Chapter 1

When Brianna, the poor girl in our class, asked to borrow a book, a stream of floating comments suddenly appeared in front of me.

[Don't do it! You've been bound to a system where whatever you lend out, the corresponding asset gets swapped away.]

[She's the reason you went from being the top-ranked school beauty to a bottom-tier loser.]

[And now, she's coming for the last bit of your intelligence.]

I shuddered as the realization hit. My deskmate, who was ranked dead last in the grade, was snoring loudly right next to me.

Without saying a word, I reached over and handed her his book instead.

If that was how it worked, I'd let my deskmate teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget.

*****

During the recess, I was struggling with a ridiculously simple math problem when Claire came rushing over.

She said, "Violet, I totally spaced out last class. Mind lending me your notes for a bit?"

Before I could say anything, everyone around started cracking up.

"Wait, did I hear that right? The top student in our grade wants notes from a loser?" someone snickered.

"Ugh, just seeing her makes me wanna puke. Her face is a mess, and I bet everything she owns is gross. Claire, why would you even bother?" another one said.

Someone else chimed in, "Yeah, and Violet is a total eyesore. No wonder she's jealous of someone as pretty as you. Seriously, you should just steer clear of her."

Claire said, "Hey, don't say that. Sure, Violet's grades suck, but at least she never gives up. That's actually pretty admirable."

Claire put on her best fake-nice act, but the smug look in her eyes gave her away. She casually shoved her hand in my face, not even bothering to hide her attitude.

"Alright, enough with the talk. Class is starting soon. Just give me the book already. I don't have all day," Claire snapped.

I just stared at that flawless, innocent face in front of me silently. Seriously, she could walk down the street and have everyone turn to look.

If I hadn't seen those comments, I might've forgotten that, back in the day, Claire was just a short, chubby girl no one even noticed.

Back then, I was the school belle, the one everyone wanted to be. I was always in the top five, and my life was so perfect that it barely felt real.

But ever since she started constantly borrowing things from me and asking for my help, my whole world started to turn upside down.

Right now, Claire looked like she was about to snatch the book from me any second, her eyes burning with impatience.

The comments appeared again: [Don't give it to her! The LifeSwap System is about to activate. If you hand it over, you'll instantly become a complete fool!]

[And all your family's fortune will be transferred straight into her bank account. You'll lose everything and end up dying homeless and miserable on the streets!]

"Wait a minute!" I blurted out.

With my heart pounding, I slid the math workbook I'd been covering over to Claire, my face expressionless as I looked at her.

"I didn't take any notes last class either. If you really want to learn from me, here, take this workbook instead," I said flatly.

"Well... I guess that'll do," Claire replied, pretending to hesitate, but her eyes were shining with excitement. She grabbed the workbook and quickly walked back to her seat.

I watched her leave in silence, saying nothing.

She didn't know the workbook was actually my deskmate's.

He was dead last, I was second to last, and even so, he still made me do his homework.

Let my snoring, totally oblivious deskmate teach her a lesson with his talent.

For the rest of the class, Claire kept checking her phone, waiting for that sweet notification of a massive deposit. She'd even upped her account limit just for this.

But no matter how many times she refreshed the page, that huge windfall never showed up.

Meanwhile, my deskmate had already dozed off and changed positions more times than I could count, snickering to himself in his sleep like he was having the best dream ever.

As soon as the bell rang, I bolted out of the classroom.

The fried chicken on the second floor of the cafeteria was to die for, and with an ice-cold Coke, it was pure heaven.

Ever since my life got swapped, my appetite'd been off the charts. Back when I was the school belle, I was always watching my weight.

Just as I was swiping my meal card and digging in, I overheard Claire chatting with a bunch of classmates behind me.

"Claire, didn't you say you were treating us to a fancy lunch today? Why are we still stuck in the cafeteria?" one of them complained.

"My card's having some issues. Maybe there's a delay... Anyway, cafeteria food's fine, too," Claire said, trying to play it cool.

Claire frowned, but then she spotted me. She made a beeline over and grabbed my arm.

"Hey, Violet, just lend me your meal card for a sec. I wanna treat everyone to lunch," Claire said, acting all bossy.