Historias cortas y novelas de Independence System

During a summer road trip, a sudden car crash occurred on the highway. My boyfriend and my sister lunged forward without hesitation, sheltering me behind their bodies. My body emerged uninjured, but shattered glass pierced through my eyes, leaving me permanently blind. Overwhelmed with guilt, they cared for my every need, vowing to serve as my eyes for the rest of their lives. Though I lost my sight, I still felt deeply blessed. As our wedding day drew near, I was unexpectedly bound with a vision restoration system. "Host's vision has been restored. If no one detects your recovery within three days, your eyesight will be restored. If anyone finds out, you will die instantly." Overjoyed, I accepted the terms. But right after I finished trying on my wedding gown, as my boyfriend was driving me home and stopped at a red light, he suddenly leaned back. My sister leaned forward naturally from the back seat, and the two of them locked lips.

I am the only princess of Hawkridge. The moment the Skyveil opened, every ruler in the known world started looking at me strangely. "Mara, come back to Frostmoor with me." King Ronan Blackwood stood with a cold blade in hand, his eyes rimmed red. "You swindled three shiploads of gold out of me. How exactly do you plan to repay it?" King Sebastian Redfield advanced on me, working the counters on his counting board. "You even lied about dying..." Crown Prince Adrian Locke coughed blood as he clamped a hand around my wrist. My skin crawled. I tightened my grip on the treasury sigil I'd just lifted out of a hidden drawer and got ready to run. Then the door closed with maddening calm. Regent Elias Crowell blocked me inside his study, his expression cool and his gaze sharp as a knife. "Your Highness." "Your romantic debts out there are nearly settled. Now let's settle the account for what you stole from me."

"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.

The school secretly introduces a new "bonus score for couples" rule for the SAT, but my boyfriend, who's the top student in our grade, and I overhear it. When I hear that couples can each get 100 bonus points, I joke, "Why don't we sign up and give it a shot?" However, he immediately refuses, all serious and righteous. "No, that wouldn't be fair to everyone else." After saying that, he hurries off without looking back. Feeling ashamed, I decide to apologize to him another day. But the next morning, he publicly announces our breakup in front of the entire class. Then he proudly declares that he is now dating my best friend, the girl at the bottom of the class. He says, "You're always second in the grade. You can get into a top university without even trying. But without those bonus points, she won't even qualify for a community college!" My best friend nestles into his arms. "I'm sorry. I know I stole your boyfriend, but I really need those extra points." I nod in approval and even lead the class in a round of applause, wishing them happiness together. Since my boyfriend left in such a hurry yesterday, he didn't hear the principal's next words. The new rule isn't about giving couples free bonus points. Their scores will be added together and then split equally between the two of them. I can't wait to see if that arrogant top student boyfriend of mine will still be laughing when he realizes his SAT score has to be split with my best friend, who can only manage a score of 400.

After finding out that I'm the illegitimate daughter of the richest man in town, Frank Gibson, I excitedly rush over to meet my biological father. But the moment I arrive at his mansion, I discover that 98 other illegitimate daughters are already lined up to claim him as their father. It turns out Frank's only son has died, and he now needs an heir for his trillion-dollar fortune. So, he gathers all his illegitimate daughters and plans to choose the strongest candidate through a competition. I know I don't stand a chance against the others. Just as I hang my head in disappointment and prepare to leave, a line of text suddenly appears before my eyes. "Don't go, darling! It's your mom. I'm the Queen of Hell, and I know how to help you win the competition. "Remember your arch-nemesis from the orphanage? She's one of Frank's illegitimate daughters too. If you leave, his entire fortune will fall into her hands." I whip around, and sure enough, I see my arch-nemesis, Sophia Carter. The moment I remember how she locked me in the pigsty ten years ago and stole my chance at being adopted, resentment surges through me. Because of her, I've suffered for another ten years. Fine. I'll listen to Mom. I'm staying. That trillion-dollar fortune is going to be mine!

On my wedding night, I find out my childhood sweetheart, Sean Clay, has a mistress who is highly fertile. She's already given him a son and a daughter. "My family line is dying out, and your health has always been fragile. Paige gets pregnant easily. With her around to take the pressure off, it'll be easier on both of us. As long as you don't make a fuss, I promise she'll never take your place." I can't believe what I'm hearing. I trash everything in the room and kick everyone out. Clutching my chest, I collapse in front of the bronze mirror, only for the glass to reflect me ten years into the future. The woman in the reflection is gaunt, her hair completely white. "I've already tried throwing a fit and divorcing him. It only led to mutual hatred and absolute ruin. Let me give you a piece of advice. Accept Paige. "She might be fertile, but most of her children won't survive past the age of five. The ones who do will end up mentally impaired." She taps the surface of the mirror, and a flood of unfamiliar memories rushes into my mind. When I come to, tears are streaming down my face. Looking at the aged face in the bronze mirror, I reach out to touch it. "I will save you. And I will save myself."

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?]

I had waited a month for Ascendant Group's college recruitment offer. When it finally arrived, Yvie Smith walked over arm in arm with another man while she smiled at me. "Carl, you should let Kevin take that offer instead." As I turned to her, everyone around me was holding back their laughter, waiting for me to cave and agree, like I had always done. It had been ten years. I would give her anything whenever she asked, from competition qualification spots and postgraduate recommendations to ten grand worth of hard-earned money… She was used to it, and I had since made peace with it. And now, she was looking at me loftily, speaking as if she were giving alms. "It's the same thing every time. How is it different now?" I looked at her haughty leer and suddenly laughed. "Who the hell are you to make decisions for me?"

I married Luca, the godfather I'd grown up with since childhood, and he tore off my veil with his own hands at our wedding. "The wedding is void. You were never the real Vitale princess." I turned to Dante and Sebastian in disbelief—the four of us grew up together, they adored me beyond reason, there was no way they'd just stand there and watch. But Sofia came walking toward me, smiling, an arm looped through each of theirs: "Sister, you're imagining things. The name and the engagement both belong to me." I tried to step forward and demand answers. Luca stepped on my train and sent me crashing to the floor. Sebastian crouched down, his smile gentle, his tone like someone coaxing a disobedient dog: "Elena, you didn't actually think we ever loved you, did you?" Dante looked at me with cold indifference, as if those two men who'd been ready to tear each other apart because I chose Luca had never existed at all. They dragged me out of the church and threw me into the downpour. The system that brought me to this world and then vanished for fifteen years suddenly came online: 【Host, the courtship mission is detected as complete! The wedding ceremony is valid. Return to the real world immediately?】 I sat on the stone steps, wedding dress caked with mud and rainwater, looking down at my scraped-up hands, and almost laughed out loud. This play I'd been performing for fifteen years was finally over.