When the System Backfires

It was pouring after school.

The family chauffeur had parked our Rolls-Royce outside the school gates, and he held an umbrella as he stood and waited respectfully for Coco Jenkins.

She turned to me, smiling as she waved at me. "Bye, sis. There's only one car—just take a bus. Mom and Dad did say a little suffering is good for the soul."

That was how I ended up waiting forty minutes in the rain, my clothes completely soaked through.

When I returned home, I found the dining table covered in exquisite Franconian dishes: foie gras, lobster salad, onion spaghetti, and even red wine.

Coco had changed into fresh clothes and was sitting at the table, while Mom kept putting more food on her plate, saying, "Eat as much as you can—keep your mind sharp for the mock exam tomorrow."

No one looked at me as I stood at the doorway, still soaked through, so I simply headed upstairs.

"Stop."

That was when Dad called out to me, putting down his wine glass with a surly look. "I heard you keep trying to hog the spotlight at school? What, did you think you're related to that other Jojo Jenkins studying at that elite school?

"Don't ever presume you could leech off someone's glory just because you share the same name. Don't you have any sense of embarrassment?"

I held his gaze as I calmly replied, "I never leech off anyone."

Having no retort, Dad simply snorted and waved for me to leave.

I returned to my room, changed out of my wet clothes and quickly picked up my sketchbook.

After all, I needed three primary works to get through the special admission program of Central Art, the best art school in the country.

Still, I was working until 2 am when I heard a door knock.

It was Coco, dressed in a silk sleeping gown as she leaned against the doorframe, leering at me smugly.

"Don't bother pretending," she told me with a charming giggle. "Our parents don't know, but I do—you're a science student who topped statewide exam rankings for three years. Still, you're now pretending to be an art student, just so you can surprise everyone and humiliate me!"

"What a shame… My System has already locked on to you. All your luck and your college entrance exam score will be transferred to me automatically. So don't bother trying—all you have to do is bend over as my stepping stone."

I simply stared at her foolish grin for a moment and calmly closed the door.

Locked on to me?

She definitely had no idea that she stole a high mock college entrance exam score and afforded her a moment of accomplishment. However, the other Jojo Jenkins is a boy, and the government noticed his talent to move him to the prestigious Upton College, exempting him from college entrance exam.

If Coco tried to steal the score of 'Jojo Jenkins' again during the actual exam, she'd get my score instead—some art student who couldn't grasp the basics of cultural studies.