The Cosmic Imagination Novels & Stories

My husband was on a business trip when his plane crashed, leaving a final message. He said he didn’t want to hold me back and wanted me to terminate the pregnancy and start over. I couldn’t stop crying. That’s when I heard my son’s voice from inside me. “Mom, stop crying. Dad isn’t dead at all. “He’s just scum. Behind your back, he’s running off with his true love. They’ve eloped abroad for their honeymoon. “I know where his little stash is. While he’s not back yet, let’s grab the money and disappear. We’re set for life!”

When I go home for the holidays, I find out that my dad has installed a facial recognition machine at the front door. "You'll have to pay an entry fee of 50 thousand dollars. Will you be paying by card or payment code?" I thought my dad was joking at first. As I laugh, I attempt to walk through the front door while pushing my luggage forward. But my mom passes me a price list with an icy look. "That'll be 200 dollars for dragging stuff across the floor. You'll also be charged 1,000 dollars per hour for using up the air." I'm stunned by her words. "Mom, stop messing around already!" But when I walk into the house, I realize that the air inside has disappeared. Unable to breathe, my face soon turns bright red out of suffocation as I kneel down on the floor. My mom huffs coldly again. "If you want to live, then pay up!" With great difficulty, I dig out my phone and pay the fees. Once the transaction is done, I can feel air rushing through my nostrils and into my lungs. For a few moments, I pant heavily. As I stare at my cold-looking parents, I finally feel that something is off. So, I scramble up to my feet and rush for the door. But that's when I find out that the front door is already welded shut. There's a payment code pasted on the door as well as a message. "Exit fee. One million dollars."

When my son and I were exiled for my family's crimes, my husband shoved divorce papers into my hands and cut all ties. I pulled my nine-year-old close and swore I would protect him no matter what. However, at dawn, when we were supposed to leave, I found a different child in his place. Panic flooded through me. Then, strange text flickered into view: [The male lead paid 50 silver for a street boy who looks vaguely similar. He sent his real son to live in luxury with his beloved!] [This cannon fodder ex-wife will waste her life searching for her real son, who'll only resent her for ruining his comfortable new life.] [Once the lead couple rises to power, she'll conveniently 'fall ill' and die. Tragic, really.] [Wait. That street boy is the deposed crown prince's orphan. The future emperor!] I stood there for a moment, taking it in. Then, I crouched down and held out my hand to the scarred child trembling before me. "Come with mom, little one. It's time to go."

I was reborn on the day my sister, Tilda Wright, and I had to pick our husbands. That was when I realized I could hear people’s thoughts. I heard Tilda say, [This time, I’m gonna make sure I grab the best husband first.] Then, just like that, she rushed over and took the sweet guy I had married in my last life, while I ended up with the abusive man who used to beat her every day. I laughed to myself. Did she really think the guy I married before was some perfect gentleman?

Before it's our turn to get our marriage registered, I beam brightly as I scoot closer to Charles Scott for our commemorative photo-taking session. But he suddenly darts away from me for no reason. "I saw you when your team was in action yesterday." I freeze momentarily. "How is that even possible? This week is filled with secretive prostitution-busting campaigns…" Charles nods lightly. "When you led your team to inspect the venue next door, I was in the middle of pinning her against the wall while screwing her brains out. "She was so nervous that she shook even more than the first time we slept together. Later on, you were summoned to another place. Only then did she have the guts to keep moaning." After following Charles' line of sight, I find myself looking at the young woman, who's currently taking photos of us with her camera. That's when my mind buzzes loudly. It's Samantha Wood, the hostage whom my dad has taken seven stabs for just to save her in a kidnapping case. Just now, Samantha was all tears and snot as she swore to me, "Nat, if he dares hurt you in any way, I'll definitely exact revenge on him, even at the cost of my life!" Charles moves to shield Samantha from my gaze, though his tone remains gentle. "It's your choice now. Do you want to continue with the process? Or do you want to take some time off to cry your heart out, and we can do this another day?" I feel my blood turning to ice at that moment. The system's warning blares loudly in my mind. "Warning—you have failed in registering your marriage with the target. The eradication protocol will be activated soon. You now have a 48-hour countdown."

My younger sister, Rosalie White, and I are twin mermaids, born with the divine gift of bearing sacred beasts. On the day we come of age, Father presents us with all the unmarried princes of the beast clans. Rosalie picks Charles Summer, the powerful prince of the zilant clan, in hopes of birthing a sacred beast and claiming the beast throne. However, her five babies are all dark, frail half-zilants of the lowest rank. I, with my weak and sickly body, join with Jasper Warren of the serpent clan, the most despised of them all. I end up succeeding in giving birth to a sacred beast hatchling. On the day of the coronation, Rosalie refuses to accept it. She strangles my hatchling and rips out my beast core. Then, she throws our bodies into the beast furnace, destroying us completely. … After my reincarnation, I see Rosalie pointing at Jasper and says, "I only want him." I know that she has also been reincarnated. I chuckle coldly. I'd like to see if she can bear a sacred beast in this lifetime.

Yelena Moon, the new intern, claimed to be someone who could bring wealth to everyone. Apparently, the lottery numbers she had her eye on would definitely win a prize. Everyone lined up to get her to buy lottery tickets for them. Surprisingly enough, they became millionaires overnight. But I soon realized that whenever Yelena won a lottery prize, I'd lose money to all sorts of incidents and accidents. I might suffer from a bone fracture one day, only to get into an accident that required a surgery the next day. Even my own luck started to run out when it came to my own wealth. I kept failing my investments while racking debts nonstop. In the end, the loan sharks came knocking on my door. My senses were all frayed at that point. In a fit of despair, I demanded answers from Yelena, only to get scolded by everyone else. "What do you mean Yelena swapped out your luck for hers? I think you're just jealous of the fact that everyone's getting rich now!" "You can't even retain your own wealth, and yet you have the guts to frame a young woman for such nonsense! People like you are absolutely toxic to this world!" I tried my best to defend myself, but not even my own dad believed me. To rub salt into my wounds, he even treated Yelena as his own biological daughter and kicked me out of my home. Later on, someone tossed a sack over me and kidnapped me. After torturing me to no end, they threw me off a high building, I was crushed beyond recognition. When I wake up again, I've returned to the day Yelena is flaunting her financial luck. Upon noticing how smug she looks, I start buying lottery tickets like mad. "What a coincidence! I'm also super lucky when it comes to wealth!"

A month before the SATs, I, Jenny Reid, could see my score. Literally. It was just floating right above my head. But there was a catch. Every time I cracked open a prep book, my score would drop by ten points. But if I skipped a day of school? It jumped right back up by ten. So, I played the system. For a whole month, I barely lifted a finger. And on the day of the test, the number glowing over my head was a solid 1560. When the scores finally dropped online… I'd scored a 500. And the 1560? That was my little sister Patricia's score. My parents lost it. As punishment, they got me a grueling night-shift job at a local electronics factory. That first night, a bunch of guys I'd never seen before cornered me in the parking lot and beat me half to death. Fading in and out of consciousness, I heard my sister's voice right by my ear. "You just had to one-up me, didn't you? Thought you were so smart… but you never figured out I was the one controlling that number over your head." The truth hit me like a physical blow. The score had been her trick all along. I opened my eyes—and I was back. One month before the SATs. The number above my head read exactly 1300. "Hey," my sister said, all fake sweetness. "Want to study together tonight? We can go over the practice tests." I looked at the stack of papers in my own hands. Without a word, I pulled out my lighter and set them on fire right there in the driveway. "Exams are coming," I said, watching the flames. "I'm not studying." My score ticked up to 1310. My sister's face was this perfect mask of disappointment, but the second I turned away, I caught the sly smile she couldn't quite hide. She had no idea… the real performance, the one I'd been rehearsing just for her, was finally about to begin.

On the day two couples come to the orphanage to adopt, a row of comments suddenly appears before my eyes. "Hurry, Nancy! Make the first move! The couple who look like bumpkins is just pretending to be poor! The ones dressed nicely are actually poor." "Call them Mom and Dad quickly! Do not let Nadia steal them away!" In the next second, Nancy, who is standing beside me, suddenly rushes toward the country bumpkin couple. Nancy says, "I'll gladly go to the countryside with you. I will leave the rich girl life to my sister." Everyone starts cheering in the comments. "This is great! Nancy, our dear female lead, won't suffer anymore!" "Nadia, the evil villainess, will rot and stink for the rest of her life. Nancy will crush her under her foot. She will never have the chance or the right to meet the male lead!" I am stunned. So Nancy can see the comments too. She is the female lead, while I am the villainess. But what she does not know is that I am reborn. In my previous life, the real wealthy family takes me away. I look at Nancy and smile coldly. "Just wait, dear sister. Your 'good fortune' is yet to come."

My deskmate, Sierra Langford, handed me a throat lozenge. I turned around and melted it into the school cafeteria’s "Top Scholar Soup", letting all four thousand students share a taste. Because this time, I’ve been reborn. In my previous life, Sierra had a system that could steal other people’s exam scores. As long as I ate something from her, my grades would automatically transfer to her. She was a rich girl, already set to study abroad. Stealing my college entrance exam score was just a joke to her. On the other hand, I was poor. The exam was my only chance to change my fate. After three mock exams, my scores kept dropping for no reason, and no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find out why. In the end, I failed the college entrance exam. Lost and broken, I was hit by a car. After I died, my soul hovered in the air and overheard Sierra laughing with her best friend, Hailey Monroe. "Who would’ve thought Vera Collins could’ve ranked first in the entire city? Well, that title’s mine now! Someone like her deserves to rot in the mud forever." This time, I’m back. So, she liked stealing people’s scores for fun? Then stealing just mine would be too boring. This time, the entire school’s exam scores would be a surprise for her.