The Ace Assassin’s High School Reign

Dubai, Burj Khalifa.

At the observation deck two thousand feet high, music flowed through the banquet like water.

"Phantom, the intel was wrong." Caleb's voice came through the invisible earpiece - he was technical support. "I just detected seven hidden sentries. Assassination difficulty has increased. Should we cancel tonight's operation?"

The target was just fifty feet away. Phantom wore a wine-red evening gown, clearly the most beautiful female guest that night.

She said, "Cancel."

"Copy that." Caleb's voice paused for half a second. "Initiating backup plan. There'll be pickup at the elevator shaft in two minutes. Phantom, retreat to the east side of the hall."

Phantom didn't respond verbally, but she headed toward the emergency passage on the west side of the hall instead.

The moment she pushed the door open, several infrared targeting beams locked onto her heart simultaneously.

She recognized everyone in the passage - members of the cleanup squad from the organization 'DarkChord', also her comrades.

Leading them was Caleb himself.

"I'm sorry." Caleb didn't dare meet her eyes. "This is an order from above. If you cooperate, you might live. But even if we can only bring back your corpse, it's the same to them."

Phantom seemed to have expected this. She smiled, and even in this moment, her stunning face left everyone briefly dazed.

She suddenly took a step forward.

All gun barrels raised simultaneously, several people shouting in unison, "Don't move!"

Phantom smiled and raised both hands. "I just want to die knowing why. Why kill me?"

Behind her, the assassination target's voice rang out.

"Once we obtain your complete genome and all your action patterns, we can cultivate a hundred, a thousand Phantoms who will obey like puppets, instead of one weapon that could lose control at any time."

His gaze fell on Phantom's right arm.

Beneath that skin was a chip implanted when she joined the organization, faithfully recording all her behavioral data from seven years of missions.

"I understand."

Her right hand casually lifted, lightly brushing her earlobe, triggering the electromagnetic pulse device hidden in her earring.

Fire alarm systems on all floors of Burj Khalifa sounded simultaneously, lights flashing irregularly like they'd gone mad.

"Power overload. All exits are locked down, wireless signals will be blocked too." Her voice was calm as water. "Caleb, you're really bad at lying."

The infrared targeting beams on Phantom began shaking violently - someone could no longer hold their gun steady.

Then she smiled gently, tore open her gown's hem, revealing a small package of CL65 explosives strapped to her thigh.

Her own modified formula, enough to destroy the entire Burj Khalifa.

"Let's go to hell together."

Bullets shattered the observation deck's glass curtain wall.

She fell through the scorching blast wave, watching Burj Khalifa tilt and collapse in flames.

...

After an unknown amount of time.

Phantom's eyes snapped open. She sensed a faint coolness from her left rear.

Without thinking, almost by muscle memory, she raised her hand in a light blocking motion.

The movement was so subtle it looked like she was just brushing her hair, but her fingernail precisely flicked the flying eraser back along its path.

"Ahhh—"

From the left rear, a pig-like scream broke the exam room's silence. The eraser hit a male student square in the forehead.

The surrounding world gradually became clear. Countless unfamiliar memories flooded in like a tide.

She sat in a classroom, the overhead fan creaking.

The hand on the desk had short, thick fingers with nails cut blunt, edges showing bite marks.

The test paper beneath her hand was crumpled, with only a few multiple-choice questions filled in with childish round handwriting. The scratch paper was a mess though.

The line at the top of the test paper made her pupils contract slightly.

Emerald City 2030 Sophomore Math Midterm Exam Paper A...

Student Name: Eve Moore.

"Teacher! Eve hit me with an eraser!" After his scream, the male student covered his forehead and raised his hand to complain.

"Eve, what are you doing now!" The exam proctor didn't bother asking questions, striding down from the podium to scold her. "Get out..."

Before the teacher could finish, Eve suddenly stood up, startling her.

Eve's face was cold as she walked straight out of the classroom.

Moving down the corridor, she quickly found the restroom.

The stranger in the mirror left her feeling somewhat dazed.

The outline of an oval face was still there, but wrapped in three layers of thick double chin. Excess fat around her waist and abdomen stretched her clothes tight. Her forehead and cheeks were covered with red pimples, some with white heads that looked rather nauseating.

She estimated her height at about 5'7", and her weight... probably over 187 pounds.

At the same time, countless unfamiliar memories flooded her mind. She took a deep breath and quickly accepted the fact that she'd been reborn into the body of a seventeen-year-old overweight girl.

Though she'd lost almost everything, at least this new body was much younger. Time was capital - sooner or later she'd take back what was hers.

It wasn't lunch break yet, so the teaching building was empty.

But she'd barely made it downstairs when five slouching male students blocked her path.

The leader was named Zack Davis - clearly the same guy from the exam room who'd thrown the eraser at her, then complained to the teacher after she retaliated.

In the original owner's memories, he'd been bringing his lackeys to bully her every day for the past month.

"Shameless fat pig who has a crush on my brother! My brother's so awesome, how dare you even mention his name?"

Every time Zack came to pick on her, it was because of his brother.

Right now, he had a big bump on his forehead, obviously from when Eve hit him with the eraser earlier.

He grinned at Eve, eyes full of intense disgust. "You got bold today, huh? Daring to mess with me? Believe it or not, I'll kill you?"

"Move." Eve's voice was still soft and delicate like the original owner's, but her tone was flat without any inflection.

Zack's face flushed red with anger, but the other guys burst out laughing.

"She, she told you to move... Zack, you getting pushed around by a fat pig?"

"Bullshit!" Zack lifted his foot to kick at Eve. "If I don't teach you a lesson today, my last name isn't Davis!"

The seemingly aggressive move looked, to Eve's eyes as a top assassin, even less threatening than a pawing kitten on the street.

She didn't even move, just dropped one shoulder.

The heavy, dirty backpack she'd been carrying on one shoulder fell and smashed into Zack's shin.

Just as he was about to kick her, Zack lost his balance. As he fell to the ground, he did a complete split, his tight jeans ripping at the crotch with a loud tear.

Everyone froze in shock.

After all, everything happened within two seconds. To them it was just an instant - they only saw Zack lift his leg, then fall and rip his pants.

"Hahaha—"

They burst into loud laughter. Zack gritted his teeth in anger. "What the hell are you laughing at!"

"Zack, you, you're done for."

The only guy wearing a school uniform had a cigarette tucked behind his ear. He bent over laughing, then suddenly attacked Eve.

He swung a punch at her face, his expression vicious beyond his years.

At the same time, another guy reached to grab Eve's clothes.

Eve grabbed her backpack, dodging while smashing it toward the guy's head.

A crisp sound - the guy trying to grab her clothes took a hit to the head and fell sideways.

Because Eve moved so quickly, beyond their expectations, the guy throwing the punch couldn't react in time. His fist hit the other guy instead, and he exposed his back to Eve, who kicked him hard.

Both fell to the ground. This also happened within two seconds.

The remaining two guys stood dumbfounded. After a few seconds of shock, they turned to run.

Eve didn't chase them. She threw her lunch box directly, hitting one guy in the back of the head. He cried out and fell to the ground.

"You picked a good spot. No cameras here. Perfect."

The girl who was usually too timid to even raise her head now had a cold, calm expression, looking at them like they were dead people.

Fear immediately rose in their hearts. They stared at Eve warily. "You, don't come closer!"