The biting wind scraped his cheeks like a knife, sending a stinging pain across his face.
Chen Zhi stood at the edge of the rooftop. Below him was a bottomless abyss of darkness, while in the distance, the city shone with the brilliant lights of thousands of homes.
In his hand, he clutched a crumpled divorce agreement. His phone screen lit up, displaying a debt collection message from the bank.
The childhood sweetheart in his memory, who used to follow him around calling him Zhi Zhi, had lost touch with him as early as middle school.
The girl who always secretly looked at him hadn't crossed paths with him since elementary school.
Nor had he ever met a good bro who would stay up all night gaming with him while letting him admire her legs.
He had followed the standard path, attending a private college, finding a trashy company that only knew how to exploit its employees, and marrying a wife who cared only about money and not about people.
For a few pieces of silver, he bent his spine and crushed his dignity, only to end up with a broken family and absolutely nothing.
This is your fate.
The mean boss pointed at his nose and cursed.
Chen Zhi wanted to retort, but his throat couldn't make a single sound.
He leaned forward.
A sense of weightlessness washed over him.
Bang!
Chen Zhi violently shuddered, his whole body bouncing up in his seat.
His heart pounded wildly in his chest. Panting heavily and with his pupils sharply contracted, he looked up in bewilderment.
In the dimly lit classroom, the curtains were drawn tight, and the large screen on the podium was playing a movie.
The soothing melody of the movie's ending theme played from the speakers. The air was a bit stuffy, mixed with the smells of various snacks.
It was a scent that belonged uniquely to youth.
Chen Zhi felt a bit dazed.
He subconsciously touched his face. It was warm.
He pinched his thigh.
It hurt.
What's wrong? Had a nightmare?
A mumbled question came from beside him.
Chen Zhi turned his head stiffly.
In the dim light, he saw a familiar profile.
Lin Wanwan was holding a bag of potato chips, her cheeks bulging, with a little crumb stuck to the corner of her mouth.
Her smooth, long hair draped casually over her shoulders, with a few playful strands falling by her ears.
The light and shadow cast a beautiful curve on her straight nose. Her large eyes, which usually held a hint of mischief, were now focused intently on the credits rolling on the screen, seemingly looking for a post-credits scene.
Alive, vivid, and within reach.
An indescribable sourness welled up in his heart.
Thank goodness it was a dream.
Thank goodness that messed-up future was no longer going to happen.
Chen Zhi just stared at her fixedly, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Lin Wanwan noticed this overly intense gaze.
She struggled to swallow the chips in her mouth, turned her head, and looked at Chen Zhi with a confused expression.
Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?
She subconsciously touched the corner of her mouth, thinking she had chip crumbs on it.
Wanwan, what time is it?
Chen Zhi's voice was a bit hoarse.
Huh?
Lin Wanwan didn't understand, blinking her large eyes a couple of times. What time is it?
She took her phone out of her pocket, lit up the screen, and took a look.
Thirty minutes until school is over. What, did you sleep until you got confused?
Saying that, she stuffed another chip into her mouth, munching happily with a crunching sound.
Chen Zhi didn't answer.
He looked at this girl who would get as happy as a fool just from eating something good.
In this world, he hadn't missed out on her.
Not only had he met the gentle and introverted Li Zhiyi, but he also hadn't missed out on Pei Ningxue, who could stay up all night gaming with him.
Chen Zhi took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the surging emotions in his chest, but the tenderness in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
He suddenly reached out and, as if possessed, helped Lin Wanwan tuck the messy strand of hair behind her ear.
His fingertips brushed against her warm earlobe.
Lin Wanwan's chewing suddenly stopped, and she froze in place.
Wanwan.
Chen Zhi looked into her eyes and said softly.
It's so good to have met you.
The sentence came out of nowhere, but it was incredibly sincere.
It exploded like a bomb in Lin Wanwan's heart.
The movie's ending theme was still playing on the large screen.
The bag of chips in Lin Wanwan's hands slipped halfway down with a rustle.
Her large eyes widened perfectly round, her pupils trembling.
Her brain's CPU completely overloaded at this moment.
What... what does this mean?
A... a confession?
Or did this guy sleep until he turned stupid?
A visible redness quickly spread from her neck, instantly covering her entire pretty face.
You... you you you...
Lin Wanwan stammered for a long time without forming a complete sentence.
She lowered her head in a panic, grabbed a handful of chips, and tried to stuff them into her mouth, but because she was too nervous, she shoved them right against her nose.
Cough, cough, cough!
Lin Wanwan coughed violently, frantically brushing the crumbs off her clothes, looking utterly flustered.
Seeing her so flustered, the corners of Chen Zhi's mouth curled up slightly.
He pulled a bottle of water from his desk drawer, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her.
Lin Wanwan snatched the water bottle and gulped down a few large mouthfuls, barely managing to suppress her coughing.
Blushing intensely, she glared fiercely at Chen Zhi. Her eyes held a mix of embarrassed anger and an indescribable watery gleam.
Chen Zhi, are you sick in the head?! Spouting nonsense in broad daylight!
Although her words were a scolding, her voice was soft and completely lacked any intimidation.
Chen Zhi smiled and didn't retort. He stood up and gave a big stretch.
He glanced at the still-rolling credits and then at the wall clock at the back of the classroom.
The teachers' meeting was probably about to end soon.
Turning on the lights, wake up everyone!
Chen Zhi walked to the door and lightly pressed the switch.
Click.
The glaring fluorescent lights instantly illuminated the entire classroom.
Holy crap! My eyes!
Class rep, what are you doing? We haven't seen the post-credits scene yet!
Who turned on the lights?
A chorus of howling complaints rang out in the classroom.
Chen Zhi ignored the bunch of animals, walked straight to the podium, skillfully cut the power, retracted the projector screen, and locked the multimedia cabinet.
Stop howling. If you keep howling and attract Old Baldy, Sister Qian's salary is going to get deducted again.
Chen Zhi tapped on the blackboard, his tone returning to its usual state.
There are twenty minutes left until school ends. At least pretend to study and take your books out.
Even though everyone was reluctant, they obediently pulled their textbooks from their desks and began their final round of slacking off before the bell.
Chen Zhi stood at the podium and scanned the room.
This was his empire.
These goofy classmates, though none of them looked particularly smart, were truly and genuinely alive.
When his gaze swept past the second-to-last row, it suddenly stopped.
As if discovering a new continent, Chen Zhi's eyebrows twitched slightly.
He saw classmate Jiahao, who usually slept during class, peed between classes, and was useless aside from trying to show off every day.
At this moment, he was actually sitting upright in his seat.
Holding a pen in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed, he was staring intently at a book on his desk while muttering something under his breath.
Did the sun rise from the west?
Chen Zhi's interest was piqued.
He stepped down from the podium lightly and quietly sneaked up behind Li Jiahao.
Leaning in to listen.
He could only hear Li Jiahao whispering some sort of incantation.
A... abandon, abandon...
Chen Zhi was completely baffled.
What the hell was this?
He shifted his gaze to the book in front of Li Jiahao.
There, on the open page, was a vocabulary list.
Abandon.
Next to it, written in crooked handwriting, was a phonetic pronunciation guide using Chinese characters:
[Ah-ben-deng].
Chen Zhi: "..."
Ah-ben-deng my ass.
If the English teacher saw this, they would probably have a stroke on the spot.
"Ahem."
Chen Zhi really couldn't hold it in and coughed from behind Li Jiahao.
"Holy shit!"
Li Jiahao jumped out of his skin, the pen in his hand flying into the air.
He whipped his head around. Seeing it was Chen Zhi, he patted his chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Class rep! You scared the crap out of me!"
Chen Zhi picked up the pen from the floor, looking at him with a half-smile.
"Jiahao, what got into you? Giving up the sword for the pen?"
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
