7
910words
Everything he had gained by stealing that song was finally being returned.
Then, the system switched the view.
A man covered in tattoos, skinny as a rail, with a haggard look, appeared in my line of sight.
I could barely recognize him until someone called out, "Noah?"
His dull eyes turned towards the voice, then quickly looked away once he saw who it was.
It was Noah's former middle school classmate.
I remembered this person because Noah's main target for bullying at school had been that scrawny little boy.
And now, the once-victim was tall, strong, and impressively well-dressed.
He called Noah's name from his car window, and a driver immediately got out to open the door for him.
"It really is you! What are you doing here?"
The man's driver blocked Noah's path, leaving him no escape.
Noah could only force an awkward laugh and try to flatter him. "Well, look at you, you've really made something of yourself."
"Don't I have you to thank for that?"
The man said with a fake smile, "Thanks to you dropping out, I had extra lunch money. Probably why I grew so tall."
"I remember you were always top of the class. The teachers always said you'd go far and told me not to bother arguing with you."
"Looking at you now, I'd say your achievements are even greater. Those tattoos must've hurt, huh? LOL."
After he'd finished mocking him, the man had his driver toss a few bills on the ground, saying it was for Noah's breakfast.
Noah, chewing on the filter of a cigarette, picked up the money one note at a time, then spat viciously at the car as it sped away.
"Pah! Who do you think you are? Just a petty upstart!"
"If I hadn't dropped out, I'd definitely be—"
Remembering the past, Noah abruptly shut his mouth.
He scratched his itchy skin—it had been too long since his last proper shower—and started worrying about where to scrounge a meal for the night.
Watching Noah leave, the system asked me how it felt to see their current state.
I sneered, "Meh. Pretty much what I expected."
The system immediately switched the scene for me.
"Then take a look at this. It'll definitely cheer you up."
This time, of course, it was Joel's turn. Besides him, I also saw Chloe, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.
"Chloe, wait for me! Wait up!"
Joel was dressed in rags, with a scruffy beard, leaning on two crutches, the empty legs of his pants dangling.
He'd clearly been without his legs for a long time; he was proficient on the crutches and actually managed to catch up to Chloe.
"Chloe, didn't you say you wanted a new bag? I bought this at the market today. See if you like it."
Chloe no longer had the well-maintained appearance from her days of luxury. She had aged.
Once, the three brothers had competed to shower her with attention and provide for her, but now all three were useless, offering no hope at all.
I had traveled through time and changed the past, disappearing from this world early.
After Chloe ran off with their father, their lavish life ended quickly when the man was arrested for debt.
Now, she was just trying her hardest to find some simpleton to take her in and had no patience for dealing with the poor and crippled Joel.
Chloe smacked the bag right out of Joel's hands.
"Look at this crap! I want Chanel! What is this? You trying to fob this knock-off crap off on me? Give it to a beggar!"
Thoroughly humiliated, Joel returned to the shack he called home. Their original house had long been repossessed by the bank to pay off debts.
He muttered to himself, saying he'd go beg in a busier spot to get enough money to buy Chloe a real Chanel bag.
Noah, returning from scrounging a meal, interrupted his rambling.
"A real one costs tens of thousands! You'd have to beg for a lifetime!"
That shut Joel up completely. The two of them listened to people outside their bridge underpass scrolling on their phones, talking about some scandal involving a crippled celebrity. The dark shack was filled with nothing but the sound of their breathing.
Before closing their eyes, they said in unison, "If only Mom were still here."
The system asked me, "Do you feel like this punishment isn't enough?"
I shook my head. "It's enough. Compared to a quick death, isn't decades of torment more terrifying?"
"Good."
The system opened the time-space door home for me. Stepping into the home I had left twenty years ago, before I could even process the emotions swirling inside me, I saw a familiar orange figure rubbing against my leg.
"Dodo? Dodo! Is it really you, Dodo!"
Overjoyed, I hugged my long-lost Dodo, then saw a familiar figure in the kitchen.
It was... Mom!
I had actually returned to when I was eighteen?
At this time, Mom hadn't gotten sick yet. I hadn't lost my family!
The system's voice was no longer its usual cold electronic tone but carried a gentle warmth.
"Congratulations, Host. You have completed the body-and-heart torment mission. This is a little extra reward for you."
"Go on, go enjoy your happy life."
