New Jersey.
Bergen County High School.
**Ding!**
Hearing the system notification sound, Adam's smile lit up brighter than ever.
Previously, Juno, Little Sheldon, and Peggy had provided intelligence points, but only Leonard had contributed strength points.
Clearly, Leonard was the true stand-up guy here.
With the intelligence points breaking past 140, Adam officially ascended to the rank of a true genius.
At that moment, Adam felt his soul elevate, a surge of unprecedented joy filling his body and mind. Memories that had faded over time, like a foggy mirror, were wiped clean and reflected vividly in his mind.
Time began to rewind.
1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988—five years since his transmigration.
1987, 1986... all the way back to 1974.
This was the first half of the original host PJ's life.
Just when Adam thought it was over, the scene shifted.
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Suo'e: "Chang'e is a title, and you want them all? That's disgusting."
Second Brother: "When I was younger, I learned a battle endurance technique. I could serve one after another, making them all happy. Watch me dominate with my dance moves."
---
Clearly, this was a memory from his past life in 2020.
As Adam eagerly anticipated clearer memories to resurface, the "cloth" vanished. Memories before 2020 remained clouded and hazy, and the transcendent feeling of soul elevation gradually faded away.
"Hiss..."
These memories flashed through Adam's mind like lightning. Just as he lamented the cessation of that happiness, a tragic face appeared before him, making Adam instinctively gasp.
Inside a narrow locker, a person was curled up, pitifully gazing at him.
His forehead was swollen, seemingly from hitting something. The corners of his mouth were still smeared with a few strands of black hair. His breath carried a faint fishy smell mixed with the scent of a drink, making Adam hold his breath involuntarily.
"Come out," Adam frowned, reaching out to help Leonard, but the space was so tight that it was hard to pull him out.
"You might as well drag me," Leonard said with a bitter smile. "That's what Jimmy always does."
"Alright, bear with me," Adam said helplessly, resorting to pulling. After quite a struggle, he finally got Leonard out.
Leonard wore a unisex sports jacket, brown pants, and a physics-themed T-shirt. Thick glasses perched on his nose as he stood in an extremely awkward posture.
"You okay?" Adam asked, unable to hide his concern.
Similar to Sheldon, Leonard could be considered an "old friend" of his. Compared to Sheldon, Leonard's personality and actions aligned more with normal human standards.
"I'm fine," Leonard replied, forcing a smile. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Adam said with a grin. "I've already said we're friends. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, we're friends," Leonard nodded firmly. "But let's get out of here. I'm worried Jimmy might come back with reinforcements to beat you up."
"Fair enough," Adam nodded.
Although he probably could hold his ground all day, the bruises from Jimmy's punches were healing quickly. Now that he'd achieved his goal, there was no need to provoke further conflict with scum like Jimmy.
"This way," Leonard said, leading Adam toward the exit.
"What's wrong with your leg?" Adam asked, noticing Leonard limping in apparent pain.
"Uh…" Leonard's face turned red, and under Adam's concerned gaze, he hesitated before awkwardly explaining, "It's Jimmy. He, uh, yanked my underwear so hard that I got a dislocation. He said he wanted to see if my, uh, parts could drop at the stroke of midnight like the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square."
"...What?" Adam was stunned.
"That's not even the worst of it," Leonard added with self-deprecation. "Yesterday, he stapled my remaining... part with a stapler. Now that hurt."
"WTF?!" Adam was shocked again.
"Actually, that's still not the worst," Leonard said, seeming more relaxed. "The most unbearable part was when Jimmy poured laxatives down my throat, then had the entire football team surround me, not letting me use the restroom..."
Adam's jaw dropped, and he gasped repeatedly.
How could anyone endure such a life?
If he were Leonard, subjected to this horrifying level of bullying, and with such high intelligence, he would've undoubtedly blackened his soul and exacted vengeance on each of them, one by one.
But the Leonard standing here, having survived such ordeals, had grown into a nerdy, warm-hearted guy. It was truly unbelievable.
"The injury on your forehead, and the hair at the corner of your mouth... were those Jimmy's doing too?" Adam asked with pity.
"Oh, those weren't," Leonard quickly wiped away the hairs and rubbed his forehead. "That was someone else. They wanted to eat walnuts but couldn't find anything to crack them."
"Everyone bullies you?" Adam asked in disbelief.
"Not everyone," Leonard muttered awkwardly.
Some acts of bullying were simply too humiliating to recount.
Like when his Hawaiian Punch was spiked with urine.
Or when his clothes were stripped, and he was thrown into the girls' locker room.
Or when a parrot once made its home in his underwear.
There were just too many bizarre incidents.
"Why don't you tell your parents? Or just transfer schools?" Adam asked, unable to hold back.
"It wouldn't help. As long as I go to school, it'll be the same anywhere," Leonard replied in an unusually mature tone. "And as for telling my parents... Ha! You've read my mom's books, right? Do you think she cares about me?"
"Uh..." Adam was at a loss for words. "What about your dad?"
"He's barely managing himself," Leonard said bitterly. "You think I turned out like this because of luck? My mom's always been extremely harsh on both me and my dad. I don't even know what motherly love feels like. I even built a 'hug machine' to simulate a mother's embrace, but my dad kept borrowing it."
"Sigh…"
Adam sighed, speechless. He patted Leonard's shoulder and thought, *Poor guy. If you knew all of this was because of Sheldon, would you rush to the University of Texas at Austin right now to take him out and save yourself from future suffering?*
Leonard's mother was practically a "female Sheldon." From birth, she had used Leonard as a research subject, forcing him to adapt to an unbearable life and thoroughly altering his worldview.
Meanwhile, Jimmy, the school bully, had reshaped Leonard physically, pushing his tolerance to levels unimaginable to ordinary people.
And who was Jimmy?
A guy with the same face as Sheldon's dad!
Unknowingly, Leonard's life had already become intertwined with Sheldon's. His early years were "ruined" by Sheldon. Then, with his altered worldview and resilience forged by those experiences, he became Sheldon's roommate, falling into the trap of enduring Sheldon's quirks for the rest of his life.
Even when Sheldon and Amy moved out of their apartment after starting their cohabitation, Leonard felt so uncomfortable that he nearly lost his mind.
When Sheldon reverted to his old ways and started bossing him around again, Leonard actually felt relieved.
Now, who dares to say they've had it worse than Leonard?
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