1 Campus Antagonist

When Xie Yunchuan awoke, he was met with total darkness. He almost thought he hadn't survived, until he stirred and felt a sense of physical reality.

Not only was there a sense of reality, but it was the sensation of a healthy, vigorous body.

He blinked in the darkness, his racing heart slowly settling. It seemed that his time in the Underworld was real, and that woman named Yan Hua—a female King of Hell he had never heard of (presumably a King of Hell)—was telling the truth.

He really had been reincarnated with his memories intact, and as long as he performed well, he could continue to live on, life after life.

Immortality—this was Xie Yunchuan's greatest pursuit.

Do not mock him for wanting to live forever. When a young man has worked hard for over a decade, full of hope and ambition, ready to spread his wings toward a new world, only for his life to be suddenly cut short—with less than half a year left, filled not with joy but with the gradual, debilitating pain of a failing body, the cacophony of the hospital, and the pungent smell of medicine—anyone would crave a healthy, long life.

Xie Yunchuan thought back to his direct superior, Lady Yan Hua. She was a woman who appeared exceptionally gentle, yet the terrifying and majestic Judge treated her with the utmost respect. She was the head of the entire Eighteenth Department.

It was said that people like him were selected based on their own unique traits, and their assignments were determined by specific needs. However, Lady Yan had personally allowed him to choose his preferred department from a list, and she had even gone out of her way to select his first target based on his own past life experiences.

Indeed, his method of reincarnation was to enter the "Department of Infatuated Men" in the Underworld, where he would resolve the obsessions of souls who had died clinging to unrequited love. Xie Yunchuan translated this for himself: he was to act as a counselor for a group of "second-lead" men who couldn't let go of their lost loves, urging them to finally move on and reincarnate.

Thinking of this, Xie Yunchuan closed his eyes, rushing to recall the circumstances of his current target.

As soon as he recollected this identity, Xie Yunchuan felt a surge of genuine gratitude toward Lady Yan Hua.

His parents had died early, and he had been raised by his grandfather in a residential compound. Now that his grandfather had also passed away, Chu Xiang was all alone in the world, yet he possessed a massive fortune left behind by his parents—he was a bona fide rich kid.

Coming from a poverty-stricken background, Xie Yunchuan was stunned as he lay in bed thinking of Chu Xiang's assets. He was so rich.

No one to answer to, and he had money... Just living this life once would be worth it!

Not only that, the timing of his arrival was perfect: the start of his second year of high school, just after the original owner's grandfather had passed away and just before he met the love of his life.

He was very familiar with high school life, so completing the mission should be much easier.

Xie Yunchuan felt a sincere sense of gratitude before continuing to recall the rest. What followed was the life that the original Chu Xiang was destined to lead.

Having lost his parents young and his grandfather in his first year of high school, Chu Xiang was a silent person. Aside from a few childhood friends from the compound, he had almost no friends. He didn't like interacting with others, accustomed to a life of solitude.

There were many boys of his age in the compound, and they had grown up together. Even though Chu Xiang was reserved, he had always been on good terms with this group, especially their leader, Yang Yunan. Yang was an extremely extroverted and mischievous boy, the notorious little tyrant of the compound.

Yang Yunan was the type who, once he made up his mind, couldn't be pulled back by ten oxen—unless he ran into Chu Xiang.

Before Elder Chu passed away, he worried about his grandson, fearing he would be left all alone. But seeing Yang Yunan, who had come to keep his grandson company, he felt relieved. His grandson at least had such a good friend. The Yang family was well-off, and the two families would continue to be family friends, just like the older generation.

Chu Xiang had indeed been a brother to Yang Yunan for his entire life. Not just a brother, but also a firefighter for his family disputes, extinguishing flames wherever they arose.

This was because they fell in love with the same girl, and that girl loved Yang Yunan. Thus, Chu Xiang took a step back, guarding his beloved and her marriage for a lifetime.

And it was more than just a lifetime—after Chu Xiang died, he remained stuck in the Eighteenth Department because of this unrequited love.

Xie Yunchuan found it incredible.

He reached out to touch his chest, reviewing these memories over and over again until he grew exhausted and drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke, it was the first day of his second year of high school.

The Chu Xiang now inhabited by Xie Yunchuan had been somewhat "infected" by the original's temperament. He sluggishly got up, washed, searched for his schoolbag based on memory, slung it over his shoulder, and headed out.

"Chu Xiang, hurry up!" A boisterous male voice shouted outside the villa. Chu Xiang looked out, bleary-eyed, and as expected, saw the vibrant, reckless face of Yang Yunan.

"Oh." He continued to walk slowly, reached the backseat of the car, opened the door, and got in.

Another friend in the passenger seat, Chen Qian, laughed. "Chu Xiang, at your pace, you won't make it to school until after classes end today."

Chu Xiang hugged his bag and went back to sleep in the backseat, mumbling, "Aren't you guys here?"

Yang Yunan was speechless. He told the driver to go, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Am I your nanny?"

Chu Xiang was already asleep.

Chen Qian tried to stifle a laugh.

Yang Yunan rolled his eyes so hard he nearly cramped his eyelids.

Chen Qian was immersed in his phone, completely ignoring Yang Yunan's frustration.

"What are you looking at?" Yang Yunan, having been left alone for only a moment, was already bored.

"New beauties at school! Brother Zhang is already at the front lines; he sent the latest scoop using his status as a senior. We have a lot of beauties in this grade!"

Yang Yunan was completely uninterested. "Let's go play ball this afternoon! The gym! School's starting again, the only joy is basketball!"

Chen Qian was absorbed in the candid photos of the girls and didn't make a sound.

Yang Yunan was so angry he felt as if he owed this group a debt from eight lifetimes ago.

Chu Xiang woke up just as they were nearing the school. He felt a little embarrassed; he hadn't slept well the night before because he was reviewing the original owner's memories for too long, and he was truly exhausted.

The original owner's habits had left their mark on him. He felt at ease around Yang Yunan, so he slept as soon as he got in the car, without the awkwardness of a first meeting.

Because of this, he understood Yang Yunan's personality and knew he was unhappy. As soon as he got out of the car, he patted his shoulder. "I'll go play basketball with you this afternoon."

Yang Yunan's eyes lit up, and he looked over, pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

Chu Xiang hadn't expected such a reaction, but then he understood. The original owner was lazy about everything and rarely bothered to join Yang Yunan for basketball. In a situation like today, even if the original had noticed Yang Yunan was ignored and grumpy early in the morning, he wouldn't have cared, because that was just Yang Yunan—he’d just be grumpy for a bit and get over it.

But the current Chu Xiang thought this friend was actually quite decent, and seeing him so excited, he felt happy too. "Really, why would I lie to you?"

On the afternoon of the first day, Chu Xiang accompanied Yang Yunan to the gym to play basketball for the entire afternoon. Yang Yunan had a sturdy build and boundless energy; Chu Xiang was more frail and lacked his stamina, but he was happy today. He was happy to have this body full of strength, happy that he no longer trembled just trying to hold a cup of water. Even when he was exhausted, he didn't leave the court.

The other friends playing with them were stunned. "Chu Xiang, what's gotten into you today?"

Chu Xiang smiled, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "I'm just happy."

Yang Yunan slung an arm around his neck. Being the boisterous guy he was, he didn't find anything strange about it. "That's the spirit! What's the point of just lying or sitting around all day!"

Chu Xiang smiled and met his eyes; the two raised their hands and slapped them together in a silent pact.

Seventeen-year-old boys, drenched in sweat, with brilliant smiles, full of vitality and youthful spirit.

"Yang Yunan, Chu Xiang." This brilliance came to an abrupt end at the sound of a faint, quiet voice.

The two, standing side-by-side with their arms over each other’s shoulders, looked toward the edge of the court and saw the class representative, wearing thick glasses and looking rather gloomy.

On the first day of school, the class representative looked as if someone owed him billions. His gaze was icy as it swept over them. "You two are the only ones who haven't turned in your summer homework. The subject representatives couldn't find you and came to me instead. It took me 43 minutes to track you down, wasting an entire study hall."

Yang Yunan looked up at the sky and rolled his eyes, speechless. "You shouldn't have paid attention to them!"

The class representative replied, "I am the class representative; it is my duty."

Yang Yunan vigorously scratched his short hair, wiping away the sweat, and whispered to Chu Xiang, "Crap, I didn't do it. Did you?"

Chu Xiang looked at him with a blank expression, his brain frantically searching his memory, then said calmly, "Oh, I didn't either."

Yang Yunan shoved him aside—how could he be so righteous about not doing it!

Then he chuckled and walked toward the class representative. "Bookworm... I mean, class rep, did you hand in your homework? Can I borrow it to check my answers?"

The class representative turned and walked away, expressionless. "The head teacher already came to the classroom to check the homework. He told me to compile a list of those who didn't submit it before evening study."

The head teacher was a demon everyone in the class avoided. They weren't afraid of him as a person, but they were afraid of his knack for making trouble and tormenting people!

Yang Yunan: "..."

Chu Xiang remained calm, walked to the side of the court, grabbed his school uniform, and headed out. Inwardly, he was actually incredibly panicked and embarrassed. He had never in his life experienced a situation where his summer homework was blank. With only a few hours left, he had to think: how many test papers could he complete using his past life's knowledge?

Seeing this, Yang Yunan grabbed his clothes and chased after him. "What do we do? Should we split up and borrow papers?"

Chu Xiang looked at him, they exchanged a glance, and they took off running.

They ran out of the gym, across the large plaza, all the way to the school building, and sprinted down the corridor. Chu Xiang nimbly dodged two girls coming their way, a thought popping into his head as he ran: *This person looks familiar?*

Then he heard a "Bang!" behind him.

That idiot Yang Yunan had knocked someone over.

"Ouch..."

Chu Xiang slammed on the brakes and turned back.

In the corner of the corridor, it was a mess. A girl had fallen to the ground, another was crouching down to help her, and new textbooks were scattered everywhere. Yang Yunan was grimacing, clutching his chest, and had muttered an "Excuse me" before trying to run off again.

The girl helping the victim grabbed him. "What is your problem? You hit someone and you're just leaving!"

Yang Yunan: "I'm in a hurry! Why don't you go to the school infirmary yourself, and if there’s a problem, come find me—I'm in Class 3, Grade 2!" He tried to bolt again.

The girl held onto his pant leg for dear life. "Apologize! Don't you know you aren't supposed to run in the hallways?"

Yang Yunan's expression changed, and he took a breath. "I already apologized, didn't you hear it? Open your ears—I! Am! In! A! Hurry!"

"A-Nan." Chu Xiang walked up to them and called out.

The anger on Yang Yunan's face faltered, and he pointed irritably at the floor. "I bumped into someone."

Chu Xiang lowered his eyes, looking at the flushed, angry girl. He found the source of the familiarity... This was the girl the original owner had been obsessed with: Cheng Jin, a freshman who had just started high school.

So, Yang Yunan had crossed paths with Cheng Jin this early on. No wonder they had been rivals for such a long time afterward. In his previous life, the original owner had always thought he was the one who met her first.