"How did it all end like this…."
An old homeless woman leaned against a pile of trash, her head bleeding and her consciousness nearly vanished.
She looked toward a gang of thugs who, with satisfied expressions, were tidying their trousers and looking back at the old woman with disgust.
"Tch, damn… didn't expect this rotten beggar to be hiding in the trash like this." One of the thugs threw his cigarette butt to the ground, stomping on it until it was extinguished. His face wore a satisfied smirk. "But hey, the body was still good after all. Hahaha!"
"What did I tell you? You really do love leftovers. If she hadn't fought back, she wouldn't be beaten up like this, you dog. Even her head is leaking, tck tck tck…." muttered the man beside him while shaking his head with a mocking grin on his face.
"Hahaha! Fight back? Oh please, she's old, poor, and still trying to act tough. Look at her now, gasping like a dried fish. Kinda pitiful… but who cares. Her life is already like trash anyway."
"Ehhh, but what if she dies? We could get caught in a case later."
"Pffttt—. hahaha-!! Have those police ever cared about stuff like this? Of course not, idiot. Even if they were told to, they wouldn't want to. They're probably busy with illegal levies right now."
Another thug approached and kicked the trash near the old woman, making her head jerk slightly. "Hey, ma'am… how does it feel? Good being a street pet, huh? Hahaha!"
They laughed loudly, the raucous sound filling the narrow alley. Once satisfied, they left while singing nonsensically, leaving the old woman sprawled out—her clothes torn, her body full of wounds, her legs broken, and her blood mixing with the rain that had begun to fall.
In the silence of that cloudy night after the thugs had gone, with what little consciousness remained, she could only writhe as her breath hitched, unconsciously shedding tears.
'M-Mama…. Papa…. I-I'm sorry your daughter couldn't become what you expected…. Grandpa….'
Gradually, the rain began to fall, until the small drizzle in the night sky turned into a rainstorm in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Jakarta.
Sherly Theodora Suryajaya—or at least, that was the name she remembered and heard before the downfall of herself and her family after the 1998 Reformation era. Once, that name shone on Forbes boards, in magazines, at gala dinners. An only child of a massive conglomerate. Everyone was envious; everyone bowed.
Now?
She was nothing but a living corpse, spat upon by the world.
Was this just a political trap? A betrayal by her subordinates? Or…. Was this the accumulation of all the karma and mistakes she committed in her youth?
She didn't know where it all began; she had lost the hope to live.
Sherly regretted that she could only realize everything was too late and would never return to the way it was before.
What was clear to her was that her life was over…..
The rainstorm in the night, which was now quiet despite the urban bustle, buried all the emotions and consciousness of the old homeless woman whose body was now beginning to turn pale amidst the expanse of trash carried by the stagnant gutter water beside her.
Among the piles of trash drifting in the downpour, Sherly's body slowly grew cold, her eyes empty. Jakarta remained busy in the distance, but in that alley, one life vanished in silence.
Truly a pathetic life for a beautiful girl who lived glamorously and was arrogant, saturated with worldly things….
The end of a rich princess… who died like a street rat.
… Or so it seemed…
.....
....
...
...
"Miss Sherly… Miss Sherly…. We have arrived at the school."
A beautiful girl with a face and body like a Barbie doll, with long jet-black hair flowing down and wearing a distinctive high school uniform, tried to open her eyes from her sleep, her head resting near the window of a Mercedes Benz S Class.
'Ermmm…. Miss…? School….?'
A title and a place she hadn't heard in a long time.
'Ahhh… Is this my flashback before I die…?'
She had once read about such things in a book she found at her grandfather's funeral.
Only….
"Why does the heat of the sun feel so real…?"
Sherly rubbed her eyes and looked out the window where her private maid and her driver were waiting for her to wake up.
"Sister Dianna…? Uncle Hendrik…?"
When she saw those two people, Sherly unconsciously shed tears.
'No, this can't be real….'
She wanted to think that way, causing silence for a few moments. However, those gentle expressions and smiles were truly not a lie.
Trying to confirm this for herself by biting her own tongue, Sherly felt a sharp pain, even to the point of bleeding. Despite that, her eyes did not leave the two people who began to panic when they saw blood flowing from the young girl's lips.
"M-Miss!! Is there something wrong with your condition??!!"
"Brother, maybe she has internal injuries! Quickly take her to the hospital before it gets worse!!" Dianna pushed Uncle Hendrik with trembling hands and an expression almost ready to jump into the driver's seat, but before he could step on the gas, Sherly immediately stopped him in a hurry.
"W-Wait, I just accidentally bit myself!! Stop it—!!"
After she said that, Dianna—driven by momentary euphoria—immediately tried to argue that Sherly must go to the hospital, while Hendrik wanted the girl to go into school, and they only now realized they were involved in a pointless debate about those two things.
Unfortunately, the mind of the girl who was the subject of the conversation was thinking about something else.
'Sister Dianna and Uncle Hendrik, they were the people loyal to me; they even died trying to help me escape the fury of the rioting mobs when we were on our way back from our family business that had defaulted, causing many people to be unable to withdraw their money on time before the inflation worsened…'
'At least, now I can meet them again even if this is only a dream…'
Her tears didn't stop when she realized that she now had the life she once dreamed of while being homeless in Jakarta; instead, her tears flowed even more heavily when she looked around her.
'Did I really ride in a car this clean and luxurious back then…? And also this… a lunch box?!! Why did I never appreciate this…? Why,,,!!!"
With trembling hands, Sherly tried to feel her whole body only to realize that her skin was now as smooth as silk with clearly visible body curves—or one could say, she was very sexy.
She also had soft white skin and smelled fragrant.
This was truly different from her self before the regression.
Sherly asked for permission from the two people who were debating, saying she didn't feel well and wanted to walk for a moment by the river to clear her mind.
Only when she stepped out of the car and walked slowly beside the river covered in grass, looking up at the clear sky while taking a deep breath, did Sherly fully accept that all of this was not nonsense.
"I've really returned to the past…." she murmured in a faint voice while closing her eyes, still facing the sky, spreading both her arms to give thanks for what was happening to her right now.
She tried to hold it back, tried only to laugh and smile, but she couldn't.
Without her realizing it, tears flowed again from her eyes, and now they truly flowed more heavily, much more heavily than before, and she also cried hysterically as loud as she could.
Why did she never appreciate this luxurious life? Why didn't she take advantage of everything she had when she was at the peak? Why didn't she learn as much as possible so she could survive in this harsh world? Or….
Why was she never kind and never built a good image so that she didn't have enemies who held grudges against her and her family, and had friends to fight alongside her…?
Sherly truly regretted all of that. She had never used everything she had to become better or to fight for herself and her family.
She was just a foolish girl who was arrogant, selfish, and haughty, thinking that the world was under her control and her wealth would never fade.
Unfortunately, the world was not on her side until she and her family were destroyed in such a way—or so she thought before.
After sobbing for some time, Sherly finally calmed herself down.
With a new expression, a confident smile, and full of determination, Sherly decided and swore to herself loudly.
"Thank you very much, oh God…!! I swear I will not tread the same path to hell as in my previous life, I will create my own destiny with my own hands…."
".... Even if I have to face those I cannot possibly fight, I will struggle so that everything I possess and love is not snatched away by this world."
With that resolution, Sherly's journey to carve her name in this world began…..