A Permanent Loss for a Temporary Role

I didn't even bother looking up.

"First of all, who's stalking you? I'm here to report for duty. Second, did you even pass your exam?"

Without me watching him this time, Derrick had spent the past few weeks running around with Cassandra, completely indulging himself. Unsurprisingly, he bombed the exam, landed dead last, and didn't even make it to the interview.

"You—" Derrick's face flickered with anger.

"Stop pretending! This department only hired one person this year. What are you even reporting for? Are you losing your mind because you didn't pass?"

Cassandra looked apologetic.

"Yvette, I'm sorry. I know you've been preparing for three years, so it couldn't have been easy. I barely prepared and still passed…"

"That's enough! You don't get to cheat your way to success. What did Cassandra do wrong? By being smarter than you?"

I watched the two of them play their pathetic act with a neutral expression.

This time, Cassandra seemed serious. She even brought along an assistant to help with her livestream and video editing.

She turned back to explain to the livestream audience, "Everyone, don't be too hard on her. She studied for three years and didn't pass. She's just not taking it well. She really tried."

As she spoke, she subtly angled the camera toward me.

Derrick sneered. "Did her best? Three years of preparation, and she scored 38. That's what you call effort?

"I won't even bother arguing with someone who cheated to get such a low score!"

A score of 38? Cheating?

That had been Cassandra's score in her past life. It looked like she hadn't just swapped our exam scores. She had pinned her results on me and even labeled me as the cheater.

I lowered my head, forcing myself not to laugh.

The chat went wild. "Cheated and still got 38? You'd do better stepping on the answer sheet."

"Three years of prep for that score? I'd crawl into a hole and disappear. How do you even have the nerve to live?"

"How can someone this useless even claim the post? She doesn't have half the brains of a regular streamer."

Cassandra's eyes sparkled with a mix of smugness and mock pity. "Looks like civil service exams really do come down to talent.

"I didn't expect to pass after just thirty days of prep. You studied for three years and still ended up like this.

"But no matter what, cheating is crossing the line. That kind of stain stays on your record for life."

I met her gaze steadily. "You know very well this score isn't mine. I didn't cheat."

Derrick couldn't take it anymore. "Keep arguing all you want, but once the investigation is done, you'll be banned from exams for life!"

Just then, a staff member peeked out from the office, curious.

"Who's here to report today?"

"Me!" Cassandra and I both answered simultaneously.

The staff member checked the form in his hand, frowning.

"There's only one on the list, called…"

"Cassandra Lindth," Cassandra answered loudly, beaming with pride.

As she walked past me, she whispered, "Honestly? No matter how hard you studied for three years, I only had to pay the price, and it became mine. You might as well accept your 38 marks and the consequences of cheating."

I spoke calmly, "Accept what? That score isn't mine."

Cassandra looked at me with mock pity. "Even if you don't admit it, who's going to believe you? People will just think you're making excuses…"

I put on an innocent face. "But I didn't even take the exam!"

"What?" Cassandra's eyes went wide, a bad feeling washing over her. "Impossible… This post…"

A small smile tugged at my lips. "Congratulations. You paid a huge price, and all you got was a temporary three-month job."