The classroom buzzed with noise—chairs dragging, backpacks thudding, laughter echoing from different corners.
Xu Jie stepped in, a beat too late.
He froze at the entrance, scanning the room. Memories—not his own—rose faintly. Xu Jie always sat at the back, by the window. Alone. Invisible.
Still disoriented, Xu Jie walked toward that desk. His footsteps felt too loud.
He sat down stiffly, heart thudding with a strange mix of anxiety and anticipation.
Beside him, the seat was already occupied.
A girl.
She had her headphones in and was leaning against the window with her cheek on her palm. Sunlight fell across her long lashes, and her ponytail swayed slightly with the breeze.
Tang Rui.
Even without the system's data dump, he recognized her instantly.
Campus beauty.
Top scorer.
Untouchable.
She glanced at him briefly, then returned her gaze to the window.
She didn't speak.
Neither did he.
It wasn't tension—it was distance. An unspoken gap that had always existed between someone like Xu Jie and someone like her. In his memories, they had barely exchanged ten words. She wasn't cruel or arrogant, just... indifferent.
But Xu Jie noticed something.
When he shifted in his seat, a small wince escaping him, her fingers paused over her phone. She didn't look at him, but her body turned ever so slightly in his direction.
She'd seen the accident.
She knew.
She cared, maybe. Just a little.
Xu Jie rubbed his shoulder and kept his gaze forward.
He was trying to process everything—his identity, the task, the rules—but System 007 remained stubbornly silent.
Not a beep. Not a ping. Nothing.
Figures. The thing had dragged him through dimensions, dumped him into a broken life, and now decided to go on vacation.
"You're on your own, huh?" he muttered under his breath.
Tang Rui turned, just a fraction. "Did you say something?"
Xu Jie blinked. "No. Just... thinking out loud."
She studied him for a second. Not judging. Just observing.
"You're... Xu Jie, right?" she asked, voice quiet but clear.
The question threw him. She knew his name?
"Yeah," he replied carefully.
Tang Rui nodded and didn't say more. But she didn't put her headphones back in either.
For someone who supposedly didn't care, she was unusually alert.
He didn't know what kind of person Tang Rui truly was—but he could feel the narrative beginning to shift. Slightly. Subtly.
Maybe she'd always been watching. Or maybe the near-death moment had cracked open the smallest space for change.
He wasn't going to waste it.
Unfortunately, peace didn't last long.
A loud snort cut through the air.
"Well, well. Look who dragged himself out from under a truck," came a mocking voice from a few desks ahead.
Xu Jie recognized the face instantly—Zhao Ming, the class clown and self-proclaimed alpha.
His voice carried easily across the room. "I thought you finally succeeded in ending your sorry life. Tch. Should've tried a bus instead."
Laughter erupted from a couple of boys near him.
Xu Jie didn't respond. But he felt the old pressure—Xu Jie's memories—bubble up. Shame. Anger. That sick, heavy numbness.
He clenched his fists under the desk.
Tang Rui shifted beside him.
She didn't speak, but her eyes narrowed slightly. Just a flicker.
It was enough.
Zhao Ming turned away, bored now that he got no rise. "Figures. Still a mute."
The homeroom bell rang. A teacher entered, calling everyone to order.
The lecture started—math, formulas, graphs. Xu Jie tried to follow, but Xu Jie's academic performance had been poor, and the body's instincts were sluggish. He had to force his brain to keep up.
But he did.
Because he refused to fail.
Not in this life.
When the final bell rang, a wave of relief passed through the class. Backpacks zipped up, chairs scraped the floor, and the room emptied like a punctured balloon.
Xu Jie stood slowly, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
Tang Rui was already standing, adjusting her jacket. She looked at him again. "You really okay?"
He blinked, surprised by the softness in her tone.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Thanks."
She didn't smile. Just nodded. Then turned and walked off with her friends.
Xu Jie followed the crowd out of the school gates, the evening sun dipping low.
His shoulder ached. His stomach growled. And his mind felt heavy.
But beneath it all… a spark flickered.
He had survived Day One.
Tomorrow, he'd begin rewriting Xu Jie's story.
And Zhao Ming?
He'd learn soon enough:
The background character wasn't staying quiet anymore.