My boyfriend’s childhood sweetheart had bound a transfer system to me, causing the cool air around me to automatically converge on her.

From then on, her family no longer had to pay for air conditioning. They even made a fortune by selling the cool air at a low price, thanks to this supernatural arrangement.

When I explained the situation to my boyfriend, he was lying in his childhood sweetheart’s arms while eating an ice pop. He looked at me as if I were an idiot.

“Your family is so poor that you can’t even afford to run the AC. Instead of looking at yourself, you came up with such a ridiculous excuse.”

Later, I installed three air conditioners at home, but it did not help at all.

In the end, I literally baked to death in an air-conditioned room at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. By the time I was discovered, I had turned into a dried corpse.

Even after my death, my boyfriend still tried to profit off my misfortune.

He became an internet sensation as the “first person to discover a dried corpse in an air-conditioned room.” He went on to live the life of a rich influencer with his little sweetheart.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very day his little sweetheart had bound the transfer system to me.

Knowing the future ahead, I immediately booked a reservation at the nearest sauna to escape the heat!

I pressed the air conditioner remote and waited for the relief of a cool breeze, but it never came.

The next second, Rena Laird’s shrill voice rang out from upstairs. “Air conditioning clearance sale! Enjoy all-day cooling for just $9.9.”

When I heard that familiar yet nauseating voice, I realized I had travelled back in time.

Before I could even mourn the fact that I had been baked to a crisp in my previous timeline, beads of sweat were already rolling down my cheeks.

I pulled out my phone and immediately searched for the nearest sauna. Without a second thought, I bought a ticket.

Just as I was about to head out, I remembered I had not turned off the AC. So I turned around and turned it off.

The next second, complaints came from upstairs.

“What’s going on, boss? Didn’t you promise all-day service? It’s already this hot, and we’ve only just arrived!”

“Yeah, it’s sweltering. Fix this fast, or we want our money back!”

I had barely reached the door when I heard the sound of heavy footsteps thudding down the stairs.

I closed the door, and Rena appeared right in front of me.

She was soaked through with sweat too. There was even a hint of venom in her eyes.

“Mila, it’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Why aren’t you staying indoors where there’s air-conditioning? Where are you going?”

This was a repeat from my past life. When I stopped feeling the cool air, my first thought was that something had gone wrong with my body.

I spent a fortune on a full medical checkup at the hospital, but they never found the cause.

When I got home, my boyfriend said it had to be all in my head. He thoughtfully used my money to buy three air conditioners and crammed them into our apartment.

It did not take me wrong to realize something was off.

Rena’s house was air-conditioned around the clock, yet her electricity bill never went up.

When I confronted Rena, my boyfriend was lying in her arms. He even had an ice pop in his mouth.

Not only did he refuse to defend me, but he also mocked me.

“You claim to have a condition where you can’t feel the air conditioning, but I think you’re just too poor to afford it!

“Get out of here right now. Stop freeloading off Rena’s air conditioning.”

By the time I got home, the heat had completely overwhelmed me. When I fainted, I never woke up again.

Rio Leiz finally showed up with Rena to check in on me when the power went out.

By the time they discovered me, I had already turned into a charred, blackened corpse.

Even in death, I found no peace.

Rio launched a live stream online as the “first person to discover the air-conditioned room corpse.” He feasted on my misfortune.

“What business is it of yours where I go?”

Just then, Rio came downstairs.

“Mila Zupan, are you out of your mind? Rena was just being kind and looking out for you. How could you speak to her like that?

“Go back to your room right now and turn on the AC. It’s dangerous if you get heatstroke.”

I brushed Rio’s hand away. “Forget the AC. I’m going to go to a sauna.”

“Mila, are you out of your mind? It’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and you’re planning to go to a sauna?”

Just as I was about to leave, Rio grabbed my wrist so hard it felt like he was trying to crush my bones.

I tried to shake my hand free, but he was too strong.

The sticky sweat from his palm rubbed against my skin. It felt like the slime of some reptile.

“I’m perfectly clear-headed.” I raised my other hand and waved the e-ticket on my phone. “It’ll be 140 degrees Fahrenheit at the dry sauna. I’ll only experience fifteen minutes of sweating. Isn’t that way more comfortable than sitting in an air-conditioned room?

“Besides, is what I do any of your business?”

Rena’s white spaghetti-strap dress clung to her body. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She was not embarrassed or out of breath, she was purely overwhelmed by the heat.

Her family’s “air conditioner clearance sale” had clearly been cut off because I had not played my part. The buyers were blocking her front door and cursing loudly.

“Mila, stop this,” she said, biting her lower lip. She looked pitiful. “I know you’re upset, but no matter how upset you are, you can’t risk your life. What if you get heatstroke in a sauna?”

“Exactly,” Rio chimed in, his voice rising. “If something happens to you, people will think we’ve been mistreating you!”

I almost burst out laughing.

In my previous life, I had died of heatstroke in this very building. My body turned black and my eyeballs burst. Yet they did not even call an ambulance. They just dragged me into the living room for a photo op, with the caption: Girlfriend died of heatstroke because she was too poor to turn the AC on. She turned into a dried corpse.

That livestream had raked in three million in tips. Arion Leiz used the money to buy a villa while my mother wept herself to death right in front of my corpse.

“Get lost! Even if I die of heatstroke, it’s none of your business!”

The two exchanged a glance and actually tied me up with a nylon rope they had prepared in advance.

“Let me go!”

I struggled desperately, but Rio simply wrapped the nylon rope around my wrists and tied a tight knot.

Rena was even more ruthless. She took off her sock and shoved it into my mouth.

“Stop fooling around,” Rio panted and shoved me toward the bedroom. “Mila, you must have a heatstroke. That’s why you were babbling about taking a sauna. We need to cool you down now.”

“That’s right, Mila, we’re doing this for your own good.” Rena slammed the air conditioner remote to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and the air vent immediately let out a hissing sound.

Instantly, Rena and Rio both wore expressions of utter bliss. In contrast, I only felt intense heat.

To prevent me from escaping, they wrapped a charging cable around my ankles twenty times.

The two of them stared at me coldly. “Mila, just stay put in this air-conditioned room.

“Once your temperature goes down, you’ll stop talking nonsense.”

The two of them laughed as they walked out the door.

Through the crack in the door, I heard Rena whisper. “Hurry up. The buyers are still blocking the door upstairs. We need to cash in today’s batch of 9.9 coupons first.”

Rio gave a sinister smile. “It’s so satisfying to have this dumb woman pay our electricity bill for us.”

Footsteps faded into the distance.

It was 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the room, while the air conditioner read 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

I felt like I had been stuffed into a sealed steamer. Every breath carried the scorching, rusty taste of iron.

Sweat that had just broken out evaporated instantly. My skin began to tighten and ache.

I frantically twisted my wrists, but like a snake sated with blood, the rope tightened even further.

My skin began to burn, and my throat felt as if a red-hot coal had been shoved down it.

My vision went black in waves. But I bit down hard on my tongue trying to force myself to stay conscious.

No. I could not die.

At least not in a more pathetic way than I did in my last life.

I kicked with all my might and knocked over the bedside table.

Crash!

Glass water cups shattered across the floor.

I used my shoulder to grind against the shards to slowly wear through the rope.

Blood trickled down my arm, but I could no longer feel the pain. The intense heat had already numbed my nerves.

Finally, the rope loosened around my wrist.

I rolled over and sat up. Then, I immediately bolted out the door.

At that very moment, Rena’s shriek echoed from upstairs. “Mila must have escaped!”

To make sure they would not find me, I did not go to the nearest sauna. Instead, I chose one farther away.

“Welcome...”

“Ten hours, dry sauna, highest temperature.”

I slapped my ID and phone down on the counter. My voice was hoarse and unrecognizable.

The clerk was a young woman in her early twenties. She beamed a well-practiced frontdesk’s smile. She repeatedly checked the reservation details on the screen, then looked up at me. Sweat was dripping down my jaw. My T-shirt was soaked through.

“Ma’am, 140 degrees Fahrenheit for ten hours could be fatal...” She swallowed hard, forcing the words “cremation” back down her throat. “Our shop only sells sessions of up to two hours at a time. You will have to come out in between to rehydrate and check your blood pressure.”

“Are you afraid I’ll die in there?” I raised my hand to wipe the sweat from my eyelashes and smiled. “I’ve got accident insurance. I’ll name your shop as the beneficiary. Is that okay?”

The young woman was speechless. Her finger trembled over the confirmation button.

I reached out and pressed it for her.

Beep! Payment successful.

The ticket machine clicked as it spat out the wristband. I snatched it and slipped it on like I was fastening shackles around my own wrists.

In the changing room, I shoved my phone, watch, and necklace into the locker.

The moment I saw the necklace. My mind went blank.

It was my half of the “couple’s set” Rio had gifted me last month.

I stared at it for two seconds. Then, I swung my arm and smashed it hard into the corner of the wall.

After changing into my bathrobe, I stood at the entrance to the sauna. The wave of heat wafting through the crack in the door slammed into my face.

Suddenly, I got cold feet.

What if... the system did not fall for this at all?

What if... the heat did not transfer to Rena across space, but stayed right here inside me instead?

At 140 degrees Fahrenheit, proteins would denature in just ten minutes. My internal organs would crack open like overcooked eggs.

My hand gripping the doorknob began to shake uncontrollably.

“Ma’am, if you change your mind now, we can still offer you a half-refund.” The clerk caught up to me. She almost whispered the line, as if she was afraid of disturbing the Grim Reaper.

I turned to look at her, and a vision from my past timeline flashed before my eyes. I was all curled up in an air-conditioned room set to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. My skin had cracked and peeled. My dead eyes were cloudy. Beside my corpse, a flash came from Rio’s phone. He was photographing me as if I were a new dish.

“No refunds.” I heard myself say.

The next second, I yanked the door open.

A wall of heat slammed into me. My nostrils dried out instantly, and the air I inhaled carried sparks.

The door locked automatically behind me with a “click” that carried the finality of a life sentence.

I set the timer for ten hours.

I turned the temperature dial all the way to the right, to “170 degrees Fahrenheit.”

The numbers on the display panel fluctuated wildly before settling at “140 degrees Fahrenheit”. The red warning light began to flash.

I slid slowly along the wall until I was sitting on the wooden plank in the farthest corner. The moment my skin touched it, there was a sizzling sound.

The very next instant, I heard a piercing scream coming from outside the spa.