Hindsight is 20/20

In the center of the living room, Michael sat, controlling his breathing. The morning fight was still fresh on his mind, and it stimulated his desire to become stronger. 10-star was so close, and with it – potential for amazing new abilities.

The cultivator ran relaxation technique number three, steadying his breath. Finally, his mind entered a semi-conscious state. Michael opened his eyes. Red-hot boiling magma was flowing through the air, passing corporeal objects without dealing damage. The room filled with steam that blocked his eyesight.

Inhale.

Molten fire streamed into the cultivator's veins, burning, enriching, revitalizing.

Exhale.

It bore into muscles, drilled into bones. Diffused with blood, bringing about copious amounts of energy.

Inhale.

Exhale.

First, there was chilling cold water. Then, comfortable warm one and, finally, liquid fire. Such was the path Mind Enhancement stage required Michael to walk.

He cultivated into the evening. When the clock hit ten, the energy settled into Michael's organs and flesh. This was the first time he remained in the semi-conscious state in a room empty of imaginary water. It all got sucked into his body.

"Host, congratulations on reaching cultivation 1-stage, 10-star. There are new abilities in the shop."

"Host is advised to purchase set of cultivation methods from the shop."

"Congratulations, host. Complimentary ability 'Smiling Calmly in Hot and Cold, Sun and Rain' given out."

Michael was familiar with the first message, got excited at the second and laughed at the third.

"Ha-ha, Glory, what is this? Every other ability is so straightforward and boring, but this one's name is flowery and elegant!"

[Smiling Calmly in Hot and Cold, Sun and Rain. After going through endless trial by fire and ice, cultivators forge their bodies and minds. They are able to set aside needs of the flesh to pursue a higher peak. Cultivator Passive Skill. Resistance to temperature and humidity. Cultivator Body. Cost: complimentary.]

Purchasing abilities in the shop was non-mandatory. Even without any of them, cultivators gained some benefits from the cultivation methods themselves.

"Woah, there's even a description. Glory, what is a cultivator body?"

"Host does not need to eat, drink, excrete waste. Intake of food will transform into energy. Breathing is necessary."

"I like your remark about breathing," joked Michael, "It's like someone already died because of sheer stupidity, and you had to include this advice to avoid being sued. I can't believe I never asked you this, but Glory, how many of you are there?"

"Cultivators are numerous among the leaves of the World Tree, host," said the program with dignity, "yet there is only one Splendid Glory!"

"Well said!"

Michael was sick and tired of trying to figure out whether there was an intellect behind the slightly robotic voice, so he ignored the emotion in it. It could be prerecorded or perhaps his question awakened the program's pride. Anyway, there was nothing he could do.

Two new abilities were waiting for him in the shop. These were the best 1-stage had to offer, so Michael studied them carefully. Both evolved from something, the first one – from Danger Sense.

[Intuition. Peak mental technique. Subconscious precognition of events before they happen. Cost: 500 glory points.]

The words "mental technique" told Michael that it was merely another empowerment of the mind, not an upgrade for the infolink. The infofield was an entity that contained every piece of knowledge of the world, and access to it was something Michael dreamed about. However, he'd have to wait.

The sucky Remembering Dreams evolved into something truly powerful.

[Lucid Dreaming. Peak mental technique. Preserves a part of the mind active when sleeping. Allows to do anything in dreamscape. Cultivation is possible with limited efficiency. Cost: 1000 glory points.]

"Glory, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. Look, Remembering Dreams is an excellent ability as long as it evolves into Lucid Dreaming."

"…"

Buy! Buy! Buy!

Michael spent points without restraint. After his clash with Anna's stepfather, he still had tens of thousands. His daily income increased to no less than 5,000, and he only spent half of that on LZD1.

Lucid Dreaming! Intuition! Perfect Visual Memory! Perfect Auditory Memory!

Together with two 10-star abilities, Michael purchased two memory upgrades that had been available for a long time. With this, everything in the shop was bought out by him. All but one.

Normal abilities' icons were square-shaped with rounded corners. They were greyed out when unavailable and glowed white when Michael had enough glory points. Those he had obtained were green.

This one was round and gold. It appeared right after the two memory abilities were purchased.

"Glory, what is this?"

[Hindsight is 20/20. Hidden ability. Condition: host must purchase all memory abilities from the shop. Cost: 20,000 glory points. Effect: hidden.]

"Ding! Quest issued. Reward: 3000 glory points. Objective: host, there is a hidden ability in the shop. Please, buy it."

Michael hesitated for a moment. He barely had enough, and he meant to get rid of some of his Disorders afterwards. Like bad eyesight or chronic shortness of breath. Not that they meant much anymore, but a full list of disorders stuck out like a sore thumb. Michael considered himself a perfectionist, always striving to do the best he could.

"Hindsight is 20/20. Isn't this a phrase that means if we could change our past, we wouldn't make mistakes? I…"

That was what happened to him. The differences between the two worlds were insignificant so far, but the time jump affected his life a lot. Oh, and a giant genetics-empowered comet. And Glory, of course.

"Hear that? You changed my life."

"…"

Still, he made mistakes. There was no escaping from them. Be it playing with Anna's feelings or neglecting his mother for a month in Russia, his new attempt at life was imperfect. On the other hand, his family was safe, he was rich and popular, and Leon was nowhere in sight. Overall, a B+. Maybe A-.

Click.

[Hindsight is 20/20… Effect: perfect memory of every single moment before and after purchasing this ability.]

Knowledge flooded Michael's brain. He had wanted to entertain himself by beating up Leon and meeting Alice again in his dreams that night, but now he realized how painful some memories might be.

Leon's visit to his house that ended everything. The way he licked Michael's tears off his cheeks, almost orgasming in delight. His calm yet gleeful voice that threatened to end Alice's life.

Alice! Her face, her touch, her kiss. Every moment they spent together, every word of love exchanged.

Anna, Dimitri, Alex, Pavel, someone's laughter, a child's face, Graves walking around with his hands behind his back, pain, alcohol, tears, Tai Chi training, finding out about LZD1…

Jumbled up, it all weighed on Michael, until one last image remained. His mom and dad's funerals.

"Fuck."

What a shitty life it was.

Dialing… "Yes?"

"Hi, Mr. Jones, it's me, Michael. I was wondering if you have a key to the roof of the building your office is in."

"Sure. Why, want to watch the sunrise with a girl?"

"Something like that. Do you mind?"

"Guess not. Come by the teachers' apartment building in 10 minutes."

"Thank you, sir."

'There was a bottle of vodka here somewhere. I should get rid of it anyway. Bad habit, dad. Don't want your health to decline, do we?'

With vodka in hand, Michael met with Jones and thanked him for the key. The teacher noticed the clear liquid in an unmarked glass bottle but thought it to be water.

'There. This door was open back then, before the school year started,' he put the key to use and got on the roof.

He wouldn't jump, of course. That idiocy was far behind him. No, he wanted to return to the place where it all began.

Hindsight contained countless possibilities. Influential companies to invest in, people to befriend. TV shows, cartoons, movies, comics – he remembered everything to a T. Inventions, medication, advertisements, start-ups and technology. That thing about Old Zhao's daughter. It all came together.

Michael sat on the ledge and took a swig of vodka. His Cultivator Body allowed him to feel the taste but took away the numbing sensation. There was no pleasure in drinking alcohol anymore, not that he ever found any in his past life. One time he needed it to cloud his mind, and it was useless.

He sulked for a good hour, thinking about the past.

"Tell me, Glory, is it possible to come back to the world I'm from?"

"Leaf traveling requires high cultivation."

Michael spit out a mouthful of liquor several floors down, "What? It is?"

"There are no limits for most powerful cultivators. Anything is possible."

"Ha-ha-ha! Good! Then, after I become strong, I will return to my old world, punish the assholes and reward the good guys! And then I'll jump from leaf to leaf and kill all Leons in existence! I swear!"

"Ding!"

"What?"

"…"

"Never mind. I need to cultivate more! And this knowledge of the future – I hate to steal others' ideas, but they're pretty good. Like Uber. Should I? And Bitcoin will appear in less than a month…"

It was Sunday, December 7th. Day 115 in this new world.

"I will turn 15 in a week. Alice is a month younger, Anna – another two months. Unbelievable, how much has changed since the day I killed myself. To fallen friends, to my beloved parents! To a new, better life!"

Michael poured a little alcohol off the roof in a sentimental gesture.

A few hours later, the sun was rising.

.