Chapter 12: A Life Restarted

"Song Han! Song Han! The teacher is here! Stop sleeping."

"Hello, teacher!"

"Hello, classmates! Please take your seats!"

Song Han sat down blankly following his classmates. He turned his head and looked around. The dim and mottled brick classroom was both blurry and familiar in every aspect.

"What's the date today this year?"

"It's Wednesday!"

Song Han stared at the little boy beside him and asked seriously, "Which year? Which month? And what's the date!"

The other person looked at the classmate with an unfamiliar expression and said in surprise, "It's May 2003! You must be dazed from sleeping."

"Don't whisper to each other during class!"

The teacher's solemn voice came from the podium, and along with it was a piece of white chalk. It accurately hit Song Han on the forehead.

Song Han stared blankly at the classroom he was in. Under the dim incandescent light, long prefabricated cement slabs were raised one meter high by red bricks and served as their desks.

Facing the blurry but somewhat familiar scene in front of him, Song Han gradually fell into deep thought.

It's 2003, and he is 12 years old?

After school, following behind his neighbor classmate, walking on this rural dirt road that was still vaguely familiar, crossing the earthen dam bridge over the small river, and walking along the edge of the pond, Song Han had never realized that the village where he had lived for decades could be so vast.

When he got home, his mother, who was familiar yet a bit strange, had already prepared dinner. 

Song Han held a large porcelain bowl and sat under the corridor, gazing blankly as the clear sky in the distance gradually dimmed.

The heart that ached faintly in his chest was now throbbing vigorously. Song Han had never realized that, from the perspective of a 12-year-old, a single day could feel so incredibly long.

In comparison to his self a hundred years later, 12 hours was merely the span of time it took for him to look back on the past and ponder over various matters.

Leaning over the desk in this house constructed of bricks and wood, bathed in the light of the incandescent lamp above, Song Han formulated his plan for his second rebirth.

Rubbing his stuffy chest, the once obscure future that Song Han had envisioned for himself gradually came into focus as he continued to elaborate on it.

"This lifetime, I'm determined to be an outstanding student! I want to lead Dongda University to see if the world a hundred years from now will still remain unchanged!"

At that moment, Song Han seemed to envision the astonished expression of Professor Wenhua a hundred years later.

"I'm standing right in front of you. Tell me, how much do I resemble who I used to be?"

... 

The next day, as soon as he arrived at school, Song Han rushed into the teacher's office.

"Teacher!"

"What's the matter, Song Han?"

"I want to apply for skipping a grade!"

"To which grade?"

"To junior high school!"

The head teacher looked at the test paper he was grading and fell into deep thought.

"But today is our last class. The final primary school graduation examination for transitioning to junior high school will start in a couple of days!"

"Aha? Is that so?"

Song Han scratched his head, laughed awkwardly, and returned to the classroom.

Two days later, Song Han looked at the test paper handed out to him and started writing furiously.

Before long, the results of the primary school graduation examination for transitioning to junior high school in their school were announced, and Song Han made a great impression in this examination.

"Song Han, your grades are out. Go back and get prepared. Follow Teacher Li to the city to take the entrance examination of No.1 Middle School!"

Song Han's departure didn't disrupt the fixed rhythm of this rural primary school. While Song Han was following the teacher to the city to take the entrance examination, the school's graduation ceremony was being held as scheduled.

Not far from where Song Han got on the bus, a young student, looking travel-worn and with a cold expression, carried a heavy schoolbag on his back. Following the shabby signs along the roadside of the town, he walked step by step with exactly the same gait towards Song Han's alma mater, the primary school. 

"Here is a brief news flash!

On June 13, 2002, a vicious attack targeting young students occurred at a primary school in XXX Village, Nanxi County, An Province. The attacker threw a homemade explosive device during the graduation ceremony of a village-run primary school.

Currently, the attack has resulted in the death of at least one child and injuries to six other children.

The attacker has been apprehended, and the case is currently under intense investigation!"

Although no one knew why such an attack had taken place in this remote inland primary school, the vast police agencies were still operating at high speed.

After resting in the hotel with the teacher for one night, when they walked down to the lobby, the two of them stood there in a daze, looking at the familiar scene on the TV.

After a long while, Song Han asked in a hoarse voice, "Teacher, what's the date today?"

"The 15th!"

"Nine days!" 

Song Han lowered his head and muttered to himself.

The first attack came two years after his rebirth, and this time it was only nine days after his rebirth!

The first time he was reborn, he was 16 years old, but this time he was only 12.

The first time, it took him two years to awaken under a car accident and to activate and control the memory palace, but this time he could activate it from the very beginning.

But why was that?

Who wanted to kill him? Was it an AI?

Why was he able to be reborn in a leapfrog manner?

He looked at the teacher beside him and asked seriously, "Since we're taking the exam this afternoon, why did we set out a day in advance?"

Teacher Li was fumbling with his phone. Hearing Song Han's question, he replied without looking up, "It was just a sudden thought of mine. You're the only student in our school who has had the chance to get into No.1 Middle School in the city in all these years. I thought for such an important exam, of course we should come early and have a good rest!

After all, the exam is much more important than the graduation ceremony!"

Finally, the teacher didn't forget to comfort Song Han, "Don't think too much. The most important thing now is the exam this afternoon!"

"Hello!! How's the school? Who got injured?

Mmm! We're fine!

Okay! Okay!" 

Listening to the teacher's explanation, Song Han stared blankly at the images being shown on the TV.

A sudden thought? Was it really just a coincidence or was there some underlying necessity?

The afternoon exam proceeded as scheduled. Song Han, already with a jumbled mass of thoughts in his mind, looked at the test paper handed out to him. He almost had a major setback. Were primary school test papers in 2000 really that tricky?

By a margin of just ten points, Song Han missed out on the first place and instead ranked sixth, right next to the top scorer...

Although in the end, he was still admitted and assigned to the key Class One.

"Mom and Dad, you guys should go back! I can manage on my own!"

"Manage what! You just focus on your studies. I'll ask your mom to stay here and take care of you for a few more days."

In the same simple rented house, Song Han, who had just settled down without a moment's rest, looked at his now young mother who also intended to stay, and tried to persuade her gently, "I came to school early just so that I could spend more time studying by myself in the school library. Now, all I do every day is eat and study in the library. Even if you're here, Mom, there's not much you can do to take care of me. You should go back."

"I said your mom is staying, and that's final! You're still so young. If we don't look after you for a couple of days, how can we be at ease?"

His father, displaying the authority of a parent, was someone that the 12-year-old Song Han found difficult to resist.

In the rented house, after having a simple lunch, Song Han made up an excuse and slipped out.

In a not-so-legitimate internet café, Song Han took out his notebook of his rebirth plans and started making continuous revisions. 

"One, conceal personal information.

Two, rapidly elevate one's individual social class and influence. Give priority to establishing connections with the state and form a security team.

Three, strengthen individual capabilities and self-defense equipment.

Four, only magic can defeat magic. Develop the first-generation powerful artificial intelligence model as soon as possible."

"Little kid, this isn't the place for you."

With a snap, Song Han closed the notebook in his hand and his expression changed as he looked at the person in front of him.

"You're here?"

The corners of the person's mouth twitched slightly.

"You knew we were coming?"

Song Han secretly thought to himself: 'White shirt, black leather shoes.

Two adults who clearly look like civil servants, in this unlicensed internet café where 90% of the customers are minors. It's hard not to notice them even if I didn't want to.'

But when the words came to his lips, what Song Han said was something different.

"I know even more. How about making a deal?"

Wang Wei looked at the little kid in front of him who was trying hard to maintain a serious atmosphere and couldn't help but smile.

"Do you know who I am? What kind of deal do you want to make?"

"You're an investigator from the Security Bureau, looking into the attack on XX Primary School."

"What else do you know?"

Song Han pointed at the notebook in his hand and said calmly, "Help me solve some troubles. In return, I can help you solve some problems."

Wang Wei's expression gradually became more serious.

"This isn't the right place to talk. How about we find another place to chat?" 

Upon hearing this, Song Han stood up with a carefree air.

"Let's go! Call your colleague. Oh, by the way, you haven't told my family, have you?"

The colleague who came with him was a short - haired woman, both of them in plain clothes.

"Do you want us to tell them?"

Song Han shook his head.

"Definitely not!"

The three of them drove in silence and arrived at an unfamiliar residential house.

The other person looked at Song Han and explained with a smile, "This is a safe house we've temporarily activated. Now, what do you want to talk about?"

In a warm - looking living room, Song Han smiled when he saw the old - fashioned video recorder the other person was setting up.

"They don't know what they've done, don't know how they got here, and their family environment makes it hard to believe they would do such a thing.

I think this is the current investigation predicament you're facing, right?"

As Song Han described, Wang Wei and his colleague Liu Qian's expressions grew more and more solemn. Currently, fewer than 10 people knew this information, and it was almost certain that there was no connection with the little kid in front of them.

"Little brother, so their target is you?

Can you tell sister who they are? Why would they manipulate children behind the scenes and go to such great lengths to kill you?"

Song Han shook his head.

"Do you think you'll believe me if I tell you? Will your superiors believe me?" 

It's better if we make a deal. After all, this is just an accidental incident. But if I don't die, I think such "accidents" will probably happen quite often."

Liu Xi raised her eyebrows.

"Little brother, how do you know if sister will believe you if you don't tell me?"

Song Han said helplessly, "Have you seen *The Matrix*? The first episode has come out by now, right? And there's also *The Terminator*, where people travel back in time to save the future.

In a world ruled by artificial intelligence, I'm a bug in this world, and they want to get rid of the bug."

As he spoke, the instructions from Professor Wenhua kept popping up in Song Han's mind:

"We don't expect you to achieve anything. Going back in time doesn't mean changing the future. Just think of it as a group of ants in a two-dimensional world trying to broaden our horizons and struggling to break free from the constraints of the world."

At this moment, Song Han, who originally didn't want to do anything, suddenly felt the urge to take action.

Liu Xi and Wang Wei exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.

"So our world is virtual? And you're the savior?"

"I don't know if the world is virtual or not, but I'm just an old guy who has gone back to his teenage years."

Looking at the obviously strange expressions on their faces, Song Han said helplessly,

"Forget it. Let's talk about our deal." 

Concealment, security, and protection. I don't want to live in constant fear of being assassinated at any moment.

In exchange, I can help you solve some problems. If you don't have the authority, you can find someone with the relevant authority to communicate with me."

Wang Wei raised his eyebrows and said,

"What can you do to help us? Predict the next President of the United States, or the jackpot number of tomorrow's lottery?"

Song Han couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't you think such things are meaningless? Even if you make a successful prediction, so what? There are only a few candidates running. Either this one will be elected or that one will be.

And as for the lottery in our country, isn't it based on probability theory? What's the use of such a prediction?"

Liu Xi spread her hands and said helplessly,

"It's hard for us to know what you can do for us when we don't know what abilities you have."

Upon hearing this, Song Han thought for a moment.

"Can you give me a computer?"

A moment later, a rather bulky laptop that, in Song Han's eyes, exuded a strong sense of vintage style was placed in front of him.

Ten minutes later, Song Han turned the computer around.

"You can find someone to verify this. If it's acceptable, consider this as our bargaining chip for the deal."

Thanks to his days of studying with total dedication during high school, the 12-year-old Song Han now has become increasingly proficient in using computers. 

The two of them frowned as they flipped through the document instructions written by Song Han. After a moment, they stared at each other blankly and sent it to their colleague in the logistics department.

Wang Wei looked at Song Han in confusion and said,

"Is this a thesis? Is it in Chinese or English?

Why do I recognize every single character and every letter on it, but when they are combined into sentences and paragraphs, I don't understand them at all?"