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Chapter 3

Author: Jellyfish
I rushed forward, gripping his wrist tight. The eraser tumbled to the floor, clattering.

"Why?"

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

"I saved enough... I saved enough, didn't I?!"

Dad shook off my grip and straightened his collar.

"Patrick is really unhappy, you can see that too. As the elder sister, you should give way to your younger brother." He pointed at Patrick still writhing on the floor.

"If you make him happy, the family will be harmonious, and everything will be fine."

I trembled as I held up the crumpled flyer for the Olympiad math class.

"But they're my points! I earned them by washing thousands of dishes and getting first place! What about my wish?"

Dad frowned, looking irritated.

"You're siblings. Your points are your brother's points too! I'm the head of the household, so I have the right to adjust the points."

What a convenient "adjustment."

Esther stopped crying.

She pulled Patrick up, wiped his tears, and said with a smile, "Oh dear, Myra is such a kind elder sister. She really knows how to care for her younger brother. Patrick, hurry up and thank your sister for giving you the points to buy the shoes."

As soon as Patrick heard that, he immediately stopped wailing.

He stuck his tongue out at me and said, "Thanks, points-printing machine!"

I laughed at my own stupidity.

I actually believed that there was fairness in this family.

I thought that as long as I was obedient and worked hard, I could earn a little bit of love.

I slammed that flyer on the table like a madwoman.

"I won't accept this! You have to use the money for my registration fee! Those are the rules! The rules you set!"

Dad was stunned at first, then flew into a rage.

He grabbed the flyer.

"How dare you! How dare you slam the table!"

Riiiip.

The sound was crisp and piercing.

The flyer was torn in half, then into quarters, then into eighths...

Finally, it became a pile of scraps, which he threw in my face.

"In this house, I'm the law! You must have become stupid from studying too much! You're selfish and unwilling to show any family love! Keep this up, and I'll deduct a thousand points! You'll never be in the positive again!"

The paper scraps floated to the floor.

My world went silent.

Dad's shouting, Patrick's cheers, Esther's hypocritical attempts to mediate – they all faded into the distance.

My points, gone.

Fatherly love, gone.

My future, gone.

I stared at my father.

He was still going on and on, talking about "being mature" and "seeing the bigger picture."

I suddenly found him really pathetic.

And disgusting.

"You don't have to deduct the points," I said softly.

Dad didn't hear me clearly. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I said, you don't have to deduct the points."

I turned around and walked to the balcony.

"Where are you going? Come back here and reflect on what you've done! No dinner for you tonight!" Dad yelled behind me.

I wasn't going to have dinner anyway.

I didn't have to wash dishes anymore either.

I didn't have to mop the floor while I'm suffering from period cramps, put up with Patrick's footprints, or listen to Esther's snide remarks anymore.

I didn't have to stare at that accursed whiteboard, calculating how many more points I needed to earn to live like a human being anymore.

The wind on the balcony dried the tears on my face.

It was the 18th floor.

What a beautiful view.

I climbed onto the railing.

Behind me, I heard Patrick scream, "Dad, she's climbing the railing! She's trying to scare us into giving her points!"

Dad snorted. "Ignore her! If she dares, let her jump! Spoiled brat!"

Yeah.

I'm spoiled.

Spoiled by your cold-bloodedness and cruelty.

I didn't need points anymore.

I just wanted to see if a world without points was really free.

I let go.

My body leaned forward.

The wind howled in my ears.

In my next life, I don't want to be anyone's daughter anymore.

And I'm never studying math again, either.

It's too tiring.

BAM!
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  • My Father's Point-Based Game   Chapter 10

    I did not forgive him.I felt no hate, no resentment, not even the pleasure of revenge.Only emptiness.What use was the pair of shoes to me now? I couldn't wear them anymore.What use was an apology now? I couldn't come back to life.What I wanted was just a bit of fairness, even once, in that suffocating home.I wanted to hear him say, "You're the elder sister, but you're also a child."I wanted to hear him say, "The points will not be deducted this time, take a rest because you're sick."I wanted to hear him say, "Patrick was wrong and deserves punishment."But he never said any of that, not even once.His remorse now was merely a placebo for making himself feel a little better in the latter half of his life.He wanted to use those shoes to bury every nightmare that haunted him in the midnight hours.Dream on.Some things, once reset, would remain zero forever.Gary continued to cry."Myra… please, just look at me?"No, I don't.I never will.The sun broke through

  • My Father's Point-Based Game   Chapter 9

    The house was dead.Esther was a smart woman. She emptied the house the same way she filled it before. She left with my useless brother. Before leaving, she took everything that could be sold for money, even the bags of unopened oatmeal.Dad was the only one left on the 18th floor.He had lost his job. No one dared to employ a madman who forced his daughter to death, especially if the madman would randomly take out a pen and draw on the wall.I floated on the ceiling, watching him roam the house.His crisp white shirt was now wrinkled and hanging on his body, the collar full of oil stains.He tightly held a marker in his hand.It was my pen.The red pen I used to do math problems with now became his judge's gavel.Whoosh!The pen tip scratched against the wall."Myra, +100 points."He wrote this line tremblingly while muttering it.Then, under that line, he drew a long line."Dad, -100 points. Dad is bad. Dad deserves to die. -1000 points. -10,000 points."When there was

  • My Father's Point-Based Game   Chapter 8

    Dad went insane.He started hallucinating.He always felt that I was hiding in some corner of the house, holding a pen, waiting to give him points.He started forcing himself to live according to the points system.But he reversed the rules.Before, it was rewards. Now, it was all punishment.If he woke up late in the morning, he would slap himself. "Lazy, -10 points."If he dropped food while eating, he would poke his thigh with a needle. "Wasting food, -20 points."If he remembered a harsh thing he used to say to me, he would cut a line on his arm. "Hurting people with words, -50 points."Before long, his body was covered in scars, new ones added before the old ones had healed.He lost so much weight his eye sockets became sunken.He saw me in his dreams.I was no longer a timid little girl.I was wearing the bloodstained school uniform, holding a huge red pen, standing in front of a whiteboard."Dad, your points are in the negative now."I pointed to the shocking red

  • My Father's Point-Based Game   Chapter 7

    The neighbors snapped a photo of the "family point system" and posted it in the residents' group chat.Then, it got shared on TikTok and X.The headline was: "A Stepfather's 'Number Education': Using Points to Drive A 17-Year-Old Girl to Death."In the photos, the whiteboard covered in pluses and minuses became ironclad proof of child abuse.The writing was still fresh on the line: "Leaving home without permission, -500 points".It became a hot topic on the internet.The netizens' fury drowned Dad.His workplace was doxxed, and his phone was bombarded with calls.His picture was turned into a memorial portrait and plastered at the entrance of the apartment complex.Some people sent him death threats, while others splashed red paint on his front door.The virtuous and kind Esther finally showed her true colors.When the police came to take statements, she cried buckets."Officer, I'm just her stepmom, how would I dare to interfere? Gary made all the rules. He said it was to

  • My Father's Point-Based Game   Chapter 6

    Dad was led downstairs by two police officers.The numbers in the elevator counted down one by one.18, 17, 16...With every digit that dropped, Dad's legs shook even harder due to fear.He was afraid to face the outcome, afraid to face the public's scrutiny.Esther made an excuse that she had to stay with Patrick and locked the door tightly.A cordon had been set up downstairs.The murmur of the crowd reached my ears."I heard she jumped because of a pair of shoes.""That guy looks like a decent man. I can't believe he's so cruel to his own daughter.""What a tragedy. That girl had always been well-behaved. She always smiled at people."Dad's head was lowered even further, wishing he could shrink into the ground.The police led him to the white sheet."Prepare yourself."After saying that, an officer lifted the corner of the white sheet to reveal my face.Actually, the sight wasn't too gruesome, because I landed on my back.My face was pale, my eyes were closed, and th

  • My Father's Point-Based Game   Chapter 5

    The more Dad thought about the phone call, the angrier he became."No, this won't do. I have to drag her out. This kind of prank must be severely punished!"He stood up and strode toward my room.Esther fanned the flames from behind, speaking in a sarcastic tone, "A lot of young people these days are spoiled. They'll even pretend to be the police to earn a few points. Gary, you have to deduct lots of points from her this time, or she'll do something even more terrible in the future.""You're right! I'll deduct 10,000 points! I'll make sure her points will never be in the positive again!"Dad kicked open my bedroom door."Myra! Get over here!"The door slammed against the wall with a loud bang.The long lecture he had prepared got stuck in his throat when he saw the empty room.The room was neat and tidy.The blanket was folded neatly because points would be deducted if it wasn't folded well.The desk was clean because points would be deducted if I left things lying around.

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