## I had worked so hard to climb that mountain and get a protection charm from the temple—only for Anthony Sullivan to casually toss it around the neck of the class queen’s pet dog. The sound of laughter echoed all around me as I stood frozen, humiliated. I turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. “Relax, Anthony,” one of his friends called after me, laughing. “Chloe will come crawling back in under thirty minutes. She always does.” They were wrong. I wasn’t in this for Anthony Sullivan. Not really. I was just trying to collect the beauty points my system had promised me. See, the system gave me two options if I wanted to become beautiful: One, I could “win over” Anthony Sullivan, the school’s golden boy. Or two, I could become a straight-A academic superstar. Being the lazy girl I was, I chose the first option. Who wouldn’t? Flirting seemed a lot less painful than hours of study. But standing there, humiliated by Anthony’s cruelty, I had a revelation. If I had the determination to chase after a guy like him, why couldn’t I put that effort into something meaningful? Why not aim for the top universities in the country instead? And so, I gave up on Anthony and poured everything into preparing for the national academic competition. But just when I was on the verge of winning gold, Anthony couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re doing all of this for him, aren’t you?” he snapped, pointing at the quiet, sharp-eyed boy standing beside me—the academic prodigy he had just punched in a jealous fit. I slapped Anthony across the face. I had already transformed into someone stunning. Men were lining up for me. Why on earth would I waste another second on him? For Anthony’s birthday, I’d gone all out preparing a thoughtful gift: the protection charm from the temple. It hadn’t been easy. I wasn’t exactly athletic, and climbing that mountain had felt like a death sentence. But for Anthony, I pushed through. Halfway up, I was wheezing like an asthmatic goat, ready to collapse. “Come on, Chloe!” the system chirped in my head. “You can’t win Anthony over without that protection charm! And you can’t get your beauty points without winning him over!” The system had a point. So, gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up the trail. When I finally made it to the top, drenched in sweat and on the verge of passing out, I got my charm. Later that evening, I set up the perfect birthday surprise. I decorated the room, arranged a cake, and waited for Anthony and his friends to arrive. The moment they walked in, my heart sank. Next to Anthony stood Katie Harper, the school’s undeniable queen bee. Her hair was immaculate, her makeup flawless, her features strikingly delicate. The two of them looked perfect together. Still, I wasn’t about to back down. “Happy birthday, Anthony,” I said, stepping forward and holding out the charm. “What’s this?” he asked, taking it from me with as much interest as if I’d handed him a napkin. “It’s a protection charm,” Katie chimed in, her voice sweet and melodic. She turned to Anthony, smiling. “Chloe’s so thoughtful. I heard this charm is only available at the temple on top of Redridge Mountain. She must’ve climbed all the way up to get it for you. Isn’t that sweet?” “Wait,” Anthony said, narrowing his eyes at me. “You climbed a mountain for this?” “Well, yeah,” I replied, trying to sound casual. “I heard the temple was really special and…” Before I could finish, Anthony cut me off with a laugh. “Are you serious? You climbed all the way up there for this stupid thing? What, did you think this would make me fall in love with you or something?” I froze. He wasn’t done. “God, Chloe. Do you seriously believe this is some kind of romance movie? Crawling up a mountain for a charm just to prove how much you ‘love’ me? Did you even stop to think if you’re worth it?” The room filled with laughter. “Man, Anthony,” one of his friends jeered. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a real-life stalker!” “Yeah,” another chimed in. “She finally confessed! Took her long enough!” Anthony’s face darkened, and he turned back to me with a look of pure disdain. “You really picked my birthday to pull this pathetic stunt?” he snapped, holding up the charm like it was trash. “Look at yourself in a mirror sometime, Chloe. You actually thought I’d be into you?” I felt my chest tighten, my vision blurring with unshed tears. I had known Anthony might reject me. I had prepared for that. But I hadn’t expected him to humiliate me like this. This was the same Anthony who’d once been kind to me, the same Anthony who had helped me when I was at my lowest. How could he use my insecurities to tear me apart like this? “Anthony, don’t be so harsh,” Katie said, her voice dripping with feigned sympathy. She turned to me with a pitying smile. “Chloe clearly likes you. She must’ve thought you liked her back. I mean, why else would she have the courage to confess in front of everyone?” Her words were like gasoline on a fire. “Like her?” Anthony shouted, his voice rising. “Are you out of your damn mind, Katie? What makes you think I’d ever be interested in her? I’m not blind!” 2. Anthony was so furious that the veins on his forehead were bulging. Just then, Katie’s fluffy chow chow waddled into the crowd, its tail wagging. Katie scooped up the dog and kissed its head affectionately. “Aww, tell Daddy not to be mad anymore. It’s his birthday—he should be happy!” Daddy? Wait, wasn’t that Katie’s dog? And just like that, it all clicked. Anthony had already become the daddy of Katie’s dog. “Come here, Coco,” Anthony said, his anger melting away as he patted the dog’s head gently. So that’s how it was. Anthony treated me worse than a dog. The next thing I saw made my blood boil—he took the protection charm I had painstakingly climbed a mountain to get for him and tied it around the dog’s neck. “Here, you can play with this,” he said casually. “Whoa, Anthony! You just gave your little fangirl’s gift to the dog! She’s gonna lose her mind, man!” one of his friends jeered, laughing hysterically. They weren’t wrong. I was losing my mind. I had sweated and struggled to climb that mountain for hours to get that charm. And now? He’d just turned it into a toy for Katie’s dog. I felt both angry and heartbroken. Sure, I was chasing Anthony because of the beauty system, but my feelings for him had been real. But this? This was like stomping on my pride and grinding it into the dirt. Sure, I wasn’t beautiful, but I had dignity. If Anthony saw me as nothing more than a joke, then why should I waste another second chasing after him? As laughter erupted around me, I stormed out, slamming the door behind me. “She’ll come back,” one of Anthony’s friends said, snickering. “She’s just a little lapdog—give her half an hour, tops.” But they were wrong. That was the moment I decided I would never like Anthony again. He had let me stay in his life, allowed me to orbit around him—not because he appreciated me, but because I was convenient. I wasn’t a person to him. I was a tool. And I’d been stupid enough to let myself believe otherwise. I had thrown him a birthday party. I had bought him a thoughtful gift. I had even confessed my feelings to him in front of everyone. And all I’d gotten in return was humiliation. Katie’s laughter rang out behind me, sharp and grating. Katie Harper—the transfer student who had turned everything upside down from the moment she arrived. Her striking features and hourglass figure had caused quite the stir. With her long, flowing hair and perfectly styled makeup, she had quickly become the girl everyone wanted to be—or be with. Anthony had been distant ever since she showed up. Before she came, he’d still let me hang around his group. I’d run errands for him, but he’d let me stick around and join their conversations. Back then, I’d convinced myself that Anthony wasn’t shallow. That he wasn’t just about looks. After all, he had stood up for me once. When classmates mocked my appearance, Anthony had spoken out. “Do you seriously think it’s funny to bully someone over how they look?” It was Anthony who had pulled me out of a humiliating situation, who had taken me to the nurse’s office after I’d been pushed down and pepper-sprayed by a group of bullies. “Don’t be scared,” he had said at the time, his tone firm but kind. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” That Anthony had given me hope. He had made me believe that maybe, just maybe, I could win him over. But Katie’s arrival had changed everything. 3. I had officially become a full-time errand girl. Anthony didn’t let me linger around him anymore, nor did he invite me to hang out like he used to. He’d make me deliver an umbrella to the basketball court in the middle of a downpour but wouldn’t let me stay and grab dinner with his buddies. He’d have me take my neatly organized class notes to him but wouldn’t ask me to study with him. The teasing from classmates got worse: “Chloe, don’t tell me you actually think Anthony likes you?” “Only someone like Katie—gorgeous, popular, flawless—could ever match him. Give up already.” But I refused to believe them. I stubbornly continued to treat him well. “Chloe, can you grab some cold medicine from the nurse’s office?” I saw Anthony’s message and thought he was sick. Without hesitating, I sprinted to the nurse’s office and bought the medicine. Then I hurried to his classroom to deliver it. “Well, well, Anthony, your little errand girl is here again,” one of his friends jeered. Anthony barely raised an eyebrow as he took the medicine from my hands. “Are you sick, Anthony? Is it serious?” I asked, concerned. His friends burst into laughter. “Anthony, did you hear that? Your little assistant really cares about you!” But Anthony didn’t even acknowledge me. He calmly poured the medicine into a cup, filled it with steaming hot water, and walked out the door. I stood there, stunned, watching him head straight to another classroom—the one Katie was in. “Katie, here, drink this,” he said, handing her the cup. My heart dropped. Anthony wasn’t sick. He’d sent me to get the medicine just so he could give it to her. “Anthony, how could you? I thought you weren’t feeling well…” Katie glanced between Anthony and me, then smiled sweetly. “Oh, Chloe, you got this for me? Thank you so much!” Wait. What? Why was she thanking me? What was their relationship? “Chloe,” Anthony snapped, annoyed, “it’s just some medicine. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?” He rolled his eyes, speaking to me in a tone he never used with Katie. I felt a lump in my throat. He really did like her, didn’t he? “System,” I whispered in my mind, “it looks like Anthony has fallen for Katie…” “Host, would you like to explore an alternative path to becoming beautiful?” I hesitated, unsure of what to do. I trudged back to my own classroom, feeling defeated. As I passed by a window, I caught a reflection of myself. Small eyes, flat nose, protruding mouth, and a wide face. I was hideous. So, that’s why Anthony liked Katie. Because she was pretty. But if he liked me, I’d become beautiful overnight. You see, I wasn’t just an ordinary girl. I was bound to a beauty system. The system had told me there were two paths to becoming beautiful: Win Anthony’s heart. Become a straight-A student. Naturally, I chose the first option. Who wants to bury their head in books when they can chase love instead? Anthony wasn’t just any guy. He was the most handsome guy at school—tall, athletic, charming, and from a well-off family. Most importantly, he’d never mocked me. In fact, he’d once stood up for me. I still remember that day vividly. A group of mean girls had shoved me to the ground and sprayed chili water into my eyes. Anthony had stepped in, pulled me up, and taken me to the nurse’s office. “Making fun of someone’s looks? Real classy,” he’d scolded them. “Don’t worry,” he’d told me, his voice low and comforting. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” 4. His voice was so deep, so soothing, that I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. So when the beauty system appeared, I was overjoyed. It felt like the universe was giving me permission to like Anthony. To become beautiful for the one I loved—it sounded so romantic. Without hesitation, I chose the first path. I’d even daydreamed about the moment Anthony and I got together. Would he be surprised when he realized I’d transformed into a stunning beauty? Would he be happy? But now, after more than a year of chasing him, I’d gotten nowhere. Despite everything I’d done, the system’s progress bar for my beauty hadn’t budged an inch. It was clear—I needed a new strategy. Why waste my time pining after someone who didn’t care about me? Why not aim for something bigger, something better? Like getting into one of the top universities in the country? I summoned the system. “I want to change my approach. I’ll choose the second option.” “Understood. Host has selected the academic path to beauty. If your test scores improve by 30 ranks next month, you’ll receive 10 beauty points.” With a new goal in mind, I felt a surge of motivation. “Study hard, become a straight-A student, and transform into a beauty—let’s go!” When the new week began, I threw myself into my studies. I highlighted anything I didn’t understand and stayed after class to ask the teachers questions. I used every free moment to study, staying glued to my desk during breaks. Anthony and I weren’t even in the same class. If I didn’t go out of my way to see him, we’d have no interaction at all. Maybe he noticed something was off because, after gym class one day, he cornered me in the hallway. “Why haven’t I seen you around lately? Are you mad at me?” he asked. I ignored him. Anthony shifted awkwardly. “Look, what I said on my birthday was harsh, but you have to admit, you were out of line.” Out of line? All I’d done was confess my feelings. Was that really so terrible? I guess it was, if the person on the receiving end didn’t like you. But I didn’t care anymore. Anthony, seeing that I wasn’t responding, started giving me orders again. “I’ve got a basketball game tomorrow. Make sure to bring water and tissues for the whole team.” And with that, he walked off without waiting for my answer. But there was no way I’d do it. I had no time for that nonsense anymore. My focus was on studying now. If I worked hard, I could become both a top student and a beauty. Why hadn’t I realized sooner how great this deal was? Anthony? He could go to hell. 5. The next afternoon, during club activity time, I was still glued to my seat, working through practice problems like a monk in meditation. “Chloe, aren’t you going to watch Anthony’s game today?” my desk mate whispered. I shook my head. “No. I’m done. I won’t be going anymore.” By the time I finished another worksheet, most of the classroom had emptied out. From the open-air basketball court below, I could hear the roar of the crowd, cheers erupting every now and then. But none of that mattered to me anymore. The girl who sat behind me was the top student in class. She was still at her desk, quietly working on her assignments. I glanced at her, then at the blank questions on my own worksheet. “Hey, genius, mind helping me out with this one?” I asked, forcing myself to sound casual. I braced for sarcasm or a snide remark, but none came. She simply took my paper, scanned the question, and began explaining in a calm, gentle voice. To her, I was just another classmate—no different from anyone else in the room. When she finished, I finally understood the problem. It hit me then: connecting with people wasn’t as hard as I’d made it out to be. Not everyone cared about how I looked or judged me for it. So why should I care so much? For the first time, I started enjoying studying. Just as I was diving back into my work, my phone buzzed with a new message. It was Anthony. “Where are you?” I wasn’t planning on watching his game, but I couldn’t let them go thirsty because of me. “I’m not coming. Ask someone else to grab water for you,” I replied. With that, I turned off my phone and dove back into my sea of practice problems. When the monthly exams rolled around, I hit my goal and jumped 30 spots in the rankings. “Congratulations, Host! You’ve earned +10 Beauty Points. Current Beauty Score: 15.” Wow. That’s when I realized: my starting beauty score had been a measly 5. After the system announcement, I rushed to the bathroom to check my reflection. Was it just me, or did my skin look a little less sallow? I even seemed a bit slimmer. “Host, if you improve by another 50 ranks in the next exam, you’ll earn 15 more Beauty Points.” Another 50 ranks? That would put me in the top 100! It sounded tough, but I couldn’t back down now. I doubled down on my studies, using every spare moment—even lunch breaks and bathroom trips—to memorize vocabulary and history facts. “Chloe has made remarkable progress this time. Everyone should take inspiration from her,” my homeroom teacher announced proudly after handing back the test results. It was the first time I’d ever been publicly praised like this. The feeling was… indescribable. I was still basking in the glow of those words when I bumped into Anthony on the stairs. “Chloe, looks like you’ve grown a backbone, huh? Skipping my game and even blocking me?” Anthony said, a smirk playing on his lips.
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