The System Helped Me Escape

A pounding headache hammered my skull relentlessly. I snapped my eyes open. Sunlight slit through the curtain cracks, sharp enough to blind me—not the sterile white of a hospital, but my bedroom, where I had lived for eighteen years. The calendar on the wall circled June 15, 2023—I had been reborn, sent back to the day before my parents forced me to demand the system reward. My heart thudded wildly, as if it might shatter my ribs, while my fingertips turned ice cold. The suffocating sensation of being locked in the basement for three days and nights still lodged in my throat, and the damp smell of the concrete floor seemed to crawl into my pores. Those three days held no food, no water, only endless darkness and the concern my parents showed Mia Scott outside, as if they had completely forgotten I existed down in that basement. "Bang, bang, bang—" The harsh pounding made the door shudder, as if one more strike would splinter it to pieces. "Sophia! You stubborn girl, are you awake yet? Hurry up and come out to make breakfast!" My mother, Luna Carter's voice scraped against the glass like a rusty blade—sharp, grating, each word drenched in undisguised contempt. I took a deep breath, digging my nails into my palm, trying to use the pain to stifle the rising hatred. I opened the door to find Luna Carter standing with her hands on her hips, blocking the entrance. Her slanted eyes swept over me like she was sizing up a worthless piece of merchandise. The contempt in her gaze barely contained, she snapped, "What are you daydreaming about? Mia is going to a class reunion today. Hurry up and fry her two soft-boiled eggs; she hates them fully cooked." My younger sister, Mia Scott, is always the sunshine of this family, and I am nothing more than a shadow beneath her light. I said nothing and turned toward the kitchen. The kitchen tiles were loose, creaking faintly underfoot—a sound that had haunted me for eighteen years, like an invisible thorn embedded in my heart. The egg sizzled in the hot oil, its golden yolk slowly solidifying, releasing a faint, lingering aroma. Then, suddenly, a mechanical voice exploded in my mind: [Double Compensation System detected host rebirth. Rebind now?] My hand trembled as I gripped the spatula; scalding oil splashed onto the back of my hand, instantly blistering in fiery red welts, burning with sharp pain. I'm here. In my previous life, it was this system that let me see a flicker of light amid a crushing poverty, but a moment of foolishness made me reveal it to my parents, turning me into a tool for their exploitation. They spent my reward money on designer handbags and the latest mobile phones for Mia Scott, while I had to hand out flyers and work as a waitress after school, struggling to earn my own tuition and living expenses. In the end, to raise a bride price for Mia Scott, they even planned to sell me to that crippled old bachelor from the neighboring village, just because he was willing to pay two hundred thousand. "Bind." I whispered in my heart, my voice trembling like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, carrying a trace of fear but more of cold resolve. [Binding successful. When the host suffers injustice or harm from others, a compensation mechanism can be triggered, awarding double restitution.]