My Bright New Life Chapter 1

To save Alfred Moran, who had been diagnosed with cancer, I bound myself to a "Pain Transfer System."

All the suffering he endured would be transferred to me.

For three years, he thrived, his career soared, and he became a celebrated new titan of industry.

Meanwhile, I became what he called a "frail little thing who gets winded after a few steps and blown over by a breeze."

He grew increasingly fed up with me. Finally, the day he secured a billion-dollar project, he brought home his childhood sweetheart.

“Lilith Winters, let’s break up. I’m sick of your half-dead appearance.”

“Look at you, always on medication or lying around, utterly useless!”

I nodded, my voice soft. “Alright.”

【Ding! Binding severed. Three years of accumulated pain now being processed.】

Alfred instantly collapsed, letting out a horrific scream, his body contorting like a shrimp.

A shimmering screen, visible only to us, unfurled before him.

【1095 days of late-stage bone cancer pain, fully returned.】

【Host Lilith Winters, you have received the entirety of his life force. Wishing you good health.】

* * *

The icy mechanical voice echoed in my mind. The next second, Alfred’s handsome face, previously etched with impatience and disgust, twisted into a grotesque mask of agony.

He fell straight to his knees, his forehead slamming against the polished floor with a dull, sickening thud.

“Ah—!”

A shriek, utterly inhuman, tore from his throat, ripping through the air.

He curled into a ball, convulsing and contorting like a shrimp tossed into boiling oil, veins bulging from his neck all the way to his temples, threatening to burst.

“Alfred! What’s wrong? Alfred!”

Vivian Summers’ face went ashen. She screamed, lunging to help him, but his flailing arm violently shoved her away, sending her sprawling.

“Get away! Don’t touch me!” Alfred’s eyes were bloodshot, sweat instantly soaking his expensive bespoke suit. “It hurts…it hurts so much! My bones…my bones are breaking!”

I stood my ground, watching him with detached indifference.

For three years, this bone-deep agony—every single second feeling like countless red-hot needles churning in my marrow—had been my daily reality.

To spare him worry, I never cried out. Instead, I’d bite my lips till they were bloodless, in corners where he couldn't see.

Now, I felt an unprecedented lightness.

That cold, incessant ache that had plagued my body day and night receded like a tide, leaving behind a refreshing void. I could even distinctly feel a warm, vital energy flooding into my body, nourishing every muscle and bone.

I tried taking a deep breath; no longer did my lungs burn with a searing pain. The air was crisp and clean.

I flexed my wrist; my joints no longer creaked with that teeth-grinding crunch. They moved with fluid grace.

I was healthy.

A shimmering, ethereal blue screen, visible only to Alfred and me, slowly unfolded before him.

【1095 days of late-stage bone cancer pain, fully returned.】

【Host Lilith Winters, you have received the entirety of his life force. Wishing you good health.】

Alfred’s pupils contracted sharply. He stared fixedly at the text, then snapped his head up to look at me, his eyes wide with an incomprehensible terror.

“It’s…it’s you, Lilith! What have you done to me?!” He spat the words through clenched teeth, his voice trembling uncontrollably, laced with desperate fear.

Vivian scrambled over, tears streaming down her face as she shielded Alfred. She wailed at me, “Lilith! I know you hate me, hate Alfred for choosing me! But how could you use such wicked magic to hurt him! Stop it! Please, I beg you!”

She turned to Alfred, weeping melodramatically, “Alfred, bear with it, I’ll call an ambulance right away! It’s all my fault; if I hadn’t come back, Lilith wouldn’t have done this out of jealousy…”

What a grand performance from such a manipulative hypocrite.

I looked down at them—one writhing and howling on the floor, the other feigning tears and taking false responsibility.

The scene was funnier than any comedy, laced with bitter irony.

I chuckled softly, flexing my long-dormant, now powerful ankles. My whole body felt alive again.

“Alfred, this isn’t magic. This is science.”

“It’s your own cancer cells, saying hello.”

“Can…cancer cells?” Alfred froze, the color draining completely from his face, leaving him pale and terrified. “You’re talking nonsense! I was cured three years ago! My medical reports were all clear!”

“Yes, all clear. Because all your cancer cells, all your pain, were transferred to me.”

“Your three years of success and vitality? You built them on my broken bones.”

“And you’re right, I was pretty useless for those three years.”

I straightened up, surveying the apartment I had personally decorated, now destined for a new owner. The air held a faint, undefinable scent of decay.

“Now, this ‘useless’ me, I’m done playing your game.”

Alfred’s mind seemed to have shut down. He just stared at me, his lips moving, but no words came out, as if he were frozen.

Vivian continued to shriek, “You maniac! You psycho! Alfred is perfectly healthy! You’re just jealous! You evil woman!”

I couldn't be bothered with them anymore. I turned and walked to the door.

“Lilith! Stop!” Alfred shrieked with all his might, his voice hoarse and desperate. “Explain yourself! What do you mean ‘transferred’? Get back here!”

I didn’t look back.

I opened the door, closed it, and completely shut out the screams and cries of that pathetic duo, as if sealing away a nightmare.

Stepping out of the apartment building, the cool night breeze caressed my face, but I felt an immense warmth and freedom, like being reborn.

Finally, I was no longer the sickly wretch whose every breath was agony.