The System That Killed Me: Reborn to Unbind

The agonizing memory of my past life is burned into my very soul.

I suffered a fatal heatstroke inside a heavily air-conditioned penthouse, dying entirely alone. Nobody even noticed my corpse until much later.

The architect of this twisted nightmare was my boyfriend's adopted sister, Ruby.

She used some sort of supernatural interface to forcefully bind our physical sensations together.

In the middle of a blistering one-hundred-and-seven-degree heatwave, she intentionally went outside to do "good deeds," handing out bottled water to construction workers.

Meanwhile, I was sitting in my sixty-degree room, yet my body boiled from the inside out until I collapsed from hyperthermia.

I had begged her. I pleaded with her to stop this insane torture. She just stared back with wide, innocent eyes and mocked me for making up ridiculous excuses.

My boyfriend, Nathan, didn't even bother to ask for my side of the story. He looked at me with pure disgust, calling me a selfish, spoiled brat who only cared about lounging in luxury while his saintly sister sacrificed herself for others.

Ruby stayed out in that blazing sun for an entire month. Her "selfless" acts were filmed, uploaded, and she became an overnight viral sensation, bringing millions of internet strangers to tears.

But now, I have been reborn. And the very first thing I did was book a VIP ticket for an extreme Antarctic research expedition.

Since she loves "experiencing" extreme environments so much, I am going to let her feel the refreshing kiss of minus one hundred and eighty degrees.

A confirmation text popped up on my screen. I finally let out a long breath.

The flight leaves in three days.

In this life, I am going to make those two parasites pay in blood.

My core temperature felt like a lit furnace. Sweat cascaded down my spine, pasting my silk pajamas to my skin.

I simply turned off the AC, grabbed my phone, and walked right out the front door.

I stood directly beneath the blinding, unforgiving sun.

A cruel smile crept onto my lips.

Ruby, did you really think you were the only one who knew how to tan?

"Babe, what are you doing out here?"

Nathan came jogging toward me, carrying a massive iced latte from the corner cafe. He wore a mask of frantic, devoted concern.

Today was the exact day Ruby activated the sensory link.

In my previous life, on this exact day, I hadn't even made it to the hospital for a checkup yet. I hadn't yet realized Ruby was the puppet master behind my misery.

Nathan played the role of the ultimate doting boyfriend flawlessly. The second I complained about the heat, he instantly rushed out to buy me iced drinks.

He played his part perfectly.

I did not even want to look at his face. I simply turned my back and let the sun bake my skin.

If my destiny today was to burn, then I was going to make damn sure Ruby felt the flames.

Nathan hovered behind me, his voice dripping with fake worry.

"Audrey, please come back inside with me! If you stay out in this sun, you are going to get heatstroke!"

"You hate the heat more than anyone. What is going on with you today?"

So he knew I hated the heat?

Then why did he and Ruby mock me when I threw away my pride and fell to my knees begging them for mercy in my last life?

Ruby had secretly recorded my pathetic state and posted it online. Because my claims about a sensory swap sounded like pure science fiction, nobody believed me. The internet branded me as a hysterical, attention-seeking princess.

"Nathan, didn't your sister just call me a spoiled brat? Didn't she say I just use my filthy rich parents' money to sit at home in the AC all day? Well, I took her criticism to heart. I am out here getting some vitamin D."

Ever since I met Ruby, she had never given me a single genuine smile.

She spent her nights texting Nathan, filling his head with toxic complaints about me.

My words slammed into Nathan like a brick. He choked on his own spit.

"You... you..."

Our little standoff caught the attention of the neighborhood boomers who were loitering in the lobby to steal the building's free air conditioning.

"Look at these young girls today. Tsk! Absolute drama queens."

"If she was my wife, I would have taught her a lesson by now! Young men today are way too soft. Society really has gone to hell!"

"Her poor boyfriend goes out of his way to get her an iced drink, and she throws a tantrum. Completely ungrateful!"

A bunch of wrinkly busybodies glared at me with judgmental, beady eyes. You would think I was cheating on their own sons.

I rolled my eyes to the back of my head. Instead of listening to their garbage, I dropped into a light jog right there in the middle of the scorching pavement.

Let us see how much of this you can take, Ruby.

Nathan's face turned a violent shade of magenta. He pointed a trembling finger at me.

"Fine! You are clearly out of your mind today."

He spun on his heel and stormed off.

My eyes darkened. It seemed he was not in on the secret yet.

I shook the stray thoughts from my head and picked up my pace. Usually, my lower abdomen would cramp up if I ran this fast, but today? I felt absolutely nothing.

My phone started ringing.

I let out a harsh laugh and calmly accepted the FaceTime call.

"Audrey! Why the hell are you outside?!"

Ruby's face filled the screen, her voice cracking in pure, unadulterated panic.

I took a moment to truly admire the picture before me. Her face was flushed so dark red it looked like a ticking bomb. Her clothes were plastered to her body, completely soaked in a waterfall of sweat. She was gasping for air, her chest heaving like her lungs were about to rupture.

I covered my mouth and let out a sweet, innocent giggle.

"Ruby? What a surprise! Since when do you care about my daily routine?"

"I just suddenly felt the urge to get my cardio in. And let me tell you, running in the middle of summer is surprisingly exhilarating."

Ruby looked like she was literally going to emit steam.

She had intentionally gone to a construction site today to hand out water, even hiring a professional assistant to film her charity work.

At first, it had been paradise.

She walked under the toxic rays of the sun for hours, climbing up and down scaffolding.

She had not felt a single drop of sweat.

Instead, she felt a crisp, icy breeze, as if she were strolling through a refrigerated room.

But right as she was internally celebrating the sheer magic of her stolen hack, everything violently shifted.

The heavenly chill vanished without a trace, instantly replaced by the sensation of running an ultra-marathon inside a steaming sauna.

I watched the calculating gears turning behind Ruby's panicked eyes.

I suddenly lost the desire to toy with her.

I dropped the sweet act and gave her a deadpan warning.

"Ruby, turn off whatever twisted voodoo you are using right now. If you don't, you are going to meet a very ugly end."

Her expression twisted into a mask of pure rage.

She ended the call immediately. When I tried dialing back, I found she had already blocked me.

Moments later, the suffocating heat radiating from my own skin dissolved into nothing.

I figured Ruby must have finally dragged herself into an air-conditioned room.

I stopped my jog and walked back up to my penthouse.

Nathan instantly approached me holding a glass of ice water, wearing that sickeningly sweet, forgiving look on his face.

"Have some water, babe."

"Please do not torture yourself like that again. It hurts me to see it."

I furrowed my brows, rejecting the glass with high alert.

But the very next second, a brutal, crushing force slammed into the back of my neck.

My world went black.

When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself in a secluded alpine lodge situated thousands of feet above sea level.

This place was famously crisp all year round. The temperature never peaked above seventy-five degrees.

My stomach dropped into an icy abyss.

The door swung open. Nathan stood there, flashing a radiant, chilling smile.

"Come on out, sweetheart. Everyone is waiting for you."

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed my arm and dragged me outside.

There was a massive pool party raging on the patio.

The guests were all guys from Nathan's little low-life inner circle.

I rarely ever interacted with them. They always looked at me with this greasy, underlying malice that made my skin crawl.

"Thanks for the hospitality, Audrey! We have never been to a resort this exclusive!"

One of the guys smirked at me. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes stripped me down in a way that made me sick.

I snapped my head toward Nathan, demanding an answer.

"What is the meaning of this?"

He was just an average corporate drone. The only way he could afford this place was by maxing out the supplementary platinum card I had given him.

Nathan tightened his grip on my wrist, his voice oozing fake gentleness.

"Babe, you hate the heat. This is my little surprise gift to you."

Before I could brace myself, he leaped into the deep end, dragging me straight into the freezing water with him.

The blood rushed to my head. I swung my free arm and slapped Nathan straight across his jaw.

He was really pulling out all the stops for his precious little sister!

Right now, my body was enveloped in a suffocating, dizzying heat wave. I knew exactly what was happening. Ruby was back out in the blazing sun, playing the sweaty, beautiful saint for the cameras.

It was exactly how she blew up the internet in my past life, riding on her fabricated angelic persona.

And I had burned to death in my own bedroom.

Now that I was refusing to stay put, he was trying to trap me in an alpine pool!

"Let go of me!"

I clawed at his chest, desperately trying to scramble onto the pool deck.

But a heavy weight slammed down on my shoulders, violently shoving me beneath the freezing surface.

Nathan's gentle mask shattered into pieces.

He looked down at me with a psychotic sneer, his hands brutally forceful.

"Audrey, if you insist on making an enemy out of Ruby, then do not blame me for playing dirty!"

I was trapped underwater, my wrists and ankles bound with pool ropes, leaving me completely paralyzed.

If my sensations had not been hijacked, floating in this cool water would have felt incredible.

But my internal temperature was skyrocketing, a dry, unbearable fever burning through my veins.

A few of the guys grabbed buckets of ice from the bar and started viciously shoving the cubes into my mouth.

"Heard you were complaining about the heat, Princess! The boys are just helping you cool down, hahahaha!"

"I have a much better way to cool her off. Why don't we try it out on her tonight?"

"Back off, man. Are you trying to keep her all to yourself?"

"Oh, come on! I would never. Maybe we can double team her..."

Their filthy, stomach-turning comments echoed around the deck until Nathan finally barked a command.

"Enough!"

The guys immediately shut their mouths, but their eyes continued to roam up and down my soaked body, making bile rise in my throat.

Nathan stood on the edge of the pool, peering down at me like a god judging an insect.

A twisted flicker of pity flashed in his eyes.

"Just be a good girl and stop throwing tantrums, okay?"

"This will all be over soon."

His tone suggested he was doing this for my own good, making me physically gag.

I knew exactly what he meant by 'soon'.

In my past life, two months after I died, my rotting corpse was finally discovered. My soul had been trapped floating near the ceiling, unable to move on.

I watched as Ruby walked into my bedroom, pinching her nose in disgust, ordering the cleaners to haul my body away.

When no one was looking, she whispered to the air.

"System, cancel the sensory exchange."

"Oh, Audrey. Your greatest contribution to this world was helping me reach ten million followers. Now that I have made it, your services are no longer required."

That was the moment I realized every agonizing pain I felt was her doing.

She planned to switch us back the moment she secured her fame.

It will all be over soon?

In your dreams!

"Nathan, the biggest regret of my miserable life is ever letting you touch me!"

I had invited a wolf into my home, and it cost me my life.

But in this lifetime, I would drag them both to hell before I let them win.

Every ounce of pity vanished from Nathan's face, replaced by a venomous, dark glare.

He hated it. He hated that ever since we started dating, everyone whispered that he was just a gold-digging leech.

He convinced himself that he was a martyr for putting up with my "rich girl attitude."

"Since you want to be a stubborn bitch, you can stay in the water."

I remained trapped beneath the surface. The scalding heat inside my body battled the terrifying sensation of drowning.

My skin began to swell and prune.

I screamed through the water, expending every last ounce of my energy, but nobody cared.

One of Nathan's trashy friends laughed from the deck.

"Keep screaming! Nobody can hear you up here!"

"Ooh, look at her. She is just trying to get our attention! Keep making those little noises, Princess, you are getting me excited!"

The rage caused the blood to rush to my brain.

I finally passed out.

When I woke up, the suffocating heat still clung to me like a second skin.

I blinked and realized I had been dragged into a dimly lit wine cellar.

Nathan stood by the heavy oak door, his voice devoid of emotion.

"This cellar is kept at a strict sixty degrees. You are going to stay down here for the next month."

He did not even spare me a second glance before turning away.

The heavy thud of the reinforced door echoing through the room was my only answer.

Trembling with rage, I grabbed an expensive vintage bottle off the rack and hurled it at the wall.

It shattered into a million sparkling shards.

I gripped the diamond bracelet on my left wrist, preparing to make my move.

Suddenly, a tiny red light blinked from the corner of the ceiling.

A hidden camera.

My heart skipped a beat. I froze instantly, putting on an act of pure terror as I stared up at the lens.

A flat screen mounted on the stone wall suddenly flickered to life.

Ruby's face appeared. She looked smug, radiant, and sickeningly triumphant. Her taunting gaze seemed to pierce straight through the monitor.

"How is the vacation treating you, Audrey?"

"I am so jealous of you. I really am. I have to stay out here in this awful sun, giving water to all these pathetic, lower-class losers."

Every word dripped with pure poison. I closed my eyes, refusing to give her the satisfaction of looking at her.

My silence only made her more excited.

"Do not worry, Audrey! Once I am a massive superstar, I will definitely buy you dinner. After all, I guess I owe you a little for your... contribution."

If she had a tail, it would be wagging in the air.

I let out a low, cold laugh.

"Ruby. Things you steal from other people will never truly belong to you."

As if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world, she threw her head back and shrieked with laughter.

"Wow, you really do not know when to give up, do you?"

"I stole from you? That is hilarious. If you had not stolen my brother away from me, do you really think I would have targeted you?!"

My brows knit together.

So that was it?

Suddenly, every bizarre red flag I had ignored in the past flashed through my mind.

The very first time I visited Nathan's parents, Ruby locked herself in her room and refused to come out. His parents had looked so uncomfortable, muttering excuses.

"She is just going through a phase."

I had actually believed them. After that, I bought her expensive designer gifts every time I went shopping, desperately trying to win her over.

She took every single one, smashed them to pieces, and threw them in the trash.

Whenever I attended gatherings with Nathan's friends, they always treated me with that subtle, underlying hostility.

Now it all made perfect, sickening sense.

"Ruby, I am going to warn you one last time. If you do not shut off this freakish hack right now, your life is going to become a living nightmare."

I stared dead into the camera.

She did not take me seriously at all.

Instead, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number, making sure the camera caught every angle.

Her voice shifted into a sickeningly sweet, childish whine.

"Nathan! I am so upset right now!"

"I just told Audrey I wanted to buy her dinner to make peace, and she threatened me! She said she was going to make my life a nightmare..."

It was the most pathetic, amateur acting I had ever seen.

But Nathan's voice through the speakerphone was softer and more devoted than I had ever heard him be with me.

"Do not cry, Ruby! As soon as this bitch outlives her usefulness, I am going to dump her with some human traffickers down south just for you. Does that sound good?"

The last string connecting me to my humanity snapped.

Even though I already knew exactly what kind of monster Nathan was, hearing those grotesque words leave his mouth still left a bitter taste on my tongue.

My nails dug so deeply into my palms that they drew blood, but I could not feel the physical pain.

Nothing could compare to the icy void spreading in my chest.

Ruby's lips curled into a victorious smirk.

"See that? In his heart, you are not even worth a single strand of my hair!"

The screen clicked off, plunging the cellar into absolute, dead silence.

I unclenched my bloody fists.

Swallowing the humiliation, I brought my wrist to my mouth. I pressed a hidden button on my custom-made diamond braceleta direct, VIP distress beacon to my private security team.

"Extract me."

My elite team pulled me out of that lodge within the hour, leaving no trace behind.

My flight to Antarctica was tomorrow morning. I headed straight to the airport.

The next day.

Nathan woke up with a violently racing heart. A terrifying sense of dread washed over him, a primal instinct warning him that something crucial had slipped through his fingers.

But he could not put his finger on it.

Carrying a breakfast tray, he unlocked the heavy oak door to the cellar.

The tray crashed to the floor.

She was gone.

By the time my phone started blowing up with his calls, I had already cleared VIP boarding.

I didn't block him.

Instead, I sat in my first-class suite, watching his name flash across the screen again and again, sipping champagne as I pictured his pathetic, frantic face.

The moment I touched down at the South Pole base, I did not waste a single second. I FaceTimed Ruby.

"Hey! Surprise! Guess where I am?"

Ruby felt as if she had been plunged into a vat of liquid nitrogen. She nearly blacked out on the spot.