After Changing My Luck, I Became A Winner In Life!

If Vanessa had entered the foster home earlier or taken the time to get to know people, she would've figured out that I was the infamous "unlucky one" in the group. Maybe then she wouldn't have envied my "good luck" and chosen to swap with me.

I was five when I was sent to the foster home. From the day I was born, everyone in the village called me a "jinx" and wouldn't even let me step into their homes. They claimed that while my mom was pregnant, a passing fortune teller warned her that the child she was carrying had a cursed fate, doomed to bring bad luck to everyone, including herself. My mom didn't believe it and insisted on giving birth to me.

When I was just three months old, my dad developed a gambling addiction. Within a month, he'd lost everything we had. After that, he started drinking heavily, and whenever he lost at gambling, he'd take out his frustrations on my mom. When I was three, he beat her to death in a drunken rage. He went into hiding for a week but was eventually caught by the police. Everyone said that both my mom and dad were ruined because of me, the "jinx."

My grandmother didn't believe it, so she took me in. But within two years, she had a sudden heart attack and collapsed in the garden, never waking up again. My uncles thought I was bad luck and wouldn't even let me attend her funeral. They dumped me at the foster home and warned me not to tell anyone I was related to them.

I guess losing all my luck sharpened my memory because I can still recall everything that happened before I turned five. But I told everyone at the foster home that I didn't remember who I was or where I came from.

Even after I got to the foster home, my streak of bad luck continued. While everyone sat under a tree enjoying the breeze, a stray dog would randomly charge at me; freshly laundered clothes would get blown away, but it only happened to mine; when gifts were handed out, mine would either be broken or nonexistent. And let's not even talk about the countless falls and shattered dishes. The kids at the foster home often called me the "unlucky one." But after teasing me, they'd always share their clothes and toys with me and help me solve any problems. At Mercy Foster Home, we were like one big family.

Vanessa, however, saw things differently. She arrived at nine, and people said she'd come from a well-off family. From the moment she stepped foot into the foster home, she carried herself like she was above everyone else. She didn't play with us and even kept her distance at school. The only time she got close to us was on her tenth birthday, when she gave Amber a hairpin and took her luck in return.

That day, I also got something—a "leeching system." It told me I could siphon off the luck from the host of the "luck swap system." But, just like Vanessa's system had its conditions, mine came with strings attached, too. I had to stay within 300 feet of the host—Vanessa—the closer, the better.

Thanks to the luck I leeched, I finally started to turn my fortunes around. To stay within Vanessa's range, I studied hard, getting into the same high school and later the same college as her. After graduation, I stayed in New York to maintain the "best friend" façade.

It's thanks to her that I escaped my cursed fate. If she hadn't set her sights on me, I probably would've continued trailing behind her, quietly leeching enough luck to stay balanced.

But, unfortunately… there were no "ifs" in life.