Chapter One: Reborn Against All Odds

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This place was like an impenetrable iron barrel, its surroundings sealed off by towering walls and electrified fences. In the sentry tower stood immovable armed guards, their automatic rifles a constant reminder of the strict security.

Zhuo Nan, bound in handcuffs and shackles, kept tracing something onto the cold wall with his fingers. Again and again, he wrote the same three words: “Why is this happening?” He knew his time was almost up. Execution—a fate that had always seemed so distant—was now about to befall him. He could not accept it, no matter how hard he tried.

That night, he had left work late. Walking through an alley, he came upon a woman lying on the ground. Motivated by a sense of justice, he hurried over, only to see blood streaming from her chest, a dagger thrown aside on the pavement. The woman was still barely alive. Zhuo Nan reached for his phone to call the police, but the woman sensed someone nearby and, with her last ounce of strength, seized Zhuo Nan’s hand and shouted, “Why? Why did you kill me?”

Shocked, Zhuo Nan fell to the ground, desperately trying to pull free from her grasp. “I didn’t, I didn’t kill you!” he cried.

He felt something under him, and in his panic, he picked it up—it was the blood-stained dagger. The woman died with her eyes wide open, fixed on Zhuo Nan. At that moment, two patrol officers, drawn by the commotion, arrived. “Drop the knife! Hands in the air!” Faced with the gaping barrels of their guns, Zhuo Nan knew his life was over.

He instinctively threw down the knife and tried to explain, “I didn’t do it, I didn’t kill anyone…”

But his pleas were powerless. As the police handcuffed him, Zhuo Nan glanced back at the woman’s lifeless eyes. “Why did you have to harm me?”

Robbery and murder! In the “harmonious” society of 2010, where even mythical creatures weren’t safe from the authorities, the police were eager to solve this heinous case quickly. Pinning a charge of robbery and murder on Zhuo Nan was nothing at all.

He was dragged from his cell, too drained to face the cruelty of reality. Execution by lethal injection—at least it would be painless, he told himself. Before the sentence was carried out, Zhuo Nan saw his white-haired second aunt, who, though not yet fifty, was already weeping uncontrollably, supported by Zhuo Nan’s cousin, Lanlan.

In that moment, all he could offer them was a wan smile—a memory that would linger in their hearts forever.

When Zhuo Nan’s execution was over, in an advanced laboratory of another world, several white-coated researchers were sighing in distress.

One of them spoke, “Doctor, our super-brain can’t fuse with anyone in our world. We’ve already lost several volunteers. We have to shut down the experiment.”

The middle-aged man addressed as Doctor sighed. “Terminate the experiment. Destroy the brain.”

But just as he gave the order, an operator cried out, “Doctor, it seems the brain has found a host!”

Excitement swept through the room. “Where is the host?”

The operator searched thoroughly, then said in disappointment, “It’s only a soul, and not from our world.”

“What? How is that possible? How did a soul from another world get here?” the Doctor asked anxiously.

Zhuo Nan’s powerful resentment at death produced a strong spiritual force. Though his body died, his spirit did not. Unconsciously, his soul drifted beyond the bounds of space, arriving in another world—the soul the Doctor’s team had detected.

“Doctor, this soul has a powerful will. It broke through the spatial boundary and arrived here. The super-brain is glowing red—it can definitely merge with this soul,” the operator reported, brimming with excitement.

The Doctor’s excitement was brief. Fusion might be possible, but the brain was a physical entity and the other was only a soul—they would need to find the soul’s body. He quickly ordered, “Search for this soul’s physical body at once. And use the soul-catcher to capture it.”

Zhuo Nan’s soul was quickly brought into the lab and contained in an experimental chamber, still unconscious. Then more bad news arrived: Zhuo Nan’s body had already been destroyed in the other world.

The Doctor thought hard. This was a rare opportunity. The super-brain had never successfully fused with a human, and now a soul from another world could merge perfectly. He could not let this chance slip by—he had to see what would happen when the super-brain joined with a human being.

Having made his decision, the Doctor said, “Open the space-time tunnel and send him back. Let him be reborn.”

“Doctor, the tunnel is still experimental, and this is interdimensional travel. There could be a massive explosion.”

“We have no choice. The super-brain is the fruit of all our efforts—it cannot go to waste. Do as I say. Prepare to open the tunnel.”

“Preparing to open the space-time tunnel. Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7…”

When the count reached zero—“Boom!”—the laboratory exploded.

Zhuo Nan was reborn. There was no thunderclap, no rainbow-colored light, nor dark clouds blotting out the sun. Only a math textbook, flying from the hand of a fifty-something math teacher, came to greet him.

“Smack!”—it landed squarely on Zhuo Nan’s head.

“Damn it, who hit me?” Startled awake, Zhuo Nan swore before he realized what was happening.

The math teacher’s mouth twitched, the muscles on his face quivering. The whole class knew this was a sign of an impending storm.

But before the storm broke, the class savored the heroic quality of Zhuo Nan’s outburst, all thinking, “Awesome.”

“Zhuo Nan, get out in the hallway and stand!” The math teacher’s words silenced the room.

Zhuo Nan was still confused. He had been executed—how had he ended up here? Looking around at the classroom and its people, he began to understand: he had been reborn.

But now was not the time to panic. The hallway seemed a cool place to clear his head. With the admiring gazes of his classmates and the teacher’s murderous glare, Zhuo Nan left his seat and strode to the door, feeling like a hero marching out to battle.

With the “troublemaker” gone, class resumed as usual while Zhuo Nan, out in the corridor, tried to calibrate his brain—now with the experience of two lifetimes.

“Rebirth… good, very good. I’ve got a cheat code—what does that mean? It means I can see the future.”

From what he’d observed, it seemed to be the second half of ninth grade—just months before the high school entrance exams. That meant it was 1998. Back twelve years—what a fantastic opportunity, and at this age, his life was still malleable.

“In novels, rebirth always comes with superpowers. I wonder if I got any.” Zhuo Nan decided to try. He closed his eyes and thought, teleportation—I want to be on the sports field…

Two seconds later, he opened his eyes. He was still in the same place, right hand’s index and middle finger pressed to his nose in a ridiculous pose. Failure.

No teleportation then. Maybe telekinesis? Worth a shot. He dug in his pocket for something to test with and came up with a crumpled two-yuan note. Fine, this will do. He set it on the floor, held his palm toward it, and chanted, “Up, up…” After seven or eight tries, a corner of the note twitched. Encouraged, he redoubled his efforts. “Up, up, up…”

The bill actually rose into the air—but after a second, it was swept away by a gust of wind, fluttering off into the distance. Watching his only two yuan disappear into the sky, Zhuo Nan’s heart bled. Why? Why? That was all the money I had! Telekinesis: failed.

Not teleportation, not telekinesis. What else? Electrokinesis? The thought flashed by—no way, he wasn’t about to stick his hand in a socket and risk being reborn again. Forget it.

Walking through walls? He shook his head—he didn’t want to give himself a bloody nose once the math teacher saw him on the other side. Another no.

X-ray vision? Now that had potential—especially with spring in the air. Free health checks for the ladies, he mused, surely they’d understand the sacrifice of energy involved.

Lost in his lecherous fantasies, Zhuo Nan saw a woman in her thirties approaching—Ms. Wang, the school’s music teacher, strikingly attractive and in her prime. The perfect candidate for testing his “X-ray vision.”

He focused, squinting at her voluptuous figure. No effect—maybe not enough power. He gave it his all, eyes wide, focusing exclusively on his target. Sure enough, the target seemed to grow larger. Triumph flooded his heart—X-ray vision worked! But then—

“Smack!” The next thing he heard was Ms. Wang’s shrill voice, “Zhuo Nan, what are you staring at?” With her, not only came her formidable presence, but also the music book that had just struck him.

The math teacher, disturbed by the commotion, poked his head out. “What’s going on out here?”

Ms. Wang couldn’t very well say, “Your student was drooling over my chest.” She blushed and muttered, “Nothing, nothing,” picked up her book, and hurried off, not forgetting to glare at Zhuo Nan on her way.

The math teacher watched her leave, swallowing hard with a sigh—getting old, he thought. Then, turning to Zhuo Nan, his expression soured. “Zhuo Nan, stand properly. After class, come see me in my office.” With that, he returned to teaching.

To hell with X-ray vision. Another failure! Within just ten minutes of being reborn, Zhuo Nan had been hit by two books. Truly unlucky. It seemed superpowers weren’t in the cards. With a sigh, he resigned himself to quietly standing there.

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