Chapter 1: A Tianchao Reincarnated Youth Will Not Encounter an Indifferent Idol

Restricted Fantasy Invasion

The young man gently pressed the top of the ballpoint pen in his hand. The nib, which had been fiercely battling for over ten minutes, finally received the signal to retreat and retracted into the barrel, leaving behind the neatly written equations on the desk as proof of its struggle.

Turning the page of the white answer sheet revealed its title:

"Yuanyue International University Spring Semester Entrance Exam. Subject: Mathematics. Exam Duration: 120 Minutes."

Below the printed title, the examinee''s name was written in black ink:

"Yan Huan"

It was a spring-tinted afternoon. The sun''s gaze cascaded generously through the second-floor windows of the Academic Building, illuminating the handsome profile of the young man who had just finished answering his test.

Beneath his slightly long, faintly wavy black bangs, his dark eyes glanced out the window, reflecting the vast expanse of the green field awash in crimson streaks of light. It was the sports field, tracing the trajectory of the setting sun.

On the track, young people in athletic wear ran laps, looking like Kuafu from the ancient myths, endlessly chasing the descending sun.

In his past life, the image of Kuafu in Yan Huan''s mind had always been that of a strong, healthy youth. He believed that relentlessly chasing the sun without ever feeling fatigued was an act full of youthful vigor.

Fortunately, this parallel world also had legends about Kuafu, allowing him to weave such metaphors into his essays.

The other students around him were still buried in their hard work; only Yan Huan deftly set down the body-warmed ballpoint pen on the desk.

Resting his chin in his hand, he met the gaze of the bald, middle-aged math teacher on the podium for a brief moment before both of them tacitly looked away.

''This kid finished in such a short amount of time again...''

''Zhou Bin, your bald head is reflecting the light again...''

Their thoughts collided in the void, yet neither knew what the other was truly thinking.

"Read the questions carefully and double-check your work."

That was his math teacher from the previous semester, Zhou Bin. It was quite a humorous name; seeing him always reminded Yan Huan of imported Japanese raw cola.

Bored out of his mind, he listened to the scratching sounds of his classmates writing furiously, his thoughts drifting off to who knows where.

''Is my transmigration lacking a bit of that fantasy element?''

Yan Huan stared blankly ahead, suddenly struck by this depressing thought.

A cheat system implanted in his mind, a female demoness coming at night to repay a debt of gratitude, or a foreign foodie in the storage room asking, "Are you my master?"...

He had absolutely none of that!

It seemed he had simply died young, collapsing suddenly at his desk from overwork, and then reincarnated as an infant into this completely unfamiliar, apparent parallel world to restart his life.

He had lived a disciplined life for over a decade, and this year, he finally entered his youthful state once more!

In truth, Yan Huan still harbored a tiny bit of hope for such things. For his sixth birthday, he had even wished that his transmigrated life would gain a touch of that fantasy element.

But he knew how to be content with what he had. He had died once and managed to resurrect through transmigration. Things were already this good; what more could he ask for?

If a certain late legend could be resurrected and reincarnated into another world, he probably wouldn''t care about the boomerang elbow strike memes flying all over the internet either.

Yan Huan contentedly consoled himself with this thought. However, finding himself truly bored, he decided to actually follow the advice of Mr. Bin—no, Mr. Zhou Bin—and picked up his answer sheet to double-check his work.

Thus, holding the exam paper and picking up his ballpoint pen once more, he appeared to be reviewing his answers while actually just spacing out to kill the remaining exam time.

Soon, it was almost time to hand in the papers.

"There are twenty-five minutes left until the exam ends. Make sure to check your name, student ID number, and answer sheet carefully."

"Tick. Tock. Tick."

It was on this thoroughly ordinary afternoon, in the quiet examination room filled with the sound of furious writing, that the rhythmic ticking of a clock''s hands echoed, seemingly reminding the candidates of the pressing time limit.

However, a second later, Yan Huan belatedly noticed something strange.

''Wait a minute, doesn''t the exam use a digital clock?''

He looked toward the whiteboard at the front of the room. The exam countdown displayed above it was ticking down without making a single sound.

Just as Yan Huan was feeling puzzled, a female voice as melodic as a lark suddenly drifted into his ears, sounding almost like an auditory hallucination.

"Hello, can the students in Examination Room No. 1 hear me?"

Yan Huan''s movements paused slightly. He instinctively wanted to turn his head toward the classroom door, but a piercing noise—like a child''s scream—exploded in his mind, interrupting his action.

"Do not answer! Do not answer! Do not answer!"

''What is going on? Are the Trisolarans attacking?''

''Why didn''t they attack in my past life, but chose to attack now?!''

As Yan Huan clutched his ears and pondered this, he suddenly caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. From the open door of the examination room, a small head slowly peeked in.

Beneath a head of beautiful, jet-black bangs, her fair hands were cupped around her mouth like a megaphone, proving that the female voice from earlier had indeed come from her.

She was a beautiful young girl with looks that could easily be scored a perfect hundred. She possessed a magnetic charm that made it difficult to look away after just one glance.

The most striking feature was her bright, dewy eyes beneath long eyelashes. They twinkled with a faint starlight, and as her eyes curved into crescents, she looked so remarkably like an angel that one could not help but be captivated.

On the rising and falling chest of her grey school uniform jacket hung a school ID bearing her name.

"Class 1-B, Bai Yi."

''Thank goodness, it''s not the Trisolarans...''

"Your life is about to come to an end. Commencing emergency intervention of the worldline!"

"The Correction Plan has been initiated. Please maintain your current posture. Remember, do not exhibit any behavior that suggests you have discovered the Modifier, or there will be severe consequences."

"Please allow me to explain the details to you later."

''Worldline? Modifier? Life coming to an end?''

The voice in his ears sounded again, steadier this time and less piercing, but the explosive impact of those strange terms was no less shocking than before.

Yan Huan truly heeded the instructions of the mysterious voice in his head and refrained from acting rashly. Taking it a step further, he dared not move a muscle, only cautiously tracking the girl from the corner of his eye.

There was no other reason for this caution, save for the horrifying discovery that the girl named Bai Yi seemed utterly detached from the rest of the world—she was actually semi-transparent.

In his peripheral vision, the semi-transparent girl leaned her stunningly beautiful profile into the examination room where the students were busily writing.

Immediately after, she did not lower her hands. Instead, she let out another "Ah!" in her melodious voice, releasing the pent-up frustration in her chest as freely as a mountain climber standing at the peak.

Yan Huan blinked, but apart from him, everyone else in the examination room carried on with their tasks as if they hadn''t heard a thing.

"I''m really not being noticed..."

The girl covered her mouth and giggled lightly, tucking a stray strand of black hair behind her ear, revealing her small, plump, fair earlobe.

As if completely relaxed, she sauntered into the examination room. She even reached out to wave her hand in front of Zhou Bin and the first-row students who were looking down at their tests, observing with great amusement how completely oblivious they were to her presence.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm~"

Humming a tune Yan Huan had never heard before, she paced back and forth across the podium with her hands behind her back, acting as naturally as an official on a supervisory visit.

Then, she frowned. As if suddenly remembering something, she turned her head toward Zhou Bin on the podium with a look of displeasure.

Yan Huan didn''t know what she was planning to do; he only watched as she began searching for something on the edge of the podium...

A marker pen.

Gripping the marker pen, she approached Zhou Bin with malicious intent.

Under Yan Huan''s slowly widening gaze, she stood on her tiptoes and used the black marker pen to draw a giant "X" right across Zhou Bin''s face, followed by a flurry of random scribbles.

Yet still, neither Zhou Bin nor the students below seemed to notice anything amiss.

Zhou Bin''s gaze swept across the examination room, but no matter what, he couldn''t see the young girl standing right in front of him, nor could he sense that his face was being turned into a graffiti wall.

Only Yan Huan witnessed this utterly absurd scene.

"Heh, that will teach you for calling my mom to complain..."

The girl''s pleasant voice sounded just like a little devil, highlighting her immense smugness in that moment.

''A ghost?''

''No...''

''I think I know this person.'' Come to think of it, Yan Huan suddenly remembered just who this somewhat familiar-looking girl standing before him was.

It was Bai Yi, a student in his grade. Earlier, Yan Huan had noted that he hadn''t just seen her around school; it was because she was a prominent figure within Yuanyue International University.

She was a young artist already signed to a famous international entertainment company. With her extraordinary youthful girl vibe, she had conquered countless netizens worldwide, earning the title of the "wife awaited by millions to grow up."

She had already filmed three movies, released several hit songs, and secured countless endorsements. He would even occasionally spot her advertisements while shopping online.

Although her star status was far from being considered a big star, she was undeniably famous within the school.

And now, this youth idol who dominated the internet was using a marker pen to doodle on Zhou Bin''s face?

And he was the only one who could perceive this reality?

''What kind of "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai" plot is this?!''

"Whoosh..."

The wind outside the window suddenly grew stronger, causing the curtains to sway and the exam papers to flutter wildly.

As the washed-out blue-and-white curtains billowed like waves, they obscured half of Bai Yi''s body. Yet, neither her beautiful hair nor the hem of her skirt moved an inch, as if she were a beautiful ghost completely independent of this world.

Fantastical. Exquisitely beautiful.

But precisely at the moment the wind picked up, Bai Yi seemed to sense a gaze. She suddenly turned her head to look at Yan Huan, her eyes nearly locking onto his cautious observation.

"Huh?"

''Oh no!''

''After hiding for so long, it seems my cover is blown right at this moment!''

Yan Huan''s brain was spinning rapidly, but his expression remained perfectly calm. He simply stared in her direction, which ironically made Bai Yi feel self-conscious.

She glanced at herself in confusion, then looked around at the curtains that were falling back into place as the wind died down. Finally, she turned and looked straight at the handsome young man sitting by the window.

"Ah..."

"So it is you, Mr. Student Council President."

Bai Yi pursed her lips and walked silently toward Yan Huan. His heart rate began to climb steadily, but his facial expression remained unchanged; the ballpoint pen even continued to spin gracefully between his fingers.

"Can you see me?"

A faint yet wonderfully pleasant fragrance wafted from the young girl standing so close to him, brimming with vitality, much like a flower blooming to greet the morning sun.

She leaned in slightly, causing her long black hair to tilt at an angle and brush right against Yan Huan''s temples. Yet, he felt absolutely no physical sensation from the contact.

However, Yan Huan became increasingly certain that she was absolutely real.

Yan Huan remained motionless, his gaze fixed straight ahead, looking right through her chest as if he were admiring some beautiful scenery beyond her.

"..."

Having received no response to her question, Bai Yi fell silent for a moment. Soon after, a little devilish smile, completely contrary to her pure idol image, blossomed on her face once more. With one hand, she picked up another gel pen resting on Yan Huan''s desk.

A magical thing happened: the gel pen she picked up instantly turned semi-transparent. To be precise, it was as if she had extracted the semi-transparent soul from the physical body of the gel pen on the desk.

One solid gel pen remained on the desk, while she held a semi-transparent gel pen in her hand, as if the worldline had split into two diverging paths.

"Your face is still as annoying as ever, Mr. President."

''Ah, me?''

''No wait, we aren''t even familiar with each other. We haven''t even met once in person, have we?''

But Bai Yi offered no further explanation. Wearing a completely warmthless smile, she spoke while aiming the tip of the gel pen at Yan Huan, seemingly preparing to write something on him just as she had done to Zhou Bin.

Yan Huan''s dark eyes slowly focused as the voice from earlier echoed in his mind once again:

"The Correction Plan has been initiated. Please maintain your current posture. Remember, do not exhibit any behavior that suggests you have discovered the Modifier, or there will be severe consequences!"

Even so, his arm twitched with the urge to act, as if he had already taken aim at her fair wrist peeking out from beneath her sleeve.

Right at this hair-raising moment, a very distinct "Tick. Tock. Tick." sounded from the young girl standing before him. It was identical to the ticking of the clock he had heard earlier.

Following that, he heard another mysterious voice emanating from her body:

"Current Effect: Indifference."

"The fifteen-minute countdown is about to end. Please be advised."

Bai Yi''s movements abruptly halted. She was still holding up Yan Huan''s gel pen, but her face was already filled with helpless resignation.

She lowered her head to check the time, looking somewhat unfulfilled.

"Is time up already? That was so fast."

Resignedly, she placed the gel pen back in its original position, perfectly overlapping with the gel pen on his desk that seemed to belong to another timeline.

Turning back, her radiant gaze lingered intently on Yan Huan''s handsome face for a long time before she turned away in a huff, preparing to leave the classroom.

"The future is long, Yan Huan. Hmph."

"Tick."

"Tock."

The ticking of the clock that had sounded previously began to spread once more, sounding like grinding machinery or heavy water droplets splashing.

Accompanied by the faint, illusory noise, Yan Huan''s gaze followed her rapidly departing figure as it gradually faded away, until she completely disappeared from sight.

A few minutes passed, and everything seemed to return to normal.

But after a specific moment had passed, Zhou Bin, who was standing on the podium, shuddered slightly. In a flash, he seemed to feel the itching sensation of countless pen strokes sliding across his face.

"Hiss!"

He hurriedly reached up to cover his face, producing a loud slap.

The sharp sound caused the test-taking candidates to look up in succession. It would have been fine if they hadn''t, but once they did, everyone froze in stunned silence.

"What are you looking at? Have you all finished answering the second question? Do you not care about your grades anymore? Hurry up and—"

"N-No, it is not that..." At this moment, a brave student tremblingly raised a hand, pointed at Zhou Bin, and frantically stammered, "Mr. Zhou, y-your face!"

"My face?"

Zhou Bin froze slightly, hurriedly pulling his smartphone from his pocket. He opened the front-facing camera and pointed it at himself.

As soon as the screen lit up, it displayed his bald head, now viciously defaced by marker pen scribbles. Not only was there a hand of ''JQK'' playing cards drawn on it, but it also read:

"Idiot Teacher, Idiot Teacher, Idiot Teacher."

The handwriting was messy, looking exactly like the scribbles of a three-year-old toddler.

The classroom fell into absolute silence. The only movement was Zhou Bin, whose face was growing redder by the second as his body trembled uncontrollably.

"WHO DID THIS?!!!"

A second later, his tragic roar echoed throughout the entire Academic Building, likely startling all the other examination rooms.

Only Yan Huan sat blankly in his chair. He was the sole person who knew exactly what had just transpired.

And much like Zhou Bin, Yan Huan finally felt a faint ticklish sensation at his temples—the very spot that had been brushed by the tips of the girl''s black hair earlier without any physical feeling...

It was as if the delayed romantic tension from minutes ago had finally hit him squarely between the eyes, painting a vivid picture for Yan Huan of the lingering beauty the young girl had left behind.

Arriving alongside this delayed sensation was the birthday wish he had made when he was six years old...

That touch of fantasy.