The Restarted Life

(Narrated by Ethan)

It started with a text.

A single message, sent by me to , James, Aren, and Marcus.

Same sender. No name. No number. Just:

"Meet at Room 14, 9 PM."

(Narrated by Aren)

We didn't usually answer mysterious summons like this.

But something about it felt… unavoidable.

And when you've lived our kind of life, you learn that ignoring the wrong invitation can be more dangerous than showing up.

So we went.

Room 14 was dimly lit, smelling faintly of dust.

A square table sat in the middle. Four chairs. Four glasses of water.

No one else was there.

We sat. No one spoke. The air was heavy enough to choke on.

Then

BZZZT.

All our phones buzzed at the exact same moment.

We glanced at each other before checking.

Two words, bright red: RESTARTED LIFE

Underneath:

"System initializing… your new life begins now."

I didn't even have time to ask what it meant.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gunfire erupted from the shadows.

The impact knocked me sideways in my chair.

My vision blurred. I could hear Marcus gasp, James's chair crash to the floor…

And then darkness swallowed everything.

When I opened my eyes again… I was in a classroom.

Students were laughing, talking, passing notes.

The teacher called my name, asking me a question.

I froze.

Was this a dream?

I remembered getting shot — the pain, the blood — but… what came after that?

I pulled out my phone.

A new message from an unknown number:

"You have been successfully transferred to your past."

It wasn't just me.

James, and Marcus… all three of us got the same message.

Aren: I was the first to wake up. I didn't know where the others were, or if they were even alive.

James: Two minutes later, I woke up in the same way in class, surrounded by familiar teenage faces.

Marcus : Same for me. The same message was waiting.

A new line appeared on all our phones:

Task #1: On the second floor, a student has a pendrive. You must take it within 3 minutes.

A timer began ticking down.

James: My mission was slightly different — I had to take the pendrive from the person sitting to the left of him.

Marcus : Mine was from the person on his right.

We all rushed to the second floor, entering the classroom at the same time.

We saw each other… but said nothing.

The message had included a warning:

"If you tell anyone about this, you will be executed immediately."

Unfortunately, Marcus couldn't keep his mouth shut.

He blurted out, "Did you both also get the same message?"

CRACK!

A sniper's bullet tore through him in front of everyone.

Marcus : I died instantly… and then woke up again. Same scene. Same classroom.

But this time, when I went to the second floor, no one was there except me.

(Explanation: Marcus was now one task behind Aren and James.

When he got shot, he returned to an earlier moment in time — before Aren and James had done their missions.

Since they had already completed their tasks in their own timeline, they weren't there.)

Marcus took the pendrive.

Instantly, he was back in class again… but no new message came.

Curious, he went back to the second floor — and found Aren and James waiting there.

He had finally caught up.

After the mission, the day passed normally.

Class ended, students went home.

But someone was watching us from near the school gates.

He walked away… like he had never existed.

Aren: If I'm right… I'm in my teenage body again. Which means… I still have time.

To be continued....