Black Friday had arrived, and my roommate Millie Gray pooled her money to buy a uniquely shaped incense burner. She spent all day in the dorm burning incense and praying, hoping to marry her wealthy boyfriend. Strangely, under the influence of the incense burner, Millie’s appearance gradually became similar to mine, until one day, our identities were completely swapped. She became the famous rich girl on campus, while I was chased by thugs for the massive debts she had deliberately incurred, my reputation in ruins. When I found her, hoping to switch back our identities, Millie pretended to agree, but after tricking me into revealing my bank card password, she pushed me off a high-rise building. Before dying, I heard her greedy and malicious voice: “Octavia, only when you’re dead will your identity truly belong to me.” Only then did I understand that the incense burner Millie had bought was actually an evil object that could grant wishes. As long as my misfortune accumulated to a certain extent, she could exchange bodies with me. When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn to the moment when Millie had just brought back the incense burner. Looking at Millie making her devout wish, I smiled. She didn’t know yet that making wishes to evil objects came with a price. ***** “Octavia, you’re being way too petty. Millie just stained your sheets a little. How could you throw her stuff on the floor?” The noise around me pulled me from the chaos, the terror of falling from the thirty-third floor still lingering in my heart. My legs went weak, and I crouched down clutching my chest, painfully realizing that I had been reborn. The person in front of me was startled: “What are you doing? Stop pretending!” I looked around and found that our small dorm was packed with delivery boxes, with three girls standing in front of me glaring angrily. One face I would never forget in this lifetime—it was my roommate Millie, who had pushed me off the building and tried to steal my identity! She was known as a rich girl in the college, but only I knew that her family was actually ordinary, and her monthly allowance wasn’t nearly enough for her spending. Every Black Friday, to maintain her persona, Millie would shop online for a bunch of things, and the packages she received could fill up half the dorm. This time was no exception. She had bought back a strangely shaped incense burner and burned incense in the dorm every day, then knelt devoutly before the burner to make wishes. The incense had a pungent, nauseating smell. But Millie seemed completely oblivious to it. In my previous life, I had protested several times, but she refused to put away the incense burner. Instead, she spread rumors in class, saying I was jealous of her and deliberately targeting her. Millie burned incense with extreme devotion for an entire semester, not even stopping during winter break. On the first day after the holiday ended, all the classmates who saw her again were shocked. My roommates Jayla Hill and Rachel Welch looked at Millie and then at me with confusion: “How are you two looking more and more alike?” I didn’t know when it started, but Millie’s appearance had become three parts similar to mine. Millie’s expression changed slightly, and she forced a smile, saying she had gotten cosmetic procedures during the holiday, managing to brush it off. As she frequently burned incense in the dorm, her appearance grew closer and closer to mine. At that time, I was busy preparing for competitions and didn’t take this matter to heart. Until the day after I had worked hard to complete my competition project, I woke up to find myself lying in Millie’s bed, and what was reflected in the mirror was unmistakably Millie’s face! I frantically opened my phone and saw many congratulatory messages and videos in the group chat. In the video, someone with my face was smiling as she held up the trophy, accepting the interviews and praise that should have belonged to me. I immediately understood—that was Millie! I had been forced to exchange identities with her. She had transformed into a real rich girl, succeeding in both academics and love, and soon got engaged to her boyfriend James Burke. Meanwhile, I was forced to flee everywhere due to the massive debts she had left behind, living in poverty. I tried to prove my identity, but no one believed what I said. Instead, they all thought I was crazy. I desperately begged Millie to switch back our identities. She pretended to agree but arranged to meet me on the rooftop, where she pushed me off the thirty-third floor. Before falling, the last thing I saw was Millie’s twisted and ecstatic face. She said: “Octavia, only when you’re dead will your identity truly belong to me.” Only then did I understand that the incense burner was an evil object Millie had bought online. By lighting special incense and making wishes to it, over time, one could exchange bodies with a specific person and completely steal their identity. However, making wishes to evil objects came with a price.
Jayla and Rachel were still glaring at me furiously, insisting I apologize. Millie pretended to play peacemaker, but her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. I looked at the wrinkled bedsheets stained by the delivery box and smiled at Millie. “Do you know how much this bedding set costs?” Jayla scoffed dismissively. “It’s just a set of sheets. Who can’t afford that? Millie’s from a wealthy family!” Rachel chimed in, “Exactly! What’s the big deal if Millie compensates you for some sheets? But can you afford to pay for her package? If you’re so confident, why don’t you both compensate each other!” The moment they finished speaking, Millie’s face went pale, but I couldn’t help laughing. My bedsheets were indeed from a luxury brand. My mom had bought a lot of accessories to go with her designer bags, and she’d used them all for me and my dad. Others might not recognize them, but Millie had done her homework to maintain her rich girl facade—she definitely knew what they were. The question was: could she afford to pay for them? Cold sweat was already beading on Millie’s forehead. She was about to speak when I beat her to it. “Sure thing. This bedding set costs nine thousand three hundred dollars. How do you plan to pay? Or we could use those packages on the floor as compensation.” “What? Nine thousand three hundred dollars? Who are you trying to fool?” Jayla was shocked at first, then switched to a mocking expression. That made sense. Back in high school, after being harassed by some boys, my parents had repeatedly warned me not to show off our wealth and to keep a low profile. Except for Millie, no one knew I actually came from a well-off family. So Jayla’s first reaction to hearing that price was that I was trying to extort Millie. Rachel obviously thought the same thing. But Rachel was impulsive and immediately retorted, “What’s so hard about that? With Millie’s status, any random package of hers is worth more than your bedsheets!” She casually picked up a package, ready to open it. Millie’s face went ashen as she stopped her, gritting her teeth as she stared at me. “I’ll transfer the money to you tomorrow.” I sneered inwardly. Of course she didn’t dare let Rachel open those packages. Otherwise, everyone would discover that most of these so-called deliveries were empty packages she’d ordered just to maintain her persona. And I was counting on exploiting her vanity. I pulled out my phone, opened my payment QR code, and placed it directly in front of Millie. “Today’s debt gets settled today. After all, you’re so wealthy—surely you can afford it, right?” She really couldn’t afford it. Millie was just an ordinary college student who’d landed a wealthy boyfriend by crafting a fake persona, but she didn’t have much spending money and relied entirely on credit cards. Especially right after Black Friday, asking her to come up with nearly ten thousand dollars on the spot was impossible. Millie stammered excuses, refusing to transfer the money. Jayla and Rachel, watching her hesitation, asked suspiciously, “Millie, you can’t actually afford it, can you?” Seeing the increasingly strange looks from Jayla and Rachel, Millie looked at me helplessly. My expression darkened. No one knew that Millie and I had known each other for years. Her father, David Gray, had been our family driver before Christmas and often brought Millie to visit my parents. Even though David had quit later, when I first saw Millie and David in the dorm on move-in day, I still recognized them. In my previous life, I’d been too soft-hearted. Remembering how David used to drive me to and from school, whenever Millie put on that pitiful expression, I’d lend her money, luxury bags, clothes—whatever she wanted. But after we switched bodies, all of this became evidence of my supposed vanity and jealousy toward her. I, in Millie’s body, was sent to a psychiatric hospital where I spent the most painful and desperate three months of my life. It wasn’t until I overheard some nurses chatting that I learned Millie had orchestrated everything that happened to me. Now Millie still wanted to play the victim in front of me for sympathy, but I’d already died once—how could I possibly fall for it again? I looked at the package on the floor with its familiar pattern and smiled slightly. “If you don’t want to pay, using your stuff as compensation works too. How about this one? Looks like an incense burner? I’ve been getting interested in aromatherapy lately.” Millie’s expression shifted uncertainly, but ultimately, fearing her identity would be exposed, she gritted her teeth and agreed. “Just for one day. Tomorrow I’ll buy you identical bedsheets, and then you have to return the incense burner to me.” After speaking, Millie gave me a long look, obediently collected her packages, and stuffed them under her bed, looking somewhat aggrieved. Jayla and Rachel awkwardly returned to their seats. Jayla mocked, “Some people just love causing trouble. They’re actually just jealous that others are richer than them and have boyfriends who worship the ground they walk on.” Rachel added, “If you ask me, she’s just full of regret. When James was pursuing her, she acted all reluctant. Now that James is with Millie, she targets Millie every single day.” I pretended not to hear them, quickly changed my bedsheets, and carefully opened the package. I didn’t touch the incense burner inside—didn’t dare to—but I quietly hid the instruction manual. Only by understanding her methods could I figure out how to counter them. I wanted to see exactly what this cursed object that killed me really was.
That evening, after finishing my shower and stepping out of the bathroom, I had barely opened the door when Millie squeezed her way in, putting on a pitiful expression. She said softly, “Octavia…” She was here to play the victim. I watched her performance coldly, my tone flat: “What do you want?” “Nothing.” Millie hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but held back. “If it’s nothing, then get out.” I moved to push her out. Millie panicked, biting her lower lip with a wronged expression, questioning me with a tearful voice: “Are you in a bad mood? Why are you targeting me? You know perfectly well that my family isn’t well-off, so why are you making me pay for your sheets? “One set of your sheets costs more than my living expenses for an entire Christmas. You’re not short on money, so why are you being so relentless? Or are you just trying to humiliate me on purpose?” I was stunned. How could someone be so shameless! Yet looking at Millie’s expression, she genuinely believed she was the wronged party. Not wanting to waste time with her, I admitted directly: “Yes, I look down on you and I’m targeting you on purpose. So what?” At my words, Millie’s expression froze, and a flash of resentment and realization quickly crossed her eyes. A chill seemed to sweep through my heart, cold enough to make me shiver. In my previous life at this point, I had been relatively tolerant of Millie. Even when she repeatedly used my name on Tinder to find boyfriends, damaging my reputation, I never held it against her or exposed her. But facts proved that with someone like Millie who benefits herself at others’ expense, unless you can unconditionally satisfy her demands for life, you’ll inevitably earn her resentment. At this moment, she probably already harbored hatred toward me. I stared directly into Millie’s humiliated eyes and warned coldly: “I suggest you drop those little schemes and compensate me for my losses quickly. If you keep playing games, don’t be surprised if your real face appears on Tinder tomorrow. When that happens, guess whether the boyfriend you finally managed to get will leave you?” “No, don’t!” Hearing me mention her boyfriend, Millie immediately panicked. She grabbed my arm and pleaded: “Please don’t tell James. I’ll pay for your sheets. I accidentally put the package on your bed today, and I won’t do it again!” I cleared my throat, my expression becoming somewhat complicated. I could tell Millie was genuinely afraid of losing James. Her intense reaction made me feel like the evil supporting character breaking up a loving couple. I sneered: “You say it was an accident? Then what about all those times you secretly wore my clothes, carried my bags on dates with James, threw my speech draft into the washing machine, and deliberately copied my style while hinting to others that I was copying you—were those all ‘accidents’ too?” Millie’s face turned deathly pale, her expression twisting for a moment. I shook off her hand, remembering everything from my previous life, feeling disgusted as if the arm she’d touched had been crawled over by insects. Opening the door, the bathroom mirror reflected Millie’s face behind me, barely concealing her hatred. I said: “Millie, I won’t let the past slide so easily. You’d better watch yourself.” With that, I took my toiletries and left the bathroom. Whether Millie would overthink because of my words wasn’t my concern. But what I didn’t know was that shortly after I left, Millie, who had been suppressing her emotions, looked down at the hair she’d just pulled from my clothes and revealed a sinister smile. Back in my room, I lay in bed reading the incense burner’s instruction manual and searched for the product’s online store based on the shop name on the package. However, to my surprise, the store was completely empty with no products for sale. I had no choice but to click on the customer service avatar below the store and tentatively sent a message. User 2345: [Hello, can I still buy the incense burners from your store?] Despite it being 11:30 PM, the customer service quickly replied. Nether Nook: [Hello, our store’s products require strong desire to purchase. We’ve detected that you don’t have any wishes you’re longing to fulfill.] My hand trembled, and I immediately turned off the screen. What did this mean? Could this store’s customer service read my emotions through the phone? Was this really something current technology could achieve? And what was her relationship with Millie? Just as I was hesitating whether to continue asking, my phone screen lit up again as the customer service proactively sent another message. The moment I saw that sentence, I froze.
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