A Second Chance

Bjorn's hands traced along his hairless chin.

A glance down at his phone's screen told him the exact date. Wednesday, April 26th, 2026.

After washing his face with cold water and confirming that he wasn't hallucinating, Bjorn wandered back out to the living room.

'I… I really traveled back in time!'

Just minutes ago, he had been performing in front of an audience of millions. The next, choking to death on poison. And now, minutes later, he was back ten years in the past.

Somehow, Bjorn still felt calm despite the ridiculous circumstances.

Some part of him even felt excitement at the possibilities.

'What is it everyone always said… I can't remember any winning lottery numbers, as for stocks… I can probably guess a few upstart companies that will do well.'

Aside from a few familiar company names that he'd learned in the past few years, the main source of knowledge brought back by Bjorn pertained to his college degree.

In his original life, he spent the next five years grinding through college courses while working a full-time job.

Wake up, work, study, sleep, repeat.

Even when he finished his degree, he failed to find a well-paying job immediately.

Still, the time opening had freed up a chance for the young man to pick up the long-since popular game of Grandiunon.

Despite already having been released for five years, it still crushed the entire gaming market. No one could challenge the world's greatest full-dive VRMMORPG.

It ruled casual gaming, PvE gamers, competitive, and Esports.

Despite joining the game five years after its release, Bjorn still managed to rise up to the top.

He was quickly scouted out of a local org he joined for fun, becoming a substitute for one of Europe's top teams, the Golden Boomerangs, GBoom for short.

His account was leveled by a group of assistants, and all of his gear was provided by the team.

Still, none of what he was given could match up to the supplies afforded by the top teams of any other regions.

In general, it was agreed that while playing the game yourself did take a considerable amount of time alongside practicing for tournaments, it was well worth it to obtain gear that perfectly fit one's playstyle.

With the near-infinite freedom in the game, it was impossible for gear picked out by someone else to perfectly match another player.

Bjorn's heart started to churn as he imagined the future.

'It's just some PvE, nothing I can't figure out! Peh, even if I've managed to avoid PvE my entire life- even ten years into the future- if it means winning the world championship and crushing my enemies, I'll do anything!'

Bjorn headed down to his basement, sweeping his arm across a desk covered in college notebooks.

Picking up one of them from the floor and opening to a blank page, Bjorn started scribbling a few notes on it.

He quickly jotted down his current situation, as well as a few company names, just in case he somehow forgot everything he was remembering currently.

After filling almost an entire page with notes, he flipped to the next open sheet, then began his true planning.

Finishing college, working, and finding a solid career?

Bjorn already had enough saved up to pay half of a semester of college, and he was fully prepared to repurpose that money.

It would be just enough to afford him a middle-of-the-line VR pod.

'I can make money through the game… right? I never really played the open-world part of the game, but I heard about people striking it rich right off the bat. Whatever, I'll just go for it! If the worst comes to worst, I'll still figure something out!'

After jotting down his finances and confirming that he just barely had enough to manage, he started his planning.

'Berserker Assassin was fun… but there was something I was craving to try, even if it was just on an alt account. I couldn't convince the org to level one for me, but I'm willing to bet it all on this!'

In the game, there were countless classes. Some were ordinary ones anyone could get, while others required certain criteria to be fulfilled.

What Bjorn was planning needed none of these special conditions.

–

First class-> Assassin

Class Change-> Mage

Class Upgrade-> Enchanter

Class Upgrade-> Artillery Mage

–

A class tree that made negative sense.

By changing classes instead of upgrading his original one, he would only be able to keep two of the class's skills, and they would be weaker than they were originally.

Furthermore, the tier-1 classes were generally weaker than upgraded classes, and having two of them was dumb. Only newbies who wanted to change roles would do something as stupid as a class change, and they always screwed up the future of their account.

The next few class upgrades also didn't make much sense- a support class, followed by switching back to a combat one, albeit a long-range, high damage, low attack speed one.

It was the exact opposite of what an assassin should be.

'Perfect! And if I can somehow get some slightly better versions of these as I play, I'll definitely take it!'

After confirming his plans, Bjorn cracked open his laptop and navigated to an online shopping site, Congo.

Seeing that the estimated arrival date was four days, he didn't hesitate to order a VR capsule, and his bank account balance immediately dipped toward zero.

'Hah, Mom and Dad are going to kill me. Hm… I really miss them.'

He hadn't spent much time with family in his college days, and after he began playing Grandiunon, it took up almost all of his free time.

To Bjorn, it almost felt like it'd been ten years since he really talked with them.

Even still they'd been willing to drive hours to show up and watch his first professional game.

'There's still a week left until the game's release. That's plenty of time to spend with them.'

-

-

A few days later.

Bjorn stepped forward, standing right in front of the newly installed VR pod.

Behind him, he could feel his parent's disapproving and scornful glares burning holes into his back. He had just wasted all of his savings on some stupid game.

'Heh. Mom, Dad, I'll show you. I struggled to make you interested in my last life; this time I'll turn the two of you into bonafide fans! I'm not stopping until I conquer this game and have the two of you leading the chants at the world finals!'

Bjorn couldn't smother the grin on his face as he stepped into the pod.