Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The scores came out, and I got a flat zero on the SAT.

I received a zero because I turned in a completely blank test booklet.

Mom lost her mind, my sister burst into tears, and I just smiled.

In my past life, my sister bound a score-swapping system and stole my perfect SAT score.

She was fought over by Harvard and MIT, while I, the top student in the state, ended up at a bottom-tier trade school and was expelled in disgrace.

My sister even came to taunt me: "Sister, didn't you think you were a prodigy? Trade jobs are booming now. You'll love turning screws in a factory!"

In this life, I slept through the entire SAT exam from start to finish.

She wanted to steal my score? Then I would make sure she got a clean slate of nothing!

***

"Welcome, Host. You have successfully bound the Score Exchange System. Whose score would you like to bind?"

"My sister, Jocelyn Drake!"

"Which exam score would you like to exchange?"

"Her SAT score!"

Standing outside Chelsea's bedroom door, I was not surprised in the slightest to overhear her scheme.

My younger sister, Chelsea, was practically gloating over the idea of snatching my future away.

It made sense. I had always been the top student in school, easily ranking first in every single test.

I consistently scored near-perfect on practice exams and took first place whenever I represented our school in National Math Olympiads.

My shelves were overflowing with academic trophies and certificates.

I had long conquered our high school with my sights set on the Ivy League, never caring about anyone trying to chase my tail.

Chelsea was the exact opposite. She only cared about aesthetic clothes and makeup, while her academics were an utter disaster.

She could barely score a seven out of a hundred on a basic math test, forever glued to the bottom of the class.

She could not even solve middle school algebra problems.

Mom was constantly stressed about Chelsea's grades and forced me to tutor her every day.

I had poured endless hours into tutoring her, but no matter how I explained things, she refused to learn, dragging down my own study schedule.

Even bribing her with her favorite designer dresses failed to motivate her.

Neither rewards nor punishments made a difference.

She hated putting in any real effort and constantly begged me to let her slack off.

She used to ask me: "Jocelyn, what's your secret study hack? Grinding through endless prep tests is exhausting. I need an effortless shortcut."

"Or better yet, a way to get a top-tier score without ever opening a book."

Back then, I laughed it off as a lazy daydream. Who knew a demonic system would actually fall from the sky to grant her wish?

In my past life, Chelsea bound that system and stole my SAT score.

A near-perfect 1590 score instantly made her the state valedictorian.

She swept city and state scholarships, made headline news, and had Ivy League admissions officers lining up at our door.

Meanwhile, I was handed her pathetic score of 450. For her, that was an overperformance, but for me, it was the end of the world.

I even questioned my own sanity, wondering if my whole life had been an illusion.

Had Chelsea been the true genius all along?

Had the crushing academic pressure driven me into a psychotic break?

I plummeted straight from heaven into hell.

Desperate, I flipped through community college brochures, only qualifying for a rundown vocational school on the outskirts of town.

My high school, which once treated me like their crown jewel, revoked my honors and expunged my records in shame.

Mom was too embarrassed to mention my name to relatives and treated me with cold disgust at home.

Overnight, I turned from the town's pride into a humiliated outcast.

Someone even reported me to the board of education, claiming my three years of top grades had been fraudulent.

On the day the school launched an official investigation into my academic history, I jumped from the school's rooftop.

After my death, the school erased my name completely to avoid bad publicity.

Mom felt I had brought too much shame upon the family, telling everyone she only had one daughter: Chelsea.

Reborn into this life, I knew every bit of that nightmare was engineered by Chelsea and her twisted system.

However, the system demanded a price. It asked Chelsea: "What do you offer as a sacrifice for this exchange?"

"I offer ten years of my life!" Chelsea replied, her voice trembling with manic excitement.

Outside her door, I smiled coldly.

My dear sister, since you are willing to pay ten years of your life for my score, I will make sure you get every penny's worth.