Volume One: My Name is William Clark

Prologue: A Loser in Life

In the workspace of an advertising company, regardless of gender, the employees were silent, with no one slacking off, all burying their heads in work. The atmosphere was naturally a bit strange, but everyone knew why. Because today their boss was in a bad mood again, and none of them wanted to be the poor soul in the manager's office, used as a punching bag for the boss's anger...

"William Clark! What kind of crap copy did you write?!" The furious manager shook a stack of papers in his hand, rustling them loudly. "We're selling riverside villas, not resettlement housing! Look at what the hell you wrote? 'The nearest football field is just a ten-minute walk away'... Why don't you just drop dead?! Who the hell that can afford a villa still plays football? They all play golf and tennis, idiot! All you know is football, football—your whole damn brain is full of football! If you love football so much, why don't you turn into a football and roll out of here?! Do you even know how terrible Chinese football is right now? And you still mention it in the ad—are you trying to lower the class of our product?"

William Clark looked up, trying hard to see his manager clearly, but the manager's face was as blank as a white tile in mahjong—nothing on it at all.

That blank-faced manager kept ranting: "This is a riverside villa! Riverside villa! Do you know what a riverside villa is? Open the window and you can see the vast Fulin River! Who are these houses sold to? Did you waste all those years studying advertising for nothing? What does 'target customer' mean! You need to study the psychology of the damn target customer! Not the psychology of a poor football fan like you!"

"I'm paying you 2,500 yuan a month, not for you to write this kind of garbage! Let me tell you, I can find someone like you anywhere outside! You're not even as good as those fresh graduates! I really don't know how your parents managed to raise such a loser! If you don't want to work, then get out! ... What are you staring at me for? Not convinced? Where was I wrong? You're a damn loser! Loser! Loser... Ah! You dare hit me? Get out! Get out right now—!!!"

Get out!

Out!

Out...

...

By the roadside in a low, shabby factory residential area, a group of middle-aged men and women sat under dense trees, enjoying the cool air. This was the best time to chat about family matters, exchanging information and commenting on what happened in other households.

"Isn't that the kid from old Clark's family? How did he get so drunk?"

"Sigh, I heard he lost his job recently..."

"Again? How many times is this now? Old Clark and his wife really have it tough, finally managed to get their son through college, and now they still have to work everywhere to earn money for his marriage... It's a pity their son isn't ambitious, can't make money, just enough to fill his stomach, not a penny saved. How can this go on..."

"What are you kids looking at? Hurry up and do your homework! If you don't study hard, you'll end up like William Clark, with no prospects, can't find a good job after graduation, can't even find a wife! Such a life is just too much of a failure!"

"Shh, you're too loud..."

"Hey, what are you afraid of, he's drunk anyway, can't hear us..."

...

You are a damn loser! Loser! Loser!

Just as unpromising as that William Clark... Such a life is just too much of a failure!

Too much of a failure!

Too much of a failure!

You are a loser!

Loser!

Loser...

Failure...

...

William Clark opened his eyes and looked at the pale green ceiling.

It was a dream.

Ever since he came here, it had been three days, and every night he had this dream, over and over again.

But it was not just a dream.

Because this was something he had actually experienced, something that really happened to him in his previous life. He remembered it so clearly, because after he got drunk and opened his eyes, what he saw was this green ceiling, completely different from the one at home.

In fact, this was something that happened just a few days ago.

But it was not just a few days ago, because he had traveled through time.

After getting dead drunk in the summer of 2012, he traveled back to the summer of 1999.

After crossing over, it took William Clark half a day to accept this reality.

He had crossed into the body of a twenty-seven-year-old Chinese man who had the same name and even looked somewhat similar.

But he was not him.

Other than knowing that this person had the same name, all he knew was that he was currently coaching in the Real Madrid youth team.