Julius stared at the roulette table on his laptop screen for several long seconds, barely blinking. The adrenaline from his previous win still rushed through his body, making his heart beat faster than usual. His balance remained visible in the corner of the screen, glowing brightly like a reminder that something unbelievable had just happened.
₱42,000.
Just minutes ago he had only ₱1,200 in gambling funds. Now the amount had multiplied into something that already felt life-changing.
Julius leaned back slowly in his chair and rubbed his face, trying to calm himself down.
"Okay… relax," he whispered to himself. "This isn't luck anymore. I literally saw the result before it happened."
He glanced upward slightly, focusing on the strange interface that appeared inside his mind whenever he used the ability. The glowing text was still there, floating clearly as if projected behind his eyes.
Rewind Time: 420 seconds
The number slowly ticked downward, reminding him that the ability wasn't unlimited.
"That's still a lot of time," Julius murmured quietly while tapping the desk with his fingers. "More than enough to test another round."
His eyes returned to the roulette interface on the screen. The table layout showed the maximum allowed bet clearly on the side.
Maximum Bet: ₱20,000
Julius frowned slightly and leaned closer to the monitor.
"Only twenty thousand?" he muttered.
For a moment he looked disappointed, but then he quickly began calculating in his head. Roulette payouts were extremely high when betting on a single number.
Thirty-five times the bet.
If he placed ₱20,000 on one number and it landed correctly, the payout would be enormous.
He grabbed his phone and opened the calculator quickly.
20,000 × 35 = 700,000
Julius stared at the number on the screen.
"Seven hundred thousand pesos…" he said quietly.
His voice sounded almost disbelieving.
Seven hundred thousand was an amount he had never held in his bank account before. In fact, if he continued working as a developer at his current salary, it might take him several years to save that much money.
But now that number could appear from a single spin.
Julius slowly leaned back again and laughed softly.
"This power is ridiculous."
He looked around his tiny apartment.
The cracked walls.
The cheap plastic table.
The electric fan that made a grinding noise whenever it spun too fast.
Then he looked back at the roulette board.
"…but so is time travel."
He exhaled deeply and moved the cursor.
₱20,000 bet placed
The chip landed on the number he randomly chose.
The timer above the roulette table began counting down.
30 seconds.
20 seconds.
The dealer spoke calmly through the livestream.
"Final bets please."
Julius leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. Even though he knew he could rewind if he lost, his heart still beat faster as the timer approached zero.
"No more bets."
The dealer spun the wheel.
The ball circled the rim quickly, bouncing across the numbered slots. Julius watched every movement carefully, his eyes tracking the tiny white ball as it slowed down.
Then finally—
The ball dropped.
22
The result appeared on the screen.
Julius's balance dropped instantly.
₱22,000 remaining
He stared at the screen silently for a moment before exhaling slowly.
"Well… that didn't work."
Normally that kind of loss would have made his stomach drop in panic. But this time he simply leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms calmly.
Because he had something normal gamblers didn't.
A second chance.
Julius closed his eyes and whispered the command again.
"Back."
Rewind
The now familiar sensation returned immediately.
The room around him distorted slightly, like a video rewinding itself. For a brief moment the air felt strange, as if gravity had shifted backwards.
Then everything snapped back into place.
The roulette table loaded again.
The dealer's voice echoed through the speakers.
"Place your bets please."
Julius checked his balance.
₱42,000
He smiled.
"Perfect."
This time he moved the cursor directly to the number he had already seen.
22
His fingers trembled slightly as he placed the bet.
₱20,000 bet placed
Even though he already knew the result, the anticipation still made his chest tighten.
The timer counted down.
The dealer spun the wheel.
The ball bounced across the rim again.
Julius leaned closer to the screen, watching carefully.
Then finally—
The ball dropped again.
22
The interface exploded with bright flashing lights.
WINNER
Julius shot up from his chair.
"YES!"
His balance updated instantly.
₱742,000
He stared at the number in disbelief.
Seven hundred forty-two thousand pesos.
His mouth slowly opened.
"Oh my…"
He began pacing around the apartment, running his hands through his hair.
"This is insane!"
He laughed loudly, unable to control his excitement.
"Seven hundred thousand from one spin!"
He stopped walking and looked at the rewind interface again.
There was still time remaining.
Julius swallowed.
"Just one more."
The Second Million
He placed another ₱20,000 bet and waited for the spin.
Again, the ball landed on a different number.
Again, he lost.
But this time Julius didn't even react. He simply whispered the command again.
"Back."
The world twisted.
Reality reset.
The roulette table loaded again.
Julius placed the winning number he had just seen.
The spin happened once more.
The ball bounced… then dropped.
WINNER
The balance updated again.
₱1,420,000
Julius froze.
For several seconds he simply stared at the number.
Then he slowly leaned back into his chair.
"…I'm a millionaire."
But the moment the words left his mouth, a sudden sharp pain exploded inside his head.
"Ah—!"
Julius grabbed the edge of the table as dizziness rushed through his body. His arms suddenly felt weak, and even sitting upright felt strangely exhausting.
The interface appeared again in his mind.
Rewind Time: 300 seconds
Below it another warning appeared.
Host Condition: Weak
Rewind temporarily disabled.
Julius frowned and rubbed his temple slowly.
"So it drains my body…"
Eight months of nonstop overtime.
Late nights coding.
Poor sleep and instant noodles.
His body had already been exhausted before gaining the ability.
Using rewind repeatedly had pushed him too far.
Julius stood up slowly and walked to the sink. He grabbed a bottle of water and drank deeply, letting the cold liquid calm his racing thoughts.
When he returned to his laptop, the casino balance still displayed the same number.
₱1,420,000
He touched the screen lightly.
"This is real…"
A wide smile slowly spread across his face.
"I'm rich."
His stomach suddenly growled loudly.
Julius laughed.
"Well… a rich man should eat something decent."
But before leaving, he opened the withdrawal page.
A notification appeared.
Withdrawal limit reached for this bank account.
Julius blinked.
"Oh."
"My BDO account limit."
He leaned back and scratched his head.
"Looks like I need more bank accounts."
He opened new tabs.
BPI
GoTyme Bank
"Alright," he said confidently.
"I'll fix that tomorrow."
Julius stared at the confirmation messages on his phone for a long moment before finally locking the screen. The withdrawals had gone through successfully, though he had to split the money across several accounts because of the transfer limits. Part of it had gone into his BDO account, another portion into BPI, and the rest into GoTyme.
It had taken several transfers and confirmations, but the result was clear.
His money was real now.
Not just numbers inside a casino wallet.
Actual money sitting inside his bank accounts.
Julius leaned back against his chair and let out a long breath.
"₱1.4 million…" he murmured quietly.
The number still sounded ridiculous when he said it out loud. Just yesterday he had been staring at ₱0.97 in his bank account, wondering how he would survive the next week.
Now he had more money than he had ever held in his life.
His stomach growled loudly.
Julius blinked and then laughed softly.
"Right… food."
He had been so focused on testing his power and transferring the money that he had completely forgotten to eat.
"Well," he said while standing up, stretching his arms above his head. "A newly rich man deserves a proper meal."
He grabbed his phone and wallet, slipped on his sandals, and stepped outside his apartment.
The streets of Taguig were still alive with activity. Small food stalls lined the sidewalks while motorcycles passed under the orange glow of streetlights. People laughed and chatted outside convenience stores, enjoying the cool evening air.
Normally Julius would walk past restaurants without even glancing inside.
Most of the time he survived on instant noodles or cheap street food just to save money.
But tonight…
Tonight felt different.
He stopped outside a small restaurant with bright lights and glass windows. Inside, people were eating comfortably while the smell of grilled meat drifted out the open door.
Julius hesitated for a moment.
Then he chuckled.
"Why am I thinking twice?" he muttered. "I literally have more than a million pesos now."
He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
A waitress approached him immediately with a polite smile.
"Good evening, sir. Table for one?"
"Yes, please," Julius replied while glancing around.
The restaurant was simple but clean, with warm lighting and wooden tables. It wasn't a luxury place, but compared to Julius's usual meals, it already felt like a huge upgrade.
He sat near the window and opened the menu.
For the first time in a long time, he didn't look at the prices first.
Instead, he looked at the food pictures.
"Hmm…"
The waitress returned with a glass of water.
"Have you decided, sir?"
Julius nodded.
"Yeah. I'll take the beef steak with garlic rice… and the grilled chicken set."
The waitress blinked slightly.
"Both meals, sir?"
Julius laughed.
"Yeah. I'm starving."
"Alright, sir."
As she walked away, Julius leaned back and stared out the window. Motorcycles passed by while pedestrians walked casually along the street.
Everything looked exactly the same as it had yesterday.
Yet Julius felt like he was living in a completely different world.
He took out his phone again and opened his banking app.
The numbers displayed clearly.
BDO: ₱500,000+
BPI: ₱600,000+
GoTyme: ₱300,000+
Julius stared at the balances for several seconds.
"So it's really there…" he whispered.
The money hadn't disappeared.
The transfers had worked.
This wasn't a dream.
The waitress returned with his food and placed the plates on the table.
The smell immediately made Julius's stomach growl again.
"Thank you," he said quickly.
The steak sizzled slightly on the hot plate while the garlic rice released a warm, savory aroma. Julius grabbed his spoon and fork and started eating immediately.
The first bite made him pause.
"Wow…"
It wasn't fancy food.
But compared to instant noodles, it felt incredible.
He continued eating quickly, clearly enjoying the meal.
Between bites, his thoughts returned to the rewind ability.
The warning message from earlier still bothered him.
Host Condition: Weak
The ability clearly drained his body.
He remembered the dizziness and headache after the last rewind.
"Guess I can't spam it forever," he murmured.
Eight months of overtime coding had already destroyed his health. His body was weak from poor sleep, stress, and cheap food.
If he wanted to use the ability more effectively…
He needed to get stronger.
Julius finished the rest of the steak and leaned back in his chair.
"So first step," he said quietly while counting on his fingers.
"Fix my health."
"Second…"
He smiled slightly.
"Figure out how to make even more money."
Roulette had worked tonight.
But casinos might notice if someone kept winning perfectly.
He needed other strategies.
Better strategies.
Investing.
Trading.
Maybe even business.
Julius wiped his mouth and stood up after finishing the meal.
He paid the bill at the counter.
₱350
Normally that amount would make him hesitate.
Tonight he barely noticed it.
As he stepped outside again, the cool night air brushed against his face.
Julius looked toward the distant skyline of Makati.
Tall buildings glowed under the night sky.
For years those towers had represented a world far above him.
A world of rich businessmen and powerful people.
But now…
Julius Alon had something none of them possessed.
The power to rewind time.
He smiled quietly.
"This is only the beginning."