Everyone Is Non-Human Except Me [Rebirth] Chapter 1

I am the undying Nine Phoenix.

Wei Huan always said this—with a smile, chin raised, exuding the cocky confidence of a youth who feared nothing. Whether standing for the first time in the academy dueling arena, or launching a desperate counterattack in Deathless City, he was always like this.

And even in death—battered and torn, wings shredded by human bombers, lying crippled on the ground—he still clenched his teeth and spat, “I will not die.”

But he died anyway.

Demons aren’t like humans—there is no reincarnation. A demon’s soul comes from the spiritual energy of nature. Once the demon heart is destroyed, the soul disperses and returns to the world. That’s the irreversible end.

Wei Huan knew this better than anyone.

So when he opened eyes that should have been forever closed, he thought he was dreaming.

His mind was a complete mess. As his vision cleared through a glass dome, he saw a collapsing ceiling above him. Lying inside the broken dome, he tried to lift his hand to remove the breathing mask—but his arms were restrained. Turning his head, he saw unfamiliar tubes and sensors stuck all over his body.

If this was a dream, it was far too real.

He looked around. The room was small. He was clearly lying on a hospital bed, surrounded by shattered monitors and devices. Just then, a corner of the ceiling collapsed with a crash. Wei Huan shoved off the glass cover and got out of bed. His eyes caught the cracked glass wall dividing the room. Outside the barrier was a row of control panels.

He had no idea why he was here. He’d clearly died. And what made even less sense was the heavy demon aura saturating this human-reeking lab—his own aura, no less. But demon aura and soul should vanish completely after death.

And if his aura was still here…

Wei Huan took a deep breath, trying to summon his wings.

Nothing happened.

How could this be? He frowned.

Placing his hand over his heart, he closed his eyes. The once-familiar Nine Phoenix demon heart was gone. What he felt now was a completely foreign heartbeat.

What the h*ll? Where was his demon heart?

The room shook violently again. One wall collapsed, revealing a gaping hole—the only exit. Staggering, Wei Huan leaned on the wall and stumbled out into darkness.

He had never been afraid of the dark before.

The corridor stretched deep and cold. His heartbeat thudded irregularly, even painfully.

Nothing in this reborn world made sense.

Suddenly, a shrill alarm echoed down the hall:

“Attention all departments: Possible accident in Lab 236. Test subject #7494 has escaped! Lock all exits! Armed teams proceed to retrieve the subject!”

Retrieve… the test subject?

Pain stabbed through his right shoulder. Looking down, he saw a red glow pulsing beneath the white lab uniform. He yanked it open—there was a black tattooed serial number on his shoulder.

“7494…”

No time to examine it further. The pain intensified. Wei Huan zipped up and quickened his pace to the end of the corridor. It was too dark to see, so he groped with his hands.

Despite all the shaking, the heavy door remained sealed. He felt around the edges and touched a cold, hand-sized panel. It lit up instantly with a password prompt. He entered a few numbers.

“Incorrect password!” A metallic voice rang out.

Sh*t—there’s audio?!

Wei Huan pulled his hand back—too late.

“Someone’s behind the door! Unlock it, now!”

“System damaged from explosion. Awaiting response!”

Wei Huan’s heart dropped. They’re already here?!

A faint light pierced the darkness. Turning toward it, he saw it came through a small hole in the wall—flashlights from the guards outside!

Panicking, he slammed random numbers into the keypad. The metallic voice repeated like a glitching record:

“Incorrect password! Incorrect password! Incorrect password! Incorrect password…”

“The person inside is still trying to crack the password!”

“Quick! Get the tech team!”

Even if he could just stall them for a while, it would be something—he had to find a way out during this window.

Wei Huan forced himself to steady his rapidly spiraling heartbeat. Being hunted the moment he came back to life—what a thrill. He approached the light-leaking exit. The opening wasn’t large and still needed a few rocks moved, but worried about alerting the guards, he only shifted a few. The hole gradually widened.

Even now, Wei Huan wasn’t ready to give up. If his demon power could recover, no matter how many people were out there, they wouldn’t be his match. He tried again to channel spiritual energy, but this body remained lifeless, completely unresponsive.

He couldn’t even sense his own demonic aura anymore—it had completely vanished the moment he left the lab.

“They’re here? Get the lock open!”

Wei Huan pressed tightly against the opening, waiting for the right moment. Darkness brought plenty of visual blind spots. As long as he timed it right, he could escape through them.

“It’s open!”

Now!

He shoved away the last large stone and slipped out through the broken hole just as the guards burst through the door, slipping through the cracks like a fish off the hook.

The sharp edge of the slab scraped his right shoulder. Crimson blood quickly soaked through his sleeve. Wei Huan clutched his shoulder and sped up, darting away under the guards’ noses. Just around the corner, he heard more voices. His heart thudded violently as he caught sight of a damaged air vent nearby, likely from the explosion.

“Tracking shows he’s nearby!” A young guard ran up, excited. “He should be right here… huh? Where is he?”

“Did the tracking mess up?” another one followed.

“No way…” The young one stared at his monitoring device. “We better find him fast, or the doctor will kill us.”

Wei Huan crouched behind the vent grille, his back pressed against the metal, chest rising and falling. Cold sweat streamed down his back. His injured shoulder was beginning to throb; he couldn’t help glancing at the wound.

Wait—tracking?

Wei Huan stared at his right shoulder. The number there was still glowing faint red. Gritting his teeth, he pressed down on the marked spot a few times. Sure enough, he could faintly feel a hard, thumb-sized lump beneath the skin, with clear edges—like a chip.

So that was it.

Wei Huan pulled out a scalpel he’d swiped from the lab and tucked into his pocket earlier. He took a deep breath, gripped the handle in his left hand, and stabbed into his right shoulder.

The stabbing pain made sweat bead on his forehead, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the strain. The sharp tip cut into his flesh, eventually touching the hard chip.

Blood dripped along the blade. Wei Huan clenched the handle in his teeth and brought his right arm around to the front as much as he could. His trembling left hand reached into the cut and, steeling himself, yanked the chip out.

The taut string finally snapped. Wei Huan leaned against the vent grille, panting heavily, staring at the bloody chip in his hand.

He hadn’t expected he’d ever fall to the point of being manipulated by humans with something like this.

He crushed the chip and tossed it away, then tore a strip from the bottom of his shirt and tightly bandaged the wound. Wei Huan crawled through the tunnel attached to the vent. Only then did he realize—he had been underground this whole time. The tunnel system connected to a sealed subterranean structure. Relying on intuition, he fled through it, pried open a valve, and climbed a ladder.

Up and up.

Finally, Wei Huan shoved open a manhole cover and escaped from the underground lab. The moment he climbed out of the sewer, he was nearly hit by a passing bicycle. His inhuman reflexes kicked in, letting him dodge just in time. After the cyclist cursed at him and rode off, Wei Huan returned to the manhole and kicked the cover back into place.

“Not throwing you in, guess today’s your lucky day…” he muttered to himself with a click of the tongue.

Looking up, Wei Huan finally saw where he’d ended up. His eyes took in a filthy, chaotic neighborhood. Crowded buildings squeezed together, neon signs flickered in every color—jarring and surreal.

Tattoo parlors and BBQ shops on both sides of the street blasted their own music—one a deafening electronic beat, the other some outdated dance tune. The walls were plastered with layers of wanted posters featuring grotesque faces, stacked atop each other like a rash that couldn’t be scratched off. Red graffiti scrawled slogans in jagged paint: “Down with demon tyranny—Join the resistance!”

Slogans like this?

Of course. Wei Huan suddenly understood. Only one place would dare publicly scrawl rebellious words like these on the walls.

This was the “Marginalized humans”—a haven for humans cast aside by mainstream society, the very ones demons labeled “high-risk individuals.”

Night had fully fallen, and there weren’t many people on the street. A girl with pink hair walked toward him, cigarette in hand, covered in piercings—nose ring, earrings, lip ring—and wearing fishnet stockings and tall leather boots. As she passed, she blew a smoke ring in his face, revealing a glinting tongue stud hidden inside.

This place was full of humans who looked more monstrous than demons.

Before Wei Huan could enjoy his post-escape comedown, a roar of a motorcycle engine came at him. At first it had nothing to do with him, but somehow—his lab coat got caught!

The bike sped by, dragging Wei Huan along the ground. His shoulder was nearly shredded; the pain was excruciating. Wind screamed past his ears, mixed with the biker’s startled voice.

“What the h*ll?! Who are you?!”

“I was about to ask you that!” Wei Huan, gritting his teeth through the pain, grabbed the guy’s leg. Drawing on pure combat instinct, he pushed off the ground, swung himself up, and straddled the back seat of the bike, gasping for breath.

“You really know how to drive, dude! You nearly killed me! Is this a motorcycle or a d*mn tractor?!”

The rider glanced back woodenly. “…It is a tractor. I dragged you along, so what are you then?”

Wei Huan: “…Wow, your logic is truly top-tier.”

The pain was getting worse—so bad he was baring his teeth and couldn’t even argue anymore. Which was strange—his old body had incredible healing power.

The driver, noticing he’d gone quiet, flipped up his helmet’s visor and turned around.

“Hey, bro, your moves just now? Freaking awesome!”

Is this really the time to be complimenting someone?

“Stop the bike! Stop!”

“You’re already on, what’s the point of stopping? Where you headed? I’ll give you a lift.”

“Listen to you getting all smug… Who asked you to—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Wei Huan suddenly froze. That same alarm rang out again from behind them.

“Target 7494 has been successfully tracked! All squads, commence full pursuit!”

Author’s Note:

Wei Huan: I choose to die again.

Wei Huan: I’m great at acting cute! What kind of cute faces do you want to see? (enthusiastically strikes various poses) Say it loud—Isn’t your Huan Huan just the cutest? If I am, then bookmark me already!

Author: Sorry, Yun Yongzhou’s side has closed for business…

Note: Wei Huan’s true form is the Nine Phoenix, not the regular phoenix. Originates from Classic of Mountains and Seas – Northern Wilderness: “In the great wilderness there is a mountain called Beiji Gui. Sea waters flow northward there. A god with nine heads, human face and bird body resides there—called the Nine Phoenix.”