On graduation day, Chloe Pierce said she wanted to film an extreme challenge video.

She told me to stand near the edge of a cliff and said it was just for a photo.

Then she suddenly threw herself backward and screamed, "Don't push me."

The rope snapped, and she really fell.

The entire internet called me a murderer.

My mother knelt in front of the cameras and begged for me until a brain hemorrhage took her life.

I hanged myself with a shoelace in the detention center.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day before the trip.

This time, I smiled at Chloe and said, "I'll help you check the rope."

My phone buzzed.

I opened my eyes and saw the underside of the bunk above me. From the lower bunk, I heard Chloe Pierce's voice.

"Lena, come with us to Eagle's Beak Cliff tomorrow to film a video. It'll be quick."

I had heard those exact words in my previous life.

Exactly the same.

My fingers tightened around my blanket. My nails dug into my palm.

It hurt.

This wasn't a dream.

I really was back.

I took a deep breath and kept my voice flat.

"What are we going there for?"

"A graduation memory video. It'll be meaningful."

Chloe made it sound so casual.

A graduation memory.

In my last life, I believed her.

Only when we got there did I find out she wanted to film an "extreme challenge."

She planned to tie a rope around her waist and pretend to fall off the cliff while I played along as the person who "pushed" her.

She was afraid I would look unnatural if I knew the truth, so she hid the plan from me the entire time.

All she told me was, "Just stand next to me. You don't have to do anything."

Then she shouted, "Don't push me," and threw herself backward.

The rope snapped.

She died.

After that, her two little followers, Sienna Marsh and Molly Weaver, cried in front of the camera and said, "Lena Macmillan has always been jealous of Chloe. We never thought she'd actually have the nerve to kill her."

The whole internet believed them.

I was cyberbullied, arrested, and sentenced.

My mother sold our home to pay compensation. She knelt outside the courthouse and hit her head on the ground until a brain hemorrhage killed her.

I strangled myself with a shoelace in the detention center.

In my final second before death, I heard two guards chatting outside the door.

"That college girl who pushed someone off a cliff killed herself."

"Serves her right."

This life, I wouldn't be fooled again.

"Fine. I'll go," I said.

Chloe gave a satisfied hum, rolled over, and went back to scrolling on her phone.

The dorm room fell quiet.

I lay on the top bunk, staring at the ceiling while my mind raced.

In my last life, I knew nothing, so I did nothing.

This life, I knew everything.

So I had three things to do.

First, let them destroy themselves.

Second, leave evidence.

Third, keep myself clean.

I dug out my old phone and opened a shopping app.

I ordered a pinhole camera, small enough to clip to a collar.

Then I ordered a micro voice recorder that could run for eight hours.

The delivery would arrive tomorrow morning.

There was still time.

After that, I opened a browser and searched, "Eagle's Beak Cliff blind spots."

In my last life, Chloe had scouted the location ahead of time. She picked a bend in the cliffside walkway.

It happened to sit outside the park's surveillance coverage, and that blind spot became the dead end I could never explain my way out of.

This time, I was going to place my own cameras there.

Not just one.

I wanted every angle recorded.

The next morning, the package arrived.

I stitched the pinhole camera into the collar of my hoodie and slipped the recorder into the inner pocket of my jacket.

I also placed two portable action cameras in my bag.

One would be strapped to the walkway railing. The other would be hidden in the shrubs nearby.

Three camera angles.

That was enough.

Before leaving, I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my neck.

The skin there was smooth and intact. No ligature marks.

In my last life, inside the detention center bathroom stall, I tied my shoelace around the door handle and dropped my weight downward.

I still remembered the feeling of suffocation.

My windpipe being crushed. My eyes bulging. My ears ringing like fireworks were exploding inside them.

Then everything went black.

But now, I could still breathe.

I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my flesh.

It hurt.

Good.

I pulled at the corner of my mouth and smiled.

Let's go.

At the school gate, Chloe was already waiting.

She wore a white camisole dress, a full face of makeup, and her hair was curled into big waves. She looked like she was about to walk a red carpet.

"You're wearing that to hike?" I asked.

"It looks good on camera."

She checked her makeup through the front camera of her phone.

"Tell me, does this lipstick shade look good on video?"

Chloe turned toward me. Her lips were painted a deep red.

"It looks good," I said.

It really did.

In my last life, after she fell, her makeup was smeared.

Blood poured from her nose and ears, redder than her lipstick.

Sienna arrived second.

She was carrying a large canvas tote, bulging with things.

"What did you bring?" Chloe asked.

"Power banks, a selfie stick, a fill light, and the rope."

Sienna lowered her voice and wiggled her brows.

"The one you asked me to buy."

"Let me see."

Sienna pulled out a coil of orange-red rope.

I glanced at it.

The rope was old. The surface was worn, and several places had frayed.

The seller had labeled it: "decorative rope, not load-bearing." Fifty dollars, shipping included.

When Sienna placed the order, she hadn't even read the product description.

Chloe took it and gave it a casual shake, without checking anything.

"Fine. This will do."

"Chloe, should we test it?" Molly Weaver came up behind us, pale-faced, her voice small.

"Test what?"

"I mean... pull it and see if it's sturdy."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Are you stupid? It's new. What could be wrong with it?"

Sienna immediately chimed in.

"Exactly. I bought it myself. It cost more than two hundred dollars. What could be wrong?"

More than two hundred.

In my last life, I saw the purchase record.

The rope cost fifty. Sienna pocketed the extra one hundred and fifty Chloe had given her and bought secondhand junk.

The seller had even written in the comments: the rope is worn and not recommended for climbing.

Sienna didn't care.

It wasn't her life on the line anyway.

I stood there without speaking.

In my last life, I had warned Chloe in the car.

"That rope doesn't look very strong. Maybe we should forget it."

She flipped out on the spot.

"What do you mean? Are you cursing me?"

This life, I wouldn't warn her again.

But I also wouldn't stand there stupidly like last time.

What I had to do was make them believe they were safe, then watch with their own eyes as the rope snapped.

After we got into the car, Chloe started a livestream.

"Hey, everyone! Today Sunny is heading to Eagle's Beak Cliff for an extreme challenge!

"Look, behind me are my three besties. They'll be coming with me."

She turned the camera toward us.

Sienna flashed a peace sign.

Molly lowered her head.

I looked out the window.

Comments drifted across the screen.

"Sunny, be careful!"

"Why does the girl next to you look so serious?"

Chloe smiled and said, "That's Lena. She's... not quite like us. She's pretty introverted."

Introverted.

No.

I was thinking about how to make all of you die with the truth laid bare.

When we arrived at the park, Chloe rushed to buy four tickets.

We passed through the entrance and walked up along the cliffside path.

The walkway at Eagle's Beak Cliff was built into the face of the cliff. At its narrowest point, only one person could pass sideways.

The railing was iron, already rusted.

Chloe walked at the front, light on her feet.

"Hurry, hurry. While there aren't many people, let's grab that corner."

I knew the corner she meant.

The surveillance blind spot.

She had scouted it in my last life.

When we reached the bend, Chloe stopped, spread her arms, and took a deep breath.

"This is it! Perfect!"

She looked down and deliberately shivered.

"It's so high. My legs are going weak."

Then she took out her phone and started performing for the camera.

"Guys, I'm standing at the most dangerous spot at Eagle's Beak Cliff. Below me is an endless drop!

"Look at the wind. I don't even dare look down."

The comments flew by.

While all of their attention was on the livestream, I placed my cameras where I had planned.

After joking with the viewers for a while, Chloe ended the livestream and turned to Sienna.

"Take out the rope."

Sienna pulled it out.

Chloe took it and began tying it around her waist.

"Chloe," I said, "do you want me to check the rope for you?"

She glanced at me, a little surprised.

"You know how to check?"

"My dad used to work construction. I've seen him tie safety ropes."

She thought for a moment and handed the rope to me.

I took it, made a show of tugging at it, and inspected the ends.

"This knot isn't right," I said, pointing at the slipknot Chloe had tied casually. "This kind of knot can slide under load. I'll tie it again for you."

I tied a double figure-eight knot.

It looked professional.

In reality, I deliberately placed the load-bearing point around the most worn part of the rope.

In other words, the knot looked sturdier.

But once weight hit it, the frayed section would break faster.

As soon as Chloe leaned back, the rope would snap right there.

Chloe didn't know that.

She would only think I was reliable.

"Not bad, Lena. Didn't know you had skills."

She patted my shoulder, satisfied.

Sienna asked from the side, "Why are you being so helpful today?"

I smiled.

"It's our last trip together before graduation. I wanted to help more."

They believed me.

Molly looked at me. Her lips moved, but she said nothing.

She probably felt something was wrong.

But she wouldn't speak up.

Because she was afraid of offending people.

Chloe tugged at the rope and felt that it was tight.

Then she tied the other end to an iron post along the walkway.

"Sienna, stand over there and film with the phone."

Chloe began directing her.

"Remember, you have to capture my face and the drop below."

Sienna raised the phone and backed away a few steps, adjusting the angle.

She backed too close to the edge. Her heel stepped on loose gravel at the side of the path.

Pebbles rolled down, and it took a long time before any sound returned.

"Be careful!" Molly screamed.

"It's fine, it's fine." Sienna didn't even look back. "This angle is amazing. Sunny, come look."

Chloe walked over and bent down to look at the screen.

"No, you're too far away. I can't see my face clearly. Move forward a little."

"If I move forward, I'll fall."

"You haven't fallen, have you? Hurry up."

Sienna shifted forward another half-step.

Her toes were already hanging past the edge of the walkway.

I looked at them and felt nothing.

In my last life, the three of them had been exactly like this.

Each more reckless than the last.

Each more brainless than the last.