Rui Hang poured a glass of water for Yu Zhi, motioning for her to sit down while he tended to her wound.
“Tell me everything. What happened?”
Before Rui Hang, no matter how noble the goddess, she always showed only a gentle side.
Yu Zhi obediently stretched out her arm, letting Rui Hang clean, disinfect, and bandage the injury.
As she thought about how to explain the entire situation, Lin Yuan spoke up first, interrupting: “Teacher Rui, what’s happening with my brother’s side?”
“The school is handling it,” Rui Hang replied. “Lin Lang and Rong Yu have already gone to gather intel for us.”
Since Lin Shen was involved, the school didn’t dare to slack off even a bit. The little chubby old man had been running around all afternoon and was visibly thinner from exhaustion.
“There’s not much news yet. We only know that although that man is a paparazzo, he sneaked into the school yesterday. He was babbling nonsense, totally illogical — like he’d lost his mind.”
As Parnaki’s two most outstanding assassins, Lin Yuan trusted their abilities completely. For now, he set aside his worries and left space for Rui Hang and Yu Zhi to deal with the matter.
Taking advantage of Lin Yuan’s interruption, Yu Zhi gathered her thoughts.
She took a sip of tea to moisten her lips and said, “For days now, my mind has been flooded with recurring images, intensifying today. Following these visions, I found myself on the rooftop, witnessing Bao Xiaoyuan being bullied, teetering on the brink of death. At that moment, I had an intense déjà vu— the person who should have been standing there on the rooftop was me. Bao Xiaoyuan took my place in fate. I think those images in my mind were my original ‘future.’”
“Related to fate?” He Luo touched his chin. As the class’s expert on the topic, he said, “Your guess isn’t without basis. Hmm, how to put this…”
He Luo pondered for a moment, picked up a pen, and drew several intersecting lines on scrap paper, explaining to everyone, “Isn’t there a concept on Earth called ‘Parallel Space’? When we make choices, the world spawns new world lines that branch out to different outcomes.
But if you look forward from the moment after ten decisions, the world isn’t a branching network but a complete straight line. Although the future is diverse and complex, from a more macroscopic view, the future is predestined.”
“But on that line, if someone suddenly takes an action that affects the course of history and breaks the original world line, it’s like the ‘Grandmother Paradox’— that world line ceases to exist, what they call ‘world destruction.’
To prevent total annihilation, the world has a self-correcting ability. That’s why many stories involving reincarnation show that after long struggles, everything returns to the starting point.”
“Like in your case, your fate shifted, and your original life path disappeared. To fill the gap, the world can allow another person to merge and take your place. But there’s a crucial premise— normally, an individual’s fate means little to the world, like a speck of dust in a great torrent.
Only when countless ‘individual fates’ converge can they form a tremendous force that shakes destiny. For an individual to change the world’s course and force a history correction, there’s only one possibility— that person is intimately tied to a turning point in the world’s fate.”
“At the same time, you all might be underestimating the world’s ability to correct history. Earth was born billions of years ago, not to mention the universe. At a sufficiently large scale, even what we think of as ‘breaking fate’ is actually part of a predetermined plan.”
He Luo paused for a moment, then pointed sequentially at Yu Zhi, Lin Yuan, and Rui Hang, before pointing at himself: “As crossers, people who impact both worlds, our fate is indeed crucial, but this has nothing to do with the past versions of ourselves.
The important thing is completing the crossing. The ones with the power to change the world are not our past selves. The world doesn’t need to drag another person into the picture to fill the gap for the past us.”
“So my guess is— it’s not Bao Xiaoyuan who replaced your fate, but you ‘occupied’ the destiny originally meant for Bao Xiaoyuan. Maybe not just you. Us, the twenty-four students of Ninth Class, Grade 11, even Teacher Rui— we all ‘occupy’ someone else’s fate.”
Faced with He Luo’s unexpectedly profound answer, Rui Hang and the others were not shocked.
Since the beginning of the crossing, they had spent countless hours investigating and contemplating what caused their crossing and what purpose the existence that brought them here might have.
Though five hundred years had passed and they had approached closer and closer to the status of the legendary Twenty-Four Gods, they still had no solid answers.
Though lacking answers, they sensed something.
—The twenty-five people of Ninth Class had different personalities, different experiences, and even different births.
There seemed to be no common traits, like the main characters in the movie Battle Royale, chosen simply by lottery.
Yet this “ordinary” class, after crossing and reincarnating, still retained memories and personalities from Earth. Even among Parnaki’s countless powerful races, reincarnation with memories was almost impossible.
A group who never even encountered anything like this?
Just this question alone—
If crossing truly had meaning, for words that mean nothing, the collision and fusion of different cultures and knowledge systems between two worlds would be it.
“Crossing, Earth, and Parnaki…”
Rui Hang suddenly recalled a scene he dreamed long ago. Dark clouds covered the sky, thunder roared, and monsters from another world appeared in the streets.
With a wave of their hands, buildings collapsed. Cannons and magic intertwined, desperate cries echoing through the air.
Like scenes from a tokusatsu show, but less flashy and heroic, and more helpless and bleak.
Maybe their crossing was meant from the start to fuse the two worlds.
……
Because the school sports meet was underway, the parents of the three bullying girls were quickly brought to the Dean of Students’ office.
Along with them were the students’ homeroom teacher and Yu Zhi’s mother, Tao Xiaochun. Bao Xiaoyuan’s parents, as the biggest victims, were absent.
Perhaps feeling Bao Xiaoyuan’s lack of parental support robbed her of a voice, the bullying girls’ parents only lingered briefly before agreeing on a narrative.
Tearfully, they repeatedly apologized to Bao Xiaoyuan and Yu Zhi, promising stricter discipline in the future, all while lamenting that their children’s behavior stemmed from family issues.
“My husband and I have been busy with business since our child was little. She was raised by her grandmother, so she was spoiled rotten. We never expected her to do something like this. Please accept our apology, and here’s… no, this amount!”
The leading girl’s parent, wealthy and arrogant, raised two fingers and declared five zeros: “After all, they’re just kids. Let’s make this a small matter and settle it privately. What do you say?”
Relying on the fact that Bao Xiaoyuan was too young to make decisions, the three parents cornered her, making her stammer nervously, unable to reply.
Tao Xiaochun pulled Bao Xiaoyuan behind her, showing rare firmness.
“Sorry, we don’t accept your apology,” she said coldly. “Crime is crime. There’s no ‘kids will be kids’ here. I have no interest in your past or your parenting methods. All I know is my daughter almost lost her life trying to save someone, and this child was bullied to the point of nearly jumping off a building. This is clearly a crime! Since a crime was committed, let the police and the court decide.”
Finished, Tao Xiaochun looked at the sweating Dean of Students, her tone edged with displeasure: “You said you reported this to the police, right? Where are they? Why haven’t they arrived yet?”
The Dean was at a loss. He truly had reported it, not just once. But the heavy congestion outside meant the police needed time to arrive. He thought he might settle some of the matter before the police came.
But without the police present, the bullying students’ parents assumed the school just wanted to cover it up and downplay the issue, which only emboldened them.
When Tao Xiaochun questioned him, the Dean tried to explain but was cut off. The parents’ voices sharpened: “Our daughter is just a kid! They’re all students—why make such a big deal? Spreading this around would only embarrass the school!”
They glanced meaningfully at the Dean, as if daring him to act.
Dean of Students: “……”
With parental backing, the three bullies suddenly became agitated.
“No, Dad/Mom, they’re slandering us!”
“Yeah, we even filmed a rescue video to protect ourselves from false accusations!”
“If you don’t believe us, check the surveillance— Bao Xiaoyuan walked to the rooftop herself! We only followed her because we were worried about her mental state!”
“Exactly!”
The three grew louder and more spirited. One played a “rescue video” on their phone; another loudly declared their innocence, while the third demanded to see the surveillance footage.
Unexpectedly, things took a turn here. The Dean was stunned as he leaned in to watch the video carefully.
Suddenly, he saw Yu Zhi half-hanging outside the building, captured in a perilous plea for help. Tao Xiaochun’s pupils dilated with hatred as she stared at the three girls.
“My daughter is like this, and you still have the heart to film videos?!”
“Ma’am, please speak responsibly. We filmed it to avoid being framed. Didn’t you hear? Your daughter asked us for ‘help’!”
After finishing, she rolled her eyes— though muttering, the voice was loud enough for everyone in the office to hear.
“What ungrateful wolves— just saved, then turn around and slander us. Luckily we filmed it; otherwise, how would we explain?”
“Some people’s hearts really flow with black water!”
Tao Xiaochun was furious, nearly exploding, her long-suppressed restraint about to snap.
She rolled up her sleeves and was about to slap one of them, but Yu Zhi gripped her wrist first, fingers gently tapping to soothe, then turned to the Dean: “Can we watch some surveillance footage?”
Though feeling the three girls were in the wrong, the Dean found the obvious video stronger evidence than mere testimony from Yu Zhi and the others.
At Yu Zhi’s request, the Dean agreed immediately.
As the mouse dragged along the timeline, familiar figures appeared on the screen— Bao Xiaoyuan and the three bullies following her.
The school had recently used sponsorship funds to upgrade a batch of surveillance cameras, so the footage was very clear. Bao Xiaoyuan’s face came into view with every camera angle change.
The girl’s small frame was swallowed by an oversized school uniform, looking empty and hollow. Her face showed no expression, dull like a wooden doll.
Her steps were slightly unsteady but purposeful and unwavering, heading straight for the rooftop.
The three bullies appeared shortly after. They had been following Bao Xiaoyuan for a while, curious and mocking her strange mental state. They laughed and followed her upstairs to the rooftop.
A moment later, Yu Zhi, in her sportswear, entered the frame. She kept her head down, arms crossed, seeming lost in thought.
Her pace varied— sometimes stopping, sometimes quickening— but never veered from the rooftop direction.
Everything seemed to confirm the bullies’ claim. Though their expressions and “concern” were vastly different, there was still no evidence they intended to harm Bao Xiaoyuan.
The successive “evidence” made the bullying girls’ side jubilant. Their parents relaxed their negotiation tone, no longer ashamed to look at Yu Zhi and the others.
They held their heads high, looking down disdainfully at Yu Zhi’s group with faces full of grievance but eyes full of contemptuous smiles.
Clearly, they believed the outcome was sealed and that Yu Zhi’s side was powerless.
Yu Zhi ignored them. Since tempting the bullies to film had succeeded, her purpose was to watch this surveillance.
She wanted to know in what mental state Bao Xiaoyuan headed to the rooftop— whether, like her, she unconsciously chose the rooftop as a destination, or if someone coerced her, unknowingly walking the same path as Yu Zhi’s past.
Or, as He Luo suggested, if Bao Xiaoyuan was living a fate once occupied by Yu Zhi.
The footage answered most of her questions clearly.
Rather than “confused,” Bao Xiaoyuan was more like “sleepwalking.”
She had no conscious will, her subconscious controlling her body, walking toward an inescapable “end.”
What happened to Bao Xiaoyuan inside?
Yu Zhi pondered quietly. Mocking voices ringing in her ears clouded her thoughts. Disgusted, she pulled out her phone and tossed it in front of the Dean.
“I have footage too.”
The noise in the office suddenly stopped.
Yu Zhi sneered coldly, growing impatient: “Don’t you think it’s suspicious how close the times are when I and your precious daughter went to the rooftop? Do you really believe I just stood there dumbly watching, doing nothing?”
In her video, the three girls stood watching Bao Xiaoyuan on the rooftop’s edge, laughing and shouting, occasionally pushing her.
Soon, one shouted something at Bao Xiaoyuan, who then walked a few steps toward the rooftop edge as if instigated.
At the end of the video, Bao Xiaoyuan’s eyes showed a waking clarity. The three girls panicked, apparently deciding how to handle Bao Xiaoyuan.
Then the video suddenly reversed, like the phone had fallen, before being picked up and the “end” button pressed several seconds later.
Compared to the staged “rescue” video from the bullies, Yu Zhi’s footage was clearly more genuine and credible.
Combined with the earlier shouting match with their parents, their lies seemed laughably transparent now.
“As my mother said, we reject any mediation. We respect the law, and everything must follow it.”
Finished, Yu Zhi handed her phone to Rui Hang, who had stood silently behind to support Yu Zhi’s group. “Teacher Rui, as the victims, we don’t want to share the same room with the perpetrators. Can we leave the rest to you?”
Rui Hang smiled gently as he accepted the phone. “Of course.”
Yu Zhi thanked him, then took the still-stunned Bao Xiaoyuan and her mother, both angry yet relieved, and left the office, shutting the door tightly behind them, locking the mess inside.
The three walked silently down the corridor until finding a quiet spot. Only then did Yu Zhi release her grip and gently ask, “Classmate, are you alright?”
Bao Xiaoyuan hadn’t expected to be saved twice in her most helpless moments by the same person.
Looking at Yu Zhi, her eyes filled with trust and admiration. She took a deep breath and shook her head: “I’m okay.”
“Don’t waste energy being angry at those scumbags,” Tao Xiaochun added beside her. “We live in a new society. There’s nothing to fear. The police and the school will stand up for us!”
Such comfort and care from her mother were rare for Bao Xiaoyuan. Once again, her eyes reddened, head bowed to hide her sorrow from Yu Zhi and Tao Xiaochun.
“Thank you both…”
“No need to be so polite. My daughter is also a victim. We’re united. And as a parent, of course, I have to look after you.”
Mentioning the parents, Tao Xiaochun’s expression darkened. Thinking about Bao Xiaoyuan’s family’s absence and unwillingness to come, she was momentarily at a loss for words.
Yu Zhi patted Bao Xiaoyuan’s shoulder to soothe her. After the girl calmed down, Yu Zhi casually brought up a key point: “Although this isn’t the right time to say this, you looked a little strange in the surveillance footage…”
“I don’t know what happened either.” Bao Xiaoyuan spoke to the person she trusted most without hiding anything. “I don’t remember anything before going to the rooftop. I think… I took a nap. When I opened my eyes, I was already at the edge of the rooftop.”
“Do you remember anything before you ‘slept’?” Yu Zhi asked gently.
Bao Xiaoyuan paused, suppressing her fear of the rooftop, furrowing her brows as she tried to recall for a long moment before uncertainly saying, “I think I met a man— a middle-aged man wearing a black vest with a camera hanging on his chest. He suddenly asked me for directions. I thought he was a student’s parent, so I answered, and then…”
Her eyes blanked again as if reliving the moments before stepping onto the rooftop.
Yu Zhi’s gaze hardened slightly. Maintaining her soothing tone, she pressed a pressure point on Bao Xiaoyuan’s shoulder while increasing the urgency in her voice: “You were just tired. Don’t think too much. I’ll take you to the infirmary to get some rest. When you wake up, everything will be better.”
The gentle voice and ingrained trust made Bao Xiaoyuan murmur softly. She nodded and let Yu Zhi support her, staggering toward the infirmary.
…..
『Beloved Ninth Class』
『King’s Hunting Specialist』: Classmates, got intel.
『Blue-Assassin』: video.mp4
『Don’t Want a Critical Failure』: Hey, is this guy for real?
『A Paladin Who Doesn’t Want to Be a Dragon Knight Isn’t a Good Paladin』: Superpowers? Or is it the Librarian’s and Astrologer’s Prophecy of the Great Seer? Could it really be a crosser from the future?
On screen, a man in a black vest was restrained by several security guards. He stared crazily toward the school office, shouting frantically: “He’s a demon! I saw it! He will bring The End of the World!”