My brother, Liam, defied the rules of our world for me. Instead of doting on the story’s protagonist, the fake heiress, he chose to care for me, the real one. Every time he was kind to me, the System that governed our lives would punish him with an electric shock. He told me he’d rather be electrocuted to death than stop loving his true sister. And yet, the night before I was scheduled to give my valedictorian speech, I was abducted, dragged to an abandoned construction site, and violated by a gang of thugs. They broke all my limbs and cut out my tongue. In my final moments of despair, I somehow connected to my brother's System. [Host, you sent a live location to the gang and told them to torture your sister until she was crippled. Don't you think it's time to call them off?] My brother's voice, as cold and smooth as marble, replied. "I can't. This part of the plot is non-negotiable. We can't let it happen to Isabelle, can we?" "Besides, Sophia is the destined protagonist of a 'pampered-by-all' novel. No matter how much damage she takes, she'll regenerate. This is just… making the most of her." "When it’s all over, I’ll be twice as good to her to make up for it." My heart turned to ash. I stopped fighting death. 1 "Damn, the valedictorian is tougher than she looks." "We've had more than twenty guys go at her, and she's still breathing…" In the dark, filthy cell, the instruments of torture, caked with my own flesh and blood, were piled high in a corner. A hulking man grabbed my chin, forcing my head up. He saw the way I’d bitten my lips to shreds from the pain and let out a booming laugh. "Well, well, look at the precious Miss Thorne. After getting a taste of the boys, you're looking even more tender and juicy!" His thumb ground against my lips. Then, with a sudden jerk, he ripped the filthy gag from my mouth. "You know, we've had our fun with the back door, but I haven't had a taste of this mouth yet." "I wonder how it compares to the girls downtown?" Before I could spit a curse, another one of them chimed in. "It's even better when there's only half a tongue left." I saw their eyes fix on me, and I scrambled backward in terror. A second later, a hand tangled in my hair, slamming my head against the concrete floor. A flash of cold steel. I screamed, clamping my hands over my mouth as blood erupted between my fingers. The searing pain was a relentless hammer against my nerves, making me want to smash my own head against the wall just to make it stop. Through the haze, someone yanked me up by my hair… And on the brink of death, I heard a conversation. A sterile, electronic voice: [Liam, your sister, Sophia, is at her absolute limit. Any more of this, and she will suffer a complete mental and physical collapse. She will die. You have to stop this!] I thought I was hallucinating, my mind playing tricks on me as I died. "No!" The voice that answered… it was truly my brother's. He was the only person in our family who had ever been kind to me, but now, his tone was utterly detached. "Sophia is the story's destined protagonist. She can't die this easily." "Keep going. Tell them not to hold back. Only when she suffers the same fate Isabelle did in the last life can we fool destiny… Only then can Isabelle live a good life." The System seemed to hesitate. My brother, sensing this, added confidently, "She's been abused since she was a child. This is nothing she can't handle… It's all about utility." [When you insisted on binding Sophia as the target for this mission, you set this course. Now you have to see it through.] The mechanical voice sighed with resignation. My brother scoffed. "What's the rush? Sophia won't die. Better to get it all over with at once than to have to do it again, but worse, next time…" His voice was gentle, but each word was a knife in my heart. "She’s the only one in this world who can cheat fate. It’s not what I want, but it’s the only way. She has to take Isabelle’s place in this fated death, so our family can be whole and happy for the rest of our lives." "Isabelle is my sister, too. I can't just stand by and watch her be brutalized and left to die, can I?!" "…I have to ensure she has a safe and happy future. Only then can I rest." I coughed, and a spray of dark blood spattered the floor. The pain burned my heart to cinders. So that’s all I was. A tool for my brother to save someone else. "Tch, what a buzzkill. Her face is covered in blood…" More brutes appeared, laying me flat on an iron table, their hands roaming over my body. Two needles pierced my chest, sharp and deep. "Man, if the valedictorian wears these to her speech tomorrow, haha, imagine if someone sees them! Everyone will know what a little slut she is!" "Take more pictures. We could sell them as a set." One of them set up a high-definition camera, aiming it directly at my face. Through waves of agony, I was torn apart. Again. And again. 2 It was horrifying. Excruciating. And the person who had orchestrated this inhuman suffering was the one who had been my reason for surviving in this world—my own brother, Liam. "Hey, valedictorian, guess what?" one of the men whispered, his teeth sinking into my earlobe. "Back when you were hiding at school…" "Why do you think we could always find you, no matter where you ran, no matter which corner you hid in?" He tore his teeth away. Through the blinding pain, I remembered the nightmarish footsteps and shadows that had haunted me for weeks. I thought back to the conversation I’d just overheard. The truth dawned on me. And with it, a deeper despair. "Since you've been such a good girl for us, I'll let you in on the secret—" "It was the family ID your parents linked to you at your 'welcome home' party." I couldn't stop shaking. A profound, soul-crushing sorrow washed over me. I never imagined that the very people I would have called for help would be the ones to betray me. We were bound by blood, yet they treated me like an enemy. Even the one exception, my dear brother… [Warning! Protagonist Sophia's life signs are critical. World stability is at risk of imminent collapse!] The System's alarm blared in my mind. I heard it. A tiny, pathetic flicker of hope ignited in my chest. No matter what, he wouldn't drag the entire world down with him just to save Isabelle, would he? My brother spoke, his words sharp and cold as ice. "Shut up, System! All that's left is the castration. That will complete the ritual." "How can we stop at such a critical moment?!" "If we stop, Isabelle will have to suffer through this, and she won't survive! Our family won't be whole! All my efforts will have been for nothing. I won't allow it!" The mechanical being seemed stunned. [Enough! What does Isabelle's fate have to do with her?] [How long has she been back with this family? And she's already been torn to shreds for you!] [If anyone owes a debt here, it's all of you who owe her… Why are you torturing the victim?] Liam sounded like he was in agony. His voice was a hysterical, distorted roar. "You think I don't know that?!" "But she's the only one who can survive a situation that guarantees death!" "We've come this far! Better to sacrifice one part of her than to let Isabelle die a horrible death!" "And Sophia is the protagonist! She won't die!" "I'm protecting my family's future! Don't you understand?!" He finished his rant, wiped his face, and his voice became chillingly calm. "Don't worry. I won't let her die." "After she's fulfilled her purpose, I'll have someone call an ambulance. Even if she's on a catheter for the rest of her life, a vegetable, I'll take care of her." But would that be living? My heart went cold. I closed my eyes, shutting out the physical pain they were inflicting on my body. …It's fine. No one cares about me. It’s no loss if I die. My will to live evaporated completely. I let my soul drift downward. Into the abyss. [Damn it! Someone go save her! She's not breathing!] The System was panicking now, its voice a frantic shout. I couldn't hear my brother's voice anymore. It was as if my mind had blocked him out, the one person who swore he would protect me, the one who had hurt me the most. [Enough, stop! Why are you still desecrating her corpse?!] [You're all insane! Insane!] [Stop it! Stop!!] [Sophia! Sophia, you can't die… You can't die!] The noise was a chaotic storm in my head. With the last shred of my strength, I forced my eyelids open. My body was a ruin. The "men" in the room were still laughing, their faces twisted into monstrous grins. At some point, they had even brought in hyenas. I watched them play. A desolate coldness filled me. And only then, fashionably late, did my brother burst through the door with his people. His face was as white as a sheet. He flew to my side. "Sophia, don't be afraid… brother's here! Please, don't you die on me…" 3 When I woke up, I was in a hospital. An oxygen mask covered my face, and tubes snaked out of my body. The only thing I could move was my eyelids. My teachers and classmates, people I hadn't seen in months, came to visit with flowers and fruit. They saw the girl they once envied, the golden child, now reduced to a broken shell waiting to die. They sighed with pity and sorrow. "This is just too tragic. She can't speak, can't write… How is she supposed to live?" "She was our valedictorian! Now, none of the top universities are even mentioning her name…" "God, today was supposed to be her day of glory." "…Liam, you have to make those monsters pay!" A complex, pained emotion flashed in Liam's eyes. He looked at me, then at everyone in the room, and made a solemn promise. "Don't worry. I will make those devils pay for what they've done!" The sound of his voice triggered my deepest nightmare. I began to tremble uncontrollably. "Beep-beep-beep—Alert! Alert!" "I told you the patient needs absolute calm! Why are you agitating her?" A nurse rushed in, silencing the blaring alarm on the heart monitor. My brother looked at me, confused, then explained helplessly. "Sophia is my beloved sister! Why would I ever upset her?" "Back when she had that stalker, my voice was the only thing that could calm her down. She would only fall asleep peacefully if she was lying with her head in my lap while I massaged her temples…" His words were a bitter irony. The days when he was my only salvation were gone forever. He was the one who swore to love me, and he was the one who had turned me into this ghost. The thought made me sick with grief and pain. The life-support machines flashed red again, and I was rushed back into the emergency room. Liam paced anxiously outside, muttering to himself. "She'll live, right? She has to live… And she'll never know, right? She can't know…" That afternoon, after I was moved out of the ER, I heard the local news playing on the TV in my room. Isabelle was giving the valedictorian speech at my high school in my place. She looked radiant. It was a stake through my eyes, a spike in my ears. "Hahaha, how does it feel? Beaten half to death by a bunch of men, unable to even speak?" The fake heiress, Isabelle, suddenly burst into my room, a triumphant sneer on her face. "Your dear, loving brother did all of this. For me." I pretended not to react. But my heart still clenched in an agony I couldn't control. Thank you, Liam. Thank you for reminding me, once again, that the person who hurt me the most was my own flesh and blood. Seeing that her taunts weren't working, Isabelle’s face twisted in rage, and she beckoned a group of people into the room. A horde of sleazy tabloid reporters with cameras and microphones flooded in. Trailing behind them were the very men my brother had sworn to punish that morning. "Well, hello there, valedictorian." "This time, you get to star in your own little show. A little something extra for the kids back at school, you know?" "Haha, this is gonna sell like crazy!" one of the reporters exclaimed, his eyes gleaming. My wounds tore open, and fresh blood poured out, staining the white sheets crimson. "What are you all doing?!" My brother burst through the door. His face went pale with fury. "Get out! All of you, get out!" Isabelle quickly shooed the men into hiding, then turned to Liam with a perfectly innocent expression. "Liam, don't misunderstand! Sophia hired them! I think… I think she can't accept that she's gone from being the top student to a useless cripple, so she staged all this for sympathy…" Liam looked at me with disbelief. "I can't believe you've become this kind of person. You've disappointed me so much." He turned to the nurses. "Cut off all her medication!" I plunged into the abyss. The world went silent, save for the steady beeping of the machines. "Enjoy it," Isabelle whispered as they left. "This is a graduation gift from me and your family." I don't know how long the pain lasted. The next thing I heard was a final, cold decree from the System. [The protagonist is dead. World collapse countdown initiated.]
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