Jiyang Middle School, Grade 12, Class 15.
Inside the classroom, electric fans whirred furiously overhead.
You probably couldn't call August in Jiyang *too* hot.
Otherwise, why wasn't the air conditioning on?
Shen Yuan was sprawled on his desk, having used a tall stack of books to build himself a tomb.
According to the laws of physics, the speed of the fans was directly proportional to the density of summer sleepiness.
Inside his tomb, Shen Yuan was fast asleep.
As the saying goes:
Why sleep so much in life, when eternal rest awaits after death?
But Shen Yuan had something to say about that.
He wanted to test out what eternal rest felt like first.
If it was nice, he'd gladly go first.
Just as Shen Yuan had shifted into a more comfortable position, he suddenly heard a light THUD from atop his stack of books.
He groggily lifted his head, his blurry vision making out a familiar figure. His homeroom teacher, Zhou Zhenghong, was standing before his desk, looking at him expressionlessly.
"Good afternoon, Old Zhou," Shen Yuan greeted him weakly, his voice still thick with sleep.
"Had enough sleep?" Old Zhou's tone was gentle, but Shen Yuan could sense the displeasure underneath.
Shen Yuan shook his head and mumbled, "Not dead enough yet."
Old Zhou rolled his eyes. 'This dumbass kid is hopeless,' he thought.
He pointed to the back of the classroom and said to Shen Yuan, "Go stand over there for a bit. Wake yourself up and rejoin the living."
"Alrighty." Shen Yuan agreed readily and stood up.
His deskmate on the aisle moved to let him pass, and Shen Yuan went to stand at the back of the classroom.
However, less than two seconds later, Shen Yuan started getting restless.
He shifted his feet left and right, as if searching for a more comfortable standing position, then slowly took a step to the side, completely bathing himself in the warm sunlight.
"Why'd you move?" Old Zhou's voice drifted over from the podium.
"Getting some sun to get rid of the livor mortis. Time to be a new man," Shen Yuan replied with a grin.
Old Zhou gave him a thumbs-up. "Classy."
A wave of laughter rippled through the class, chasing away much of the morning drowsiness.
Shen Yuan couldn't give a damn.
That was just his style.
The honors class was like that; it was all about the grades.
If your grades were OK, you were free to do as you pleased.
And Shen Yuan was an expert at pleasing himself.
Although he had only just ascended to the Upper Realm from a regular class this year, Shen Yuan had already integrated into this happy family in just one short week.
And he seemed intent on making everyone around him even happier.
Shen Yuan watched Old Zhou lecture passionately at the blackboard.
As a math teacher, Old Zhou really had a knack for it.
Compared to the math teacher he'd had for the previous two years, Shen Yuan could at least now understand some of the more complex problem-solving methods.
Just as Shen Yuan was spacing out, a DING suddenly sounded in his mind.
[At 22, you graduate from college. Since your major offers no real advantage, you end up as a wage slave in a factory. Of course, graduation also means breaking up with your girlfriend.]
[At 24, you don't get along with your manager. After you give him a "cordial greeting," he fires you in a fit of rage. After receiving some severance pay, you find a new job.]
[At 25, you find a girlfriend at work, but you break up not long after. Your ex spreads nasty rumors about you around the office, and your already-not-so-great reputation plummets. You quit.]
[At 25, you give up on your big-city job and return to Jiyang. You pass an exam for a stable government job. Though the work is tedious, at least it's secure.]
[In the blink of an eye, seven years pass. At 32, though you haven't accomplished much, you've at least saved up a bit of money and live a relatively comfortable life in the small county. However, this money is only enough for you to live comfortably by yourself.]
[Although your parents don't pressure you to get married, you can tell they still hope you'll start your own family.]
[But marriage isn't that simple. You try dating a few women, but most relationships don't last. Even when you get to the point of discussing marriage, the exorbitant bride price forces you to give up.]
[At 35, your parents try to arrange a blind date for you.]
[Standing at the crossroads of age 35, you see the expectant looks in your parents' eyes and agree to the blind date. When you arrive at the meeting spot, you discover the woman is your childhood sweetheart, Li Zhi.]
[Life Reversal System has been loaded.]
[Treat Li Zhi, whom you haven't seen in a long time, to a meal. Reward: 1,000 yuan.]
'A system?'
Shen Yuan stared at the screen before him, his brain struggling to process it all.
After reading it over and over, Shen Yuan leaned gently against the blackboard at the back of the room.
'Useless major, a failed career.'
'A pathetic life, parents full of sighs.'
"What a fucking suffocating life."
Suddenly, Shen Yuan wasn't feeling so happy anymore.
'Am I that much of a failure at 35? To the point where I have to go on blind dates?'
Shen Yuan was about to sigh when he suddenly realized something. 'Wait… aren't I fucking 18 right now?'
'Did the Stupid System arrive too early?'
'Well, isn't that just wonderful.'
Shen Yuan felt happy again.
But after looking over his mission, Shen Yuan was dumbfounded.
'Haven't seen her in a long time?'
Looking toward his seat, Shen Yuan's gaze fell on the girl with the ponytail sitting next to it.
From his angle, he could see her side profile.
Just from her profile, you could tell she had the makings of a great beauty.
That was Li Zhi, Shen Yuan's childhood sweetheart.
The two had grown up together, attending the same elementary, middle, and now high school.
As for their relationship, it was a bit strained, to be honest.
Shen Yuan was a decent-looking guy, reasonably handsome, healthy, and had a great appetite.
There was just one problem.
He loved to troll and had a habit of being an ass to people he was familiar with.
Stealing Li Zhi's snacks was the mildest thing he did.
As for going too far, back in their second year of high school, Shen Yuan had "freed" a small fish Li Zhi was raising, claiming he was accumulating good karma for her final exams.
He really owed Li Zhi for not having killed him yet.
Besides that…
Unlike Shen Yuan, Li Zhi had always been a top student, consistently ranking among the best in her class. Her spot in the top three was basically set in stone.
Shen Yuan, on the other hand, was the mischievous, trouble-making type. Luckily, he had a good head on his shoulders. If he actually bothered to study, his grades were quite good.
That was how he'd managed to get into Jiyang's best high school.
But even at Jiyang Middle School, Shen Yuan had started out in a regular class, while Li Zhi had been in the honors class since day one.
Shen Yuan had only just ascended this semester.
And then, as luck would have it, he was seated next to Li Zhi, where he proceeded to cosplay a tomb every day.
As for Li Zhi, she probably didn't see herself as a tomb keeper.
If Shen Yuan really did turn into a tomb, she'd pry open his lid and use the few yuan he had as burial goods to buy an ice cream cone from KFC.
Looking at the screen, Shen Yuan suddenly laughed out loud. "That damn girl is still single at 35?"
'Wait, I'm getting sidetracked.'
Shen Yuan's gaze fell back to the system screen.
'Treat Li Zhi to a meal? For a 1,000-yuan reward?'
Shen Yuan decided to give it a try after class. It was just a meal, after all.