Nouvelles Independence Imagination & Romans System

Timothy Grayson has been frail and sickly since childhood, yet he dreams of fighting on the front lines. I ask the system to strengthen his life force, and the price is that we exchange each other's pain and wound. From then on, Timothy fights without fear, knowing someone else is bearing the pain for him. With every battle, he grows bolder and earns countless military honors. For three years, I bear every bit of his pain alone. Every time a stray arrow pierces him in battle, the pain is so intense that I nearly bite through my own tongue. Meanwhile, the only pain Timothy ever gets from me is a dull ache in his lower abdomen for a few days each month and the occasional headache or fever. I accept it all. But after meeting Sarah Tucker, Timothy grows increasingly reckless. Fearing she'd get caught in the rain, he drapes his coat over her. Yet, I spend the entire night suffering through a bone-deep chill. Sarah is afraid of the dark, so Timothy ventures into a fever swamp to find her a luminous gem. I spend the next three days bedridden, coughing up black blood in his place. Even after returning home victorious from war, the first thing Timothy says to me is, "Ana, you've endured three years of suffering in my place. I'll never forget what you've done for me. But Sarah is the woman I love. I could never ask her to be my mistress." That's when I hear the system's voice for the first time in a long while. It says, "Loss of hope detected. Once the death condition is triggered, you may return to the real world." I nod without a word. From then on, Timothy and I go our separate ways.

My best friend, Eleanor Clark, and I both get transported into an ancient world. After completing our system task to help the regent take the throne, the system whisks me back to the real world. Eleanor, however, chooses to stay behind with the regent. [Isabel, theoretically the system cannot interfere once a task is complete, but your friend Eleanor has gone missing. Can you go back one more time?] My chest tightens, and I agree to the system's request immediately. Disguised as a palace maid, I catch sight of Eleanor from afar, looking blissfully happy as she holds a child. Relieved, I decide not to disturb her and head back to the teleport point to report to the system. As I pass the old city gate, I spot a woman's corpse hanging high on the wall. Every inch of her skin has been flayed away, and her face has been completely disfigured. Even her blood has run dry. Driven by caution, I look closer. Her pelvis is dislocated. It is obvious that she was brutally tortured before she died. As I scan the contours of her face, I feel a sudden sense of familiarity. Dread creeps over me. My eyes drop to her right hand, where the pinky finger has been severed. My blood turns to ice. Her frame matches Eleanor's perfectly. If this corpse is… Then who is the empress sitting beside the emperor that day?

"Congratulations, Cynthia. You have completed ninety-nine tasks for Gregory Evans. Complete the final one, and you will successfully return to your original world and resurrect your beloved, Grayson Perez." The system's cold, mechanical voice echoed through my mind. My heart clenched violently, and a sudden mist clouded my eyes. Five years. I'd been waiting for this moment—five whole years. I don't belong here. In my world, I should have been walking down the aisle with the one who'd been by my side since childhood. But on the eve of our wedding, we were in a car crash—Grayson shielded me first. I walked away without a scratch. He died on the spot. I was drowning in despair, barely holding on, until I stumbled into binding with a system. It pulled me into this world and gave me a chance to bring Grayson back. The mission: do one hundred things for Gregory, New York's golden heir. Complete them all, and I'd go home to my world—and to him. Now. One last thing to do. And then it would all be over.

As purebred humans, my sister Lily and I arrived on the Beastman Continent with the Breeding System, meant to help the beastmen breed and secure their future.. The system offered two talent trees for us to choose from. Lily hated the idea of pregnancy, so she jumped first and picked the low-tier talent: Surrogacy. I got stuck with the high-tier one: Litter of Many. We ended up mated to the wolf alpha and the tiger alpha, respectively. Lily had a wandering heart and secretly slept around with all kinds of beastmen behind closed doors. But she was terrified that getting pregnant would expose her affairs, so she kept using her Surrogacy talent on me. Over and over again, I was forced to birth litter after litter of low-grade beast pups. The whole continent was buzzing with rumors about me—that I'd spread my legs for anyone. My so-called mate, the wolf alpha Tyron wouldn't listen to a word I said. He called me cheap, a slut, a whore. Every time I gave birth, he'd kill the pups. In the end, I was tortured to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the system was activated.

On the third day of our captivity in the abandoned cannery, Adrian finally found me with his private security team. I clutched five-year-old Leah in my arms and stumbled toward the light. My coat had long since been torn to shreds, the soles of my feet were mangled by broken glass, and Leah curled against my chest, burning up with fever. Vera looked relieved to see me alive, but then suddenly turned and walked toward the kidnappers. "Vera, come back!" My voice was already hoarse from screaming. "They won't keep their word even after they get the money. Leah still has a fever. We need to call the police and get her to a hospital!" Adrian wrapped his arms around me from behind, his voice almost breaking. "They added a last-minute condition. They won't release you and Leah unless another woman stays behind. Vera volunteered to trade herself for your freedom." Several masked men shoved Vera into an SUV. Through the window, she gave me a reassuring smile before the door slammed shut. I ran after them screaming, but my legs gave out and I fell into the mud. Adrian barely glanced back at me before ordering the driver, "Take Elena to the hospital. I'll bring Vera back." I clutched Leah to me, on my knees in the cold wind, haunted by the beatings, threats, and darkness of the past three days. I couldn't bear to imagine what Vera would suffer in my place. Leah suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, "Mommy, I heard Daddy's thoughts again. "He said the show is finally over. Now Vera can be the real Mrs. Cole without feeling like she owes you anything." So the kidnapping was real. The injuries were real. Only the so-called rescue and exchange were fake. I coughed up blood, and over Leah's terrified cries, I heard a mechanical voice I hadn't heard in ten years. [Host, do you wish to abandon your original world and remain permanently in the current world?]