Xu Yan refused to accept reality.
He stared at the student ID for nearly a minute before setting it back down on the bedside table, his hands was still trembling. Then he picked it up again, as if a second look might change what was printed on it.
The id hadn't changed.
"..."
[Maybe it's a prank?] But the idea didn't stick for long . [Who spends this much money on a prank?] [If this is Chen Yu, I'm suing.]
A knock came from outside again.
"Young Master Xu? You've already delayed breakfast by ten minutes."
Xu Yan went speechless .
[Breakfast? Young master?]
His brain finally caught up with the room around him, and he practically threw himself out of bed. The space was nothing like his cramped dorm -- warm-toned walls, furniture that looked expensive just sitting there, a bookshelf running the length of one wall, and a desk so spotless it might never have been touched.
He walked to the window and pulled the curtain apart .
A garden spread below. There was A fountain, A long driveway lined with cars that probably cost more than his old apartment building.
He closed the curtain again, quietly.
[Even the trees here have money,] he thought, a little dazed. [No wonder the ceiling looked rich.]
Then his eyes landed on the full-length mirror in the corner, and something in his chest tightened. He hesitated for a moment before crossing the room toward it.The young man staring back had soft black hair, pale soft skin, and features so fine they almost didn't look real. His eyes carried a faint, sleepiness that made him seem harmless r, and the oversized pajamas made him look younger than he was.
Xu Yan blinked. The reflection blinked with him.
He leaned to the left. It leaned too.
"...Huh."
He pinched his own cheek, hard enough to hurt, and yelped.
It hurt.
He was really had Transmited here. He looked at the mirror one more time — more attentively this time, studying the face like it belonged to a stranger. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted very badly to have a word with a certain author.
[Author.] [Come here.] [I just want to talk.]
Because the novel had described Cannon Fodder Xu Yan in exactly eight words: plain-looking, easily forgotten, almost ugly.
He looked back at the mirror.
"...Ugly?" He pointed at his own reflection. "Me?"
He turned his face slowly from one side to the other, weighing the evidence, and arrived at a verdict.
"The author needs glasses." A pause. "No — the author needs an entire ophthalmology department."
He wasn't being sarcastic . In his old life, if he'd passed someone with this face on campus, he would have turned around for a second look .
"So this," he murmured, "is what passes for ugly around here. Understood. The beauty standards in this novel are completely broken."
He was still admiring his godly new face when a flood of memories that weren't his own came crashing in without warning.
"...!"
He grabbed the edge of the desk to keep his knees from giving up .
The memories of the cannon folder Xu Yan, his family, everything. It was like he had experienced it himself. He was still processing everything when Another memory surfaced. More vivid than others, about a traffic accident. Paparazzi were swarming everywhere . The two leads of the story screaming at each other in the middle of the road.And A car, coming at a high speed. And cannon folder Xu Yan was standing in the wrong place.and just like that he died there.
"..."
"...I'm dead," he said out loud. Then, he corrected himself "No... no — I'm 'going' to die."
He slid down the side of the desk until he was sitting on the floor, all the strength gone out of his legs.He then remembered one line from the book 'The bystander, Xu Yan, died on the spot.' That was the whole ending of the cannon folder Xu Yan. Three paragraphs, and then the story simply moved on without him.
He hugged his knees to his chest.
[Brother.] [No.] [Me.] [Our life is so cheap,] he thought, and for once there wasn't any humor in it at all.
He sat like that for a long while, before finally looking up at the ceiling.
"...Author." he said in a small voice . "I can explain. That one-star review — that wasn't really me. I was emotional. I'll change it. Five stars. Ten reviews. I'll even tell my friends to read it."
He waited.
"...Can you send me back now?"
Nobody answered him. Of course nobody did.
"I knew it," he muttered, lowering his head.
Outside, the butler knocked again. "Young Master, if you don't come down now, you'll be late for your first day at University ."
Xu Yan's head snapped up.
[First day ?]
The memories clicked into place a second time. Today was the first day of university. And tomorrow — tomorrow the two leads would have their very public, very messy breakup.
He got to his feet slowly.
"...Wait."
Then something shifted behind his eyes.
"I know the plot," he said with a hint of joy and fear and despair he felt a moment ago disappearing slowly. [I know exactly where all the gossip is going to happen. Every single one. ]
A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face.
"...Maybe," he said, "being alive isn't so bad after all."