The Harpy’s Curse and the Broken Scholars

As the first zoologist to discover the mythical Harpies, my life was once shattered by fate. In my past life, I passed the entrance exam and partnered with the brilliant Stella for an overseas fellowship. Together, we won the highest international award, hailed as a dream team.

But our success drove her envious junior colleague, Toby, to overdose. The night before our return, Stella made a televised accusation, claiming I had sold our national research to a foreign corporation. "You stole Tobys study materials and pushed him to fail!" she cried, calling me a traitor unworthy of science.

Only then did I realize she had stolen my fathers research, ruining his reputation. He died in disgrace. My mother, tricked by Stella into entering a wild reserve to help me, was killed by wolves, leaving no remains.

The forged "traitors agreement" sealed my fate. No institution would take me, and I fell from promising scholar to a homeless wanderer abroad. One snowy winter night, I froze to death on the street, my life over in half a month.

Now, back from hell with bitter memories, I held back. In the selection exam, I carefully scored second place. Watching Stella and her protg celebrate on the results board, I smiled coldly. This time, Id watch from the sidelines and see who that coveted award would truly destroy.

"Toby got first place? Isn't Oliver always the one who aces these things? Could

it be true what Toby's been saying, that Oliver was cheating all this time?"

Toby held the printout with his top score high in the air, strutting around like

a proud rooster.

"Those little quizzes were just warm-ups. A high-level thesis discussion like

today's is what really separates the wheat from the chaff. It seems some people

around here rely on cheap tricks to get by!"

He shot a contemptuous glare directly at me.

Everyone in our two-hundred-person research division knew I was the one who

practically lived and died in the lab. This crucial selection was a fluke

victory for him, a blind squirrel finding a nut, and he was going to milk it for

all it was worth to grind me into the dust.

I leaned against the wall, a humorless laugh escaping my lips. "The scores are

right there for everyone to see. You can keep barking, but it won't change the

facts."

He bristled as if Id stepped on his tail, then turned and sagged against

Stellas shoulder, his voice dripping with faux-pity.

"Stella, look at him! The way he scoffs at me. I was just having an off-period

before, that's the only reason he ever got ahead!"

Stella wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her eyes slicing towards me like

shards of ice.

"So, you stole Tobys study materials and still couldn't manage to take first.

Lashing out now that you're embarrassed, are we? Let's see how long you can keep

playing these dirty, back-alley games."

I raised an eyebrow, catching the flicker of calculation in her eyes. In that

instant, it hit me. Shes been reborn, too.

Whispers immediately erupted around us.

"Oliver stole Toby's notes? That's messed up. No wonder Toby was always stuck in

second place, he was being sabotaged!"

"If someone at Stella's level is saying it, it must be true. What a scumbag,

using tricks like that to get ahead. Makes me sick!"

The glares and sharp-edged insults rained down on me, but I didn't even flinch.

I walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, calmly waiting for the Director to

arrive and make his selection.

In my last life, it was because Id so spectacularly taken first place that the

Director had singled me out, kicking off the nightmare that allowed Stella to

destroy my entire family.

This time, I had no interest in being the nail that stuck out in this cesspool.

When the Director entered with the results sheet, his brow furrowed into a knot.

"How is Oliver second? Ive reviewed his files from the past two years. His

performance metrics have consistently been the best in the entire institute."

Toby immediately crossed his arms, sniffing disdainfully.

"That's only because he's so conniving. He stole my core notes before the exam.

Otherwise, first place would have always been mine!"

I almost burst out laughing. In all our previous tests, he'd fought tooth and

nail just to scrape into the top ten. One lucky break and he was acting like he

was the next Einstein.

My undisguised smirk infuriated Stella. She shot me a warning glare before

turning to the Director, putting on her expert air.

"Olivers test scores are admittedly good, but that doesn't mean he has the

scientific intuition to handle a project of this caliber."

"Toby and I have worked together in the lab countless times. Our synergy is

unmatched. If he's my partner, I guarantee the project's progress will double in

speed."

She was the lead researcher, handpicked for the project. Her words carried

immense weight. It was a blatant power play: choose Toby, or shed walk.

Watching the proud, certain look on her face, so sure the Director would cave, a

bottomless, cold amusement filled me.

In my last life, our partnership was nothing like the harmonious duo the media

portrayed.

She barely even bothered to show up at the lab. The all-nighters that left my

eyes bloodshot and burning? I pulled every single one of them alone.

On the rare occasion she graced the lab with her presence, her only pastime was

to stand aside and mock me.

"Toby is my true soulmate in science. No one but him will ever touch my core

data."

"You schemed your way into his spot, so this is what you get. Let's see what

world-shaking discoveries you can make all on your own."

This time, without me toiling away in the dark for her, I was eager to see what

kind of "world-shaking" results she and the useless Toby could possibly produce.

The Director, cornered, looked helpless. His gaze shifted between us, finally

landing on me with a hint of regret.

"But Oliver was the first to discover traces of that rare, harpy-like creature.

The higher-ups were actually leaning towards having him lead the subsequent

in-depth research."

Stellas face darkened instantly. The look in her eyes was like a poisoned

blade, promising to devour me whole if I dared to nod in agreement.

"Im sorry, but Ive already decided on a new research direction. And frankly, I

have zero interest in partnering with Stella," I said, cutting off any

possibility of negotiation.

The Director opened his mouth to try and persuade me, but Stella cut him off

harshly.

Her jaw twitched, a muscle pulsing in her cheek as she forced a cold laugh. "If

he's going to be so ungrateful, why waste your breath, Director? I wouldn't want

to share a room with a sewer rat who steals from his colleagues anyway."

"A 'new research direction' I wonder which poor soul he stole that from."

At that moment, Tobys sharp eyes landed on the thick stack of files at my side.

He gasped, covering his mouth theatrically.

"You're not going to work on the amphibious mutant species, are you? Ive been

the one leading that research! What you're holding has to be the raw data I

spent nights compiling!"

"Oliver, have you no shame? Are you going to steal my hard work, too?"

I casually flipped through the file, my gaze cold as I stared him down.

"Stolen from you? Again? Toby, is it that your brain is so incapable of

producing anything of value that you assume every research breakthrough in the

world must have been stolen from you?"

In all his years at the institute, he hadn't even managed to win a third-rate

regional prize.

The jab hit its mark. His eyes reddened, and he shrank behind Stella like a

wronged child.

"It just looked familiar, I was just saying! I never said for sure that you

stole it. Oliver, why do you have to humiliate me like that?"

Stella hugged him protectively, patting his back as if soothing a puppy. Her

glare at me was murderous.

She lunged forward, snatched the file from my hands, and, in front of everyone,

ripped it to shreds with a vicious shrrriiip.

"It's just a few scraps of paper! What's the big deal? I could produce a dozen

better proposals for Toby with my eyes closed. You enjoy twisting the knife,

don't you? Waving this in his face just to feel superior?"

That was the culmination of six months of fieldwork, countless trips to remote

observation sites. In her eyes, it was worth less than a single one of Toby's

crocodile tears.

She turned to the Director, her tone an undisguised threat. "Do you see now?

Oliver is nothing but a bully who preys on the weak. If the board insists on

forcing me to partner with a piece of trash like him, I'll quit the project

altogether!"

The Director panicked. The institute couldn't afford to lose a star like Stella.

He quickly capitulated.

"Alright, alright! Toby it is. You and Toby will form the special research

team."

Toby peeked out from behind Stella's shoulder, shooting me a look of pure

provocation and contempt. I just shrugged, turning to leave the toxic room.

"Stop," Stella's voice, sharp and commanding, cut through the air. She had

regained her icy, superior composure.

"Now that Toby is my partner, you will vacate your private lab for him. Also,

you'll take over all the menial tasks the Dean assigned him. He needs to be

well-rested for the intense research ahead."

The sheer audacity of her gangster-like demands made me laugh.

"My private lab was granted to me for winning a national gold medal last year.

On what grounds should I give it to him? And why should I be his free labor for

the work he's supposed to do?"

In this brutally competitive institute, only top-tier researchers who had won

national-level honors or higher were granted a private lab. It wasn't just about

resources; it was a symbol of status.

Toby didn't deserve it. The administration had considered making an exception

for him once, pulling strings just for him.

But then I won that prestigious gold medal. Stella herself had marched into the

Dean's office and, with a grand gesture, donated a fortune to outfit it with

state-of-the-art equipment, turning it into a world-class facility as a

"surprise" for me.

"Oliver, this is my first big gift to you. Be a good boy, and there'll be more

where that came from."

Those words, once spoken with a mix of pride and tenderness, now dripped with

nothing but ice.

"Im the one who funded that lab for you. Now, Im taking it back. Because you

are no longer worthy of it."

That single sentence was a dull, rusty knife carving a bloody, ragged wound in

my chest.

I clenched my jaw, swallowing the metallic taste of blood that rose in my

throat, and answered, word by word.

"Fine. The lab is his. But as for the Dean's assignments, I won't write a single

damn comma for him."

That lab was filled with her presence, with things that were never truly mine.

They felt tainted. I was ready to leave it all behind.

I scrolled to the very bottom of my contact list, found the number I hadn't

touched in years, took a deep breath, and hit dial.

"You once told me you wanted me as your permanent partner. Does that offer still

stand?"

There was no hesitation on the other end, just a clear, steady female voice.

"That spot by my side has always been yours, Oliver. You just had to say the

word."

Harper. The genius researcher who had swept countless international awards. In

our last life, she had delayed her entire project waiting for me to come to my

senses, ultimately costing her that year's top global prize.

This time, we would finally fight side by side.

After hanging up, I immediately began the paperwork for a transfer to Munich.

As I walked out of the HR office, clutching a thick stack of handover documents,

I ran straight into Stella and Toby.

Toby's sharp eyes caught the "Overseas Transfer Application" printed on my

folder. He let out an exaggerated, cold laugh.

"And here I thought you had some backbone, that you'd actually give up on

Stella. Turns out you're just going to shamelessly follow us abroad? Have you no

dignity?"

Stella let out a derisive snort, her eyes filled with a lofty pity.

"Oliver, why do you insist on torturing yourself? Even if you follow me across

the world like a stray dog, I won't give you a second glance."

I calmly flipped the file over, showing them the name of the receiving party.

"I'm going abroad because I've found a new partner. This has absolutely nothing

to do with you."

When Toby saw the thunderous name on the documentHarperhe froze, then burst

into even harsher laughter.

"You barely scraped second place in our own institute's selection, and you think

a god-tier researcher like Harper would even look at you? She's at the absolute

pinnacle of our field. You couldn't come up with a more ridiculous lie if you

tried!"

Stella, however, stared at the name, her expression shifting like a volatile

storm.

I had no time for their games and was about to walk around them when Stella

grabbed my arm, yanking me into a corner of the hallway. She lowered her voice,

her tone laced with fury.

"I know you threw the exam to let Toby win. You were trying to get back at me.

But changing partners is a massive decision. Why didn't you report it to me

first?"

"Go and cancel your application with her right now, before word gets out."

She tilted her chin up, so certain that I was still the puppet who danced on her

strings.

I wrenched my arm free, finding her entitled expression utterly ridiculous.

"And why should I take orders from you?"

Her jaw tightened, her eyes flashing with impatience.

"Because I've already planned it all out. Toby will be my public partner, a face

for the media. You will continue to be my shadow partner, working behind the

scenes. Isn't that a perfect solution?"

I frowned, unable to process her twisted logic. She looked at me as if I were an

imbecile, continuing to explain as if granting me a great favor.

"The repetitive, tedious work in the lab is draining. Toby's a light sleeper as

it is; he needs at least twelve hours of rest a day."

"So, you'll still be the one to handle the heavy lifting, the core data

analysis. When the time comes if we win an award with that data, I'll speak to

the Dean. I'll have a brand-new lab built just for you as compensation."

Now I understood. She wanted me to sweat and slave away like a mule in a

windowless basement, while Toby strutted onto a brightly lit stage in a designer

suit to accept the accolades.

The sheer audacity was breathtaking.

I laughed, a sound devoid of any humor. "Putting someone else's name on your

work is called academic fraud. Do you have the guts to repeat that in the

Director's office?"

She was instantly enraged, her eyebrows shooting up as she pointed a finger at

my nose, hissing.

"Oliver! I'm offering you a way out! You're the one who started this jealous

drama, all to force me to acknowledge you as my partner again, weren't you?"

Seeing the fury and arrogance swirling in her eyes, a chilling coldness crept up

my spine.

I remembered my past life, how Id unhesitatingly rejected offers from three of

the world's top labs just to stay by her side.

For the crumbs of affection she occasionally threw my way, I worked like a

machine devoid of pain, my eyes burning from sleepless nights, secretly fixing

God knows how many of Toby's screw-ups.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms, and stared into her

eyes, enunciating each word.

"I will never agree."

Her chest heaved with rage. Just as she was about to explode, Toby's

melodramatic sobs echoed from the other end of the hall.

Stella's expression changed in a flash. She hurried over to find Toby crumpled

on the floor, clutching a reference book that had been cut to ribbons, crying

his eyes out.

"Stella, Oliver did this! To get back at me for taking his spot as your partner,

he snuck into the lab and destroyed my core reference materials!"

Stella pulled him into a tender embrace, her voice soft enough to melt steel.

"Don't cry. I'll make him pay. I won't let anyone who bullies you get away with

it."

Toby, trembling like a frightened quail in her arms, shook his head

theatrically.

"Let's just forget it and go abroad. If we stay under the same roof as Oliver,

I'm afraid next time he'll destroy months of my research."

I watched this pathetic melodrama unfold, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Your mediocre research is hardly worth my effort. Besides, this entire hallway,

including the lab, is covered by 360-degree surveillance cameras. We can just

pull the footage and see who's really directing this little play. Or do you

prefer to just keep wailing here?"

My words only made Toby cry harder. Stella whipped her head around, her eyes

promising murder. She snatched the shredded hardcover book from the floor and

hurled it at my face.

"You commit this disgusting act of revenge against Toby, show no remorse, and

then have the audacity to bully him with your words! Oliver, you forced my

hand!"

The heavy corner of the book struck me right beside my eye. A sharp, piercing

pain erupted, and warm blood trickled down my cheekbone.

The last trace of expression vanished from my face. My voice was as cold as ice.

"You won't even check the cameras. You condemn me based on his word alone.

Stella, have you ever considered that you're nothing more than a puppet, and

he's the one pulling your strings?"

She clenched her fists, roaring like an enraged lioness.

"Toby's heart is as pure as a blank sheet of paper! Even if I willingly let him

use me, he would never stoop to something like this! Unlike you, with your mind

full of schemes and gutter-water ambition!"

Faced with her fury, I simply wiped the blood from my eye, my expression as

placid as if I were looking at a stranger.

Suddenly, she let out a chilling, eerie laugh and strode into my lab. She

grabbed a scalpel from the desk and plunged it violently into the

temperature-controlled incubator.

The specialized glass casing shattered with a sharp crack. Warm, light-blue

nutrient fluid and viscous matter spilled across the table.

Those were the rare, thought-to-be-extinct biological specimens I had spent

eight years cultivating, poring over ancient texts to bring back from the brink.

They were only three days away from hatching.

She turned her head, a sick, almost cruel smile on her face.

"How does it feel? To have your life's work destroyed in an instant?! Toby has

poured ten times more effort into his research than you ever have, so you

deserve to swallow this pain ten times over!"

She overturned the entire incubator in a frenzy. The precious eggs rolled across

the floor. In her high heels, right in front of me, she brought her foot down,

again, and again, grinding them into a stinking, putrid mess.

The crowd gathered at the door was dead silent, no one daring to breathe. They

were all waiting, waiting to see me collapse to my knees as I had in the past,

begging her to stop.

But they were disappointed. I simply bent down, expressionless, picked up my

scattered transfer documents, and walked away into the deepening night.

While waiting in the airport lounge, my phone lit up with a text from a

colleague.

[Stella says if you come crawling back right now and kneel before the whole

institute to apologize to Toby, she might consider asking the Dean to let you

stay.]

I replied without a moment's hesitation: [Tell her not to bother. From this day

forward, I am done with her, and with this place. Forever.]

I turned off the phone, snapped the SIM card in half, and dropped it into a

trash can. Boarding pass in hand, I walked onto the flight to Germany without a

single look back.

As for who would claim that grand international award, she could just watch and

see.