Application Rejected.
Frey stared at his computer screen, a deep frown etched on his face.
Just two words. And it was enough to ruin his morning.
Might as well ruin his entire life, too.
After all, it was his scholarship application, the one that he earnestly needed to continue his studies.
"Hey, what happened?"
Frey was in deep thought, when a sudden call from behind brought him back to his senses.
It was Mark, his dorm-mate.
He walked forward and handed him the iced Americano that he had ordered just a few minutes ago. "Why the long face?"
Frey slumped back in his chair, then closing his eyes, slowly muttered.
"My scholarship application just got rejected."
"What?" Mark almost screamed.
His reaction was, of course, appropriate. Because without that scholarship, an orphan like Frey would never be able to continue his studies in a prestigious university like theirs.
"And what's the reason?" He asked.
"Sophia scored five marks more. So, mine got rejected."
Mark nodded, then grabbed the chair next to him, thinking of something. After a long pause, he again spoke.
"I told you, not to pick a fight with that bald man. But you being you... Never listen."
Frey's eyes opened immediately.
"What with that look? Didn't I tell you a thousand times to stay on good terms with him? You wouldn't have lost marks on your last dissertation if you hadn't bothered him."
Frey sat silent, bowing his head.
Yeah, Mark's words made sense now.
He'd practically racked his brain for the last 20 minutes to discover where he had gone wrong.
He wasn't a slacker. He'd always worked hard and excelled in his studies.
He had to. Because it was his only leverage for a better life.
At the age of ten, Frey lost his parents in a car accident. Since the day he was orphaned, life had never been easy for him.
His parents were regular salaried corporate slaves, and just like other middle-class families, they too didn't have much savings.
Though he'd received a good chunk of money from their life insurance, he couldn't simply live depending on it entirely.
Food, rent, school fees, books; life had too many mouths to feed.
When he was a little older, he started taking side gigs. Be it delivering takeouts, wiping windows, or writing others' projects and dissertation papers, he'd done them all.
Alongside, he fought tooth and nail to secure this scholarship and entered this University.
It was one of the best universities in the country, and graduating from here would guarantee him a life that he'd always craved.
The tuition fee here was beyond his means. But that scholarship — it saved him.
This was given to the topper of the class, and it was renewed every semester.
That meant— 'Once your grade drops a little, you're out.'
For the past three years, Frey had consistently been the topper of his class, and naturally, the scholarship went to him.
But this semester, everything went wrong—and the reason was his argument with Professor Moore, the grumpy, ill-tempered professor famous for his brutality.
The result— he cut eight marks from Frey's dissertation, and just like that, Frey lost his scholarship.
Thinking about it, Frey sighed. He really shouldn't have picked a fight with him.
Suddenly, he realised.
He'd screwed up. Badly.
—
And, the day just went like that. Frey had spent his whole day in his dorm room.
Now that his scholarship was gone, he had to do something. He had to find a way so that he wouldn't have to drop out in his last semester.
He was so close to achieving his goal; he couldn't gamble with his future!
After all, Frey had never been the type to go down without a proper fight.
With a deep breath, Frey grabbed his jacket and headed downstairs.
He'd skipped lunch and dinner, and now his stomach growled in protest.
He needed something to eat to keep his head clear, and the convenience store across the street was the only place still open.
It was already quite late. Frey felt tonight the streets were emptier than usual.
He glanced at the convenience store across the street once, then stepped off the pavement to cross.
He'd barely reached the middle of the road when suddenly a blinding light slammed into his eyes!
Turning his head, he saw a huge truck barelling towards him at a terrifying speed!
It came out of nowhere in the empty street!
Frey tried to dodge...
But it was too late.
The truck hit him, throwing his body across the street. His head slammed on the pavement, and a sharp pain shot through him for a split second.
Then...
Slowly, his vision faded; finally, everything went dark.
—
Frey regained his consciousness.
At first, he felt nothing.
His body felt as light as a feather, as if it didn't carry any weight! He felt like he was floating in the abyss.
Then, slowly that feeling settled. He tried to remember what had happened.
The last thing he remembered was a truck slamming into him at a brutal speed.
Did he survive that accident?
Where was he now? In the hospital? Or in his dorm room?
He opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings. And suddenly...
Wait! Where is this place?
The room didn't look like a hospital room. Not his dorm room either!
It felt like someone else's bedroom!
But how did he end up here?
Frey was lost in thought, when suddenly he realised another thing.
He didn't feel any pain. And that was... Impossible!
He'd been in a life-threatening accident.
How come he didn't feel any pain? As if it disappeared overnight!
He glanced over his body. There was no bandage, not even a cut mark so far!
When did I heal? Why can't I remember anything? Did I lose my memory? A short-term memory loss? But—
Wait… my body? Why does it look so unfamiliar?
He glanced at his hands again. It looked so frail.. as if it were not his hands at all!
He remembered he had a cut mark on his left wrist, and now it'd just vanished!
Suddenly he felt something unsettling in his stomach.
Something was terribly wrong!
He looked around and spotted a mirror in one corner of the room. Getting out of bed, he almost ran towards it.
The moment he stood in front of the mirror, his breath hitched.
"What the hell is happening! This is not me!"