Grace Miller shook his head speechlessly. “Is it really that strange that I’m not going back?”

“Of course! Someone who’s fifth from the bottom in English actually wants to study on their own? I mean, Grace, are you running a fever or something?” William Brooks looked utterly incredulous.

“It’s just that I suddenly feel my old life was boring, that’s all.” Grace Miller tidied up the books on his desk, stacked them together, and put them into the drawer.

“William Brooks! Hurry up! What are you two doing?” At the classroom door, two boys carrying schoolbags shouted loudly in this direction. Paul Miller and Daniel Morgan were both students with poor grades in the class. They were close with William Brooks, but only casual acquaintances with Grace Miller—just companions on the way home.

In Class 2, Grade 11, there was actually a very fixed hierarchy.

The top ten students formed a circle of their own, chatting, walking together, and competing. They were on a different level from the rest, always looking down on others. This group included the class committee members, the class monitor, and subject representatives. Of course, when it came to choosing class positions, academic performance was the main criterion.

The second circle was a large group of students with average grades. Each of them aligned with different top students, forming their own factions. When they had academic problems, they relied on the top student in their group. Most of these students came from well-off families and had a strong voice among their peers. They were also the main group for mutual comparison and competition. The third group included students like the former Grace Miller, William Brooks, and Julia Harris, who didn’t do well academically. Of course, some of these students had good family backgrounds or stood out in other areas, and they actively tried to move closer to the second group. But students like Grace Miller, who had neither good grades nor a good family background, and no outstanding qualities, belonged to the very bottom of the class. There were only a handful of them.

William Brooks left the classroom dragging his schoolbag, looking speechless, but also a bit annoyed. Grace Miller understood how he felt. Usually, when a student with poor grades sees someone doing even worse, it gives them a sense of superiority and comfort. But when someone worse than them starts to show signs of improvement, it creates a sense of crisis—they’re afraid of being surpassed and becoming the worst.

Grace Miller glanced around the classroom. Up front, Julia Harris and another girl were packing up to leave. The middle seats on the right were mostly empty, with only a few top students like Laura Wright and Eric Bennett still focused on finishing the math problems they hadn’t completed in class. Top students like them usually had strict study plans—doing math during Chinese class, for example—and even the teachers wouldn’t interfere. This was a special privilege reserved for the top five. The other students who stayed at school had probably already gone to the cafeteria for lunch.

After packing up, Julia Harris turned around and carefully placed her Walkman on Grace Miller’s desk.

“Here, thanks.”

“No problem,” Grace Miller replied with a smile. Julia Harris didn’t have any particularly outstanding qualities, but she had a good figure and a lively personality, so she was one of those in the third group trying to move up to the second. She was well-liked in the class and always took good care of borrowed items. That’s why Grace Miller didn’t mind lending her the Walkman. She was also one of the very few classmates in his previous life who never made fun of Grace Miller’s appearance.

After putting his things away, Grace Miller felt the money left in his pocket—lunch money he’d specifically asked his family for the night before. His family was very supportive of him staying at school to study. Leaving the teaching building, he went to the school cafeteria and got a meal of eggs with tomatoes and taro soup, finishing it quickly. Then Grace Miller started wandering around the school.

His cultivation was mainly divided into two parts: one was practicing the Qi-gathering visualization and hand seals. This kind of training had a time limit, but was very effective for restoring energy. The other part was basic sword techniques. The first could be considered static training, while the second was dynamic, aimed at strengthening his physical fitness. After what happened last time—when he injured his thigh muscle in a kick against that big guy—Grace Miller didn’t want a repeat.

The entire No. 3 High School had an 800-meter track, an indoor basketball court, and a white stone plaza used for flag-raising ceremonies and exercises. The grounds were extensive. Grace Miller chose a small patch of undeveloped woodland behind the indoor basketball court as his practice spot.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the scorching sunlight was cooled by the shade of the woods. The surroundings were tranquil, and with so few people at school at this time, the place was even quieter than usual.