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.

"Ready?" Chloe stood at the edge of the cliff, arms spread wide.

"Ready!" Sienna raised the phone. "Starting the livestream!"

She opened the app, adjusted the beauty filter, and forced out a sweet smile.

"Hey, everyone! Sunny is already at Eagle's Beak Cliff!"

"Today, we're doing a super thrilling challenge--Cliffside Life-or-Death Moment!"

Comments poured in.

Chloe waved at the camera, smiling like a flower.

"Guys, I'm standing right at the edge of the cliff. In a second, I'm going to challenge myself to take a few steps along the edge and pretend I lose my balance.

"There's a safety rope around my waist, so it's totally safe. Please don't imitate this!"

As she said that, she shot me a look.

I stood beside her, expressionless.

She frowned and lowered her voice.

"Lena, look at me."

I looked once.

Only once.

Then she suddenly widened her eyes. Her expression turned terrified, and her voice trembled as she shouted, "Don't push me--Lena, what are you doing--don't push me!"

She fell backward.

I stood where I was.

I didn't reach out.

I didn't touch her.

And unlike in my last life, I didn't try to grab her.

I didn't even move a finger.

Chloe's body was already leaning backward.

Her expression shifted from fear to triumph.

Because she thought she was about to hang suspended in midair.

The comments would explode.

She would go viral.

The rope snapped tight.

Then--

A crisp crack sounded.

Like a dry branch breaking.

Chloe's eyes flew open.

This time, it wasn't acting.

It was real.

Her mouth opened. She seemed to want to scream something.

The wind was too loud.

I couldn't hear anything.

She fell.

Her white camisole dress flipped upward, exposing her stomach.

Her hair streamed above her like dark waterweeds.

Her arms clawed through the air and caught nothing.

Then she grew smaller.

Smaller.

Finally, she became a white dot.

Then she vanished into the mist.

Two seconds later, a muffled impact rose from the valley.

Thud.

Like someone had thrown a bag of wet cement off a building.

Then came the echoes.

Thud... thud... thud...

Each one softer than the last.

Then nothing.

The world went quiet.

Sienna held the phone, mouth open, eyes almost bulging from their sockets.

Molly knelt on the ground as if her body had been hollowed out.

Her lips trembled. She couldn't say a word.

The livestream comments went insane.

"Holy crap holy crap holy crap!"

"The rope snapped???"

"Did she actually fall???"

"Call the police!"

"This isn't scripted, right???"

"I recorded it. She really fell!"

Sienna's hand began to shake. She almost dropped the phone.

She looked down at the screen, then up at me.

"Lena... you... you pushed her..."

"I didn't move. How could I have pushed her?"

"But she shouted your name. She told you not to push her."

"I heard that. But I didn't move at all. Didn't you see?"

Sienna's tears fell instantly.

She wasn't grieving.

She was scared.

Because she was the one who bought the rope.

Molly finally started crying, sobbing at the top of her lungs.

"Someone died! Someone died!"

I crouched down and looked at her.

"Molly, call 911."

She shook her head wildly.

"No... I can't..."

I took out my own phone and called 911.

"Hello. Someone fell from Eagle's Beak Cliff scenic park.

"Yes, a girl fell from the cliffside walkway.

"Cause? She was filming a video with a rope tied around her waist. The rope snapped.

"Her roommate bought the rope."

My voice was calm.

So calm that even the dispatcher paused for a moment.

"Miss, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

After hanging up, I looked at Sienna.

Her phone was still livestreaming.

The viewer count had skyrocketed from a few thousand to one hundred fifty thousand.

The comments blurred by too fast to read.

Some people were typing "killer."

Some were typing "call the police."

Some were typing "who bought the rope?"

Sienna finally came back to herself and fumbled to end the livestream.

But she was too panicked. She hit the wrong button and flipped the camera to front-facing mode.

Her tear-streaked face appeared on screen.

"It wasn't me... I didn't buy the rope... Chloe told me to buy it... she said any rope would be fine..."

She slipped up.

The comments went even crazier.

"She said she bought the rope?!"

"Any rope would be fine? For something that dangerous?"

"Isn't this negligent homicide?"

Sienna saw the comments, screamed, and finally ended the livestream.

But it was too late.

The whole internet had screen recordings.

I stood and walked to the railing, looking down.

I couldn't see anything.

Only fog.

And wind.

And the approaching sound of sirens.