Second Life, No More Saving Unworthy Colleagues

When I opened my eyes and realized I had been reborn right before the start of spring break, the very first thing I did was decisively quit the research lab I had poured years of my life into.

Because I knew exactly what was coming.

In just a few days, Wyatt, the golden boy junior researcher, would flagrantly violate safety protocols and cross-contaminate our most critical biological samples.

In my past life, out of the goodness of my heart, I rushed back to the lab to clean up his mess and painstakingly rerun the control experiments. Against all odds, I successfully saved the multi-million dollar federal project.

But when the oversight board came looking for someone to blame, Wyatt completely twisted the truth and framed me.

"It was Nathan! He was messing with the calibration on the equipment and almost destroyed all of our experimental results!"

Professor Sylvia and the rest of the lab swallowed his lies without a second thought, condemning me on the spot.

I had absolutely nowhere to turn. My hard-earned reputation was violently shredded, and I became an academic outcast hunted by public outrage.

Every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears I had poured into my entire life evaporated into thin air.

Driven into a state of absolute mental collapse, I lost my footing on the roof of the science building and plunged to my death.

Now that the universe has given me a second chance, I am cutting the cord. I am walking away from their toxic, venomous web before it can drag me under again.

When I handed the transfer request to Professor Sylvia, her beautifully shaped eyebrows twitched in surprise.

"Nathan," she said, her tone dripping with disbelief. "Do you have any idea what you are doing?"

My expression didn't change. I was as calm as a frozen lake.

"I do. This is a decision I made after very careful consideration."

Sylvia looked me up and down, a mocking smirk curling her lips.

"This is about Wyatt, isn't it?"

I blinked, genuinely confused for a second.

Sylvia leaned back in her plush leather chair and sighed as if she were dealing with a petulant child.

"Wyatt joined the lab after you did. I know that. But his natural talent for research is miles ahead of yours, and frankly, he is much better at working with people."

"You are just jealous of him, and that's why you are throwing this little tantrum and trying to leave."

Hearing her absurd accusation, I didn't even get mad. I just gave a tired, dry chuckle.

The core bottlenecks of this project? The agonizingly complex control experiments?

I was the one who stayed up for five straight days, fueled entirely by black coffee and sheer willpower, to crack them.

I was the first to admit I wasn't some once-in-a-generation genius.

But Wyatt? Please.

Both my actual talent and my insane dedication to this lab were lightyears beyond anything he could ever manage.

The only thing Wyatt excelled at was playing the charming golden boy. He knew exactly how to suck up to people, and both the other lab members and our professor absolutely adored him.

Every single time I broke my back compiling flawless data sets or designing a brilliant new testing protocol, Wyatt would swoop in, slap his name on it, and take all the credit.

It wasn't like I had never fought back.

But whenever I did, Wyatt would just widen his eyes and play the innocent victim.

And Sylvia would immediately turn on me, her voice sharp with disappointment.

"Nathan, why do you always have to be so glory-hungry?"

"Are you really not going to be satisfied until you steal every single ounce of credit for yourself?"

Because of that, I stopped defending myself. I just became quieter, swallowing the injustice to keep the peace.

It took dying once for me to finally wake up.

They didn't believe me because they had already decided I was the villain from day one.

So no matter how loudly I screamed the truth, it was totally useless.

"Yep, you are totally right. You nailed it," I said, leaning against her desk and shrugging indifferently.

Seeing that I was totally unfazed by her scolding, Sylvia sneered. She grabbed her expensive fountain pen, slashed her signature across the transfer form, and slammed her official stamp onto the paper.

As I turned to leave, she called out to me, her tone condescending.

"Nathan, since I have been your mentor for so long, I will give you one last bit of grace."

"I will give you exactly three days. If you realize what a massive mistake you are making, you can come back and withdraw this application."

"I won't," I replied without a second of hesitation.

Right at that moment, a head popped through the doorway.

It was Wyatt.

His eyes were gleaming with obvious excitement, but he immediately forced his face into a mask of tragic heartbreak.

"Oh no, Nathan! Why are you leaving? Did I do something to upset you?"

I completely ignored him. I reached into my leather satchel and pulled out a thick stack of manila folders, my fingers lightly brushing over the heavy paper.

This massive, state-of-the-art laboratory was currently housing a top-tier, federally funded research initiative.

Sylvia had basically bet her entire academic reputation and pulled every shady string she had to secure this grant.

If this project went down in flames, every single person in this lab would watch their academic careers turn to ash. Their evaluations, their funding, their chances at top Ph.D. programsgone.

But the person who would suffer the most was the lead researcher: Sylvia herself.

If the project crashed, the federal oversight committee would descend like vultures.

Not only would she be stripped of her research credentials for life, but there was a massive chance she would end up behind bars for academic fraud and gross negligence.

In my past life, I knew exactly how devastating the fallout would be. I knew no one in the lab could survive it. So, like an absolute fool, I sacrificed my hard-earned vacation and rushed back to fix the mess.

I stayed awake for nearly a week straight, violently dragging the doomed project back from the brink of total annihilation.

And my reward? They completely destroyed my reputation and drove me to my death.

Now that I had a second chance, I would rather die again than lift a single finger to save these vultures.

Wyatt had already walked up to me, still yapping about how sad he was.

I kept ignoring him. I kept my face dead blank as I meticulously laid the folders out on Sylvia's desk.

Inside those folders was every single piece of experimental data I had handled over the past few years.

The raw data. The backup footage. The logbooks.

Every single page was clearly dated and signed by the person who actually performed the work.

Wyatt stared at the folders, looking a bit confused.

He didn't have high-level clearance. He wasn't even qualified to turn on half the multi-million-dollar machines in this room.

I was the only one who had executed the high-risk protocol runs.

I had spent weeks carefully backing up and categorizing every piece of proof.

Every number, every signature, every single comma in those files was ironclad evidence.

It was my ultimate insurance policy.

"Professor," I said, tapping my finger on the top documentthe official data handover receipt. "Please review everything. Once you confirm the files are complete, unaltered, and fully accounted for, sign the receipt for the official record."

This piece of paper was my shield. It proved that my exit from the lab was one hundred percent compliant with federal regulations.

Clear boundaries. Clear accountability.

Once I walked out that door, if this lab exploded or a single sample was compromised, it would have absolutely nothing to do with me.

They would never be able to dump their dirty water on my head again.

Sylvia looked down at the exhaustively detailed logs. Her brows furrowed, and a strange, uneasy look flickered in her eyes.

Beside her, Wyatt's fake smile stiffened. A cold prickle of anxiety suddenly crawled up his spine.

Sylvia hesitated for a long time. Finally, she picked up her pen, signed her full name on the handover receipt, pressed her thumbprint over the ink, and stamped both copies.

"Fine. Since you are so damn stubborn, I agree. It is better to have the liability lines clearly drawn anyway."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

I picked up my copy of the receipt, carefully sliding it into a protective sleeve in my bag.

With my insurance secured, I dropped the polite facade. I turned to walk away, my tone freezing cold.

"Good. From this second forward, I have absolutely nothing to do with any of you."

Wyatt finally snapped out of his daze and reached out, grabbing my forearm.

"Nathan, you are being so impulsive!"

"Aren't you happy? Haven't you been trying to get rid of me this whole time?"

I violently ripped my arm out of his grip.

Wyatt's smile vanished. His face flushed with anger, and he glared at me with pure venom.

Then, he quickly turned to Sylvia, lifting his chin with a look of overwhelming arrogance.

"Don't worry, Professor. We will be fine without Nathan. From now on, I will personally shoulder the responsibility of pushing the project forward."

He puffed out his chest, trying to look like the brilliant hero stepping up to save the day.

Deep down, Wyatt was absolutely thrilled that I was leaving.

It meant my spot was empty.

It meant that every single future breakthrough and all the project glory would land directly in his lap.

I actually laughed out loud.

Sylvia was always busy attending conferences and rubbing shoulders with donors.

I was the one who had practically spoon-fed Wyatt every ounce of knowledge he had in this lab.

Did this idiot honestly believe he could run the project on his own?

Sylvia nodded, looking incredibly touched.

"Good. I am glad you have that kind of dedication. Try not to be like some people who run away the second things get a little difficult."

She threw a disgusted glance in my direction.

In her eyes, I was as boring and tasteless as a glass of lukewarm water.

I was nowhere near as clever or charming as Wyatt.

She had always hated looking at me, so my voluntary exit was a total blessing for her.

I took in both of their reactions and just smiled.

Yep.

That was exactly what this team was.

They were so blinded by Wyatt's sweet, innocent act that they were completely blind to the fact that I was the one keeping this lab from collapsing.

If I even tried to defend myself, they would call me selfish.

I was done wasting my breath on them.

I shoved past Wyatt and walked out the door.

As I walked down the hall, a few other lab members saw me carrying my things.

They laughed and waved.

"Wow, Nathan, you are actually bailing?"

"Yeah, the project is basically in the final stages. Don't you think it's a massive waste to run away now?"

"Are you just throwing a tantrum because the Professor likes the new kid more than you?"

I focused entirely on packing up the rest of my desk, refusing to even look at them.

In my past life, these exact people had enthusiastically helped push me off the ledge.

But the twisted part was, before Wyatt joined the lab, these guys had genuinely looked out for me.

Maybe it was because I was the youngest guy in the room at the time, but they used to treat me like a little brother.

But slowly, over time, everything turned toxic.

Once my box was packed, I grabbed it and headed for the exit.

The moment my foot crossed the threshold of the building, a massive, suffocating weight vanished from my chest. I felt like I could finally breathe.

But I didn't even make it across the courtyard before two armed campus security officers stepped into my path.

"Hold it right there!"

I frowned, genuinely confused.

But a second later, I knew exactly what was going on.

Wyatt strolled out from behind the officers, a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on his face.

"Nathan, you know this is a federally funded, highly classified project. The security protocols are extremely strict."

He paused, letting his eyes drop pointedly to the cardboard box in my arms. Then, he dramatically raised his voice, ensuring that every researcher and student walking through the courtyard stopped to watch.

"Nathan, you are leaving so suddenly. I am just really worried you might accidentally take some classified documents with you. Please cooperate with security and let them search your things."

He didn't even try to sugarcoat it.

He was dragging me out into the town square and lighting the fire under my feet.

He was publicly accusing me of corporate espionage.

My grip on the cardboard box tightened, my eyes turning to ice.

"There were at least a dozen people watching me pack my desk. I didn't have the opportunity to steal a single paperclip, let alone classified data."

I swept my gaze over the crowd of my former lab mates standing nearby.

Every single one of them immediately looked away, completely silent.

I didn't get mad. I already knew these cowards wouldn't say a word to defend me.

I looked up and saw Sylvia hurrying over, drawn by the commotion.

"Professor," I called out loudly. "Twenty minutes ago, while sitting directly in front of you, I completed a full handover of every single piece of data and equipment I was responsible for."

"The raw data logs and the federal compliance records were perfectly accounted for. You personally signed and stamped the receipt confirming I left nothing behind and took nothing with me."

"And now, with absolutely zero evidence, you are demanding a public search of my personal belongings? I have every right to believe this is targeted harassment."

My mind was working at lightning speed.

Since I had already died once because of this lab, I took federal security protocols more seriously than God himself.

I had to ensure my reputation remained absolutely spotless. I couldn't give them a single thread to pull.

If I simply bowed my head and let them humiliate me by ripping through my private belongings in the middle of a crowd, the rumor mill would destroy my career regardless of what they found.

Sylvia choked on her words. Her face hardened into an ugly scowl.

"Enough, Nathan! Your junior colleague has reasonable suspicions. What is the big deal if you just cooperate?"

I stared at Wyatt for a long time.

Seeing the smug, untouchable arrogance radiating from his eyes, I let out a sharp laugh.

"Wyatt does not have security clearance to authorize an audit. Ordering armed guards to detain a researcher who has already completed a legally binding handover is a massive abuse of power and targeted harassment."

The moment I said that, the crowd's energy shifted. People started looking at Wyatt differently.

Wyatt's face turned bright red. He waved his hands frantically, playing the victim.

"Nathan, no! I swear I didn't mean it like that! I was just terrified something bad would happen! I only did it because I care so much about the project..."

I was completely exhausted by his pathetic acting. I took a step forward, holding my box out toward the head security officer.

"I will comply with the search. But I have two demands."

"First, the entire search must be recorded on bodycam. Second, when you inevitably find absolutely zero classified material in my possession, you are required to report this incident directly to the Federal Security Bureau and the University's Academic Integrity Board."

Wyatt froze completely, sheer panic flashing across his eyes.

I looked up, making sure the entire crowd heard me loud and clear.

"If we really care about preventing data leaks, the board should be investigating the lab's internal handover procedures and security authorization logs. Not digging through my gym clothes."

Wyatt was just a junior researcher with basic clearance.

For him to illegally summon armed guards to detain a colleague was a massive breach of protocol.

The only reason the guards actually listened to him was because he had clearly invoked Sylvia's name to give his orders weight.

But if this actually went to the federal board, things would get extremely ugly.

There was no physical way Wyatt could have secured an official written mandate from Sylvia in the ten minutes since I left her office.

Which meant Wyatt had flagrantly impersonated a lead researcher and abused federal security resources.

And me? I had officially surrendered my clearance and handed over all materials twenty minutes ago.

Legally, I was totally untouchable.

If this got kicked up to the feds, Wyatt would be absolutely butchered.

He might even get permanently expelled and blacklisted.

The crowd's whispers grew louder, the stares aimed at Wyatt turning incredibly suspicious.

Some people actually started speaking up for me.

"Honestly, Nathan doesn't seem like the type to steal classified data."

"Yeah. If his handover paperwork is legally sound, what the hell are they even suspecting him of?"

"Why is this Wyatt kid going after Nathan so hard? Does he actually have proof, or is this just malicious bullying?"

All the color drained from Wyatt's face. He looked like a ghost.

He shot a desperate, terrified look at Sylvia.

"Professor, I swear I didn't mean anything malicious! I was just trying to protect..."

He was still trying to play the innocent card, but I wasn't going to let him.

Before Sylvia could open her mouth to yell at me again, I placed my cardboard box squarely on the concrete.

Right in front of dozens of people, I pulled my things out one by one and handed them to the armed officers.

A water bottle. A gym towel. A few extra T-shirts. My electric razor.

It was just a pathetic pile of totally normal, boring things.

After about ten minutes of thorough searching, the officers looked at each other and shook their heads.

The lead officer turned to me, looking deeply embarrassed.

"I apologize. Wyatt told us Professor Sylvia had declared a code-red emergency."

"We reacted to the perceived threat without waiting for the official authorization paperwork. That was our failure."

He gave me a stiff, respectful nod.

I nodded back.

Then, the officer turned slowly to face Wyatt. His voice was like a block of ice.

"We have completed the search. Per protocol, we will now be escalating this incident to the Federal Security Bureau exactly as Nathan requested."

The courtyard went dead silent. Hundreds of eyes locked onto Wyatt.

It was painfully obvious to everyone now. This wasn't about security. This was a targeted, malicious hit job.

Wyatt's face burned a humiliating crimson.

The look he shot me was so full of venom it was practically glowing.

Sylvia looked absolutely humiliated.

She glared at me like she wanted me dead, then turned on her heel and stormed away.

I packed my boring things back into the box, picked it up, and didn't spare Wyatt a second glance as I walked away.

Everyone in that courtyard thought I was throwing my life away by quitting the lab. They all thought I was destined to fail, that I would never land a decent research project again.

They were eagerly waiting to watch me burn.

Later that night, Wyatt actually had the nerve to tag me in the massive university group chat.

"Nathan, if you ever struggle to find work, just let me know."

"Since we used to be in the same lab, I wouldn't mind doing you a favor and helping you out."

I raised an eyebrow and let my thumbs fly across the keyboard.

"You should probably focus on surviving the federal disciplinary hearing for impersonating a lead researcher and abusing armed security first."

I hit send. The massive group chat instantly died.

Half the people in there had no idea what went down in the courtyard.

I wasn't in a rush to explain.

A second later, Wyatt's private messages flooded my screen. He was completely unhinged.

"What the hell are you so arrogant about?! As long as Sylvia has my back, nothing is going to happen to me!"

"You are just a pathetic loser running away with your tail between your legs! You have absolutely no right to talk down to me!"

"Look at how miserable your life is. Even though I joined the lab after you, the second I say you are bullying me, every single person takes my side."

I lowered my eyes, staring at the screen.

I honestly couldn't comprehend why he hated me so much.

When he first joined, I did everything in my power to take care of him.

We were the only two guys our age in Sylvia's entire lab. I thought we were a team. I practically held his hand through his first six months.

Wyatt clearly sensed my silence, and another message popped up.

"Nathan, I absolutely despise that stupid, calm look on your face. I hate how you act like nothing bothers you."

"More importantly, I demand that all the attention in the room be on me. I am supposed to be the golden boy. You were just in my way."

I didn't reply. I just locked my phone.

A strange sense of peace washed over me.

So that was it.

I didn't waste another second thinking about him. Since I suddenly had a ton of free time, I booked a flight to Bali for a mini-vacation.

Halfway through my trip, I logged into the university portal and saw a massive, campus-wide disciplinary notice.

[Wyatt violated federal security protocols. He bypassed the authorization board, invoked a lead researcher's name to illegally deploy armed security, and maliciously defamed a colleague in public.]

Wyatt was stripped of all academic awards and stipends for the current year and the next two years.

He was also ordered to submit a ten-thousand-word public apology letter.

The moment the notice hit the server, the entire university went into an uproar.

I smiled, taking a slow sip of my cocktail while staring at the crystal blue ocean. I let out a long, satisfied breath.

Just then, my phone rang.

It was an unknown number. I answered it.

"Nathan, hello. This is Professor Evelyn."

"I have spent the last few days reviewing your publication history and raw data logs. Your work is absolutely brilliant."

"My lab is currently desperate for someone with your specific skillset to lead our core experimental division. Would you be interested in joining us?"

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Professor Evelyn was an absolute god in our field.

Her lab was the undeniable gold standard across the entire country.

I had never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that someone of her caliber would personally extend an olive branch to me.

In my past life, I was so blinded by my stupid loyalty to Sylvia's toxic lab that I completely missed out on opportunities like this.

I fought to keep my voice steady.

"Thank you so much for the opportunity, Professor Evelyn. I would be incredibly honored to join your team."

But before I could even finish celebrating, my phone started ringing again.

It was Wyatt.

His voice was completely frantic, bordering on hysterical.

"Nathan! Something went wrong! You have to come back to the lab right now!"