In my past life, after my younger brother was snatched by human traffickers, he awakened a "Body-Swap System." He switched souls with me. I, in his body, was chained in a pigsty, suffering unspeakable humiliation and torture. He, in my body, enjoyed the double portion of our parents' love. Ten years later, when I was finally found by the police, my brother activated the system again and switched us back. He threw himself into our parents' arms, sobbing, claiming I was the one who tricked him into getting kidnapped. Our parents found a diary in my nightstand—forged by him, mimicking my handwriting—detailing my "jealousy" and "glee" at his abduction. From then on, my parents loathed me. They let my brother verbally abuse and whip me. They even agreed to his sick proposal: to drug me and sell me off to a blind, crippled widow deep in the mountains as punishment. I overheard their plan. consumed by grief and rage, I set the house on fire, dragging them all down to hell with me. When I opened my eyes, I was back. Back to the day we bumped into the traffickers. I made the first move, grabbing the trafficker's hand. My brother immediately blocked me. "Grandma, I want the candy apple! Don't give it to him, give it to me!" The traffickers exchanged a look. Taking two kids was too risky, and the younger one seemed easier to control. They let go of me and took my brother's hand. My brother gave me a sinister grin, leaning into my ear to whisper: "Ethan, I know you’re reborn too. Trying to steal my System? No way." I watched him walk away with the traffickers, and I smiled, too. Lucas, I hope you can still smile after you use up your two chances to swap. Shortly after I returned home, the familiar robotic voice echoed in my mind—just like in my previous life. "Since the Host has been abducted, the Soul-Swap Skill has been activated. You have two chances to swap. Would you like to use one now?" In the last life, this was how Lucas realized he was in danger. He didn't hesitate to swap with me then. This time, he was just as impatient. "Affirmative. Initiating swap. You have one swap remaining. Call upon me when needed." Dizziness hit me like a sledgehammer. When I opened my eyes, I was in a speeding van. I looked at my reflection in the darkened window. I was back in my brother’s body. The woman guarding me was still May, and the old woman driving was the ringleader, Auntie Fay. They worked as a team—Fay played the kindly grandmother selling candy apples to lure kids, and May was the muscle. They didn't tie me up, probably because I looked like a harmless eight-year-old. I leaned back against the rattling metal wall, remembering the hell of my past life. For ten years, I wondered why. Why did he hate me? When he swapped back, he whispered, "Ethan, you didn't save me. You deserve to suffer for me. Now that you're back, pay the price." But I had tried to stop him. He was the one who pushed me away for a piece of candy. He framed me with that diary: I saw the bad men take Lucas, but I didn't say anything. I want Mom and Dad's love all to myself. It worked. My parents were ready to sell me to a hillbilly widow to "atone." Thinking of their betrayal, I clenched my small fists. This time, they would all pay. I looked out the window. The scenery was getting familiar. They were taking me to Blackwood Hollow. In the last life, I fought, ran, and screamed, which earned me a chain around my neck in a pigsty. This time, I decided to be obedient. I had a lesson to teach these kidnappers. After two days and nights of driving, the van stopped on a dirt road deep in the mountains. "Lucas, honey, we're at Grandma's house," Fay cooed. I followed them out quietly. I hadn't cried once. Looking at the desolate, pitch-black mountain, I forced a smile. "Auntie, Grandma, will I get unlimited candy apples now?" "Yes, yes," May muttered, whispering to Fay, "Is this kid slow? We're in the middle of nowhere and he's thinking about candy." "Who cares? The buyer's daughter is slow too. A match made in heaven. As long as he can breed, they won't care." They led me into the village, straight to the Miller house. The Miller family was waiting in the yard. Buck Miller, his wife, his older brother Hank, and their uncle, Old Man Otis. Buck held up a kerosene lamp to inspect me. "Clean looking kid." His wife hugged their ten-year-old daughter, Daisy. Daisy was intellectually disabled, drooling slightly as she smiled. "Look, Daisy, Mommy and Daddy bought you a little brother. Do you like him?" "Like... like..." Daisy giggled. I smiled back at her. "Buck, he looks a bit stupid too," Hank, a dark-faced man in his forties, grunted, taking a swig of moonshine. "Don't get scammed." "He's normal! Look, he has straight A's in his backpack!" May quickly produced the homework from my bag. "Smart kid," Old Man Otis puffed on his pipe. "Good. He can give the Miller line some smart genes. Hank, don't complain. Since your wife ran off, we need this boy for Daisy." Otis was impotent, which was why he raised his nephews Buck and Hank like sons. Hank was a bachelor, and Buck was the only one who managed to marry a distant cousin. I pretended to suddenly realize the situation and started wailing. "Where's my candy? You said there was candy!" The Millers panicked, afraid the noise would alert neighbors. May and Fay chimed in, "Be a good boy! Marry this little girl and you'll have things better than candy!" I stopped crying, blinking innocently. "Really? But I'm too little to marry her." "Men need wives," May explained. "Start early, grow up together, it's better." "Oh," I nodded. Relieved, May turned to Buck. "Delivery complete. The van draws attention, so if you could pay the remaining thirty grand..." Buck signaled his wife to get the cash. As May and Fay counted the money under the lamplight, Hank’s eyes changed. He stared at May with a hungry, predatory look. Old Man Otis was eyeing Fay the same way. Now. "Uncle, Grandpa," I piped up, pointing at the men. "Do you have wives?" They shook their heads. "Perfect! This Auntie and Grandma can be your wives!" May and Fay froze. "What is this brat saying?" I hid behind Daisy, trembling. "You said men need wives. They don't have any. You should marry them!" Hank’s face flushed red with excitement. Otis looked intrigued. They were desperate, lonely men in a lawless place. Two women delivered to their doorstep? It was tempting. May and Fay sensed the danger. They reached for their phones. Hank and Otis pounced. "Buck, what do you think? Keep 'em here, and you save thirty grand!" Hank yelled, wrestling May to the ground. Buck, loving the idea of saving money, agreed instantly. May and Fay tried to scream, but smelly socks were shoved into their mouths. They were bound with duct tape and rope and thrown into the woodshed. The Millers drove the van to the city that night and sold it for scrap. By dawn, May belonged to Hank, and Fay belonged to Otis. Seeing the traffickers get trafficked gave me a thrill of dark satisfaction. Because I "saved" them money and "found" them wives, the Millers treated me well. I became the family's lucky charm. I spent my days with Daisy. She gave me her chicken drumsticks. She protected me from farm work. May and Fay weren't so lucky. They were chained up and abused daily. Within six months, May was pregnant. Karma had come full circle. Daisy was genuinely good to me. In her simple mind, I was her companion. She threw tantrums until her parents allowed me to go to the village school with her. They renamed me "Luke Miller" and told everyone I was an adopted orphan. I treated Daisy like a sister. Once, she twisted her ankle on the mountain, and I carried her back, blistering my feet. The Millers trusted me completely after that. Ten years passed. I turned eighteen. Daisy was twenty. I knew my biological parents and the police were closing in. Lucas was about to use his final swap. So, on my eighteenth birthday, I told the Millers I wanted to marry Daisy properly. It was time to collect the debt. The wedding was a massive rural affair. I wore a cheap suit. Daisy was in red. She held my hand, drooling a little. "Luke, you look pretty." "I'm happy, Daisy," I said, wiping her face gently. She was innocent. Her family was not. During the toast, we went table to table. When we reached the family table—Buck, his wife, Hank, and Otis—I slipped a powder I’d synthesized in chemistry class into their moonshine.
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