Chapter 1The Heatwave and the Grandson's "Masculinity"

In the middle of a 104°F heatwave, the new dorm manager cut off the AC for our room—and only our room.

Turns out, she was the future mother-in-law of our pregnant roommate.

"Only weak girls need AC in weather like this," she declared. "My precious grandson is going to be a man. He needs to build his masculinity in the heat."

In our past life, my two other roommates and I tried to reason with her. We told her it was superstition, that prolonged exposure to extreme heat could cause heatstroke and endanger both the mother and the baby.

Scared by our warnings, the dorm manager grudgingly turned the AC back on.

But when our roommate eventually gave birth to a girl, the manager blamed us. She claimed the AC "cooled off" her grandson's masculinity and turned him into a girl.

To get revenge, she had her thug of a son sneak into our dorm at night and torture the three of us to death.

When I opened my eyes again, we were back to that moment.

The manager was ranting about her grandson's "masculinity."

I exchanged a look with my other two roommates.

None of us argued.

Instead, we immediately went to the RA and requested a room transfer.

Let him build his masculinity.

I want to see what kind of monster she cooks up this time.

* * *

"Don't say I never treat you well."

"You three better take good care of my precious grandson. Soak up some of that masculine energy."

"Maybe it'll help you find a man as good as my son someday."

In the dorm, the new manager, Mrs. Liu, had her nose in the air, acting like she was bestowing a great honor upon us.

Hearing these familiar words, I snapped back to reality.

I had been reborn.

Back to the day Mrs. Liu cut our AC.

In my last life, my roommates and I took turns persuading her. We finally got her to turn the AC on.

But our reward was her calculated revenge.

The most chilling part was that we did it for her pregnant future daughter-in-law, our roommate, Sarah.

Yet when we were being tortured to death by her thug son, Sarah just watched coldly.

"Serves you right," she sneered. "Who told you to meddle?"

"If it weren't for you, my precious son wouldn't have turned into a useless girl."

"You made Liam and his mom blame me. You deserve to die."

Remembering the agony of my past life, a chill ran down my spine.

Then I noticed Sarah staring at me.

Just now, hearing Mrs. Liu refuse the AC, Sarah was unhappy too. A small, stuffy dorm in 104-degree heat is basically an oven.

But she didn't dare openly defy her shrew of a future mother-in-law.

So she looked at me with pitiful eyes. "Chloe..."

I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to be her mouthpiece.

In my last life, I stood up for her. And the result?

She threw me under the bus, and I ended up dead.

This time, I scratched my head, stared at my phone, and pretended I was deaf.

Seeing I wasn't biting, Sarah turned to my other roommates, Lily and Jess.

But they also kept their heads down, glued to their phones, ignoring her.

Seeing a scene so different from my past life, a thought flashed through my mind.

I quickly made a group chat with Lily and Jess.

Me: [Did you guys come back too?]

Lily: [You too?]

Jess: [You too?]

We exchanged glances.

We had all been reborn.

Back to before everything went to hell.