Chapter 1

I could hear the ticking sound of electronic equipment that resembled a heartbeat, and the moment I opened my eyes in a daze, I realized that I wasn't dead—I had been reborn.

It was then that a few junior labmates walked into the laboratory one after another, saying with envy, "You're truly a genius, Callum! Your invention is bound to create a technological boom in the country once it's completed! We'll all benefit from your success, Callum!"

Hunter Lane, my research supervisor and mentor, walked over and patted me on the shoulder with satisfaction. "You've done so much for the lab these past few months, Callum. Without you, the lab never would have attracted this much funding.

"I'm convinced that once your invention is complete, it'll move technological development ahead by decades, Callum."

I listened in a daze, a heavy weight pressing against my chest until I could barely breathe.

In my past life, after plagiarism allegations were made against me, the laboratory became a target of universal scorn overnight, causing investors to withdraw their capital to avoid risk.

Dr. Lane and my junior labmates stepped forward to defend me, but their personal information was soon doxed. They were all trapped in a vicious cycle of cyberbullying, and Dr. Lane, who was nearly 60, was eventually led to jump to his death.

As I looked at the invention model, now halfway through its testing phase, a sudden shiver ran down my spine. A dark, painful memory came rushing back.

In my past life, I had stayed up all night on August 30th to complete the invention and had excitedly submitted an application to the patent office for it.

The very next day, however, I received a notice ordering me to attend a mandatory audit. Following a technical comparison, the patent office concluded that I had committed plagiarism. Before long, the entire internet had turned against me.

"How shameless of him to actually plagiarize this kind of high-tech invention! These plagiarists deserve the worst!"

"It's such a blatant case of plagiarism. I think they should conduct a thorough investigation of the entire lab."

"I know, right? I mean, with a 99% similarity rate, he's obviously a serial plagiarist. He should be ashamed of himself."

I would be met with strangers' hateful and disdainful stares even when I walked down the street like anyone else, and some would even curse at me directly.

"That's the guy who was exposed online for plagiarizing that genius researcher! How disgusting!"

"Who does he think he is, trying to leech off a prominent figure? He should take a good look at himself in the mirror first! Does he really think he's on the same level?"

"He must have been jealous of the other person's invention, which is why he decided to plagiarize it. He's just completely despicable!"

They looked at me with hatred and malice, as though they wished I could vanish from the face of the earth.

I couldn't help but feel a shiver run down my spine as the flashback stopped there. I instantly opened my phone and clicked into Kennedy Quinlan's social media profile.

He was the man who had reported me for plagiarism in my past life. He was also the younger brother of my girlfriend, Maisie Quinlan.

Kennedy was tall, good-looking, and the youngest in the family, which meant that he was spoiled and loved by everyone. His clean-cut, gentle appearance attracted countless female fans online, and he was even voted "the most handsome researcher" by thousands of people.

Maisie, being his older sister, doted on him immensely, to a degree that I considered overdone. She cooked all his meals every day and brought them to the lab, picked him up and dropped him off herself, washed his laundry—including his underwear—and even helped him pay for a house.

She had even insisted that I put Kennedy's name on the title of the marital home I bought for us when I proposed to her. She had stated without any hesitation, "Kennedy is the sole heir to the Quinlan family, so whoever I marry has to treat him well, Callum."

I couldn't endure it any longer, so I asked for a breakup. Maisie seemed to finally realize her mistake. She wept as she promised never to put Kennedy before me again, pleading desperately for my forgiveness.

I wasn't going to be soft-hearted in this life.

I tapped into Kennedy's social media profile, which boasted millions of followers, and noticed that his latest post consisted of just a few selfies of him posing with the new invention.

It even included a caption that read, "It's a new invention that I stayed up all night working on! It's about to be released soon, so I hope everyone looks forward to it!"

I grew suspicious and enlarged the photos to examine them carefully. I discovered that it was completely identical to my design blueprints. The connection module I had created was even visible in the invention he shared.

I was stunned when I saw this, wondering if such a striking similarity could truly happen. He had made the post a day before I finished my blueprints, which meant that his invention had been designed before mine.

However, I had researched both the invention and the original module completely on my own without ever consulting any technical materials.

How could Kennedy's invention be the same as mine? It was to the point that even the numerical values I had miscalculated were copied over exactly.

I found the whole situation way too bizarre. I buried my face in my hands, my thoughts a tangled mess as I couldn't figure out how this was possible.

I couldn't just terminate the research on my own, as the investors funding the lab had already pressed me multiple times. They were on the verge of starting mass production, so if I ended the project now, I might drag the entire lab down with me.

I stared motionlessly at the invention model on the workbench for a long while before I finally calmed down.

I had been given a second chance at life, so no matter what, I was determined to protect those close to me and prove my innocence. I packed up the prototype, gathered the drawings and drafts scattered across the table, and locked them all in the cabinet.