Volume One: Those Days in Philadelphia

Chapter 1: The Late William Sullivan

As a teacher at Philadelphia Nephalia High School, John Adams felt his intelligence was being insulted.

And in Adams's view, the one "insulting" his intelligence was the Chinese exchange student standing before him—William Sullivan.

"You mean to say, on your way to school you got caught in a street shootout, and after it ended, you saved a complete stranger who had been shot multiple times, and that's why you were late for two whole classes?" Perhaps this was the most bizarre excuse for being late that Adams had ever heard in his life.

"Yes, sir." Sixteen-year-old William Sullivan answered calmly, and no matter how hard Adams stared into William Sullivan's eyes, all he could see was a sense of composure and calm...

"That's ridiculous!"

Logic told Adams that this Chinese exchange student in front of him must be lying, that he was only making up such an absurd excuse because he was afraid of getting a zero on his final exam.

But, having seen countless students lie, Adams knew very well that a liar could never be so calm and composed.

Moreover, after noticing the bloodstains on William Sullivan's clothes, shoes, and pant legs, Adams began to think that this ridiculous story...

Could it actually be true?

After all, a single lie often requires countless more to cover it up. And so, for the first time in his teaching career, Adams—mocked by Nephalia High students as the "Bald Devil"—actually allowed a student to return to class after being late...

The students in William Sullivan's class were stunned.

The black kid sitting closest to William Sullivan, Brian Carter, looked at him with admiration and said, "Dude, that excuse for being late is just too cool. And those bloodstains on you—can you tell us how you came up with such a brilliant story and pulled it off so flawlessly?"

William Sullivan gave a helpless, bitter smile. He ignored Brian Carter and silently took a notebook out of his backpack.

Absurd?

It was pretty absurd.

"Reality... really is too bizarre," William Sullivan muttered to himself.

Yet, this was reality.

Cruel, indifferent, and sometimes even a little unreasonable.

You know, compared to that bizarre encounter in the morning, it actually took William Sullivan two whole weeks to process the sudden appearance of...

Reality.

For most people, 2020 was absolutely a surreal year, and William Sullivan, who had never contributed much to society in his life, never dreamed that he would actually live to see the day when the whole country became "shut-ins" together...

As long as you stayed home, you were making the greatest contribution to society. And William Sullivan was one of those "shut-in guys" who chose to contribute without hesitation...

Then, at four in the morning on one of those days at home, William Sullivan saw a piece of news that shocked him—a piece of news so unbelievable that William Sullivan thought he was hallucinating...

And then, even more absurd things happened...

...

"Ring ring ring..."

Just as William Sullivan was lost in his memories, the bell signaling the end of class suddenly rang.

Because of his bizarre excuse for being late, William Sullivan, who had always been invisible in class, suddenly became the center of attention.

Some people came over to ask about the details of what happened that morning, some were curious about how he could stay so calm, and others wanted to know where he got the inspiration for such an excuse...

Of course, William Sullivan knew that there probably weren't many who actually believed his excuse was true.

Those classmates asking for details just wanted to hear how William Sullivan would spin the story.

As for the bloodstains on William Sullivan's clothes, these "Sherlocks" all figured he must have prepared them in advance.

So, William Sullivan simply couldn't be bothered to explain anymore.

"Su, come here for a moment." After another class ended, just as William Sullivan was wondering how to shake off these "Sherlocks," John Adams suddenly returned to the classroom.

And unlike before, when he was the center of attention, these "Sherlocks" turned on him faster than flipping a page.

Immediately, everyone chose to keep their distance from William Sullivan, and not far away, Brian Carter grinned mischievously and said, "Nothing escapes the 'Bald Devil.' Looks like Su's in trouble this time."

The other students nearby also shot William Sullivan gloating looks.

Kid, you're still too young!