1 Chapter 1: What is Time, if not a series of new chances?

Leon stood in his studio apartment with two men in very expensive suits and shades.

"You cost the New Star Alliance six planets and two stargates. Those losses mean the loss of at minimum, 100 billion dollars. This is not something you could afford to compensate."

Thug 1's words struck Leon like a sledgehammer. Sure, he had his starship boarded by a patrol just outside of the stargate leading to the system of some of those planets, but the New Star Alliance was the one who planned his route and his smuggling trip. He was just following the orders of the guild leaders.

Leon tried to defend himself, but he was cut off by a strike with a pistol across his head. He fell to the ground in a semi-conscious state. He felt his body being lifted and something rough being put around his neck. Then, he felt himself fall, nothing supporting his feet and the rough thing around his neck tighten up, slowly strangling him.

'This is how I go out, huh? If only I hadn't joined the New Star Alliance guild back, then. The bastards never paid me like they promised and restricted me with the contract they asked me to sign. So many loopholes for them and penalties for me if I stepped one toe out of line.'

Leon's vision started to fade out. His life was over, and he knew it. From someone with great potential in Eternal Universe to killed for doing what he was told by his 'masters'.

'If I could do it again, I would become strong enough to destroy those bastards!'

Those were the last thoughts of a dying man.

…

Light spilled through a window onto Leon's eyes, rousing him from the darkness of unconsciousness. He opened his eyes, blinking at the light, then sat up. The room he was in was familiar. Not the studio apartment he had seen for the last 10 years, but the one he had before being 'given' the one near their headquarters. In hindsight, an obvious trap.

"All the better to eat you with, my dear."

Leon shook his head to clear his mind, then climbed out of bed and found everything like he remembered when he had been 'free'. There was a calendar sitting on a desk, the date shown, today was to be the launch date for Eternal Universe.

'What is going on?' he wondered.

He checked his phone, finding that it was his old one, and saw it matched his memories.

'Could I have gone back in time or is this some sort of afterlife?'

He pinched his cheek and felt pain.

"It's real?" Leon said, stunned that this could be happening.

He had 20 years of Eternal Universe information floating in his head. He could earn tons of money and deny the bastards lots of benefits that they had last time.

'Those bastards, I will destroy them!'

A dark smile appeared on Leon's face.

Knock Knock Knock.

The sound of someone at his door shook him out of his dark thoughts. He opened it and saw a delivery man with a package. A thumbprint later he sat the package on his bed. Inside the package was a Dive headset and the game Eternal Universe. The game had been set to be delivered to everyone worldwide on the day of launch, and only came in a package deal with the headset to play the game, or the Dive pod package which Leon obviously couldn't afford.

There was still some time until Leon needed to log in for the first time, so he left his apartment and went to a corner store for some quick easy food, then back to his room. The headset felt comfortable on his head as he lay there waiting the last few minutes until the launch.

3...2...1...Launch.