Chapter 2

Even after death, I was still something they hated.

Before I realized it, tears were slipping down my face.

“Host, don’t cry.”

A cold, mechanical voice rang out behind me.

I turned and saw the System that had been with me through countless lonely days and nights. For the first time, it had taken a visible form.

A black cat stood in front of me.

Expressionless, it padded toward me and placed one small paw in my palm.

“You are good,” it said. “Very good. The failed bond was not your fault. Do not doubt yourself.”

“Reading Host’s memories... 1%... 50%...”

As the percentage climbed, the cat’s black fur grew lighter and lighter, as if one touch would make it disappear.

I froze. Then panic surged through me.

“System, what are you doing?

“Stop. Stop reading my memories. You’ll use up all your energy.”

The black cat floated into the air and brushed its face against my cheek.

“Host, they owe you a debt. It is time they paid it back.”

Then its body slowly turned transparent.

“Memory extraction complete.

“Memory Broadcast Protocol activated.”

Before I could tighten my fingers around its tiny paw, the last of its energy burned out.

It dissolved into a wisp of pale smoke and vanished without a trace.

With everything it had left, the System began broadcasting my memories.

The screen in the morgue went black.

When it lit up again, it was playing a memory from the year I turned ten.

Back then, I had been hiding behind a door.

In the small box at the lower left corner of the screen was my mother’s face in real time, every flicker of her reaction livestreamed for everyone to see.

“Mom, happy birthday.”

In the memory, I stepped out carefully from behind the door, holding a metal tin in both hands as I offered it to her with hopeful eyes.

My thoughts from that moment played in the background.

“I spent six months collecting bottles around the neighborhood. I saved every penny myself to buy this hand cream. Mom loves looking pretty. She’ll definitely like it.”

The System’s voice cut in without mercy.

“Host, we do not have time to waste on someone like her. She is not one of your bond targets. Her Affection Score will not help you survive.”

I smiled and argued back softly.

“But she’s my mom. She’s the person I love most.”

The System seemed to roll its eyes.

“Yes, yes. A mother who has never treated you like her daughter. A mother who looks at you with nothing but disgust. A mother who wishes you would just die.”

My mother was sitting at her vanity. She glanced at me coldly.

“What is that junk in your hands?”

I looked at her with nervous anticipation.

“It’s hand cream. I bought it with the money I saved from collecting bottles.”

Before I could finish, she slapped the tin out of my hands.

“You dug through trash cans and brought me garbage as a birthday gift?

“Natalie, you little curse. Are you trying to ruin my birthday? You bring bad luck everywhere you go.”

The carefully wrapped tin burst open on the floor.

A cheap tube of hand cream rolled out, along with a neatly folded test paper marked with a perfect score.

My mother glanced down at them.

Then her face twisted into an expression that said she had expected nothing better from me.

When she looked at me again, there was not a trace of warmth in her eyes.

Only hatred.

Only disgust.

“Go back where you belong. Today is my birthday. I don’t want to see that cursed face of yours.”

Her voice was cold enough to freeze me in place.

“Don’t bring your bad luck near me.”

I stared at the gift I had prepared so carefully, now scattered across the floor.

Tears filled my eyes, but I did not even dare make a sound.

“Host,” the System said in the memory, “I told you not to waste your heart on this vicious woman. She does not have one.”

“No!”

In the livestream box at the lower left corner, my mother suddenly screamed.

“That isn’t me!”

Her face was twisted with panic and rage.

“This has to be AI-generated. How could I ever be that kind of person?”