On the day we chose our college majors, the influencer who was the school's heartthrob held a livestream and announced that he had decided to lead the anti-rat-race movement and would choose to attend a vocational college.

The whole class followed him.

Seeing the rapidly increasing number of followers, he smiled smugly. "They can do these low-class jobs if they like. I'll change my choice back to Harvard University at the last minute."

I tried to dissuade him, but this would cause network congestion.

My girlfriend slapped me. "You nerd! Who are you to tell our idol, Zach Simpson, what to do?"

In my previous life, I spent half an hour dissuading them, and only then did the students change their college choices.

However, Zach failed to change his application due to network lag and was admitted to a vocational college instead. He could not bear the blow and jumped into the river to commit suicide.

The students who had entered prestigious universities collectively vented their anger on me.

At the class reunion, they poured 99 bottles of beer down my throat and locked me in the karaoke's freezer.

"Who cares about the prestige of a prestigious university? You'll just be working for someone else after graduation anyway!"

"Why did we follow Zach in the first place? Wasn't it to break this damn rule?"

"Zach was leading us to realize our dreams! If you hadn't interfered, I would already have gone to a vocational college with him!"

They spoke disdainfully of prestigious universities, yet not one of them chose to drop out.

I froze to death in a dark, cold freezer, my eyes wide open.

Years later, they became elites in their respective fields, while my parents could only weep looking at my portrait.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Zach was livestreaming in the classroom.

This time, I promised I would not interfere. Instead, I wished them a happy vocational college experience.

Zach Simpson confidently said to the livestream camera, "Let me tell you one thing. I've decided to apply to a vocational college."

The comments section was instantly thrown into an uproar.

Zach was a famous, handsome, and highly accomplished student who scored 1400 on the college admissions test, but now it seemed that he wanted to attend a vocational college. It felt like he had lost his mind.

Zach added, "I'm not crazy. I'm being rational! Education doesn't equal intelligence, nor does it equal dignity. My grandma has cleaned the streets for 30 years. Her broom is as noble as a professor's pen. Some people sit in offices, while others pour coffee. I'm willing to pour coffee because it's a form of honorable labor. We're different from the moment we were born. Why should we live according to a set template? I want to tell all of society that people are all the same! The college admission test is just a game set by humans, and I'm not playing it anymore."

After he finished speaking, the livestream instantly gained 100,000 new followers, and the topic "Anti-rat race king, Zach Simpson" topped the ranks.

The classmates in the classroom were all in tears.

"Zach is so amazing! Don't you think he's being very rational? Independent, avant-garde, and fearless of societal pressure!"

"He dares to say what we dare not. He's the new George Orwell!"

My girlfriend, Sophie Jordan, had red hands from clapping, and her eyes were filled with tears. "Royce Linwood, what do you think? Are you particularly moved？ Which vocational college do you want to go to?"

I stared at her.

In my past life, she tricked me into going to the karaoke bar under the pretense of a class reunion. She was also the one who encouraged the whole class to get me drunk, made me kneel in the karaoke hallway, and finally shoved me into the freezer.

I calmly answered, "I want to apply to Harvard."

She slapped my face. "You academic fool! You're a sophisticated egoist. I must have been blind to have fallen for you!"

A girl nearby pushed me too. "He's heartless and single-minded. He doesn't understand Zach's core values! Zach is breaking down class barriers, yet he's just clinging to his crappy Harvard dream."

The class arts representative showed me her phone, her eyes red. "I changed my application to Remington and my grandma posted on her social media saying that she's proud of me. You have no idea what it feels like to be approved by your family!"

Just then, Zach paused his livestream. He reached out, and Sophie quickly handed him a cup of coffee.

Zach took a sip and spat it out immediately. "Holy crap! I only drink it without sugar, and this has sugar added to it! Those vocational school idiots who make coffee can't even read properly! I'll continue my livestream later and change my application back at the last minute. When the acceptance letter comes, I'll say Harvard's president begged me to enroll. If I capitalize on this wave of attention, I'll have over ten million followers!"

The class monitor was the first to react, clapping and laughing. "Zach is truly a strategic genius! Those who go to vocational colleges are all idiots. Zach played along with them and they actually took it seriously? Hilarious."

Zach smugly waved his phone. "It's the number one trending topic, and those poorly educated people are still praising me. What a bunch of idiots."

The whole class burst into laughter.

"Are they good enough? Are they?"

"Do they really think we're like them? Hilarious!"

"The anti-rat-race is for peasants. We're going to prestigious universities and reaching the summit!"

Their attitude changed faster than lightning.

I chuckled and said nothing.

How boisterous…

And to think I actually wanted to save these idiots in my past life.

Just then, Sophie also started a livestream. She smiled sweetly at the camera. "Hello, I'm the star girl of the Year 3 humanities class. I hereby officially announce that I'm applying to this vocational college. There's only one reason for this. I want to prove to all of you that education is just a symbol, and that even though I attend a vocational college, I can still succeed."

Everyone rushed to start their livestreams.

"I'm applying for early childhood education."

"I'm applying to a culinary school."

"I'm applying for a railway vocational college. I just want to be an ordinary mechanic."

The livestream chat exploded with comments, insulting those aiming for elite universities as the lowest of the low, self-righteous degree snobs, and slaves of the system.

I quietly watched them put on a show.

An official reminder popped up on my phone.

[In the last hour before the college admissions test deadline, the system often experiences lag due to high traffic. Please avoid frequently modifying your applications to prevent application lock-in failure.]

I silently watched the notification, saying nothing.

The system would completely crash in half an hour.

I was about to leave the classroom when Zach pulled me back. "Hey, we still have a stubborn one in our class. Royce, everyone else has changed their applications, yet you haven't? Are you looking down on me?"

I chuckled. "Why are you worth my respect?"

The atmosphere in the classroom suddenly became tense.

Sophie immediately rushed over and kicked me. "Royce Linwood, how could you talk to Zach like that?"

The other students gathered around, their eyes full of excitement.

"We all changed our applications, and you're the only exception."

"Aren't you just afraid you can't change it back? Is Harvard that important to you?"

"You didn't cheat on your grades this time, did you? Are you afraid you'll fail when you retake the test next year?"

"Stop with the nonsense. Let's collectively reform him!"

The collective reform they spoke of was nothing more than a series of violent acts.

There was a boy in my class from a poor county who was bullied by the entire class until he was driven to depression and quit school for refusing to film a video about school bullying for Zach.

Now, it was my turn.

Sophie slapped me repeatedly. "I'll ask you one more time, are you going to change it? Disrespecting Zach in front of so many people means you don't consider him the idol!"

The whole class jeered. "Hit him! Hit him hard!"

Someone kicked me in the back of the knee, forcing me to kneel.

"Change your college application! Then kneel and apologize to Zach!"

"How dare someone like Royce go against Zach?"

"Zach's family is wealthy. Even if Royce goes to Harvard, they can still get him expelled!"

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Hello, takeout..." A girl in a blue work uniform, sweating profusely, peeked in, carrying fried chicken. She was from the next class. Her family was not well-off, so she had been working part-time since the college admissions test. She looked at me and then at the group of people surrounding me before freezing.

Zach glanced at the girl and sneered. "Oh, you know you failed, so you can't wait to deliver takeout? You'd better close your eyes and mind your own business. People like you are the lowest of the low in society. Being in the same high school as us is already a highlight of your life."

The girl gritted her teeth and said nothing. She entered the classroom, put the fried chicken on the table, and left with her head down.

Zach smiled even more brightly before coming over and slapping me across the face. "See, that's what you call knowing your place. Come on, Royce, open your college application system."

Three people held me down, and Sophie forcibly unlocked my phone with my fingerprint, opening the college application page.

The screen displayed a local vocational school.

Sophie burst into laughter first. "Hahaha! Royce actually applied for a vocational college!"

"We were pretending, but his must be real, right?"

"It's a mechanical engineering college. After graduation, will he become an electrician or repair electric scooters?"

"He's not capable of that. He'll probably be one of those assembly line workers in a small factory."

"Oh, he'll marry a masseuse when he graduates. The two people from the lowest social class will earn a combined monthly salary of 5,000 dollars."

"Say, vocational colleges shouldn't exist!" Someone slapped the table. "Let all these low-IQ people attend vocational colleges. How dare they claim to be college students once they graduate? It's simply a waste of educational resources!"

The whole class burst into laughter again.

I knelt on the ground, with blood trickling from my lips and the skin on the back of my hand scratched and bleeding. However, I felt nothing inside.

I looked up and scanned the podium. The livestream that was supposed to be paused was continuing.

I stared at the camera and smiled, thinking, 'Don't worry, Zach. Your performance is getting more and more exciting.'

Sophie finally released me and disgustedly shook her hand. "Alright. At least he knows his place."

I fell to the ground, silently wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth.

After they finished laughing, someone finally frowned. "Well... Speaking of which, there’s less than 20 minutes left until the deadline, right? I just tried logging in, and the website is indeed lagging."

Sophie glanced at him dismissively. "What are you scared of? We're going to do a livestream later, so let's stir things up and get a few more idiots to sign up for vocational college with us."

A boy chimed in. "Yeah, let's have a competition later. Whoever signs up for vocational college with us gets money!"

Sophie nodded. "That's a great idea!"

Then, she looked at me, "Royce, you have a lot of pocket money, right? Here's your chance to show your loyalty; you'll pay for the whole class."

I laughed in exasperation.

I felt sorry for her family's financial difficulties back then, so I subsidized her tutoring fees and treated her to meals from time to time. After graduation, she not only brazenly spent my money to buy gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars for teachers, but she also dared to say things like this.

I looked up at her. "Sophie, do you remember who paid for your mother's medical bills when she was hospitalized?"

Her expression changed. "Don't try to change the subject!"

I continued, "You said you'd pay me back 36,000 dollars back then. Five months have passed since then. I don't want the interest, but when are you going to give me the principal amount?"

She glanced at Zach and paused for a moment before suddenly laughing. "You did it voluntarily! I only took your lousy money as a gesture of courtesy! Do you think just anyone deserves to spend money on me? I've always only liked Zach; you were the one who relentlessly pestered me to pay my medical bills. Now that I'm your girlfriend, you've got me, and you're asking me to pay you back? People can be shameless, but not this shameless."

Someone chimed in, "Come on, Royce. If you want to bring up old grudges, you should at least consider your own limitations. Who told you to cling so tightly to her? You poured money, food, and feelings into her. Who is to blame in the end? The school heartthrob and star girl are a perfect match. What are you?"

"Alright, alright." Zach waved his hand. "Time's running out, let's start the livestream competition!"

They all turned on their livestreams.

Comments instantly filled the screen, but not the flattering praises they expected. Instead, the comment section was flooded with insults.

[Are you a school or a gang?]

[Public bullying on livestream. Is no one going to do anything about it?]

Finally, someone noticed something was wrong. "The comments seem off... Why are they all insulting us?"

Zach frantically checked his phone, yelling, "Who the hell started this livestream? I turned it off just now!"

The whole class panicked instantly.

Sophie's expression changed. "You didn't turn off your livestream?"

Someone asked in a trembling voice. "Was everything we said just now... recorded?"

Zach instantly turned livid, and he immediately roared, "Turn off your phone! Delete the livestream account!"

"Never mind that for now!" Sophie jumped up. "Change your college application back right now! Quick! It'll be too late if you don't!"

The whole class frantically tapped on their phones.

However...

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