The class heartthrob, Kevin Mosley, who scores only 1000 in the SATs, claims that he has successfully enrolled at Starvard University and is just waiting for the semester to begin. He even guarantees that he can get the entire class admitted as well.

The whole class starts cheering and praising him for being their hero. All of them intend to let him submit their college applications for them.

But something about his story doesn't sound right to me, so I ask a few more questions.

That's when I discover that his so-called exclusive admission internal channel is CloudAI, which is just an AI chatbot!

It confidently tells him that it has already reserved a special admission slot for him and guarantees that he can report to Starvard University when the semester starts.

Trying to help, I point out that the AI is just generating conversational responses and telling him what he wants to hear.

My childhood friend, Janice Hudson, is the first to jump to his defense.

"Daryl Greer, how can you doubt Kevin? He's trying to help the whole class. What's it to you?"

My friend, Aaron Yates, chimes in as well. "Daryl, AI is cutting-edge technology. It's the future. You can't dismiss it just because you don't understand it."

Their words rile everyone up. As the argument escalates, I am shoved down a flight of stairs.

I hit my head and die on the spot.

When I open my eyes again, I find myself back at the moment when Kevin proudly announces that he's been admitted to Starvard.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

This time, I'll simply respect their choices and wish them the best.

The excruciating pain from the shattered skull in the back of my head still seemed to linger in my nerve endings. I jolted my eyes open at once, gasping loudly for air as a deafening roar of cheers filled my ears.

"Oh, my God! You're the best, Kevin! You say that you got into Starvard University even with just an SAT score of 1000? You're our entire class' savior!"

"It's no wonder that he's the class heartthrob! He even managed to get his hands on this exclusive insider information!"

"You're my role model! Please help me get in too, Kevin! I want to get into Starvard as well!"

I stared at this familiar yet absurd scene, completely drenched in cold sweat.

Kevin Mosley, the class heartthrob who couldn't even solve a single quadratic equation, was standing in front of the class before the whiteboard, holding up his latest iPhone, his face beaming with pride and smugness.

The phone showed an AI chat application interface.

I had been reborn and somehow traveled back in time to two hours ago.

"Alright, everyone! Get in line," he said, enjoying basking in the class' adulation as he spoke with feigned profundity.

"This is CloudAI, an advanced AI access that I paid a hefty price for. It has guaranteed that I can lock in an exclusive internal admission spot at Starvard University as long as I provide it with my ID number."

A couple of other classmates who usually scored quite well in class were still a little suspicious of it. They retained a shred of rationality in them, cautiously asking, "Is your AI reliable, Kevin? What if… What if we end up not getting in? This is our college application that we're talking about!"

The moment she heard someone questioning her role model, my childhood friend, Janice Hudson, immediately jumped in like a fiercely protective dog.

"What do you even know about this anyway? It's AI! Artificial intelligence! It's the next big thing! This is the future! Kevin's being generous by sharing such a precious resource with you, and yet, you dare to doubt him?"

Kevin gritted his teeth in a huff, tapping his finger against the phone screen.

"Since you don't believe me, let's personally ask it a few more questions."

Soon, CloudAI replied with a very lengthy reply. Kevin pressed on the "speech" button, and a mechanical female voice echoed in the quiet classroom, "Dear Kevin, rest assured that my system has fully taken over Starvard University's internal admissions network.

"If you fail to enroll as scheduled, our company will fully compensate you five million dollars for emotional distress. We always have a top-notch hacker team to protect you."

The entire class erupted in cheers when they heard the words "five million dollars".

"What the hell? Five million dollars if I can't get into Starvard? This is a guaranteed win-win situation for all of us!"

"Kevin! Count me in! I don't care if I can't get in anymore. I want that five million dollars!"

"That's right! It doesn't matter if I can't further my studies anymore. I wouldn't even have to work if I had five million dollars!"

I watched my classmates slowly descend into an excited chaotic mess and found it completely absurd. To think that an entire class of high school students would actually completely trust a random paragraph of words generated by CloudAI without a doubt.

While everyone was still caught up in their frenzy, reaching their peak, Janice jumped up and went to the front of the class. She wanted to impress Kevin, so she made a loud, crazy suggestion.

"Everyone! Since Kevin has already secured all our spots in Starvard University with CloudAI, that means the national college application system is completely useless to us!

"Let's all prove our trust in Kevin and celebrate our entire class about to enter Starvard together by doing something crazy—let's all change our college applications in the system to Newgen Culinary Community College instead!"

Upon hearing this, the entire class fell silent for a second.

After all, this was the official college application system that was standardized across the entire country. If they changed it and re-submitted it, they wouldn't be able to edit it again anymore after that.

Kevin immediately typed out another question to ask CloudAI when he noticed the silence. Seconds later, he raised his phone in the air and shouted, "Listen! CloudAI said you could fill out any college or university you wanted in the system, and it wouldn't affect its internal manipulation at all!

"In fact, the lower the ranking of the college that you apply for, the more it'll be able to cover up and the easier it will be for them to manipulate things behind the scenes for us!"

After getting CloudAI's "confirmation", coupled with Janice's instigation, the entire class' rationality completely flew out of the window.

"Alright! We'll do just as you say, Jan!"

"That's right! We're already getting into Starvard anyway. We're their future students. What's wrong with filling out a fake college application to trick the official system anyway?"

"That's so cool! We'll all show up at the Starvard University gates on the first day of class with our community college applications, and it'll absolutely blow everybody's mind! We can make this our ultimate senior prank!"

Everyone then pulled out their phones, logged into the college application system on the spot, and deleted their original applications to top-tier colleges around the country without any hesitation, changing them to the lowest-tier community college available.

I watched them all laugh wildly as they tapped on the "confirm submission" button, standing in the corner like I was watching a circus show.

They personally destroyed the fruits of their years of hard work, and yet, they still thought that they were the unsung heroes for breaking the rules and beating the system like this.

There were a total of 43 people in class, and all 42 of the rest of them had changed their applications.

All eyes instantly focused on me, the only odd one out.

I slung my backpack over my shoulders, ready to leave this suffocating asylum.

"Stop right there, Daryl Greer!"

Janice then ran up to me and got in my way, blocking the classroom door. Several other female students quickly surrounded me as well, cornering me against the wall.

"Where do you think you're going, Daryl? We've all already changed our applications. Did you think that you were the only one deserving special treatment?"

Janice's eyes were fierce and sharp, exactly the same as when she pushed me down the stairs to my death in my previous life.

"We only move as a group! If you don't change your college application to a low-tier college today, you are never, ever leaving this classroom! Don't even think about it!"

Kevin also marched over in his limited-edition Jordans, looking down at me and speaking in a condescending tone, "I know you're obsessed with your image, Daryl. You're just worried that I won't help you secure a spot with CloudAI, aren't you? Is that why you refuse to change your official application in the system?

"If you'll change your application now in front of the entire class, I will do you a massive favor and also ask CloudAI to apply to Starvard University for you as well. We're all classmates, aren't we? If we soar to great heights, I'm bringing you along with me."

The other classmates immediately echoed his words.

"That's right! Don't push your luck, Daryl! He's already compromising by offering to help you!"

"Kevin has been nothing but generous! What are you being so stubborn about?"

"If you don't change your application, that means you don't trust Kevin! That means you're a traitor to the entire class!"

Aaron Yates leaned close and pretended to give me some advice. "Just go ahead and change it, Daryl. Tell us your account password and change your application. Janice is just doing this for the sake of class unity.

"How else do you think you're going to get into Starvard if you insist on doing things your way? We wouldn't be able to hang out as a class again when that time came!"

I glanced around at the bunch of lunatics relentlessly pressuring me into giving in and took a deep breath. I knew that the tragedy of my previous life would repeat itself if I were to resist them now.

But since I was given a second chance at life, I didn't just want to see them ruined. I wanted to protect my own safety as well.

Moreover, they had no idea that the files of the students admitted via direct admission through special recommendation were separate from the regular college application system.

As the champion of the National Physics Competition, I had already been personally selected by the dean of Starvard University himself, Mr. Owen Cooper, for direct guaranteed admission, and he'd also already taken my file with him to Starvard.

Even if I filled in a random community college in my official college application, my file would already be lying safely in the safe in Starvard University's admissions office.

So, I pretended to be intimidated by their threats and gritted my teeth, pretending to be extremely hesitant while reluctantly giving in to them, a hint of resistance flashing in my eyes.

"Fine… I'll change it. But I don't dare to do it myself. You can do it for me instead, Janice."

I then gave her my account and password. She cackled smugly as if she just won a major victory while logging into my account and editing my college application in front of the entire class.

She deleted all of the top-tier colleges' names I'd filled in, viciously filled in only the name of that low-tier community college, and then slammed on the "submit" button.

"Done!" she exclaimed, raising the phone in the air for everyone to see. A thunderous cheer then erupted in the classroom.

Kevin stroked his chin in satisfaction while typing my name and ID number into CloudAI's chat box.

"Alright, Daryl, CloudAI just replied, and your spot at Starvard University has been secured. Remember to thank me properly when the semester starts."

I stared at Kevin's dumb face and nodded with a smile. "Okay. I'll definitely 'thank you' properly on the first day of the semester."

I then slung my backpack over my shoulder once again and walked out of the classroom. I could hear the sounds of their revelry in the classroom behind me as they discussed going to hang out at the arcade all night to celebrate.

I just looked up at the dazzling sunlight, feeling an unprecedented sense of exhilaration.

The more they celebrated and the higher they soared now, the more they would be completely shattered when their dreams finally burst after reality hit them.

…

The rest of the long, sweltering summer vacation passed by in a state of extreme excitement among the entire class. The class group chat was flooded with more than a thousand messages daily.

Kevin was the undisputed "king" of the class, issuing out commands in the group almost every day.

"Has everyone bought their Starvard varsity jerseys today yet? I've already bought mine! We'll all wear them to Starvard University on the first day together!"

Janice replied, "I bought it today! I'll wear whatever you're wearing, Kevin! I can't wait to see the shocked expressions on the Starvard security guards' faces when they see all 43 of us showing up at their gates!"

Aaron replied, "Ah, I'm looking forward to it so much! I'm so excited for it. By the way, did anyone else receive the acceptance letters from that Newgen Culinary Community College like me? It's hilarious to think that they actually sent them!"

Sometime in mid-August, everyone had already received their college acceptance letters through the mail from that community college. A brief panic had ensued in the group chat for a moment.

However, Kevin showed up again with a screenshot of his conversation with CloudAI, showing the AI chat bot spewing all sorts of nonsense again in its reply.

"Dear Kevin, it is a normal system procedure for you to be receiving your college admission letter from the community college. Please do not panic.

"Your Starvard University internal student record has been completed. Kindly report yourself directly to the freshman registration office at Starvard University on September 1st by showing your ID card."

With CloudAI's endorsement, the class let themselves loose again without another worry in the world. Some of them even tore up the admission letter, burned it, and filmed the entire process before posting it online to show off.

As for me, I quietly received my admissions letter from Starvard University, personally signed by Mr. Cooper himself, in early August. I carefully locked it in my drawer, waiting quietly for admission day.