Chapter 1: The Life Exchange System

In the luxurious five-star hotel.

The afternoon sunlight at half past three slipped through the narrow gap between the curtains, spilling into the dim room and casting a slanted, mottled stripe of light and shadow across the smooth tiled floor.

A stunningly beautiful girl lay in the center of the room with her eyes tightly closed, her pure, flawless silver-white long hair spread across the large bed.

Beside her hand rested the latest model Fruit 17 Pro Max, its screen still glowing as it played a video blogger’s live stream.

“Sister, hello, I’m a sophomore this year. Because I fell into the trap of consumerism and overspent on all kinds of luxury items, right now I already owe more than a hundred…”

The sound from the Fruit phone disturbed the girl. Lying on the bed, she slowly came awake.

Where… am I?

The girl sat up, looking around in confusion.

She realized she was lying on the large bed in some room. The decoration style was extremely extravagant—it looked like the suite of a high-end hotel, and judging from the level, the star rating wasn’t low.

Wait a minute, bro.

How did I end up in a hotel? I wasn’t… taken advantage of, right?

The bewildered girl raised her hand. Her ten fingers were slender beyond reason, and the skin on her arm was fair and delicate.

“This… is this still my hand?”

The girl murmured to herself. A clear, crisp voice emerged from her throat.

Who? Who’s talking?

Startled by the suddenly unfamiliar voice, the girl looked left and right but found no one else in the room.

Until she noticed something strange about her own body.

She lowered her head. What met her eyes were the two prominent mounds on her chest, the silver-white strands of hair naturally falling past her ears, and the white off-shoulder chiffon dress she was currently wearing.

Instantly, an expression of utter disbelief appeared on her face.

Ah… this… I turned into a girl?

After reaching down to confirm that the crucial part below was indeed gone, the girl couldn’t help covering her face and letting out a wail.

Wuwuwu… I really became a girl.

At that moment, a mechanical prompt sounded in her mind.

【Life Exchange System rebinding…】

【Binding successful. Congratulations to the new host on successfully exchanging lives. Synchronizing current identity information for the new host…】

“Mmm…”

As the system prompt finished, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into her brain. The girl felt her head splitting with pain. She clutched her forehead, collapsed back onto the bed, and let out a pained low moan.

Finally, her body returned to normal.

Though her head still throbbed faintly, the girl no longer had time to care. She began sorting through the memories she had just received.

Life Exchange System? Parallel world? Chi Yu and Chi Yu?

Her mind now held two sets of memories—one belonging to her original self, and the other belonging to an unfamiliar girl.

By combining the two, she finally understood exactly what had happened—and why she had become a woman.

The girl was named Chi Yu. An orphan, she had relied on government subsidies, studied diligently, and with excellent grades was admitted to a top university. Now a sophomore, she was also the school’s recognized campus belle.

If things had continued like that, life would have been decent.

But Chi Yu, accustomed to a life of poverty, encountered this dazzling, bizarre new world for the first time after entering university. Unable to resist temptation, she went astray and began using online loans to feed her consumption desires.

She spent lavishly on expensive cosmetics and skincare, designer bags, the full Fruit trio, branded clothes, and shoes.

After taking out her first online loan, in order to repay it she kept borrowing new loans to pay off old ones. In just one short year, her debt had snowballed to a shocking figure—over a million.

Because she couldn’t repay the loans on time, debt collectors even called her teachers and classmates.

From then on, the aloof campus belle became infamous overnight. In the blink of an eye she went from school flower to laughingstock.

Unable to bear the blow, Chi Yu decided to book a luxurious suite in a five-star hotel… and then end it all in the room.

Only now did the girl notice the unopened white medicine bottle sitting on the bedside table.

Even when ending it, she had to choose the most high-end five-star hotel?

Seeing this, she almost laughed from anger.

Although this was a parallel-world version of “herself,” reaching such a point was clearly her own doing. There was nothing worth sympathizing with.

With that thought, she continued flipping through the unfamiliar memories in her mind with the gleeful attitude of someone watching drama unfold—she loved eating melon the most.

Soon, however, she could no longer laugh. Her smile froze on her face.

Just as the girl was about to end it all, she suddenly bound to a system called the Life Exchange System.

Through the system, she could exchange lives with her parallel-world counterpart.

Coincidentally, in another parallel timeline’s future, a financial magnate named Chi Yu controlled an entire business empire and possessed more wealth than he could ever spend in a lifetime.

But he gradually grew tired of this monotonous life and began to crave change.

Chi Yu’s wish: to experience a different kind of life.

Chi Yu’s wish: to have money she could never finish spending.

Their desires perfectly aligned. Under the system’s meddling, they completed the exchange of lives.

“Damn system, get out here right now.”

After figuring out the whole sequence of events, Chi Yu—no, now she should be called Chi Yu—her small face flushed bright red. Her whole body boiled like a kettle left too long on the stove; she had completely overheated.

【Present, Host.】

“Swap us back. I don’t want to be a woman, and I definitely don’t want to help her repay this million-debt mess. This is not the change I wanted.”

Chi Yu suppressed the anger in her heart, speaking slowly. Her voice was very calm, yet it carried the unquestionable authority of someone long accustomed to being in charge.

【Very sorry, Host. Once a life is exchanged, no refunds or exchanges.】

【Moreover, this matter was done with your consent.】

Hearing the system’s words, Chi Yu suddenly had the urge to strangle herself—right now, just end it.

But as someone who believed in materialism, she knew that death was truly the end. There was no reincarnation or second chance.

She could only regret why she had agreed to that request in the first place.

At the time, he had been driving his convertible sports car along the beach in Hawaii, enjoying the sea breeze, seeking a little thrill while admiring the bikini-clad beauties on the sand—utterly content.

Suddenly, a mysterious voice sounded in his mind.

【Would you like to experience a different kind of life?】

Chi Yu thought it was an auditory hallucination, but driven by his desire for change, he subconsciously answered yes. Then a flash of white light blinded him. When he woke up, he was already here.

…

“So you’re saying… I can’t go back? I have to stay a girl forever from now on?”

【Yes, Host.】

“I…”

After receiving the system’s firm confirmation, Chi Yu barely managed to hold back the string of profanities on the tip of her tongue.

She couldn’t swear—she was a refined person, after all.

But when she thought about how the original owner was probably using her body right now, swiping her black gold card like crazy and shopping nonstop in the business empire she had built with her own hands…

And then left her here with this mountain of debt.

She suddenly felt a very strong sensation of being NTR’d.

Chi Yu almost fainted from not being able to catch her breath.

Tired. Destroy it all. Just hurry up and do it.

At this moment the girl resembled a salted fish washed up on the beach. She lay sprawled on the soft large bed, face full of life-has-no-meaning despair.

One million used to be pocket change to her.

But to her now, it was undoubtedly an astronomical sum.

Because this was another world. Her identity was no longer that of a financial titan richer than nations. Smart as she was, she naturally understood this.

Moreover, this debt carried sky-high interest. Even at a “mere” 24% annual rate, the monthly interest alone was over twenty thousand. As a student with no stable income, she couldn’t even cover the interest right now.

And the debt would only snowball bigger and bigger.

Some of it was legal, some illegal—but regardless of whether the law recognized these loans, she at least had to repay the principal.

In despair, Chi Yu couldn’t help starting to curse under her breath.

Damn original owner—you were dealt a godly hand and played it into absolute trash.

Even if a top-tier OL gamer like her from Blue Star came to take over now, there was no coming back from this.

The original owner’s life was clearly, thoroughly ruined.

But the biggest problem was: the original owner had exchanged lives with her.

The one left here to suffer… was her!

Wuwuwu… My personally built business empire, my money, my little treasures…

All gone!