“Ugh!”

William Scott felt like he was about to explode. A strange heat surged through his body, rushing straight to his head. His mind teetered on the edge, nearly consumed by the rising frenzy.

*Rip!*

The sound of tearing fabric cut through the air as he roughly yanked open the shirt of the girl in front of him.

In an instant, her smooth, pale skin came into view. His eyes drifted lower—those long legs barely covered by denim shorts hit him like gasoline thrown on a fire. The heat inside him flared out of control.

But the girl whose shirt he had just torn? She wasn’t panicking. On the contrary, there was a sly smirk at the corner of her lips—it screamed “gotcha.”

“Wait, something's off…”

William jerked his head side to side as if trying to shake off a fog. He forced himself to cling to some last shred of focus. One look around told him he was in… a hotel room?

“What the hell am I doing in a hotel?”

And the girl—now half undressed in front of him—looked oddly familiar. The heat clouding his brain made it hard to think straight. But then, it hit him with all the force of a thunderclap. That was Emily Byrd. A younger Emily Byrd.

His chest tightened. Confusion instantly replaced the burning desire. He remembered everything.

He had died. Killed by his enemy. But he was here now. Alive. Back in the past.

Rebirth?

“William, why’d you stop? Come on, let’s keep going…”

Emily leaned in close. She kissed him, hands reaching for his clothes.

“Get off me!”

William's eyes narrowed with a dangerous gleam as he shoved Emily aside with brute force. He didn’t waste another second, bolting for the door and yanking it open before disappearing into the stairwell.

He didn’t take the elevator—he instinctively knew security would be riding that up already.

In the room, Emily sat stunned. “What’s going on? Why’d he run? Did the drug not work?”

Just then, the door to the next room swung open. A grim-faced teenager stepped out, flanked by two bulky bodyguards. He glanced at Emily, who was still sitting on the bed, clearly rattled.

“What happened? Why’d that punk run off?” Cuthbert Taylor asked, voice sharp with anger.

“I—I don’t know!” Emily stammered, fear flickering in her eyes.

“Damn it! We spent all this time setting him up and he still slipped away! How am I supposed to explain this to Mr. Scholefield?”

With a loud thud, Cuthbert kicked the door, fury boiling over.

Downstairs, William had sprinted all the way from the fourth floor to the hotel lobby in one breath.

Then he spotted a fountain outside.

Without hesitation, he darted toward it—and with a splash, dove headfirst into the cold water.

“What the hell? Is that guy… trying to off himself in the fountain?”

The security guards watching through the glass could only gawk in disbelief.The fountain was barely half a meter deep, but the cold water managed to cool down the burning heat inside William Scott. Ignoring the strange glances from people around, he crawled out of the water and rushed off without looking back.

Guided by his memory, he quickly found the place that had long since vanished in his past life—Cuiyun Community, 4th floor, Apartment 404.

He pulled out a damp keychain from his pocket. With a soft click, the door opened.

As he stepped into the living room, seeing the familiar furniture brought a rush of mixed emotions. Everything felt so real yet distant. But the remnants of the drug in his body didn’t leave him much time to reminisce. He headed straight to the bathroom, stood under the shower, and let cold water soak him completely.

Bit by bit, the heat faded away.

While cooling off, William began to piece together his memories.

He never imagined he'd come back to life—reborn at eighteen—right at the most critical turning point of his life.

In his previous life, Emily Byrd had invited him to a hotel under the pretense of celebrating her birthday. There, Cuthbert Taylor’s men had gotten him drunk, dragged him into a room, and forced some drug down his throat.

Just as he struggled with Emily’s clothes, so high he barely knew what he was doing, law enforcement burst in and dragged him away. What followed was a five-year sentence that completely flipped his life upside down.

The years in prison were hell. It was there he overheard the truth from one of Cuthbert Taylor’s men—everything had been a setup from the start. Cuthbert had planned the whole thing.

When he was finally released, the world had moved on without him. His parents had died in a car crash during his second year in jail, and his family property had been sold off by his uncle, leaving him homeless.

All his uncle gave him was twenty grand, claiming the rest had been spent on funeral costs. As for Cuthbert Taylor, he'd already graduated, taken over his family business, and become a rising star in Tianzhou City.

William had thought of revenge, but with Cuthbert constantly surrounded by a full team of sixteen bodyguards, he couldn’t even get close.

The worst part? The day after his release, Cuthbert personally showed up, smug as ever, and admitted he was behind his parents' car accident too.

That twisted grin on Cuthbert's face was something William could never forget.

In that city, the Taylor family had power that could block out the sky, while he was just a powerless ex-con. Even if he wanted payback, what could he possibly do?

Cuthbert didn’t stop there either. Every time William found a job, he'd be fired within days. Desperate and helpless, he once tried starting a small business with what was left of his money, but as soon as things started looking up, Cuthbert struck again, crushing him completely.

From then on, William spiraled. He drowned himself in alcohol, numb to life. But during those darkest days, he met the most important person in his life. With her support, he clawed his way out of despair and finally saw a sliver of hope.

Knowing he couldn't stay in Tianzhou, he left the city with Claire Hayes—then his girlfriend—to escape the endless torment from Cuthbert.What William Scott hadn’t seen coming was that just when he and Claire Hayes had finally built a life together after three long years in another city, and were preparing to tie the knot, Cuthbert Taylor showed up again.

Cuthbert barged into their tiny apartment with a troop of bodyguards, arrogance written all over his face. He ordered his goons to pin William down, then coldly turned to instruct others to assault Claire.

She refused to be humiliated. Seizing a moment of distraction, she threw herself headfirst into the wall. Just like that—gone.

William lost it. Completely. He fought like a madman, aching to tear Cuthbert apart with his bare hands, but was held down tightly by the guards.

As he remembered it now, tears stung his eyes.

“Claire... I failed you in that life. But this time, I swear, I’ll make you the happiest woman alive. And the people who ruined us, they won’t get away.”

He’d never understood why Cuthbert came after him so viciously. Then, right before he died, the truth slipped from Cuthbert’s lips—the real piece pulling the strings had been someone called Mr. Scholefield. Cuthbert? Just his pawn.

No matter who they were, Cuthbert or that Mr. Scholefield, William wasn’t going to let any of them walk free.

He might be weak right now, but he had something nobody else had—eight years of future knowledge. If he just seized his chances, he knew he could rise fast.

And right at that moment—

*Ding! Strongest System successfully bound. Activating. Please stand by, Host!*

“What the... a system?” Even with everything he’d been through, William couldn’t keep his cool.

Half an hour later.

He’d changed into clean clothes and was now sitting on his living room couch, staring at a faint blue virtual screen hovering in front of him. Taking a breath, he raised a finger and decisively tapped the shiny “Draw” button.

“Draw started…”

“Draw complete!”

“Congratulations, Host! You've received: Beginner X-Ray Vision.”

The system came with its own inventory function too.

With just a thought, a gold-colored skill book appeared in his hand. It was simple—just silently use it.

He whispered inside, and right away, a blaze of pain exploded in his eyes. It hurt like hell, but he gritted his teeth and endured.

The process dragged on for over an hour. When the pain faded, a cool sensation took over, and the usage manual for the X-ray Vision etched itself clearly into his mind.

“Activate X-Ray Vision.”

He focused on a wall in his room. His eyes went a little blurry—then, poof, the wall was gone.

He was now staring straight into his neighbor’s living room.

His eyes froze instantly.

A curvy, stunning woman was inside, casually dressed with way too much skin showing.

He recognized her—Sophie Bennett. She’d just finished college and worked at some big firm in the city. Whenever he saw her outside, she was always aloof and distant. Who knew she relaxed so much at home?

Not one to snoop like that, William quickly cut off the function and spent a good few minutes calming himself down.