"Every seven years, a person dies once."
"All the cells in the human body renew themselves every seven years. That means, after seven years, every single cell in your body will have been replaced."
"At that point… do you still feel like *you*?"
Inside a noisy, bustling classroom,
Lu Yu lay slumped over his desk, feigning sleep while half-listening to his deskmate and the student next to them discussing strange, philosophical musings about life.
The summer heat turned the classroom into a steaming sauna—sticky, suffocating, unbearable.
This stingy school didn't bother installing air conditioning, and even the ceiling fans were set to the lowest possible setting.
Above Lu Yu's head, a white ceiling fan spun lazily, blowing air so weak it couldn't even lift a strand of his hair.
He shifted his arm slightly and buried his face deeper into the crook of his elbow, planning to sleep straight through until lunchtime.
"Lu Yu, your math homework."
Peace lasted barely half a second before a knock on his desk yanked him out of his drowsy haze.
He lifted his head and met a pair of clear, bright black eyes.
The girl standing before him carried a faint, natural fragrance. Her high ponytail was tied neatly behind her with a red ribbon.
Her light blue blouse paired perfectly with a crisp pleated skirt, and her long, slender legs led down to polished black school shoes—every inch of her radiated youthfulness.
She stood firm, studying Lu Yu's sleepy face with a scrutinizing gaze,
then tapped the desk again firmly.
"Hand it in."
She was the class monitor—and the undisputed campus beauty of Jiangshui No. 1 High School.
Fair-skinned, stunningly pretty, outgoing, and universally well-liked—she was the kind of girl whose mere presence sparked gossip and forum threads.
Her family was rumored to be wealthy, practically a little heiress.
If she chose to talk to someone, chances were that person would stammer from sheer nerves.
But Lu Yu merely gave her a lazy glance.
He wasn't interested in girls.
(Not that he was interested in guys either.)
All he wanted was to sleep a little longer and then head to the cafeteria for two chicken drumsticks at noon.
As for that "math homework" she kept mentioning…
"Didn't do it," Lu Yu replied matter-of-factly.
"Fine. I'll report that to the teacher honestly," the girl said without getting angry, even offering a polite—if possibly subtly threatening—smile.
Lu Yu didn't bother analyzing it. He just gave a noncommittal "Oh," dropped his head back onto his arms, and went back to sleep.
"Dude… you're insane, bro."
No sooner had the girl walked off than a voice beside Lu Yu spoke up in awe.
"Only you'd dare straight-up defy the school flower like that… I couldn't do it. I get nervous just looking at her."
Lu Yu's deskmate was a short, thin boy with thick black-rimmed glasses constantly sliding down his nose. He always wore the same plain white T-shirt—his signature look.
He shrank back into his seat as he spoke, his eyes wide with fear as he watched the monitor walk away.
His name was Ren Jie—his parents probably named him hoping he'd become an outstanding talent.
Sadly, like Lu Yu, he'd been slacking off since high school started, and now, in their senior year, showed no sign of turning things around.
"Wait… are you seriously sleeping again?"
Ren Jie only just realized Lu Yu had already dozed off. Panicked, he grabbed Lu Yu's shoulder and gave him a rough shake.
"Dude, next period is homeroom teacher's class! Can you at least tough it out for one more period?"
Jostled awake, Lu Yu sighed reluctantly.
"Don't wake me up—ever. I'm sleeping."
"You're even skipping *her* class?"
"I'm just too tired."
"Ugh… fine, fine! I'll wake you at lunch, okay, bro!"
Seeing that persuasion was useless, Ren Jie gave up.
He'd long grown used to his deskmate's willful attitude.
In fact, it was precisely Lu Yu's fearless, devil-may-care personality that had earned Ren Jie's devoted respect over the past three years—enough for him to call Lu Yu "Bro" without hesitation.
Lu Yu was handsome, brave, an amazing gamer, and among the fittest in class.
The only problem? His grades sucked.
Unfortunately, in a place like school—where only grades mattered—Lu Yu's many talents went unnoticed.
Still, some girls had seen past the surface and recognized the "hidden gem" that was Lu Yu, sending him subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) signals of interest.
Yet in the two years they'd been deskmates, Ren Jie had never once seen Lu Yu hold hands with any "lucky girl."
Rumors even circulated that Lu Yu might be gay.
But Ren Jie knew better—Lu Yu was as straight as they came.
He just had a cold personality and zero interest in anyone around him.
That's why, despite being good-looking, Lu Yu had barely made any real friends throughout high school.
It was break time. Students ran and yelled, racing from the podium to the back wall.
The classroom was unbearably noisy.
Annoyed, Lu Yu grabbed a book and slapped it over his head.
In this sweltering heat, sleep was his only refuge.
Of course, it wasn't just the weather making him drowsy.
His rented apartment was right by a busy street.
Every night, traffic and late-night food stalls made so much noise it felt like hell itself.
Lu Yu was a light sleeper and often lay awake for hours.
On those sleepless nights, he'd read novels until dawn, then crash at school the next day.
Oddly enough, the teachers' voices during class worked like natural sleeping aids.
Especially English class—Lu Yu would doze off the moment it started and sleep straight through to noon.
From English to Chinese, then physics and chemistry—he slept through all four periods.
He vaguely remembered that chemistry was the last class of the morning.
It should be about time to wake up.
He waited for his usually reliable deskmate to shake him awake and tell him what was on the cafeteria menu today.
But after a while…
Everything was strangely quiet.
No chatting classmates.
No teacher's lecturing.
Not even the sound of the bell.
Even weirder—the notoriously feeble ceiling fan was now blowing a surprisingly strong, refreshing breeze.
The cool summer wind brushed against his skin, from head to toe, even caressing his face with an oddly pleasant chill.
But Lu Yu clearly remembered falling asleep *on his desk*.
Confident in his internal clock, Lu Yu began to feel uneasy.
He lifted his head—and opened his eyes.
He was standing on the rooftop of the six-story school building—
twenty meters above the ground.
Right at the very edge.
Behind him, a rusted chain-link fence hung precariously.
In his hands, he gripped the wobbly railing.
Just half a step forward—
and he'd fall.
Terror shot straight up his spine.
Lu Yu had never felt this panicked in his life.
His usual composure vanished instantly.
Without thinking, he screamed—
like a frightened little girl.
"Aaaahhh—!!"
"AAAAHHH?!?!?!"
The first scream came from sheer vertigo.
The second… also from fear.
But a different kind.
Because his voice—
was high-pitched. Shrill. Feminine.
It sounded exactly like…
the school flower's voice—the very girl who'd asked him for his homework before he fell asleep!
At that same moment, a scream erupted from the classroom directly below his feet—
a deep, masculine yell, but oddly strained, as if the speaker had deliberately pinched his throat, making the sound bizarre and unnatural.
"Aaaahhh—!!"
Lu Yu recognized it instantly.
A wave of despair crashed over him.
That voice…
was *his own*.