The cycle begins to repeat itself today.

"I've never met him before, and I don't even know what he looks like. How am I supposed to greet him?"

She gave a seemingly reasonable answer. I shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"By the way, how did you get up to the roof? Weren't all the paths to the roof blocked?"

“There are other routes to get up there. But right now only I know about them. I like to go there for a while because it’s quiet since no one else can go up.”

"Oh, I see... Could you tell me how to get up there? I've never been up there before."

"It's actually very simple. There's no point in telling you directly. You can find it yourself by looking around. But be careful not to fall or you'll get hurt."

The sentence that followed was probably a hint she gave herself.

I'm not good at deciphering things, and I won't be able to get the answer I want in a short time. Regarding that entrance/exit, it will probably be necessary to investigate it again later.

I sat quietly in my seat. There was still a long time before class started, so I lay on my desk, ready to take a nap.

Chapter Seventeen Additional Pathways

I closed my eyes for a while. Although I had been sleeping well for the past three days, the mental fatigue had not been eliminated. On the contrary, it had accumulated more and more due to the almost continuous mental activity. Even when I slept, I did not get a good rest. Lying down for a while made me feel a little better.

She was woken up by Ye Yuqing, who was sitting next to her.

"The teacher is here; it looks like there's going to be a test."

That's what she said, and she guessed right. I calmed down a bit, becoming slightly more awake, but not much better. The lingering drowsiness made me feel listless. But I still had exams coming up, so I had to force myself to stay focused. I glanced at Ye Yuqing beside me and saw she was looking at me too. I remembered what I should do.

"Thanks for reminding."

"fine."

I tidied up my desk to create a relatively flat space to write the exam. I received the exam paper, which I had already seen in its entirety four times; it hadn't changed at all. Well, to be honest, this wasn't exactly a good thing, but to be honest, being able to familiarize myself with the questions beforehand seemed pretty good too. However, it really didn't mean much.

I didn't even check the front and back of the test paper before writing my name and starting to write. Given my current level of familiarity with the material, I might have been able to finish much earlier. However, Ye Yuqing next to me was clearly not as unlucky as me, experiencing this cycle of misfortune more than four times in one day. She was still carefully checking the front and back of her test paper and starting to solve the problems, just like the teachers usually said.

This set of test papers is no longer a challenge for me. No matter what kind of test paper it is, if I write it three times in a row, it will leave some influence and memory. What's more, this is a test paper that meets the difficulty of the college entrance examination and that I have already done three times. I have memorized the content and answers. It doesn't take too much time to write it. At least the time that was originally used for thinking has been infinitely shortened.

When I finished writing my essay, I glanced at my phone. There were still at least fifty minutes left until the exam ended. This nearly hour-long gap made me feel a little bored. I thought about going to sleep, but the teacher wasn't the kind who sat at the podium waiting for the exam; she wasn't the kind of teacher who was more lenient. If she found out I'd finished the exam so early, she'd probably think I'd cheated or used some other method, which would be troublesome.

So what should I do next? Sneaky play on my phone? I don't have that habit, and even if I did, there aren't any games on my phone. There's not much else I can do either. Going outside the classroom to kill time would definitely give away the fact that I finished the exam fifty minutes early, so I can't go out either.

Should I continue observing Ye Yuqing beside me? I don't have the ability to glean any particularly insightful information from others, and even if I did observe, I wouldn't gain much. I tilted my head slightly to look at her. She had only just begun the reading comprehension section before the essay, and her pace was rather slow.

She wasn't very focused while doing her problems. I turned to look at her, and she quickly noticed, turning back to look at me as well. I didn't know what to say. She gave me a strange look before turning back to think about the problems she needed to solve. Then, as if she had suddenly realized something, she turned back to look at the completed test paper on my desk.

I don't know what she's thinking right now, but I remember her secretly looking at my test paper yesterday, so I just opened the paper and showed her the reading comprehension section. She looked at me with some surprise, then quickly scanned the answers I had handwritten on the paper.

This probably isn't a good thing, that's what my experience tells me. But since she'll be sneaking a peek anyway, it's better to give it to her now than wait until then. Today's just a repetition anyway. Ye Yuqing was rushing to finish her test; she wasn't slow at writing, but she spent a lot of time thinking through the questions. While careful thinking isn't necessarily a bad thing, in an exam where every second counts, spending too much time thinking can sometimes negatively impact your score.

This habit is actually quite easy to change. Just like now, by constantly doing some thought-provoking problems to train your thinking efficiency, or by learning some problem-solving techniques from them, you should be able to increase your problem-solving efficiency.

However, this requires real training, not taking shortcuts like we are now. The laziness we indulge in today may require us to pay a much higher price tomorrow to make up for it.

I continued to look out the window at the pitch blackness. The complete darkness calmed me down a little, and I began to ponder what Ye Yuqing knew about the way upstairs. I considered myself quite familiar with this school building, as I walked up and down it every day. Besides, the building wasn't very big; there were only two classes on each floor at most, so getting familiar with it was a piece of cake.

The only passageway in this teaching building is the spiral staircase that goes up and down; there are no ladders or anything like that outside the walls. It's even said that such additional passageways didn't exist in the era in which it was built. Apart from the solid walls and windows with iron bars, you can't see anything on the surface of this building.

However, the wall next to the staircase of this building was specially designed for aesthetic purposes. Although it is somewhat old, it increases the amount of light and makes the whole building look less like a matchbox that is not airtight... Is it possible that people climbed up this wall?

Although it seems unbelievable, it's not entirely impossible. Even someone like me could probably climb up. No tools or superpowers are needed; you can simply climb from this floor to the next.

Did she really do that? I looked at her uncertainly. Although the method was feasible, it still required considerable courage—climbing the outer edge of a three-story building. I wasn't sure if I could actually do it. And whether this method was even viable needed further testing.

Make an excuse to investigate after the exam ends.

Chapter Eighteen: The Piercing Blade

I waited quietly for the exam to end. This time, because the time for the exam and explanation was not very long, the break time in between was canceled. However, I could still use going to the toilet as an excuse to leave the classroom. These teachers couldn't possibly not allow me to go to the toilet. But I couldn't go during the break, as that's when most people were leaving, and it would be a little troublesome to squeeze in with them at the same time.

I plan to leave the classroom about ten minutes before the exam ends, which should be a pretty good time. Because my grades are mediocre and I'm not particularly outstanding, I have a relatively small presence in the class; I'm somewhat invisible. This hasn't caused me any inconvenience, and in fact, it's still proving to be a great help now.

I can leave the classroom early, and even catch up with others returning to the classroom, thus delaying my return. Although I'll become slightly more conspicuous, it increases my activity time, so it's not a loss. Besides, I'm not too worried about these things now—anything I do could be reset, and if I cause trouble, it can be reset the next day. But the information I receive won't be reset, which is the only thing I'm grateful for.

I waited for the expected time to arrive. Ye Yuqing wrote quite quickly; she started writing her essay with about an hour left, which was about average speed, and she was almost finished. I checked my phone; there were about two or three minutes left. I figured I could stand up and leave the classroom when Ye Yuqing finished her exam.

A few minutes later, she handed me the test paper. I pressed the paper down with the essay side facing up using my pen, then stood up. Knowing I wanted to leave, she stood up and made way for me. I walked past her seat to the Chinese teacher sitting at the podium, explained my request, and she agreed.

With only about ten minutes left in the exam, it's not particularly unusual for some students to finish their papers a little early. After I left, I casually closed the classroom door, but before I'd taken a few steps, I heard the door being pushed open again behind me.

Has anyone finished their test yet? I turned around and saw that Ye Yuqing was the one who came out with me. Was she going to the restroom? I didn't think she would go upstairs now, considering how short the time was, and the last time she jumped off the building was at 10:00 AM, an hour later, which is after school.

After seeing me, she quickly walked straight up to me. I didn't think she was in a hurry to go to the bathroom or anything; her eyes were fixed on me, and she walked almost straight toward me. She must have come to see me, and a few seconds later, that thought became a reality.

"Um, that..." She started to stammer after she opened her mouth, and I couldn't do anything but wait for her to speak. But she probably lacked the courage to speak, and I waited for a long time without hearing anything more.

"Is there something you need?" My time is limited, and there's no room for further waste.

"Wait! I just wanted to say, thank you..." Her voice became almost inaudible again, but this time I heard the main points clearly. Is saying thank you such a courageous thing? I don't think so.

"It's nothing." I continued walking towards the stairs, but I didn't go into the lecture hall I originally intended to go to. If the path Ye Yuqing mentioned was really inside, then going in now might change her current plans. What I needed to do wasn't to stop her from committing suicide; that was useless. Even if I stopped her this time, she would do it again. If she wanted to die, I couldn't stop her at all. My task from the beginning had only one thing to do: to make her understand this whole situation from start to finish.

I walked a few steps downstairs and realized that Ye Yuqing hadn't followed. I wondered if she had gone upstairs directly or returned to the classroom. I decided to go check the lecture hall first. Perhaps it was the constant cycle that gave me courage; I wasn't too afraid of making any mistakes now—everything would be reset anyway.

I returned to the floor where the classroom was located and looked through the window into the lecture hall. It was pitch black. I walked to the door and looked at the closed door. Based on these things alone, I couldn't tell whether Ye Yuqing had gone inside. I decided to take the risk and slowly pushed the door open. Light from the corridor lights streamed into the lecture hall, making it slightly brighter. I looked around; there was no one else nearby. Reassured, I stepped inside.

Stepping into the darkness, my senses became sharper. The silence made everything around me clearer. Although I couldn't see far into the unlit areas, my purpose wasn't to see this lecture hall, so it didn't matter. I took my phone out of my pocket, ready to turn on the screen for light, when I suddenly heard a faint noise behind me, so faint it was almost inaudible.

I was slightly startled and was about to turn around to see where the commotion came from when I felt something pierce my skin from behind, through my heart—I wasn't sure if it was my heart; I'd never had an experience like this before. I saw blades reflecting a faint starlight, seemingly covered in a dark red liquid. I felt my chest begin to feel wet, the pain intensifying rapidly, and the overwhelming shock rendered me immobile.

I felt something touch my body, not the blade in my chest, but a pair of hands—a pair of hands that were as cold as ice even in this sweltering summer heat. Their owner walked up to me, bowed his head, and gently stroked my face with both hands.

"Thank you for talking to me, thank you for letting me copy your test paper, thank you for not finding me annoying, and for not hitting or scolding me... But today is important, only today... No matter what, I can't let you mess things up... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so ......"

She finally raised her head, and I saw her face clearly, even in the dim light.

Ye Yuqing, the girl who stabbed me through the body, what is she doing now? Is she crying?

She controlled my body, which I could no longer control, and pressed my head down. As my consciousness completely faded, I felt something soft against my lips, something I had never felt before, and a voice that fell into darkness along with my consciousness—"I'm sorry."

Chapter Nineteen: Yesterday's Yesterday

My consciousness wandered in the darkness, uneasy and disoriented. I didn't know what state I was in. But the darkness was just right, quiet enough to make me forget the feeling of being pierced by a sharp blade... However, this moment of tranquility did not last long. Some sound was gradually growing louder, as if it had reached my brain directly without passing through my eardrums.

It's so noisy and annoying...

I regained control of my body. I struggled to open my eyes. My head was resting on something soft. I moved slightly and realized it was probably my hand...

Gradually regaining control of my body, I lifted my head, trying to open my eyes. A bright light pierced my eyelids through the slits, and I perceived a bright color. I finally opened my eyes.

The bright light was coming from the overhead light, the noise was coming from the noisy crowd around me, and I was... slumped over the table?

I tried to understand my current situation—a noisy environment, glaring lights, a tall stack of familiar books in front of me, and a blank sheet of paper pressed down by my hand… no, not a blank sheet of paper, but an exam paper, a… geography exam paper? What is this?

I glanced at the test paper, which was already covered with answers and red circles marking the correct or incorrect parts. This is a common method teachers use to correct mistakes.

After catching my breath, my mind became a little sharper. I reviewed the contents of the test paper. Although I wasn't as familiar with it as I was with the previous Chinese test, I felt like I had done this test once before... I felt like I had done it once before?

I started to panic. My brain was already aware of what was about to happen, but I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to find evidence. I tried to find questions on the test paper that I wasn't familiar with, but as I searched one after another, my hope slowly turned into despair.

"What's wrong with you?" A slightly familiar voice came from beside me. I turned my head sharply in the direction of the voice. I hadn't forgotten, I would never forget, how could I possibly forget the person who stabbed me through the heart with a knife, Ye Yuqing.

The moment I heard her voice, the fear I had felt from being shrouded in death made me extremely angry. My heart was pounding, and my hand involuntarily reached out to grab her throat and yell at her at the top of my lungs.

Why! Why did you kill me! Just because I might ruin one of your so-called plans? Just because of such a baseless reason, you could plunge a knife into my body without hesitation, piercing my heart? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me!

My roar was about to burst forth, but the moment I saw her face... I began to hesitate.

Her face held confusion, and a hint of fright. Why would someone capable of plunging a blade into another's heart show fear here? Was it a pretense? What was she afraid of? My resurrection?

No…that doesn’t seem right. I realized something had changed about me—my reason was suppressing my hands, which were throbbing with rage. I was clenching my teeth in fury, my expression contorted, my eyes fierce…I was now someone struggling to control my rage. I was the one who frightened her.

Would a murderer be afraid of someone with a fierce expression? I felt my worldview starting to turn upside down, parts of it beginning to crumble. I also realized something—this Ye Yuqing might not have experience dealing with an angry person like me. But that can't be taken as evidence; it proves nothing.

What I'm doing now is meaningless... My anger is pointless. Even if I took out a knife right now and stabbed her through and through, cut off her hands, and cut her into seventy or eighty pieces, it wouldn't be difficult to do, but it would be meaningless. It would only trample my self-respect as a human being into pieces and serve no purpose other than to completely crush it.

The things I'm doing, thinking, and getting angry about right now are all meaningless.

As I thought about this, my anger began to subside. I found it unbelievable and even wanted to mock myself. The person who had killed me with a single blow was right in front of me, yet instead of thinking about how to kill him, I kept making excuses for him.

I really am just a weak person who keeps running away from problems.

I tried to calm my expression and looked at Ye Yuqing.

"It's nothing, just a minor nightmare."

I made up an excuse for myself and answered somewhat coldly. Although I was already making excuses for the other person, I hadn't reached the point where I was completely indifferent. After all, the other person was the one who stabbed me in the back; it would be truly strange if I could let it go so quickly.

"What time is it now?" I asked Ye Yuqing.

"Now? Let me see." Ye Yuqing quietly took her phone out of her bag, and I saw what it looked like. I couldn't recognize the brand of the logo, but her phone case was very distinctive. To this day, I still vividly remember watching SpongeBob SquarePants when I was a child.

"Perfect timing, it will be nine o'clock in about five minutes."

So, is it already 8:55 PM? Although I can tell from the pile of things on my desk, just to be safe, I'll ask again: "What's the date today?"

"Today is already September 11th. Eh... has it really come to today already?"

Ye Yuqing stared blankly at her phone screen, while I sighed deeply. Sure enough, I had suddenly jumped out of the endlessly repeating cycle of September 12th, in a way I never wanted to. Another day had passed. What kind of mess is this…?

At the same time, I'm also worried about something else... Has the cycle of reincarnation I'm currently experiencing ever ended?

After all, I don't know what exactly happened to cause me to jump out of that previous situation and arrive at the day before that recurring cycle. What happened here? Compared to before, it's just that I was stabbed through the neck by Ye Yuqing. Moreover, the current timeline is also a bit puzzling…

I feel that I am getting closer and closer to finding the answer.

I touched the spot where my heart was and glanced at Ye Yuqing, who was lost in thought.

"Don't think that I can easily pretend that none of this ever happened now."

I said to myself in a low voice.

Chapter Twenty: The Rewriting Plan