and different at the same time: history, physics, anatomy.
He remembers his precious memories, but with slight differences.
Then, the pain stops at the memory of coming home late from a part-time job.
He took a small detour to stop by a bakery that he knew would be open late to buy a cake to celebrate his little brother getting the highest grade on the last exam. Suddenly, a strong wind caused by someone flying pushed him off the bridge and into the river.
The thought that flying within the city walls was forbidden crosses his mind. But this thought is quickly replaced by clarity about his situation.
He had somehow ended up decades younger in an urban fantasy world.
No, that's incorrect. He didn't enter the body of a younger version of himself. It would be more accurate to say that he merged with his younger self. He is still his younger self while also being his older self.
Ethan Davis. That is his name.
They are the same person.
They have the same nature, strengths, and feelings.
But the worlds are different. In this world, magic and technology go hand in hand.
People here cultivate mana. They use it to strengthen their bodies or cast spells.
It's just like those novels and comics he's read so much.
"Wow... This is strange and fantastic at the same time!"
He shakes his head, wondering if he'll gain a special power like the protagonists did.
"No, just having transmigrated was magical enough. I can't believe something like a cheat ability from those novels would happen to me."
Just having these memories of my older self is great. Even if not everything happens the same way, maybe I can still make the most of it. It's practically a second chance!"
Ethan sat on the grass for a few more minutes, sorting through his thoughts and memories.
After all, his 40 years of memories had merged with his 18 years of memories. There was also the magical factor that made the memories strange. Sometimes he remembered the version without magic and sometimes the version with it.
Then he realized. That was his reason for taking the detour.
"Oh, damn! I don't have time for this! It's Kailo's party. He's more important. I'll think about this later."
He grabs his phone to check the time but is once again met with a frozen loading screen. He also realizes this isn't his phone. It isn't the new Ethan's phone but the old Ethan's.
"Why did this phone come with it? Never mind. Where's my phone? The other phone?!"
Ethan searches along the riverbank until he finds the phone. He tries to turn it on, and it turns on normally.
Even though it's an old phone, technology has advanced so much that a little water wouldn't ruin it.
"Oh man, I've already wasted half an hour. I hope the bakery is still open!"
After putting both phones away, he runs off to achieve his goal.
His younger self tries to play the role of the doting older brother.
His older self is excited to see his little brother again after more than a decade apart.
About half an hour later, at around 8 p.m., he arrived at the small apartment where he lived with his brother and Sam.
It's a very small apartment with just one bedroom.
After their parents passed away, they left a substantial amount of savings for him and his brother. Wanting to save as much as possible for his brother's future education, he chose to move to a smaller, cheaper apartment.
Sam did the same for his studies, so they moved into this one together.
The location is relatively good, which makes up for the size. Plus, it belongs to a family acquaintance who gave them a discount.
Kailo gets the only bedroom since he is the oldest and needs his own space to study in peace. Ethan and Sam share the living room; one sleeps on a mattress on the floor, while the other sleeps on the more comfortable sofa.
Arriving at the door, Sam pauses for a few seconds. Once again, memories run through his head.
This time, they are memories of the old Ethan—memories he doesn't want—of how a tragedy destroyed his family.
He wonders if that tragedy will repeat itself in this alternate world. Probably, since everything he experienced on Earth has a version here.
Some are almost the same, while others are very different yet still relatable.
He stands still for a few minutes at the door, holding a small box of cake. He is paralyzed by the idea that this could happen in Alva.
Alva, not Earth. Alva is the name of this world, where he won't drown in regret.
Determined to prevent what happened to the older Ethan from happening here as well, he steps out of his painful memories with a determined look.
With a goal in sight, his attention turns to his current objective: the front door.