When the SAT scores are out, I've scored 400 out of 1600.

That's because I never wrote anything on my exam papers.

My mom goes crazy, whereas my younger sister, Melinda Bolton, bursts into tears. But I just laugh at them instead.

In my previous life, Melinda had formed a pact with the score-swapping system. That was how she swapped our SAT scores.

She became the top scorer that all prestigious universities fought to recruit. I, the valedictorian of my year, not only got into a trade school, but I also got expelled from my previous high school.

Melinda had the gall to comfort me. "Didn't you call yourself a genius, Melissa? Trade schools are very popular right now. In the future, you'll secure a job at a factory out there!"

In this life, I spend my exam hours sleeping in my seat the whole time.

Melinda wants to swap her scores, right? Then, let's do it properly!

"Hello, Master. You are successfully bound to the score-swapping system. Whose grades would you like to swap yours with?"

"Melissa Bolton, my elder sister's!"

"Which grades would you like to swap your scores with?"

"The upcoming SATs!"

…

I wasn't surprised when I heard my sister, Melinda Bolton, asking to swap her scores with mine when I walked past her bedroom door that day. In fact, she seemed very smug and pleased after knowing that she could exchange her scores for mine instead.

It was understandable. After all, I had always been a top student in class, consistently ranking first in all my exams, making me a true academic prodigy.

I even consistently scored near-perfect marks on the mock SATs in high school and represented the school in the Rumpiad Math competitions multiple times, bagging first place every time.

Basically, I'd won many awards and received many certificates from a very young age.

I didn't really have any academic rivals in school anymore. My ultimate goal was to get accepted into the most prestigious university in the whole country, and I never really cared if there were other classmates who tried to surpass me.

Meanwhile, Melinda was completely different from me. She had always been more interested in the arts and liberals, but her academics were a complete mess.

During the mock exams, she even scored 207 out of 800 for Math once, always ranking at the bottom of her class. In fact, she probably couldn't even solve a Math problem from middle school if she tried.

Mom had always been worried about her studies and often told me to tutor her.

I used to spend a lot of time tutoring Melinda, but it was to no avail. No matter how I taught her, whichever way I used, she wouldn't be able to grasp anything, and it eventually ate into my own studying and revision time.

Even bribing her with her favorite cartoon character merchandise couldn't seem to work—she wouldn't even be able to raise her scores by half a grade.

It didn't matter that I tried using reward or punishment mechanisms on her either. She just couldn't withstand the hardship of studying and often begged me to have mercy on her.

She also asked me the same question over and over again.

"Lisa, what other study methods do you have? It's just too tiring for me to keep practising solving Math problems like these over and over again. I want something more relaxing and suitable for me.

"Or is there a way for me to get really good grades without having to study at all?"

Back then, I had laughed at her for her absurd thoughts. However, I never thought that a system that allowed her to do exactly that would suddenly appear in her life.

In my past life, Melinda bound herself to the life-swapping system and swapped out her SAT scores for mine.

Her SAT score of 1548 made her the top SAT scorer in the city. She didn't just receive school-level and city-level awards—she even made local news headlines and had admissions officers from the top universities vying to get her in through their doors.

Meanwhile, I was stuck with her original score of just 498. To her, this was actually an exceptional score for her. However, to me, it was the most devastating news I'd ever received.

I remember even doubting if it was nothing but a nightmare after all, that Melinda was the one truly good at academics instead of me.

The pressure from the SAT examination was just too much for me, and I began hallucinating. I felt as though I'd just fallen from grace straight into the pits of hell.

I searched high and low for tertiary education institutes that would take me in, and only a small vocational college in a very faraway city was willing to let me enroll in their courses.

My high school, which had always been very proud of me, had my name removed from the list of graduates because of my embarrassingly low score.

Even Mom was embarrassed to talk about me in front of her relatives, and she rarely ever spared me a second glance while we were at home.

It seemed as though I'd fallen from being the pride of the city to being the laughingstock of the entire town.

Someone even reported me to the principal, accusing me of falsifying my high school grades for all four years.

The day the school thoroughly investigated my high school grades, I went to the topmost floor of my school and jumped down to my death.

After I died, the school thought that I was bad luck and completely scrubbed my name from all their records, pretending like I never existed after all.

Mom also found me too embarrassing and kept telling outsiders that she only had one daughter, whose name was Melinda.

Now that I was reborn, I finally understood that everything had been orchestrated by Melinda, with help from that wretched system after all.

However, it seemed like the system had its conditions too. It asked Melinda, "What are you willing to give up for this swap?"

"I'm willing to give up ten years of my life!"

Melinda's voice was trembling with excitement.

I just chuckled very lightly outside the door.

Really? If Melinda was so eager to give up ten years of her life for my SAT scores, then I was going to make sure that I took the exam as "seriously" as possible this time.

I was playing computer games on my laptop when Melinda knocked on my door.

She peeked in and stuck out her tongue at me cheekily, trying to look cute and innocent.

"Are you studying hard again, Lisa? Mom asked me to bring you some apples because she was worried you'd be too tired and hungry from studying."

When she came closer to me, however, she quickly realized that I wasn't studying but rather playing computer games instead.

She couldn't help but panic a little as she yelled at me. "Lisa! Don't you know how much pressure is on us now that we're high-school seniors? The SATs are just around the corner too! How could you still be in the mood for games instead of studying hard?

"Mom's going to be so upset if you don't get good grades on the SATs!"

I stopped playing the game for a moment and turned around to look at her.

"I'm just taking a break from studying because I was tired. I'm just trying to relax a little. Am I not allowed to do that?

"Also, I've always been very quick in my revisions. This game is quite fun and perfect for helping me relax before the exams."

"Sure, of course… Studying is about balancing work and rest, after all. But Lisa, you need to make sure that you stay focused, okay? Don't let these games distract you too much.

"You know that playing too much of these games will affect your thinking, right? Don't stay up too late playing them, Lisa."

Her expression was incredibly unpleasant. Her so-called fruit delivery was just an excuse she'd come up with to keep an eye on my studying progress. After all, she'd just given up ten years of her life for this. Of course, she had to make sure that I was going to ace my SATs no matter what!

"It's time to go back to studying, Lisa. Mom's going to start nagging at you if she finds out."

I ignored her, and she eventually went out on her own. Yet, just a few minutes after she left, Mom came straight into my room.

She sighed and looked at me, speaking in a reproachful tone.

"Linda was just concerned about you. Why did you have to say such harsh and hurtful words to her? You're her older sister!"

I was confused. "Harsh and hurtful words? What? When did I ever say such things to her?"

I recalled our conversation earlier. I had spoken to her for at most three lines.

Mom waved her hand dismissively at me and said, "Nothing. Just forget what I said."

She saw the computer game on my screen and couldn't help nagging at me again. "This is not the time for computer games! Turn it off now!

"If you have the time for computer games, then why couldn't you just have used the time to tutor your sister on her studies? Are her results not that important after all?"

When she saw that I wasn't responding to her, she stormed over to me and slammed my laptop shut.

"You disobedient brat! I'm talking to you! How dare you ignore me?

"I'm telling you, Melissa Bolton. Linda is your younger sister, and we are all family. Since she has problems studying, you must help her no matter what! It's your job as her older sister!"

My job? I had to help her no matter what?

I never thought that it was the case at all.

Melinda had always had a weak body growing up, and so, she was also a regular at clinics and hospitals.

That was why Mom and Dad often focused more of their time on her instead of me. She also got sick very often and very frequently, and Mom and Dad always felt more sorry for her and pitied her more often.

It was precisely because of their mindset that the whole family was thus inclined to cater to Melinda's every whim and fancy. In fact, they often treated her so differently from me that I often wondered if I was even their biological child after all.

Mom kept gaslighting me too.

"Linda has had a weak immune system since young. You should always be more considerate and tolerant of her. You're the older sister, so you must always treat her right and take good care of her. Understand?"

In my past life, Mom had completely brainwashed me and convinced me that it was the absolute truth. Melinda was a sickly, pitiful child, and therefore, I, as her older sister, had to always give up everything for her.

No matter where we went, I was always very defensive and protective of her. If she got bullied at school, I would be the one standing up for her. Even if I was the one who got bullied in return for it, I still thought that it was a relief that I was made the target instead of her.

I had limited pocket money every month, but I would always give half of it to Melinda. Everything I bought was in pairs, one for me and one for her.

I would even give her half of my most favorite snacks and foods that I personally couldn't bear to eat myself.

I thought that all of these would make her see the love I had for her.

However, it turned out that she never thought of me as her older sister after all. In fact, she even wanted to swap her SAT scores with mine!

"Mom! It's not that I don't want to tutor her. She just doesn't want to learn! I've tried everything, but nothing worked."

Mom frowned hard. She patted me on the shoulder and said, "Then it means that you weren't putting in any effort when you were tutoring her. If you were serious about it, she couldn't possibly not learn anything. It's because you didn't work hard enough.

"Now stop playing computer games and go tutor your sister."

I had expected this from the start. Mom had always taken Melinda's side no matter what. She'd never considered anything from my perspective before nor spoken up for me.

In fact, her favoritism toward Melinda had even reached a pathological level.

Last time, my homeroom teacher, Ms. Gracie Evans, had handed me an application form for direct admission into Hayward University.

I could choose not to sit for my SATs and get myself enrolled in Hayward straight away. However, in my past life, I wanted to prove myself and chose to forgo the application and just sit for my SATs.

Now that I thought of it, I realized that I had been stupid. If I'd just filled in and submitted the form, then none of the drama would have ever happened afterward.

But of course, I never would have known in my past life that Melinda had a score-swapping system bound to her that would swap out her SAT scores for mine.

There were no what-ifs in the world. However, now that I was given a second chance at things, why wouldn't I change the outcome?

I headed to the teachers' room and found Ms. Evans, explaining my situation to her.

Ms. Evans immediately handed me the form with a huge smile on her face.

"You've finally thought it through! I told you that you didn't need to sit for the SATs before. Your regular grades and scores are already way past the minimum acceptance threshold for Hayward. Why even bother with the exams anymore?"

Ms. Evans genuinely cared about me. There weren't many good students in her class, and I was one of the very few.

I smiled at her and said, "Ms. Evans, I still plan on sitting for the SATs even after filling in this form. Even though the final SAT scores don't really count anymore, I would still like to go through with the motions and procedures.

"If not, I'm afraid that the other classmates will feel resentful toward me.

"Besides, if I took the SATs with the others, I'm sure that they would also study harder too. That way, everyone will be motivated to ace their exams together."

Didn't Melinda want my SAT scores? She could have it for all she wanted.

I refused to believe that she would get any good results this time.

Ms. Evans patted me on the shoulder and nodded her head in approval.

"You're the best student I've ever taught. You're even still being considerate about your other classmates now!

"I agree with your suggestion. Let me talk to the principal about it."

I nodded at her with a smile.

Soon, it was the SAT examinations, and Melinda came early in the morning to wake me up for school, checking all my documents and stationery thrice before letting me go.

Mom was so touched when she saw this.

"Look, Lisa. Linda is being so nice and considerate about you. She hasn't even packed her own things yet, but all she's thinking about is just you!"

Melinda lowered her head and blushed lightly.

"It's the least I can do for her, Mom. Lisa's grades have always been the best. I'm sure that she'll be able to get a really good score this time!"

Her words of "affirmation" toward me moved Mom to tears. She pulled Melinda into her arms and hugged and kissed her many times.

"You're such a good little sister, Linda! You're also my biggest pride!"

Melinda humbled herself and said, "I'm not that good, Mom. Not as good as Lisa, anyway. My grades are terrible and nothing like hers, always the top of the school!"

Mom hugged her tighter and patted her on the head.

"You're too kind, Linda. Lisa's just slightly better than you in her studies, but she loses to you in every other aspect! You're so kind and considerate all the time, just like an angel! Sometimes, I feel like you're the only one who's really our daughter!"

I'd also been Mom's daughter for close to two decades, and yet, nothing I did could ever measure up to a "fake" daughter like her.

I shook my head and chuckled, turning around to leave for school.

Melinda's voice rang out after me.

"Make sure you do your very best in the SATs, Lisa!"

Of course, Melinda. Of course I would, for her sake.

…

I let out a huge yawn in the examination hall. Then, I slumped onto the desk and fell asleep under everyone's astonished gazes.

I'd been playing computer games till late every night, and I was really tired and exhausted.

In my past life, I'd put in so much of my time studying and revising that I didn't even have time to watch TV or play any computer games.

I was supposed to be enjoying the last year of high school as a senior with the rest of my friends, and yet, I had insisted on being a study robot the entire time instead.

I wanted Mom to be proud of me. I wanted her to brag about me whenever she brought up her daughters with relatives and outsiders. However, I never thought that everything would end up being attributed to Melinda instead.

This life, I was going to thoroughly enjoy myself by throwing caution to the wind. I hadn't expected it to actually be so much fun!

Halfway through my nap, the invigilator woke me up with a shake. She looked at me worriedly and said quietly, "Hey, this is the SAT exam hall."

I nodded in understanding.

When she saw that I still didn't look like I was going to write anything down on my paper, she reminded me again gently, "At least write something other than your name and student ID number."

I did as I was told and finally flipped open the question paper.

Today was a Math paper, and I just wrote a single "1" on the answer sheet.

Then, I got sleepy again and went back to my nap.

I could hear the invigilator sighing and the other students gasping around me.

…

Melinda was obviously a lot more anxious than I was for the SAT score release date.

She kept trying to find out how I did ever since the end of the examinations, even going to find Ms. Evans and asking her about my estimated score.

After learning that I had an estimated score of around 1300, she finally heaved a huge sigh of relief.

However, today was the most important day for her as it was the official release date.

She didn't even bother checking her own results and sat diagonally behind me, waiting for me to check mine first.

I asked her, "How did you do?"

She said, "Not too shabbily. I at least wrote something down for every question."

I nodded. "That's good."

The better she did in the SATs, the higher my score would be.

At the strike of 12:00 pm, I keyed in my name and student ID on the website.

When my score appeared on the screen, Melinda literally jumped to her feet in deep shock.

"400? You got only 400 out of 1600? How?"

I looked at the number on the screen and chuckled.

"Whoa. I didn't know that they still gave you 400 marks for just writing down your own name and nothing else on the paper."

"No, wait! This can't be! This is impossible!" Melinda screamed. "How could you possibly have gotten a 400?"

She was practically on the verge of breaking down. She kept pacing back and forth and grabbing her hair in frustration, checking and rechecking the website for my name and student ID and making sure that they were all correct.

Still, the glaring number on the screen was still "400" no matter how she looked at it.

Mom was also aghast at my score. She stammered, "L-Lisa? Is this really your score?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I kept getting full marks for every exam I took. I thought I wanted to see if I could get the lowest marks possible this time instead."

"Are you out of your mind, Melissa Bolton?" Melinda screamed at me. "This is the SATs! The college entrance exam! The scores that will determine the trajectory of your life!

"Weren't your scores supposed to be estimated at 1300? How the heck did you end up with a 400 instead? Have you gone absolutely nuts?"

Her loud screaming also shocked Mom. This was the first time she'd ever seen Melinda for who she truly was, behind her usual facade.

I cocked my eyebrow at her and said, "I never told anyone about my estimated score. How did you know about it?"

Melinda was caught. She opened her mouth to explain, but after stammering for a while, she didn't manage to get a single word out.

At the same time, the number on my screen was slowly changing to another score.