During orientation training, the class belle, everyone’s favorite, led the entire class to protest against the orientation leader.

The orientation leader threatened to make us run as punishment, but she took on everyone’s training load by herself. But in reality, she shifted all the exhaustion onto me.

She ran 30 miles while carrying weights without batting an eye. Then, she told the orientation leader that she was willing to take on all the class’s remaining orientation training duties by herself.

From that point on, she became the darling of the entire class. Meanwhile, I was exhausted beyond measure, was frequently hospitalized, and was late to training.

It affected our class’s honor roll standing. I got yelled at by the whole class.

When I explained the situation to everyone, they dismissed me as a nutcase. “You’ve only been in training for a few days! How could you be this exhausted? I think you’re just faking it.”

“Are you just jealous that Eira Yard is in better shape than you, looks better than you, and is even more popular than you?”

In utter despair, I confronted Eira, but she casually changed into her orientation training uniform. “Please step aside. I’m going to run the final weighted cross-country race on behalf of the entire school. I don’t have time to mess around with you.”

Once she was done with the run in the 104-degree heat, her expression remained cool and collected.

I, on the other hand, felt as if my limbs had been severed. My organs failed, and I died on the spot.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the first day of orientation training.

This time, I beat everyone to it and reported to the orientation leader.

“I’ll run for the whole class.”

“Looks like someone wants to play the hero for all of you. If you want to run for others, it’ll be 30 miles!”

The orientation leader issued the order without batting an eye. From his point of view, it was just a case of us kids acting on some adolescent sense of loyalty. We would never actually go through with it.

But in my previous life, Eira Yard really did run the entire distance for the whole class with ease. Then, she earned everyone’s admiration.

Meanwhile, I collapsed on the spot, leaving behind a reputation as delicate and frail. I even lost my life because of it.

Eira grabbed my arm. Her voice was full of concern. “Raine, don’t be impulsive! You’re already in poor health, and running 30 miles for the whole class is no small feat! Let me do it instead.”

Her voice was not loud, but it was just loud enough for the students around us to hear.

“What’s Raine playing at? Doesn’t she have low blood sugar? Is she just trying to steal the spotlight?”

“Exactly! If she can’t finish, the whole class will be punished again! She’s insisting on stepping up just to show off, isn’t she?”

I glared at her coldly and shook off her hand.

This time, I had to figure out exactly what was going on with Eira. I would take the lead and see if the fatigue system went both ways.

The orientation leader frowned as he sized me up, then glanced at Eira, who looked completely innocent. Finally, he waved his hand impatiently. “Stop dawdling! You two, run together! Neither of you gets a break until you finish!”

“Alright,” I said crisply.

A barely perceptible smirk curled at the corner of Eira’s mouth.

The starting gun fired, and Eira and I sprinted off together.

At first, I was able to keep going thanks to the sheer determination that came with experiencing this the second time.

But before I had even run 800 yards, that familiar, bone-deep exhaustion washed over me like a tidal wave.

My legs felt as if they were being pierced by countless needles. Every step felt as heavy as a boulder.

I turned to look. Eira was running right beside me and breathing steadily. Not a single bead of sweat was on her forehead. She even had the energy to flash me an encouraging smile.

I knew she was already transferring her fatigue to me.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to keep moving.

But a body’s limits could not be overcome with just willpower.

It felt as if an invisible giant was piling weights onto my back and crushing me. I could not breathe.

Finally, at around the 2-mile mark, my vision went dark. My legs gave out, and I crashed heavily onto the track.

The entire stadium erupted in an uproar.

I struggled to get up, but my limbs felt as if they had lost all strength.

Eira stopped in her tracks and leaned down to look at me. Her eyes were filled with undisguised contempt and smugness.

But in front of everyone, she remained the kind-hearted class belle.

“Raine, are you okay? I told you not to push yourself so hard!”

She easily ran the remaining miles and was greeted with cheers and praise from everyone at the finish line.

Meanwhile, I was carried away on a stretcher by the medical staff. Once again, I became the laughingstock of the entire school.

After being in the infirmary for half a day, I finally managed to regain a little strength.

The counselor came to check on me. They hinted between the lines that I should not be so competitive and that I needed to recognize the gap between myself and others.

As I listened, my heart grew numb.

After today’s incident, my image in the eyes of my classmates was set in stone. I would be seen as a frail, sickly clown who loved to show off.

Meanwhile, Eira was a radiant goddess.

When I returned to the dorm that evening, my roommates were cold toward me.

One of them, Bonnie Lewis, said sarcastically, “Raine, you really made our class look ‘outstanding’ today. Anyone who didn’t know better would think our class deliberately sent a sickly wimp to challenge Eira.”

I ignored her, climbed straight into bed, and pulled the curtain closed.

In the darkness, I calmly reflected on everything that had happened today.

In a head-on confrontation, I had no chance of winning.

Her ability was surreal. As long as I was near her, I would become her power bank. I had to change my approach.

I needed an ally. Someone with enough authority, and someone who was not easily fooled by Eira’s facade.

I thought of one person: our head orientation leader, Vermont Zimmer.

In my previous life, when everyone else thought I was crazy, only Vermont had looked pensive after hearing my story.

He said, “Human physical capabilities are limited. Eira’s condition does defy common sense.”

Although he did not help in the end, that glimmer of doubt was my only hope.

Early the next morning, I dragged my still-weary body and found Vermont supervising training on the field.

“Sir, I have an important matter to report!”

Vermont turned around. When he saw that it was me, he frowned slightly. “You again? Are you feeling better?”

“Sir, I’m not here to ask for time off.” I took a deep breath and met his piercing gaze.

“I’m here to report an extremely unusual situation regarding Eira.”

I switched my approach and described in detail the strange changes in my own physical condition and Eira’s physical performance, which far exceeded human limits.

“Sir, you’re a soldier. You should know that an ordinary female college student, one who’s never received professional training, shouldn’t possibly be able to carry a 110-pound load for 30 miles without even breaking a sweat. Her performance defies logic.”

Vermont listened in silence. He looked deep in thought.

I continued, “I suspect there’s something amiss here, but everyone thinks I’m just jealous of her. I want to verify a hypothesis, so I’d like to request that you file a special report with the school on my behalf to arrange a one-week leave of absence.”

Vermont stared at me for a full minute, as if trying to gauge the truth in my words.

Finally, he said in a deep voice, “The reason sounds absurd, but you really are in terrible shape. It doesn’t look like you’re faking it.

“I can talk to the school, but you only get three days.

“After three days, if your hypothesis doesn’t hold up, you must return to continue orientation training.”

“Thank you!” I felt a surge of joy. This was the first step in my plan.

That afternoon, I finished the paperwork. Then, I dragged my suitcase out of the school and went straight home.

I wanted to see if my health would improve once I left the school and put some distance between us.

As soon as I got home, I practically collapsed onto the bed.

Seeing my face so pale, my parents were terrified. They rushed to make me some food and give me massages.

I felt that familiar exhaustion. It felt like it was tearing me apart. My heart grew heavier and heavier.

It did not go away.

Even though I had left school and left Eira behind, that pervasive fatigue still clung to me like a maggot to a bone.

Distance was not the solution.

That night, as I tossed and turned in bed, my phone suddenly rang nonstop.

It was my high school alumni group chat, which included a few classmates who had gotten into the same university as me.

[Oh my god, you guys haven’t seen our school’s goddess, Eira! It’s been almost a week of orientation training, and we’re all sunburned to a crisp, but she’s still glowing white! She looks like a fairy!]

[You’ve got to be kidding! Her stamina is off the charts! This afternoon, she ran a 30-mile weighted armed cross-country race for our entire college. When she finished, she looked like she’d just gone for a stroll! I heard she wasn’t like this in high school, was she?]

Another classmate wrote.

[Yeah! I remember Eira as a dark-skinned, short, and chubby girl in high school. She was totally unremarkable. How did she turn into a completely different person after just one summer?]

[Speaking of which, do you guys remember Sophie Clark, the class belle who used to be in Eira’s class? I saw her at the mall a couple of days ago. Oh my god, she’s so short and chubby now, and her skin is a mess. She’s practically unrecognizable! She’s a completely different person from her high school days!]

Reading this, I sat bolt upright in bed!

But the feeling of my body falling apart made me slump back down. I coughed up a mouthful of blood. I had to find a way to break this curse immediately!

‘Eira Yard… Sophie Clark…’

A thought surged through my mind. Eira used to be short and chubby in high school, yet she had turned into a goddess.

Meanwhile, the original class belle, Sophie, had turned short and chubby.

How could there be so many coincidences in this world?

I immediately dug out my high school yearbook and found Sophie’s number. With trembling hands, I called her.

The phone rang for a long time before someone picked up. A hoarse, weary voice came from the other end. “Hello? Who’s this?”

“Hello, is this Sophie Clark? It’s Raine Sherry. We went to the same high school.” I tried my best to keep my voice steady.

“Raine Sherry?” Sophie seemed taken aback for a moment. “Oh… I think I vaguely remember you. Is there something you need?”

I took a deep breath and got straight to the point. “I want to ask you something. Did you experience any health issues this summer? Did you feel inexplicably exhausted, and… have you noticed any significant changes in your appearance?”

There was an instant, deathly silence on the other end of the line.

It took almost a minute before Sophie’s response sounded on the other end. It carried a barely perceptible tremor. “You… how do you know?”

My heart sank. It was just as I feared!

“I’m going through the same thing right now.” I laid out my entire story, including Eira’s startling transformation and the strange deterioration of my own body.

As I talked, the breathing on the other end of the line grew rapid.

By the time I finished, Sophie was sobbing uncontrollably.

“It’s her! It has to be her!” she cried and completely broke down. “After the SATs, she didn’t come to our class reunion. She said she was going on a trip.

“Ever since, something’s been wrong with me! I feel so exhausted every day, and no matter how long I sleep, I can’t wake up rested. I eat very little, yet I gain weight like crazy!

“My mom took me to see so many doctors, but they all said I wasn’t sick. They said I was just lazy! My life… my whole life’s been ruined!”

It turned out I was not her first victim.

Eira had already begun using her evil ability since the summer she graduated from high school.

She stole Sophie’s beauty and vitality. Then, she transferred her own obesity and listlessness onto her. Just like that, she completed her first transformation.

She was using the same method to drain my life force to maintain her glamorous facade as a “goddess.”

As I hung up, I felt the blood in my veins run cold.

This was a sinister scheme through and through. A vicious curse that fed on the lives of others to sustain itself!

Over the next two days, my health took a sharp turn for the worse.

The exhaustion grew more serious. I began experiencing intermittent shortness of breath, and I kept coughing up blood.

My parents were panicky and rushed me to the best hospital in the city that very night.

However, the test results showed that my body was perfectly normal.

The doctor looked at me with a gaze filled with helplessness and suspicion. “Does this young girl have some kind of psychological issue?”

My parents were frantic. They sweated profusely as they begged the doctor to find another solution.

I lay in the hospital bed. I was too weak to even lift a finger.

I could clearly feel the life force rapidly draining from my body.

My phone was flooded with news about orientation training. Eira had become the undisputed “goddess of orientation training” across the entire school.

In just one week, the orientation training’s grand closing ceremony would take place. There would be a school-wide cross-country race with weighted gear.

Eira, as the student representative, would once again run for the entire school.

I remembered that it was at that race that everything would end for me.

Time was running out. If I could not find the source soon, I would die all over again.

Seeing how frail I had become, my parents wiped away their tears behind my back as they discussed taking me home from the hospital to recuperate.

Just as the nurse was pushing my wheelchair out of the ward, I passed by an operating room next door.

Outside the door, a middle-aged woman stood with her hands pressed together. Her eyes were closed as she murmured prayers with an expression of profound and helpless devotion.

She was praying for a loved one inside the operating room.

A bolt of lightning suddenly split through my chaotic thoughts! I suddenly understood!

I knew how she had managed to transfer her exhaustion to me!