Terrence now understood what had happened.
The reason why he fell from the sky was because of the disturbance when he was time travelling.
When he fell, his soul landed on what they call Planet 15.
The system explained the Earth's universe was higher than Planet 15, although they're just side by side. A thin barrier in the middle separated the two to prevent something like this from happening.
However, he jut managed to bypass that barrier, leading to this.
The two universes were similar to each other. The Earth sends signals to Planet 15 through space about everything happening in its universe. Planet 15 would then try to copy and mimic what was happening on Earth.
Now, the difference between the two universes would occur if Planet 15 can't fully process the signal sent to it.
And since Earth was higher than this universe, when his soul officially became bodiless, this body kicked away its original soul to give him a place.
So, what happened to the original owner of the body?
The system only answered that the original soul of this body probably sought refuge in another universe as well.
"So, you mean that this is me in just another universe? Like a parallel universe?"
[Yes, Host. That's right.]
Terrence was amazed at how everything worked. He found it amusing. He didn't know that there were different universes other than Earth.
"So, how many universes are there in total?" He asked. He wanted to know more information about it.
[There's currently a total of 26 universes.]
"So, that means there's a total of 26 me too?"
[Yes, Host.]
"Woah…" Terrence was left speechless. However, despite his amusement, he still can't help but worry.
"But what about my original body? Can't I go back there?" He asked.
[Unfortunately, Host, that is not possible. Since your time travelling took place in this universe, your body on Earth is dead already.]
Even though he was already expecting that answer, he still couldn't help but be disappointed.
He already accepted that he had died.
However, he doesn't know the lengths of the changes in this universe compared to Earth.
That became a big problem for him.
He can't even predict what will happen in the future because of everything.
"Can you give me the memories of the original owner of this body, then?" Terrence sighed.
If he will be the new owner of this body, he might as well know about everything he can.
Even though he felt guilty about what happened to his other self, he just consoled himself that it wasn't his fault why that happened. Based on what the system said, his other self must have been transmigrated to his other body in another universe, too.
[Unfortunately, Host, I can't.]
"Huh?" Terrence's eyes widened. How can he live normally if he doesn't even know all the details of himself?
[I was only created while you were time travelling. Any occurrence on a person's body before my creation is past my knowledge. My knowledge about the past was only the facts and data that were recorded and already established. ]
"Shit."
Terrence does not know what to do.
At this rate, he will decide to just act like himself. Since he learned that the two universes work just the same, maybe there wasn't much difference between him and this body.
He just needs to observe for a while.
But before all of that, he still needs to accomplish the task that his mom gave him.
Terrence looked at the time on his phone. It was already 4 in the afternoon. He didn't notice that he had spent a long time talking to the system.
Terrence sighed. He stood up, took a bath, and changed his clothes. He went to his parents' room after.
Just like what Tiana instructed him earlier, Terrence took the money out of his mother's bag.
In total, he was able to get $10.
"I wonder what I can do with this?" he asked.
He was weirded out when he saw such a small amount of money. Maybe it was because in his past life, the price skyrocketed so much. $10 like this won't even afford anything.
Terrence went out of his house. He decided to walk and explore the area that was already familiar yet distant to him.
As Terrence walked around, he felt a heavy feeling in his heart. The area that they were currently in looked so much better. There was no blood on the ground or even corpses of people just lying down at the side of the road.
Everything looked peaceful and beautiful. There were trees all around, and the air was fresher. There was no foul odour.
The people in the town looked healthy. He saw some kids playing around, making the atmosphere lively.
Everything felt and looked better now that he had gone back in time.
'I just hope that this won't change in 2 years,' He silently wished.
Terrence bitterly smiled. How he missed seeing such views. In his past life, when the HNT virus was discovered, everything completely changed.
He shook his head. 'That's still unsure,' he uttered.
Terrence arrived at a small grocery store in their town. This was the only grocery store available in their area. Because there was no competition, the prices in this grocery store were much higher compared to the ones in the city.
Terrence opened the door and went inside. Even though his entrance caught the people's attention, he went straight to the cooked selection.
He was surprised when he saw the prices in the selection. Among all of them, the lowest price was $7, which was only hotdogs on buns.
That won't even fill them up.
'This grocery store selection is exploiting the people with its unjust prices,' Terrence became disappointed when he realized it.
However, he can't do anything about this yet. In order for him to do whatever he wants, then he will need power.
And what can put him there? Money.
Lots and lots of it.
So, he needs to figure out how the system works first.
Without a choice, he decided to just buy a rotisserie chicken that cost $9. It was the best choice he could find among all the selections.
Terrence went to the cashier to pay straight ahead since he had no spare money to buy more things.
"Is this all that you're going to buy?" The old woman who was the cashier rudely asked. Her thin and uneven eyebrows were raised up high.
"Yes."
"Buy more things. The minimum spend here should be $20."
Terrence's forehead creased. He looked around to see any signs or posters saying there should be a minimum spend here.
"There's no sign that says that," he reasoned out.
"So? I am the cashier here. I get to decide all of that." The old woman beamed. "Poor people like you don't really know anything."
"Fine, then." He was not willing to be exploited just like that.
Terrence walked towards the door's direction, which scared the old woman.
"Y-You! What are you doing? That's stealing!" Out of panic, the old woman stood up and ran towards Terrence.
Terrence smiled sweetly. "I am poor, so I don't know anything," he answered in a sarcastic manner.
"I'll tell you to the police for stealing!" The old woman threatened.
"Who says I'm stealing?" Terrence scoffed. He took out the dollar bills in his pocket and counted 9 dollars.
"Here." Terrence threw the money at the woman's face.
"Y-You!!!!"
Terrence went straight out of the door. He didn't mind the old woman's shout. However, he regretted leaving immediately.
Terrence adjusted the way he held the container of the rotisserie chicken. He should have at least taken a plastic before leaving.
"She looked like a gorilla, and she's acting like that?" He mocked before he stopped walking.
Terrence got curious. He looked back to check on the woman from the glass panels. He saw that she was already picking up the bills he threw on the ground.
'It just served her right.' He thought.
He was about to continue walking when he heard a sound.
[Ding! You gained 20 exp for your purchase.]