Familial Bond System の短編小説 & 小説

At my daughter’s graduation party, the laptop I gave her turned out to be the same model as the one my ex-wife's boyfriend gave her. She slammed the computer I bought violently onto the ground, smashing it to pieces. "You obviously knew Chad was going to give me this, yet you bought the same one. You just want to make Chad look bad!" My daughter screamed hysterically at me, while my ex-wife flashed a malicious smile. Half a month later, my daughter secretly drugged me during dinner. When I woke up, I found myself smuggled across the border, trapped inside a cold iron cage. On stage, the auctioneer announced, "Today, we're auctioning off every single organ from this man's body. Highest bidder wins!" Meanwhile, my daughter sat down below the stage, her gaze filled with venomous hatred. "Connor, since you love buying identical things just to steal everyone else's spotlight, today, we'll let you steal the spotlight to your heart's content! "Let's see which of your organs you actually have the power to save on your poor worker's salary!" As my heart turned to stone, I silently awakened the system that I had neglected for many years. [Ding—Host has successfully activated the Damage Transfer System.]

On my sixth birthday, a ticking clock appeared in my head. [Hostile bond detected. Pay ten years of your life for one point of affection?] Terrified of being sent away, I didn't hesitate. I gave up ten years right then and there. For the first time, Mom patted my head. She smiled and said I was a good girl for letting my twin sister, Lily Paul, keep the new dress. Then Lily fell critically ill. Mom’s affection score plunged back to zero. She tore my drawings to shreds and spat in my face. "Why couldn't it be you in that hospital bed?!" The ticking in my mind started again. [Swap conditions met. Trade all remaining life to take her illness?] I wiped my tears and whispered yes. Before everything went black, I tugged on her sleeve. "Mom... I gave you my whole life this time. Am I perfect now?”

After completing my system mission, I give up the massive reward and choose to stay in this world because I have a happy, loving family. My sister, Naomi Sullivan, is a world-renowned genius scientist, and every one of her discoveries bears my name. My mother, Gloria Lynch, heads a financial empire that controls the global economy, and she transfers every share she owns into my name. And my father, Arnold Sullivan, is an action star. He's a legendary screen icon, but he retires to watch me grow up. I'm the golden child everyone envies until Daniel Sullivan, their biological son, shows up at our door. Overnight, their love for me vanishes, and I become the outsider who stole the rightful heir's place in the family. Daniel stages a fall down the stairs, and Dad breaks my ribs to make me pay. I take a single bite of Daniel's leftover cake because I'm starving, but Mom locks me in the basement with an attack dog for three days. Then, she has a gold cake made just to cheer him up. All it takes is one offhand complaint that his chest feels tight, and Naomi removes my heart to give it to him, replacing it with an artificial one. "It's just a heart. You're strong enough to handle it. Daniel needs it more than you do." Naomi stands nearby with a tablet in hand, coldly logging the results. "Don't worry. Artificial heart technology is already well established. The survival rate is excellent in theory. You won't die." After my soul leaves my body, I watch Daniel casually toss my heart into the trash. Then, the long-silent system finally awakens. "Clifford, would you like to take back everything you bestowed upon them in exchange for a chance to be revived? This includes your mother's fortune, your father's extraordinary physical gifts, and your sister's incredible mind."

I was the lowest-ranked Omega in the Moen pack. However, my fiancé Silas Moen was the Alpha who stood above us all. I thought the bond the Moon Goddess had made between us could never be shaken. That certainty lasted until his long-lost childhood sweetheart returned. Brynn, the flawless, highborn werewolf with an ancient bloodline. In front of my parents and brothers, before more than a thousand members of our pack, he made his announcement. "I, Silas Moen, as Alpha, reject you. "Brynn and I were promised to each other long ago. She's back now, and you should step aside for her." The instant he finished, something inside my chest ripped apart. I collapsed onto my knees on the altar's frozen stone and tried to scramble toward him to demand an explanation. Nobody in that silent crowd stepped forward. My father looked away and said coldly, "Brynn has already suffered for years out there. You shouldn't fight her over this." My eldest brother, Rian Valentine, blocked my way. "Talia, it's time you saw yourself clearly. You're no match for Brynn. "If you insist on opposing this mating, I'll sever our family ties." The System detected that Silas's affection level for me had fallen to zero and activated automatically. [Talia, this assignment has failed. Your heart is predicted to stop in ten days, after which a new body will be created for you. Do you confirm that you wish to abandon this assignment?] Even as I lay facedown in the frozen mud, I couldn't help laughing. Failed? No. I could finally leave. I had no strength left to love, but death would set me free.

After completing the quest, I insisted on staying in that world, foregoing the lucrative rewards. It was because I had a happy and perfect family there. My brother was a genius world-renowned scientist, and all his research achievements were named after me. My father was the world's richest man, and all his wealth was under my name. My mother was an extraordinarily talented dancer, but she gave up the stage just to spend more time with me. My family pampered me. I was the most envied pampered daughter in the world… until the day their real daughter, Carrie Langford, showed up at our door. Their love for me vanished overnight. From then on, I became inconsequential. Carrie orchestrated her own fall down the stairs, and my mother was so angry that she broke my leg. I ate a small bite of the cake Carrie threw away, so my father locked me in a dog cage for three days to dine with the dogs. He also made a golden cake for Carrie to make her feel better. Just because Carrie complained that her heart hurt, my brother dug out my heart for her and replaced it with an artificial heart. "It's just a heart. You've always been healthy. Carrie needs it more than you do." Calmly, my brother stood to the side, analyzing the data. "Don't worry, artificial heart technology is already very advanced, so the theoretical survival rate is very high. You won't die." After my soul left my body, I saw Carrie casually throw my heart into a trash can. The long-dormant system was awakened. [Would you like to take back everything you've given them, including your father's wealth, your mother's dancing talent, and your brother's intelligence, in exchange for a chance to revive?]

When the real son, Henry Sylvester, is finally brought back to the family, I, the non-biological child who's taken his place, am already prepared to pack my bags and leave. Instead of letting me go, Henry calls me up to the sixth-floor terrace of the villa and pushes me over the edge. "You've stolen my life for 18 years, Marcel. You should be grateful." I don't struggle. In fact, I deliberately fall headfirst. At that moment, I believe I'm destined to die, but I end up surviving. The doctors even call it a miracle. A fall from the sixth floor should've been fatal, yet I only suffered minor bone dislocations and no other serious injuries. When the Sylvester family asks why I jumped, I tell them the truth about Henry pushing me. Instead of believing me, my elder brother laughs in my face. He shields the meek and frightened-looking Henry from me and warns me not to slander his real brother. The Sylvester couple looks at me with nothing but disappointment. They're convinced I've brought this upon myself and even ask why I haven't chosen somewhere higher to jump from. Frankly, their suggestion makes sense. So, I go to the tenth floor, ready to jump and start my life over. Suddenly, a mechanical voice rings out in my head. "Marcel, this is your seventh attempt at suicide. Are you really going through with it?"

Ever since I was born, my parents bound me to a Pain Transfer System. My body was covered in scars. My older brother, Dylan Jeater, had albinism and Hydroa Vacciniforme. His condition was so severe that he could not be exposed to any light. Doctors determined that he would only live to be sixteen years old. However, Dylan had always been playful. He often snuck outside. Eventually, his body was covered in sores. My father, Robert Jeater, worked day and night to earn money. He finally bought two Pain Transfer System wristbands at a high price for Dylan and me. For six years, the pain Dylan felt from every sun exposure had been transferred to me. My mother, May Jeater, always held me gently and treated my wounds. She said, “Chester, I’m sorry. I just want Dylan to be happy in the time he has left. I hope you understand.” On New Year’s Eve, my parents took Dylan out. It was very sunny that day. As soon as we left the house, my whole body broke out in blisters. I could not help but cry out in pain. Dylan tore off his wristband and broke down sobbing. “Does it hurt? Fine, if you think it hurts so much, then turn off the transfer! Let me just die of the pain! “I’ll only live up to sixteen anyway. I’m going to die sooner or later.” His body became severely sunburned, and he lost consciousness. Mom shoved me to the ground. “Dylan never complained once in all those years of pain! After only six years of it being passed to you, you’re already breaking down?! “He’s only going to live to be sixteen! Is it wrong to want him to be happy in his last few years?” Dad picked up Dylan. “I don’t want you getting hurt either, but the pain can only be transferred between biological brothers.” They then rushed him to the hospital. I picked up the wristband from the ground. A message popped up on the screen. [Do you want to transfer your remaining lifespan to the linked user?] Without any hesitation, I pressed confirm.

When I was three and a half, the system sent me back to my dad's high school days. The good news—the brooding villain destined to destroy the world was still just a blond guy. The bad news—there were way too many blond guys at that school, and I could not tell them apart. Hence, every time I saw one, I called him 'Dad'. By the time I got to the 101st, I was robbed. He grabbed me by the collar with a fierce look on his face, like he was about to hit me at any second. The long-dormant system suddenly spoke up, "Kiddo, the one walking out of the school right now is your dad!" I sniffled and shouted, "Hey, you'd better be careful! I'm telling you, my dad's almost an adult! Right, Dad? Elliot!" Elliot Smith froze for a second and pointed at himself. "Who, me?"

At the full-moon celebration for Leah Rosen, the family's adopted daughter, my three brothers chained me to the judgment pillar in the pack square. My fiancé, Kyle Mercer, drew a silver blade and plunged it into my chest himself, collecting a smal l cup of heart's blood to feed the moon moth larva Leah had bought on the black market. The larva, which had been stiff and lifeless, drank its fill of blood, and its translucent wings began to flutter. "It's alive. You win again, Leah." Leah threw herself into his arms, "You lost, Kyle. "I'll take Leah into town first. I've already sent someone to brew a clotting draught. I'll be right back." I tried to call out to him, but my eldest brother Darian stepped on my ankle. Darian was the war chief of Silver Ridge Pack, second in strength only to our father. He pressed down just slightly, and I heard a dull pop as the bones shifted out of place. "We didn't bring you back to Silver Ridge so you could compete with Leah." He looked down at me. "Know your place." My second brother, Victor, stood before the elders' dais, still draped in the black ceremonial robe of the pack council. "Wipe that pitiful look off your face. If you embarrass us in front of tonight's guests one more time, I'll strip your clan marks myself and dump you on the northern slope with the rogues." My third brother Ryan toyed with the silver claws at his waist, "You should be grateful Leah finds you entertaining. Stay put, or I'll cripple your other foot too." Kyle was the youngest healer in Moon Valley and one of the few in the North who could repair injuries to a wolf spirit. But this time, Kyle was in such a hurry to accompany Leah to Redstone that he didn't even double-check the prescription. When the attendant brought in the medicine, the System's cold voice echoed in my mind. [Warning: Ingesting this medicine will cause irreversible wolf core failure. Upon the host's death, return to the original world will be initiated. Proceed?] "Give it to me."

My mafia family threw me in the slums for three years. I finally learned to obey. The day I returned, my fiancé, the Don Lucian, cornered me. By the driveway. His eyes were dark. A warning. “If you dare touch another hair on Chloe’s head, I will—” He didn’t finish. I stuck my right hand in the open car doorframe. I slammed the door on it with my left. A dull crack echoed in the cold air. My bones. He stared at my hand. Limp. Dripping blood. I used to be a violinist. These hands were my life. I didn’t even flinch. His cold, unbreakable mask. It cracked. For the first time. Back in the family estate, on the top-floor terrace. The orphan my parents adopted taunted me. “So what if you’re engaged to the Don? I’m the future Donna!” She sneered. Grabbed a brooch from the table. Slashed her own arm. Blood welled up. Then she screamed. “Seraphina! If you hate me that much, I’ll leave! Please, don’t hurt my baby!” My fiancé and my brother burst in. They saw it all. They slammed me to the ground. I couldn’t breathe. His hand was tight around my throat. “You’re hopeless!” Lucian roared. “If anything happens to Chloe or my heir, I'll put a bullet in your head myself.” I nodded obediently. I turned. Walked downstairs. Straight into the snow-covered backyard. No hesitation. I jumped. Straight into the ice-covered pool. My broken hand shattered the thin ice. The pool turned red. The freezing water swallowed me whole. My lungs filled with ice. I was choking again. My mother let out a shriek and fainted on the spot. My father, frantic, dove into the freezing water. He dragged me out. But my fiancé, the ever-cold Lucian, just stood there. Frozen. A flash of unbelievable panic crossed his face. His feet were lead. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Agony tore through me. The cold. The lack of air. I thought I was finally dying. And I smiled. The System had told me: Show absolute obedience until death. You will be rewarded with billions. And I will send you back to your real world.

The day I turned eighteen, my father picked my birthday dinner to drop his bombshell: he'd fallen for someone else, and he wanted a divorce. Mom was about to flip the table. Then a stream of comments scrolled across my vision. [Don't make a scene! He's just a cheater. We don't even want him.] [Your mom's gorgeous. Play the sweet, doting type, win him over, and she'll walk away with most of his fortune. We're talking billions!] [Take the billions and enjoy the rest of your life. Beats rotting at home as some bitter ex-wife, doesn't it?] Following the comments, I clapped a hand over Mom's mouth and whispered: "Mom, stop! Dad's worth billions, we have to watch what we say!"

Just before the college entrance exam, I accidentally overheard my cousin's inner thoughts and discovered that she'd bound herself to a system that stole the rewards of my hard work. The harder I studied, the higher her scores soared. "Ella, all your hard work is worthless compared to my natural talent!" Little did she know that I had a system of my own, one that could shut hers down on the day of the exam.

I was the apple of my parents’ eyes and the beloved little sister my two older brothers had always protected. On the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, I was struck unconscious by a falling beam while trying to protect them. When I opened my eyes, Suzy Lane, a system agent, had already taken control of my body. At first, my parents and brothers desperately tried to drive this “invader” out. That changed when Suzy, her eyes red from crying, told them, “I don’t want to cling to you either, but… Nora Hart can only return if your love for me reaches a perfect score!” Everyone then began forcing themselves to treat her like family. My parents’ stiff replies, filled with barely concealed disgust, gradually changed into questions about her favorite foods and preferences. Before long, they were bringing home little gifts she liked every day without even realizing it; My brothers also stopped calling her an “invader” and began affectionately calling her “Suki,” a nickname they made just for her. A year later, Suzy completed her mission. I finally regained control of my own body. But when I opened my eyes in delight, I saw unmistakable disappointment in my parents’ and brothers’ eyes. They pretended to be overjoyed by my return, but behind my back, they repeatedly tried to bring Suzy back by hurting me. After I was harmed for the ninety-ninth time, I heard them say. “Let’s try for three more days. If Suzy still doesn’t come back, we’ll force ourselves to accept Nora.” What they didn’t know was this: I had a system too. In three days, I would leave them for good…

I was the perfect daughter, always obedient and never questioning my parents' wishes. Yet, on the very day I finished my SATs, I became bound to a system that demanded disobedience. Whatever my parents told me to do, the system always made me do the opposite. When they told me to eat less to maintain my figure, the system commanded me to eat until I was stuffed. When they told me to wash the dishes and mop the floors to develop basic life skills, the system ordered me to walk away the moment I finished eating. Watching the shock and disappointment on my parents' faces, I closed the front door through my tears. Sobbing, I tried to reason with the system. "My brother said it's dangerous outside at night. I need to go home." The system didn't care. It forced me to attend a class reunion that evening. Terrified, I protested, "My parents said none of my classmates are decent people! I'm not going! Going out this late is practically asking for trouble!” "You'll die if you keep listening to them!" the system reprimanded me sternly.

My mother is a mission runner, and I'm the mess she left behind. When she completed her mission to win Dad over, she disappeared without hesitation and dumped the rest of the mission on me. According to the system, my task is simple. All I need is for Dad to wish me a "happy birthday" when I turn eight. Yet, my birthday is only a month away, and he won't even come home. Ever since Mom vanished without a trace, Dad started looking at me differently. No matter what I do, he assumes it's another trick she planned before she left. When I'm running a high fever, I call him, only to discover that he's at another woman's birthday party. The call connects, and before I can say a word, laughter and cheering pour through the phone. "Dad, I feel awful," I croak. "My birthday's next week…" The other end of the line went silent for a few seconds before his cold voice cuts in. "Penelope, if you need money, just ask my assistant, Henry. You know I hate it when people fake being sick to get what they want, especially when they're only after a birthday present."

Seven years after waking inside a novel, I had confessed to Claire Monroe ninety-nine times and been rejected every time. The moment I told the System I was giving up on my mission, Claire suddenly confessed to me instead. I was about to say yes when I started hearing my family's thoughts. [In our last life, this monster nearly got Ryan killed. Thank God we were all reborn. Once they're married, I'll cut off his arms and legs!] [Why wasn't he the one who died instead of my Ryan?] [If it weren't for Ryan, I would rather die than marry this bastard.] A flood of vicious thoughts crashed over me, and the world started to spin. The redemption I'd been so sure of was nothing but a joke.

When the nurse pulled the IV needle out of the back of my hand, her gaze was filled with pity. “Mr. Young, the heart meant for your transplant was transferred at the last minute. It was sent to the VIP ward on the seventh floor. It’s a shame, but all your pre-operation prep has gone to waste.” Marcus Stewart was warded on the seventh floor. He was the frail young man my sister brought home. Ten minutes ago, Marcus suddenly had terrible chest pain. My usually strong mother burst into tears. My stoic father slammed the table in front of every expert in the hospital, then decided to give Marcus the heart I had been waiting three years for. It was supposed to save my life. I hurried to the end of the corridor, but the green operating light had already come on. Clutching the twisting pain in my chest, I leaned against the ice-cold wall and slid to the floor. There was no need to wait anymore. My heart failure was terminal. The doctor said I would not last the next few days. The mechanical voice sounded in my head. [Master, your vital signs are rapidly deteriorating. If you terminate this body and leave this world now, you still have a chance at a new life. Would you like to proceed?] I looked at the faint grey hue of death tinging my fingertips. “...Yes.”

After successfully completing the mission, I return to my original world. I awaken from my vegetative state to find my now-grown children waiting at my bedside. My husband pulls me into a tight embrace. My parents and mother-in-law are overcome with tears of joy. Just as I'm about to say goodbye to the System and choose to remain in my original world, a woman who looks almost exactly like me pushes open the door. My children rush over to her, calling her "Mommy" affectionately. Everyone looks at me awkwardly. The woman gives me a provocative smile. I stop the System. "Let me think about whether I want to stay here."

My mother, Elena, was a System host. After completing her mission, she left this world, leaving me in the care of my four adoptive fathers in the mafia. Dad Theodore was the cold-blooded Don of the Family, the man who ruled this city's underworld. Dad Harrison was a movie star, the darling of the red carpet. Dad Gabriel was a top surgeon in the underground medical network; his hands could save a life as easily as they could take one. And Dad Zane was a ruthless mercenary leader. For sixteen years, these four fathers spoiled me like the Family's one and only princess. If I wanted the moon, they would have found a way to pluck it from the sky. That was, until three years ago, when Zoe, the daughter of their first love, was brought back from Sicily. From that day on, my four fathers believed only her, never me. Zoe framed me, claiming I'd mocked her for looking like a street rat, so my fathers kicked me out of the princess suite and threw me into a storage room by the garage. Zoe showed them fake bruises on her arms, so my adoptive fathers smashed my phone, cut off all my social connections, and put me under house arrest for three months. Zoe cried again, claiming I'd hired thugs to harass her, so Dad Zane dragged me straight to the Family's dungeon beneath the estate. They starved me for three days and three nights, saying it was to teach me "some manners." I leaned against the dark, damp wall, my vision fading to black in waves. Just as I was about to pass out, I heard someone call my name. "Hazel, do you want to go to your mother?"

I'm infamous for being the stupidest student in the entire school. Even though I've been doing additional revisions till late night every day, I keep getting the lowest rank consistently in exams. On the other hand, my younger sister, Mia Lawson, doesn't study at all. Yet, she always comes up as the top of her grade every time. Our parents soon call her as the Math Prodigy. Because of that, I'm forced to live in the attic, which leaks all the time during rainy days. My table lamp gets smashed into pieces as well since I shouldn't be wasting power if I can't cram any knowledge into my brain. My parents also force me to drop out of school and start working at a young age. They claim that losers should stick to their paths and do what they do best. But at the same time, they don't hesitate to drop a grand sum of money just to enroll Mia into a class based on the Arithmetiad. There's a time when I contract a high fever that makes me all woozy and my consciousness all blurry. Because of my illness, I randomly draw an incorrect construction line on a draft paper. The next day, the line actually appears on Mia's exam paper, pixel by pixel. That's when realization dawns on me immediately. Before the day the National Arithmetiad is set to be streamed live in front of the entire nation, I opt to not solve any difficult questions. Instead, I lock my room door and keep telling myself in front of the mirror that the greatest mathematical equation in this world is 1+1=3.