Chapter 1

When I woke up, I was sitting in a packed conference room.

The people around me looked like they had just woken up too. The hall buzzed with noise.

“Where is this?”

“How did I end up here? Who are you people?”

“Welcome, everyone, to the Trial of a Parasite.”

A solemn voice rang out from the stage in front.

Trial of a Parasite?

I frowned, recalling the new law that had been passed just last month.

Starting this year, exploiting others for personal gain would be criminalized under the charge of parasitism.

Anyone accused of being a parasite would be forcibly brought here, to stand trial.

If found guilty, the accused would be forced to repay everything they took—many times over—until there was nothing left of them but death.

The man beside me suddenly perked up, his shiny bald head leaning closer.

“So that means we’re the lucky audience picked for this case?”

“I don’t have time to sit around as an audience member.”

I rolled my eyes impatiently.

“My mom’s pension comes in today. I need to go withdraw it—just enough to send a couple of big tips to my favorite streamer.”

Ignoring the man’s stunned look, I stood to leave, only to be dragged back into my seat by an invisible force.

What the—?

I froze.

Then, with a low hum, the lights above the stage flickered on, illuminating the figures standing there.

“Mom?”

My eyes widened in disbelief.

“Why are you here?”

My mother stood behind a wheelchair, her head lowered, shrinking in on herself, not daring to look at me.

My father, slumped in the chair, glared at me with fury.

Unfortunately, ever since his stroke, he could no longer speak, only twist his mouth and strain his neck as he stared daggers at me.

My sister-in-law stepped forward, shielding my mother, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.

“Please don’t blame Mom. She had no choice. If we kept letting you go on like this, our whole family would be ruined!”

She wiped her tears and looked resolutely at the judge.

“My sister-in-law has been living off her parents for years. She even beat my son and took away his right to go to school! Today, our entire family is suing her as a parasite!”

The moment she said it, the entire room erupted.

I forced myself to ignore the stares around me and looked up at the large screen.

My mother stepped beneath a memory extraction device, and her memories immediately appeared on the screen.

In the footage, I was crouched by a cabinet, rummaging through it.

Our eyes met, and my expression changed. I quickly hid what I was holding behind my back.

It was the deed to my parents’ house.

My mother reached out to grab it, but I shoved her hand away. She burst into tears.

“My daughter, you can’t do this! Your father and I only have this one home. You can’t take this from us too!”

Thud!

The scene shifted as my mother dropped to her knees, trembling as she reached for the hem of my pants.

The audience instantly boiled over.

“To push your own mother to this point—what a disgrace.”

“She’s already this old and still living off her parents. A textbook parasite. Looks like we’re in for quite a show today.”

“Having a daughter like this is worse than raising nothing at all. I’ve always said you’re better off having a son to look after you in your old age!”

“Order!”

The judge struck the gavel, and the audience fell silent, turning their attention back to the screen.

Seeing that I remained unmoved by my mother’s cries, my sister-in-law, who had been eavesdropping by the door, couldn’t hold back any longer.

She shoved the door open and wheeled my father inside, pointing at me as she started shouting.

“You should have some conscience. Every month you show up for their pension, and you’ve already driven Dad to this state!”

She struck the wheelchair in anguish, and my father answered with low, broken groans, the sounds barely human.

Turning her head aside, she wiped the tears from her face, trying to steady her voice.

“I know you can’t stand the idea of our parents transferring the house to us.

“But when it’s not payday, you don’t even show up. It’s been the two of us taking care of them all this time—whether anyone gives us credit or not.

“And we’re not trying to take their house. We just need a place in a good school district so our son can go to school!”

Her emotions spiraled, her voice rising higher and higher.

“Waa—”

In the living room, my daughter Megan burst into tears, frightened by the shouting.

I shoved my sister-in-law aside impatiently and strode into the living room, only to see my nephew clumsily trying to comfort Megan.

He pressed the egg in his hand into her palm.

“Don’t cry, Megan. You can have my egg.”

The audience instantly melted at the sight.

“Aw, what a sweet kid.”

“The two kids couldn’t be more different. Her mother exploits everyone, and she still has the nerve to cry, listening to it is enough to give me a headache.”

What they didn’t expect was the sharp crack as I slapped the egg out of my nephew’s hand.

Then I grabbed him by the collar and started slapping him across the face.