Saving System

We were stuck on the highway in the middle of the Christmas travel rush. My husband’s childhood friend had not only taken the passenger seat from me, but she had also propped her bare feet up on the center console. “Don’t take it to heart, Yvonne. I’m just a casual person and like to be my true self, unlike you and your fake propriety,” Michelle Gail said. As she spoke, she snatched my phone right out of my hand and read a holiday greeting from a male colleague aloud. “Oh, you have quite a few backup options, don’t you? I bet you cheated on Charles a long time ago.” My husband, Charles Carter, however, only defended her. He said, “She’s just being casual. Don’t be so petty as to hold it against her.” I smiled. They did not know that I had accidentally been bound with a system before. As the system had bound the wrong person, it promised to fulfill one wish for me unconditionally as compensation. Without a moment of hesitation, I swapped the system for the “Forget Common Sense System” and bound it to Michelle. Since she was so “casual,” why would she need a sense of shame? Why would she even need to wear clothes? Since the highway was so congested, she might as well go for a wild run on the road!

My husband, Gideon Huber, is a self-righteous hypocrite. He used my money to fund an impoverished student's education fees, forced me to donate my kidney to a homeless man, and even gave my newborn to a human trafficker. Now that I'm reborn, I finally found out why Gideon had done all those things to me in my past life. Apparently, he was bound to the virtue system in my past life. This time, the system has chosen me as its host. Well then, Gideon, please enjoy the feats of "justice" I shall perform on you!

Our entire class gets dragged into The Tyrant's Atonement game. The only way to escape alive is to reach a 100% atonement score. The system lets us choose our roles. The class belle, Isolde Adler, picks the tyrant's first love. Her atonement score shoots straight to 99% on the first day. The class president, Asher Brooks, chooses to be a loyal chancellor. His atonement score jumps to 80%. Spectators watching the game flood the screen with comments. "This new batch is smart and way better at picking roles than the last. They might just clear the game in three days." "Even if just one person hits 100%, the whole class goes free. I'm looking forward to seeing who finishes first." "My money's on the first love. She's already at 99%." Just as everyone starts celebrating, the next morning hits us with bad news. All 20 classmates who picked their roles are dead, and Isolde suffers the cruelest fate of all.

In the tenth year of my pursuit of Henry Stone—the profoundly devoted deuteragonist in the novel—he arranges a lavish, extravagant wedding on my behalf. I still feel uneasy even though Henry continues to love me deeply after we get married. This is because the mission progress bar displayed by the system has never moved past zero. On our wedding anniversary, I happen to stumble upon a hidden diary in Henry's desk drawer, which reveals a very shocking truth—Henry has been reborn. He possesses full knowledge that this world is a novel and that I am the antagonist who poses a threat to the protagonist, Renee Schmidt. He puts on a careful act of profound love toward me, strictly for the purpose of shielding Renee, the person he truly cares for. I have just gotten the gist of the whole situation when the system's warning goes off. "You have failed your romance mission. Your existence will be terminated within 48 hours."

In the tenth year of my marriage to a genius pianist, I came down with a strange illness. A month ago, my husband missed my birthday party to care for his ailing sister-in-law. Night after night, I had waited for him to return home. But that night I forgot to wait at all and went to bed early. Half a month ago, he attended an important performance with his sister-in-law. I had always been petty and prone to jealousy, yet this time I didn't get angry. I simply went home in silence. Three days ago, I fell seriously ill with a burning fever. My husband rushed back from out of town in a panic—but only to tend to his sister-in-law, whose hand had been scalded. When we ran into each other at the hospital, I was strangely calm. I, who used to be fiercely jealous, felt nothing at all. I forgot the promise we had made to grow old together. I even forgot how he once fretted over me for days when I'd scraped a bit of skin. It wasn't until he said he wanted to bring his sister-in-law home and take care of her for the rest of his life that I—my memories riddled with holes—summoned the system at last. "I want to go home."

I spent five years chasing Tyler Watson, only to get kidnapped right in front of him. He just stood there and watched. As a result, I suffered. After I escaped, he acted all high and mighty and proposed to make up for his tiny bit of guilt. The second we got our marriage certificate, the Simp System’s voice rang in my head. “Congrats, host! You’ve completed your mission.” Just like that, my sanity finally returned. While Tyler waited in a hotel for me to bring him contraceptives, I went live to expose his cheating. For good measure, I even called the anti-vice office to report my dear husband for soliciting prostitutes.

My boss, Jared Princeton, sends me a contract and tells me that I can only clock out of work if I sign it. I only realize that the contract is The Devil's Contract, binding him and me together in a master-servant relationship, after I sign my initials on it. Just as I prepare to run, Jared appears right behind me and binds me with his Devil tail.

After my death, I found myself inside a romance strategy game, where the system assigned me three male leads. If I followed its instructions and successfully captured the heart of any one of them, I would return alive and well in the real world. Drawing on my experience, I crafted careful scripts to win their affection. Yet, every attempt ended in failure. The reason was simple: each of them had already fallen for the dazzling heroine of their world. They hurled cruel words at me, as if wishing I would just drop dead. In the end, I fulfilled their desire—when my strategies failed, the system erased me. But the moment I died, they all regretted it. One by one, they begged the heavens to return me to them.

Ako ang tunay na anak ng pamilya Stone. Gamit ang gossip-tracking system ko, nagkunwari akong mahinhin at masunuring tao, pero sa loob-loob ko, matindi ako gumanti sa tamang oras. Ang hindi ko napansin ay may nakakarinig sa isip ko. “Kahit na anak ka naming tunay, si Alicia lang ang tunay naming tinatanggap. Kailangan mo matututong lumugar,” sambit ng mga kapatid ko. ‘Iniisip ko na baka sinira ko ang usapan namin ng demonyo sa nakaraan kong buhay kaya ako napuntas a pamilya Stone ngayon, naisip ko. Tumigil bigla ang mga kapatid ko sa paglalakad. “Si Alice ay masunurin, may sense kausap at mahal ng lahat sa pamilyang ito. Huwag ka magsimula ng drama para lang magpapansin.” Hindi ko mapigilan isipin, ‘Kung ganoon, may sapat ang sense niya para sirain ang buhay ng lahat at mahal na mahal kayo sa puntong nakakasuka na.’ Natanga ang ekspresyon ng mga magkakapatid.

Taking his place on the throne, the King crowned his golden girl his queen. I, on the other hand, was granted two choices—retire from court with a hefty fortune or be his kept mistress in the dark. Choosing neither, I hung myself on the clothesline right outside the laundress quarters. I had been sent back twenty years in time, tasked by the System to conquer four targets. I’d just blown the last target and my final chance to complete the quest. The System notified me that following the death of my flesh, my consciousness would return to the modern world, back to the arms of my family. Just as I closed my eyes, the desperate cries of my name caught my attention.