Chapter 3

"System! Get your ass out here! In my previous life, didn't you show up around this time? Now you're hiding from me, huh? Do you even want me to complete your mission anymore?" Suzy growled under her breath.

This version of Suzy was nothing like the obedient, well-behaved girl I remembered. Maybe there was no point questioning it anymore. A person's true nature was often obvious from the way they spoke.

Still, one thing puzzled me. Logically, the system had already bound itself to me and was pushing me to pursue Jonathan. Suzy shouldn't have known it even existed. So why was she talking to it as though it were standing right in front of her?

"Host, because your soul's resentment was too strong in your previous life, the mission was forcibly terminated. The main system had no choice but to reset everything and start over.

"Because of that, I switched hosts. However, since she was the chosen target in your previous life, her memories couldn't be erased. In a sense, she also returned with memories of her past life."

After hearing the system's explanation, I finally understood. I pressed my lips together and said nothing.

My parents spotted me and froze for a moment before hurrying over.

"Abby, why are you still standing here instead of going to bed? It's so late."

Seeing them safe and unharmed made my eyes sting with tears. They were still all right.

Dad hadn't become the sloppy man who reeked of alcohol after years of drinking. He still looked like the neat, capable middle-aged man I remembered.

Mom hadn't developed dark circles or a gambling addiction after countless nights at the tables. Right now, she was still the stunning biracial beauty she had always been.

Mom noticed something was wrong and pulled me into her arms. "What's wrong, sweetheart? We were just checking on you. Are you upset?"

She reached out, ready to see if I was all right.

The moment she came closer, I wrapped my arms around her. I was going to protect my parents no matter what. What happened in my previous life would never happen again.

"Nothing. I just wanted to hug you and Dad," I mumbled.

I couldn't tell my parents what had happened in my previous life, so I would have to protect them on my own.

"You're all grown up. Why are you still acting like a little kid?" Dad said, but he had already walked over and let me hug him too.

Their embrace filled my heart with warmth. My parents had never been wealthy, but before the system twisted their lives, they had loved me deeply. They had always been kind, understanding parents who listened to their child.

At that moment, I made up my mind. I would do everything I could to protect them.

Meanwhile, Suzy desperately called for the system while plotting how to win Jonathan over.

I didn't care about any of that. I was only a sophomore in high school. Without the system, I shouldn't suddenly develop a mental illness. Before anything else, I needed to focus on my studies. Good grades were my only chance at a better future.

I threw myself into studying with a renewed sense of urgency, determined to rebuild the knowledge I had lost from my previous life.

Even though I had spent the last few years in an unstable mental state, my mind was young and healthy again. If I worked hard enough, I could return to my previous academic level.

I barely had time to feel relieved before I discovered something that filled me with rage.

It happened on Friday.

When I got home from school, I saw Suzy standing in front of Dad with a bottle of hard liquor in her hands.