Surrounded by a huge group of people, the air is filled with the exuberant cheers of students, reminiscent of a festive celebration. On stage, the popular girls group JJ is performing, igniting the crowd with their energy.
Sebastian scans the familiar surroundings, his pupils shaking slightly with realization. After a moment, he swallows with some difficulty.
"Boston Arts High School?" he remembers.
It is during his senior year in high school that he makes the special trip from Chester High School to Boston Arts High to support a childhood friend's performance. In the end, under the scorching sun, he succumbs to heat and dehydration and faints.
In other words, it is now... 2007?
Sebastian withdraws his gaze and then looks up, staring at the youthful face that seems so tender it might drip with water. A hint of confusion arises in his heart at the sight of such a cute face, which would likely cry for a long time if slapped.
As he ponders this, the girl speaks with concern, "Sebastian, how do you feel? Are you feeling any better?"
"I'm fine!" Sebastian brushes off the hand that is trying to help him up, struggling to his feet.
The girl stands there, frozen by his unfamiliar and distant tone. But soon...
"Seb, are you angry?" The girl is at a loss, her voice on the verge of tears as she explains, "I didn't mean to not pick you up. I was performing on stage and couldn't get away..."
So he ends up getting sunburned for a full half-hour at the school gates.
Sebastian remembers it all and can't help but admire his own resilience. To think that at eighteen, his body can endure a four-hour journey from New York to Boston and then recover with just a sip of water after half an hour under the fierce sun—something the twenty-eight-year-old Sebastian could never have imagined.
"Seb..." the girl begins tentatively.
"I'm okay, go back to what you were doing," Sebastian says with a smile. "Isn't the performance about to start again soon?"
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm really fine."
"You're not mad?"
"No."
"How about we go to the comic exhibition together after my performance?" the girl suggests, her pretty face lighting up with a bright smile.
However, Sebastian's smile slowly fades, and he replies indifferently, "Sorry, I have things to do. I need to go back to New York soon."
If the previous conversation was considered polite, now he doesn't even want to maintain the most basic courtesies. Go to a comic exhibition? Sebastian remembers that the girl left with her company right after the performance...
The sudden sense of distance stiffens the girl in place, while Sebastian nods with a smile and turns to leave—this time without any hesitation. He has left all his dignity behind on the day at the coffee shop.
At that moment... "Charlotte, what are you doing here? The makeup artist has been looking for you like crazy..." A slender and graceful young girl approaches, her youthful face already hinting at future beauty. Her eyes, as pretty as those of a deer, fix on Sebastian's retreating figure with curiosity.
"Lotti, do you know that person?" she asks.
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?" Charlotte quickly collects herself and turns to ask.
"I just feel like that person doesn't quite fit in with the surroundings," the girl named Victoria says, her brows knitting together at the conflicting sense of immaturity and maturity emanating from the figure.
"Never mind. Let's go," Charlotte says.
"Ah?"
"Isn't the makeup artist looking for me?" Charlotte feels a little sip of jealousy seeing Victoria's expression.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sebastian walks through the streets, his gaze sweeping around. Soon, using the little change he has, he boards a bus back to New York.
New York in '07 is less a modern metropolis of later years. Despite many newly high-rise buildings, the city still has an aged air about it. Sebastian's dark eyes grow brighter as he looks over the buildings. For him, New York is not just a city; it is a gold mine waiting to be tapped.
Already a businessman, he believes that with the knowledge in his head, wealth is within reach. But first, he needs to make his first fortune... From his grandfather.
Remembering this, a strange light flickers in Sebastian's eyes. Before his reincarnation, because he had run off to Boston, he missed his grandfather's birthday banquet and the significant announcement made there. As a result, his grandfather, who had never been fond of Sebastian's family, begins to dislike him even more.
From then on, Sebastian has almost lost all support from his family.
"So, aside from wasting time, what exactly has love brought me?" Sebastian asks himself and soon laughs carelessly. There is something indeed... That dump truck barreling towards him! If nothing goes wrong, that scene would probably never be forgotten in this lifetime. At that thought, Sebastian's expression hardens slightly.
The dump truck... is it really an accident? If he can experience something as fantastical as rebirth, then the cliché of infighting might actually happen. He wonders how many of his cousins are involved, or... if all of them have a hand in it. On the way to his grandfather's house, Sebastian slowly closes his eyes, lost in thought.
5 PM. A private villa in Beacon Hill.
On the grand gate of the estate is emblazoned a bronze cargo ship logo, symbolizing the humble beginnings of the Vanderbilt family patriarch as a shipbuilder. The crown on the ship signifies the Vanderbilt family's current status as a financial conglomerate.
Indeed. Sebastian is born into a wealthy family conglomerate, and he has always kept a low profile. Partly because his status as a son born out of wedlock makes him less favored within the family, although this changes somewhat after he is admitted to Chester High School with excellent grades.
The other reason is that the Vanderbilt family's head, Nicholas Vanderbilt, encourages his family to build their own fortunes. Aside from a start-up fund received upon reaching adulthood, members of the Vanderbilt family do not lead excessively luxurious lives.
Although the family patriarch refers to it as cultivating a "wolf culture" that encourages competition, to Sebastian, it feels more like raising monsters that the family could not control. Poisonous animals devouring each other in a fight to the death, with only one surviving in the end.
Before his rebirth, Sebastian had abandoned the family's core industries like shipbuilding and construction to dive into the new media business, largely to avoid this brutal competition. But now, reborn Sebastian's mindset has shifted.
Must New York City only have one Vanderbilt family? Not necessarily... With that thought, Sebastian withdraws his gaze from the buildings and, following his memory, makes his way inside.
As the evening approaches, many people have already arrived at the villa. Sebastian has just reached the entrance when he hears a cacophony of voices.