Chapter 2

From that day on, I fell into a never-ending cycle of death.

The ways I died were countless and varied.

Tripping on level ground, my pen just happened to fall, the barrel stabbing straight into my brow; the heaviest trophy on the top of the display shelf crashed down, landing squarely on my head; avoiding the elevator and taking the stairs, I missed a step, tumbled down twenty flights and died on the spot; making coffee in the pantry, the microwave exploded, setting me on fire, burning me alive; a normally kind colleague suddenly went mad at work, picked up a box cutter and slashed wildly, my carotid artery was cut, blood spurting a yard away.

…

I was plunged into collapse and despair.

Over and over, I died horribly, only to be reborn again and again.

Even when I did everything I could to avoid the previous causes of death, new ways to die always found me.

Every time I opened my eyes after dying, my phone always showed nine o’clock sharp, and I would hear Li Qianxue asking if I’d stayed up late.

Again and again.

Without exception.

I’ve tried being calm, and I’ve lost my mind.

But when I called the police, they thought I was crazy.

If I tried to run out of the building, I would die before I even reached the front door.

I tried sitting at my desk all day, not moving, not drinking water, not going to the bathroom, but a snake would quietly slip out of a package at the front desk, slither up to my feet, and bite me, killing me with its venom.

I even tried to take my own life, turning passive into active.

But it was no use at all.

I still died!

Living through the same day again and again!

I was like a maggot trapped in a cocoon, struggling in despair.

I don’t know why I die, why I’m reborn, or why I can’t leave this building!