"Ahhhhhhh!"
Wang Zhi jolted awake, screaming.
Her chest heaved as she gasped for air, body drenched in cold sweat. Panic clutched her heart—until she looked around.
She wasn't surrounded by flames.
There were no chains, no bloodstained floors, no scent of kerosene.
Instead, soft sunlight filtered through pale curtains. The familiar bunk bed. A dusty bookshelf. A cracked mirror.
She was in her old hostel room—the one she had left behind at nineteen, when she made the biggest mistake of her life.
Confused, she reached up to touch her face.
No bruises. No burns. Her skin was soft, smooth… untouched.
Her hands trembled as she picked up a phone from the floor. It buzzed with a reminder alarm.
"Reminder: Fill College Preference Form – Today."
Her breath caught in her throat.
This… this was the day. The day it all began.
Two months before the college entrance exam. The day she gave up her dream and chose hell instead.
Once, she had wanted to be a soldier. She had dreamed of walking in the footsteps of the special forces hero who once pulled her from a burning wreck when she was a child. That dream had burned bright—until he came into her life.
Ling Ron.
Because he wanted to become a doctor, she gave up her ambition and followed him into medical college.
In the end, he failed the entrance exam.
She passed. She became a doctor.
He later joined the hospital as a male nurse, riding on her connections. When he was fired for negligence, she still supported him, letting him stay at home. She had never resented him for failing, or for becoming a house husband.
But then he had the audacity to have an affair.
And still, it wasn't the cheating that broke her.
It was the five years of torture he subjected her to afterward—the isolation, the abuse, the darkness.
He could have let her go. But instead, he locked her away like a secret shame.
Now, she looked around again, heart racing.
Was this a dream?
Or had she truly… been reborn?
Before she could think any further, a familiar voice pierced her thoughts.
"Wang Zhi! Are you done with your beauty sleep? Let's go! We have to fill out our college preferences today!"
It was her roommate. Alive. Happy. Unaware of the hell she had lived through in another life.
"Coming! Give me five minutes!" Wang Zhi called back, voice trembling.
She quickly got ready and followed her friend down the hallway. Every step flooded her with memories. Classrooms, corridors, the old canteen smell. This place had once been her little world, her safest space—until she handed her life over to a boy who didn't deserve her.
Not this time.
Whether this was real or a cruel illusion, she was going to rewrite her story.
No more sacrifices.
No more bending to anyone's will.
This time, she would chase her own dreams.
She would become a soldier.
She would join the First Military University—the most elite defense institution in the country. The place where legends were forged. And she would become one of them.
In the classroom, she found her old seat—exactly where she remembered it.
With steady hands, she filled the form.
1st Choice: First Military University
2nd Choice: Second Defense Academy
3rd Choice: Third Armed Forces Institute
She didn't bother writing the name of the college Ling Ron had applied to in her last life.
Not this time.
She had two full months until the entrance exam. It wasn't much, but she had always been among the top five in her class. Her teachers had high hopes for her—until she let love derail her. Still, she had ranked among the top 100 students in the state.
She had a solid foundation. And now, she had something stronger than talent:
Purpose.
After submitting the form, Wang Zhi stepped out of the class, her mind buzzing.
She didn't know if this was a second chance, a dream, or divine punishment.
But she knew one thing:
She wasn't going to waste it.