1

Mindy personally built a human-like white lotus.

To spark genuine human emotion within him, she pulled the oxygen tube from my ICU bed right in front of him, deciding to use my death as a catalyst to trigger his feelings.

I struggled with everything I had, begging for help, but she pinned my hands down firmly.

"Be good. You are a system quester, you can go home when you die."

"But without him, I will die."

I was murdered by my own wife.

At the exact moment of my death, the system issued a notification that the mission had failed, and my soul was completely extracted from her world.

Yet, not long after, regret consumed her.

She squandered her vast, multi-billion-dollar fortune just to bring me back into her world.

Holding the newly reformed me, she pleaded desperately for my love.

"Paul? Look at me, I am Mindy."

"You are still angry, aren't you? You can hit me, scold me, or even kill me, just please don't stay silent."

I tilted my head, staring at her blankly.

"Command invalid."

…

The pressure release valve on the laboratory's awakening pod emitted a soft hiss.

The cold white mist dissipated.

I opened my eyes.

The final image lingering on my retina was Mindy's gentle yet cruel face, paired with the image of the detached oxygen tube.

Now, that very face appeared before me once more.

Only now, she looked older, exhausted, her eyes shot through with red blood vessels.

"Paul..."

Mindy lunged forward, wrapping her arms around me in a suffocating embrace.

"You came back... You finally came back..."

Her words were jumbled as she buried her face into the crook of my neck.

I lowered my eyelids, remaining entirely motionless.

Mindy released her grip, cupping my face in her hands, desperately searching for something within my pupils.

"Paul? Look at me, I am Mindy."

"You are still angry, aren't you? You can hit me, scold me, or kill me, just please don't stay silent."

I stared at her.

"Command invalid."

"Permission for 'embrace' not detected."

"Identity confirmed: Target Mindy."

"Current status: Emotional distress, heart rate at 140. Sedative recommended."

Mindy froze.

"What did you... say?"

I tilted my head slightly, continuing my broadcast. "Target's auditory system detected as normal. Repeating command: Sedative recommended."

"No... This isn't right..."

Mindy took two sharp steps back, knocking over a nearby tray.

Metal surgical instruments crashed onto the floor with a loud clatter.

She turned to the trembling research team huddled in the corner, screaming, "What is the meaning of this! I spent billions, I wanted Paul back! A living, breathing human being!"

"Miss Mindy..." The lead scientist wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "A glitched code occurred in the system during physical reconstruction. While Mr. Paul's memories have been restored, his emotional module... appears to be lost."

"Find it! Get it back for me!"

Mindy went wild, smashing equipment across the laboratory.

The old Paul would have felt his heart ache for half a day just seeing Mindy frown.

The current me simply watched her rampage in absolute silence.

Once Mindy exhausted her rage, she panted heavily, turning around to fix her gaze on me.

Her eyes carried an obsession that bordered on pathological.

"It doesn't matter... It doesn't matter," she muttered to herself, stepping toward me one stride at a time.

"As long as your body is here, that is all that counts. If the emotions are gone, we can cultivate them again."

"I was bad before, it was all my fault..."

She suddenly grabbed a sharp scalpel from the table.

With a sickening squelch, she drove the blade deep into her own thigh.

Screams erupted from the surrounding staff, yet Mindy didn't even knit her brows.

"Does it hurt, Paul?"

"Seeing me bleed, does your heart ache?"

"In the past, a simple paper cut on my finger would make you suffer for hours. Now that I stabbed myself, do you feel anything at all?"

Blood poured down her leg, pooling quickly on the floor beneath her feet.

I looked down at the knife, then raised my eyes to her face.

I extended my finger, dipping it lightly into the wound on her leg.

Mindy's eyes lit up with intense hope.

I simply brought the blood-stained finger to my lips, tasting it.

"Sodium chloride levels normal, red blood cell count normal."

"Artery damaged, blood flow velocity elevated."

"Immediate hemostasis recommended, otherwise shock will occur in ten minutes."

"Additionally, the scent of blood is unpleasant. I dislike it."

The scalpel slipped from Mindy's grasp, hitting the floor with a metallic clang.

Mindy refused to go to the hospital.

She hastily bandaged her wound and forcibly brought me back to our home.

The very villa where we had lived together for three years.

Everything was preserved exactly as it was before my death.

My favorite slippers rested by the entryway, our only couple portrait hung on the wall, and the air carried the familiar scent of gardenia fragrance I used to prefer.

"Paul, you must be hungry, right?"

Mindy limped out of the kitchen carrying a plate of sweet and sour ribs.

Glistening red and rich in aroma.

This used to be my absolute favorite dish, and her specialty.

Back then, to coax her into making this dish for me, I would have to act sweet and beg her for hours.

Now, she meticulously removed every bone, carefully bringing a piece of meat to my lips.

Her gaze was filled with desperate pleasing.

"Try a bite. I made sure to use less vinegar, just the way you like it."

I opened my mouth, accepting the meat mechanically.

Chewing. Once, twice, three times... thirty times.

Swallowing.

Every movement was as precise as a quality-control machine on an assembly line.

Mindy looked at me expectantly. "How is it? Is it delicious? Did it bring back any memories?"

I set down the chopsticks, placing my hands neatly on my knees.

"450 calories."

"Sugar content exceeds standard limits by 200 percent."

"Fat content excessively high."

"Violates host health management protocol. Discontinuation of intake recommended."

The smile on Mindy's face stiffened.

The chopsticks in her hand began to tremble violently.

"Paul... I am asking if it tastes good, not about the calories."

"This was your favorite dish, made personally by me."

I stared at her without a single blink.

"Taste sensors operating normally, but 'delicious' belongs to subjective emotional evaluation and cannot be quantified."

"To me, this is merely a mixture of carbohydrates and proteins."

"Do you require me to continue intake, Miss Mindy?"

Mindy shoved the plate away violently.

The dish shattered against the floor, ribs rolling across the tiles.

"Stop calling me Miss Mindy!" she screamed, her eyes rimmed with red. "Call me Min! You used to call me Min!"

I remained silent.

Late at night, a heavy rainstorm erupted outside.

Thunder boomed as lightning threatened to tear the sky apart.

In the past, I was terrified of thunderstorms.

Every time thunder rolled, I would crawl into Mindy's blanket, trembling all over.

Back then, she would mock me for being a coward while wrapping her arms tightly around me.

Now, I lay flat on the bed, my body straight and rigid.

Mindy walked in after taking a shower, carrying the scent of damp air.

Seeing my eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, she assumed I was frightened out of my mind.

"Don't be scared, Paul, I am here."

She climbed onto the bed, reaching out her hand to hold me.

The very second her palm brushed against my back, I sprang up, twisting her wrist behind her and using the momentum to pin her down.

I sat atop her, looking down at the suffocating woman beneath me, my voice icy to the bone.

"Aggressive behavior detected."

"Warning: Cease physical contact immediately."

"Otherwise, the purge protocol will be executed."

Mindy did not fight back.

Even though her physical strength was more than enough to flip me over.

She simply stared up at me with difficulty, two streams of tears escaping the corners of her eyes.

"Paul..."

"Kill me... if that is what you want..."

She released her grip, spreading her hands flat against the mattress.

A picture of absolute submission, offering her neck up for the slaughter.

I released my grip.

Instead of retreating, she lunged forward, pinning me tightly against the bed.

Her moist eyes locked onto mine, burning with raw desire.

"I gave you a chance."

"You couldn't bring yourself to kill me, could you?"

"That means you will never escape my grasp again."

Her warm breath brushed against my neck, her fingers pressing into my palm, interlocking with mine.

"Executing purge protocol."

"What?"

Before Mindy could process the words, my hand had already clamped firmly around her throat.

"I said, executing purge protocol."

At that exact moment, realization finally struck her.

The present me possessed the power to stand against her on equal footing.

Not merely stand against her, but overpower her completely.

"Stop! Stop right now!"

The bedroom door was thrown open.

The family doctor rushed in alongside several bodyguards.

They pulled me off her with frantic effort, plunging a high-potency sedative into my arm.

Before the drug took effect, I caught sight of Mindy sitting on the edge of the bed, clutching her neck, gasping for air.

The doctor tried to examine her injuries, but she waved her hand dismissively, her voice ruined and raspy.

"I am fine."

She stared at my fading consciousness, letting out a bitter laugh.

"This is retribution."

"Back then I pulled his oxygen tube, now he wants to strangle me."

"It is completely fair."

I closed my eyes, letting my consciousness sink into darkness while my mind sneered.

Fair?

Mindy, this is nowhere near fair.

Do you really think my return was made possible by the billion-dollar research team you assembled?

No.

The reason I returned was to complete the mission assigned to me by the system.

To utterly erase Mindy, both mentally and physically.

To step over your corpse and claim the multi-billion-dollar quest reward in my original world.

That is true fairness.

When I awoke the following morning, the household was in absolute chaos.

Convinced that my reset had gone wrong, Mindy unleashed her fury entirely upon the technical team.

"A bunch of useless fools!"

"I spent so much money, and you built me a killing machine?"

"If you don't recover his emotional capacity, every single one of you will die!"

She brought me to the laboratory, which had already been smashed into ruins.

Over a dozen top scientists knelt on the floor, trembling in terror.

Black-clad bodyguards stood around them, holding electric batons in their hands.

Mindy sat on the sole remaining chair, her face so dark it seemed ready to drip poison.

The dark bruises on her neck had not faded, giving her a terrifying appearance.

"Paul, look."

She pointed at the kneeling men, her tone deceptively gentle.

"They are the ones who broke you."

"How do you want to punish them? Just say the word, and I will make them disappear forever."

I stood beside the debris, watching those people weep and beg for mercy.

Mindy kept her eyes fixed on me.

The former Paul would have felt heartbroken for half a day over a stray cat dying.

Yet I displayed zero reaction.

I stood there like an outsider, watching an utterly boring farce.

The violence in Mindy's eyes grew heavier by the second.

She stood up abruptly, walked over to a scientist, and kicked him hard in the chest.

"Speak!" she roared, turning back toward me. "Why aren't you saying anything! Aren't you supposed to be the kindest person? Save them!"

She was forcing me.

She was using slaughter to force the kind Paul out into the open.

I finally shifted my gaze to her face.

I walked over, picking up an electric baton from the floor.

Holding the baton, I walked slowly up to the lead scientist.

The man screamed in terror, "Mr. Paul, spare my life! Spare me!"

I tilted my head, looking at Mindy.

"Only extreme pain can test their true loyalty."

"Isn't that right, Miss Mindy?"

Those exact words were spoken by her to the doctor who tried to stop her when she pulled my oxygen tube years ago.

Now, I returned them to her, word for word.

Mindy looked as if she had been struck by lightning.

"You remember everything..."

I tossed the electric baton aside and walked over to stand in front of her.

Extending my cold fingers, I gently traced the jugular artery on the side of her neck.

The pulse beneath her skin beat wildly, rapidly.

"Miss Mindy, your heart rate is excessively high. It appears a certain emotion has reached a high concentration."

I leaned close to her ear, my voice flat and devoid of fluctuation.

"Is it fear?"

Mindy grabbed my hand violently, pressing it hard against her chest.

"It is regret... Paul, it is regret!"

When Justin showed up at the front door, Mindy happened to be away from the house.

"Well, well, is this the iron tin can she spent a billion dollars to bring back?"

Justin walked in circles around me.

"I heard your brain is broken? No emotions left?"

He poked my cheek with a finger.

"Tsk, the synthetic skin feels realistic enough, just like the real thing."

I stood in the center of the living room, unmoving, without even blinking an eye.

Ignored by me, Justin grew infuriated.

He picked up a cup of freshly brewed hot tea from the coffee table, steam rising from the scalding liquid.

"What are you posing for?"

He let out a cold sneer, flicking his wrist.

Splash.

The scalding tea was dumped entirely across my chest and arms.

It was water hovering near ninety degrees Celsius.

The delicate synthetic skin turned bright red in an instant, blisters forming across the surface.

If I were a normal human, I would have leaped into the air screaming in agony.

Instead, I stayed put.

I stood on the spot without so much as twitching an eyebrow.

Justin stunned for a moment, then burst into a triumphant laugh.

"Hahaha! Mindy actually claimed you were Paul?"

"Look at you! You are nothing more than a useless doll! You don't even know what pain feels like!"

He pointed at me mockingly.

"Min is just keeping you around for novelty. Once she grows bored of you, she will tear you apart and sell you for scrap metal!"

Looking at his arrogant face, I slowly turned my head, locking my gaze onto the fruit knife resting on the coffee table.

The very next second.

I snatched the fruit knife, skipping all words, pointing the sharp tip straight at Justin's throat.

Since I was an emotionless machine, killing someone shouldn't count as a crime, right?

Justin's laughter died instantly.

His eyes widened in sheer horror as he watched the blade approach.

"What... What are you doing! Help!"

Just as the tip of the blade hovered a single centimeter from his neck.

A hand clamped firmly around the blade.

Fresh blood dripped down the steel, falling onto Justin's white shirt.

It was Mindy.

Seeing Mindy, Justin treated her like a savior immediately.

"Min! Save me! This lunatic wants to kill me!"

"He is insane! He really is a machine monster!"

Mindy didn't look at him once.

She gripped the knife tightly, allowing the sharp blade to slice deep into her palm.

Her eyes were locked entirely on me.

"Paul... let go."

Believing Mindy was protecting him, Justin grew even more arrogant.

"Min, dismantle him quickly! He tried to kill me just now! A dangerous thing like this cannot be kept around..."

Bang.

A heavy thud echoed.

Before Justin could finish his sentence, his entire body flew backward.

Mindy had kicked him hard in the chest.

He flew a full five meters, slamming into the wall before sliding down like a crooked painting.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at Mindy in utter disbelief.

"...Min?"

Mindy didn't offer him a single glance.

She simply looked at me, her eyes so soft it was chilling.

"Does your hand hurt?" she asked me softly, as if she wasn't the one clutching a sharp blade.

"Let go, be good, don't hurt yourself."

I released my grip.

The knife clattered to the floor.

Mindy's palm was a bloody mess, the cut deep enough to reveal bone.

Yet she paid it no mind, using her clean hand to gently stroke the scorched skin on my chest.

Her eyes held nothing but heartbreak and raw violence.

"Drag him out," Mindy commanded the bodyguards without looking back. "His mouth is filthy. Pull his teeth out before throwing him out of the city."

Justin's screams were muffled by the bodyguards' hands as he was dragged away like a dead dog.

Only Mindy and I remained in the living room.

Along with blood and tea splattered across the floor.

Mindy stared at me, suddenly breaking into a smile.

"Paul, you can feel anger, you want to kill someone, that means you still care, doesn't it?"

She retrieved the fruit knife covered in her own blood.

Then, she handed the handle back to me.

Pointing the sharp tip directly at her own heart.

"If you hate me enough to want to kill..."

"Don't kill others."

"Kill me."

She held my hand, forcing my fingers to wrap tightly around the handle.

"Paul, if I tell you I never loved Justin, that the only person I ever loved was you..."

"Would you be willing to hear the truth from back then?"

I froze.

Mindy's voice carried a subtle tremor.

"Back then, I discovered your true identity."

"A system quester. As long as you completed the mission, you would receive a massive reward and leave this world behind."

"I was terrified, Paul."

"I was terrified that your kindness toward me, your warmth, your vows, were all just to complete a task."

"I was terrified that the moment you succeeded, you would abandon me without hesitation."

"I just wanted to test... to see if your love for me was real."

She raised her head, tears streaming down her face.

"For these past two years, I haven't slept a single night. Every time I close my eyes, I see you struggling in the ICU."

"Paul, I don't ask for your forgiveness."

"I only ask, can you give me the smallest shred of a response? Even if it is pure hatred."

I listened quietly to everything she had to say.

In the end, I tilted my head slightly.

"Be a good little villain."

"Only death can trigger my love for you."

"So, would you be willing to die for me to see?"