Ethan Zhang stared blankly at the cardboard box in his hands. Inside were the remnants of a decade-long career—an old company mug, a photo frame with a cracked corner, and a few notebooks filled with ideas that never saw the light of day.He had been fired. Just like that.
"Sorry, Ethan. It's not personal. The company's restructuring."The HR manager's voice still echoed in his ears.
Personal? It was personal. He gave them ten years of his life. Stayed late. Skipped holidays. Missed his anniversary dinner—twice. And for what? A pink slip and a half-hearted apology.
Ethan stepped out into the freezing rain, the kind that soaked through your coat and reminded you just how alone you were. No one was waiting for him at home. Not anymore.
His wife had left a month ago."You're not the man I married," she had said.
Maybe she was right. Maybe he had become someone else—a tired, bitter shell of the ambitious boy who once dreamed of building his own company.
He crossed the street without looking. A flash of headlights. A blaring horn. Then—
Darkness.
But when Ethan opened his eyes, it wasn't cold. It wasn't raining.And he wasn't standing in the street.
He was in his old dorm room.
The walls were still covered with stupid movie posters. The calendar said: May 2015.
And he was… twenty years old again.
"No way," Ethan whispered, touching his face. "Did I just… go back in time?"