Chapter 1: The Time Capsule and the Big Plan

It was supposed to be just another morning. The same boring routine, the same old streets, the same teachers calling on him for the wrong answers. But today, Ren Takahashi knew that everything was about to change.

Unfortunately, before everything changed, he still needed to get out of bed.

The alarm clock blared at 7:00 AM sharp, vibrating violently on the bedside table. Ren slapped the snooze button, rolled over, and mumbled:

“Five more minutes won’t kill me.”

Of course, those five minutes became twenty-five minutes.

When he finally jerked awake, panic settled in.

“I’m late! I’m dead! I’m both!”

He threw off the blanket and tumbled to the floor, kicking over a half-empty can of soda that he had no memory of drinking. Grabbing his school bag in one hand and his sneakers in the other, he sprinted toward the door—only to catch his reflection in the hallway mirror. He was still wearing his pajamas.

“No way…” Ren groaned, realizing just how narrowly he had avoided stepping outside in bunny-patterned pants. He threw his head back and cursed the universe—or at least, whatever cruel force made mornings so unbearable.

He rushed back into his room, changing into his uniform in record time while continuing to rant at himself under his breath.

“I bet people in the future don’t even need clothes. They just… beam suits onto their bodies, right? Time travel tech and no pajamas. That’s the dream.”

And just like that, his mood lifted. Because Ren had a secret. A secret that made all his daily problems—late assignments, teachers, and even his social awkwardness—feel irrelevant.

Ren Takahashi had discovered a time machine.

A few weeks ago, Ren was exploring a part of town most people avoided: abandoned warehouses, hidden alleys, and dusty backstreets where nobody asked questions. It wasn’t like he had any grand reason to be there—just boredom and curiosity. But that’s when he stumbled across something that would change his life forever.

Inside a rusted, forgotten laboratory buried beneath layers of dust, Ren found it: a strange metal capsule no taller than a vending machine. It had blinking lights and the name “Chrono-9” scratched into the surface. A small note, barely legible, was taped to the side:

“DO NOT USE. PROTOTYPE MALFUNCTION.”

Naturally, Ren had done what any reasonable person would in that situation.

He ignored the warning and pressed every button he could find.

To his shock—and slight horror—the machine worked. He was transported back exactly two hours into the past. At first, he panicked. His head spun, and his stomach flipped, but eventually, he made it back to the present. And just like that, Ren’s mind began to race with possibilities.

If this machine really worked, then he could fix everything. Every mistake. Every embarrassing moment. Every lost opportunity. He could win bets, pass exams, and—most importantly—finally impress Hana Nishimura, the girl of his dreams.

It was the kind of power only a fool would misuse. And if Ren was anything, it was a fool with a time machine.

Today, Ren’s master plan was in full swing. He had already made a “minor adjustment” by traveling back one hour to guarantee his success in today’s baseball game bet. He knew the winning team and had placed a massive bet using all his savings. If everything went as planned, by the end of the day, he’d be filthy rich.

Rich enough to buy whatever he wanted.

Rich enough to finally ask Hana out without worrying about looking pathetic. Girls like confidence and money, right? Ren was pretty sure that’s how it worked.

He just needed to make it to the stadium on time and nudge things in the right direction to ensure the victory he already knew was coming.

Ren clambered into the time capsule, still giddy with excitement. The inside smelled faintly of metal and burnt wires, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was the thrill of bending time to his will.

With a quick glance at the cracked control panel, Ren set the date and time for exactly one hour ago.

“Okay, okay… Last time it worked. No way it messes up now, right?” he whispered to himself. The machine rumbled beneath him, glowing with a soft blue light. As it powered up, Ren could feel his body being pulled and stretched in every direction.

Then everything went dark.

And just as quickly as it started, it was over.

Ren blinked. He was standing in the exact same street, but now it was one hour earlier. The time jump had worked perfectly.

Ren pumped his fist in the air. “I’m a genius!”

Unfortunately, he celebrated too early.

As he stepped forward, his shoe got caught on a loose stone in the pavement, sending him flying face-first into a row of garbage bins. He hit the ground with a loud THUD, followed by the clatter of falling cans.

A group of schoolgirls nearby burst into giggles.

Ren scrambled to his feet, brushing dirt off his uniform as if nothing had happened. “Smooth, Ren. Real smooth,” he muttered under his breath, trying to ignore the laughter behind him.

But no matter. He was too close to victory to let a little humiliation slow him down.

Ren reached the baseball stadium just in time. He grinned as he watched the game unfold exactly the way he remembered it. Every play, every hit—it was all going according to plan.

His bet was guaranteed to win.

But as the game reached its climax, something strange happened. A player that Ren distinctly remembered scoring the winning run wasn’t on the field. Instead, the team had substituted him with someone else.

Ren frowned. “Weird…” he muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. But there was no time to dwell on it. The game ended, and his team still won—just as he knew they would.

He rushed to the betting counter to collect his winnings, only to be handed a stack of cash far smaller than he’d expected.

“Hey, wait a second! This isn’t the right amount.”

The cashier gave him a bored look. “Odds changed at the last minute. What you see is what you get, kid.”

Ren stared at the money in disbelief. Something was off. The timeline wasn’t following the script as closely as it should have.

Then it hit him: Even tiny changes could have ripple effects. The butterfly effect. One small change in the past could throw everything out of sync.

And things were only about to get worse.

Undeterred by the minor hiccup, Ren set his sights on his next goal: winning over Hana.

There was one moment in the past that haunted him—a moment where he completely embarrassed himself in front of her. If he could just go back and redo that moment, everything between them would change.

Hana would finally see him as someone cool, someone worth dating.

Ren climbed back into the time capsule, setting the coordinates for that humiliating day.

“Okay, no mess-ups this time. I’ve got this.”

The machine hummed to life, and within moments, Ren found himself standing outside the school gates, back on the fateful afternoon where everything had gone wrong.

He took a deep breath. This time, I’ll say the right thing. No awkward jokes. No tripping over my words. Just cool, smooth confidence.

At first, everything went perfectly. Ren approached Hana, apologized for his previous awkwardness, and made a clever joke that even got her to smile. For the first time, she looked at him with something other than polite indifference.

Ren’s heart soared. “This is it! The perfect timeline!”

But just as he was about to suggest hanging out after school, something strange happened.

The world around him flickered. For a brief moment, it was as if reality glitched, like a scratched DVD. Hana’s smile faltered, and her expression became distant—almost like she wasn’t really there anymore.

Ren blinked in confusion. “Hana?”

Then he noticed it: The sky above them was shifting. Colors bled into each other, and the ground beneath his feet felt… unstable.

His wristwatch, an ordinary analog model, started spinning backward at an impossible speed.

“No, no, no… What the hell is happening?” Ren whispered, panic creeping into his voice.

Time itself was coming apart at the seams.

Ren had no choice but to dive back into the time capsule and return to the present. But when he arrived, he knew instantly that something had gone terribly wrong.

The city around him was different. The buildings were taller, the streets more advanced, and strange technologies hummed quietly in the background.

Ren’s heart sank. This wasn’t the Tokyo he knew.

And worst of all… Hana was nowhere to be found.