System Quest 2.0: Harvest My Family's Regret

After completing my mission in conquering Audrey Hayes, I choose to stay behind in this other world for her. Before the system checks out, it warns me that I have burned through every single point to keep her alive. If I ever find myself in danger again, I won't have the points to bail me out. I don't care, mostly because Audrey has held my hand and given me her word. "I'm a doctor. No matter what happens to you down the road, I'll be the one to save you." But ten years later, my twin brother and I are caught in a car accident. When Audrey rushes onto the scene, she walks right past me as I lie bleeding out on the pavement, choosing instead to load my brother onto the ambulance for nothing more than a few superficial scrapes. "I know all about those weird abilities of yours!" she snaps. "You aren't going to die, but Owen might." Watching her leave, I close my eyes in absolute despair, only to hear the system's mechanical voice echo in my mind. "Host, your vital signs are dropping rapidly. In light of your exceptional past performance, a new option has been unlocked. If you can collect enough regret from your family, you'll be granted a chance to return to the real world. Do you accept this mission?" Chapter 1 "Fine. I accept." As the system's mechanical voice faded, a profound weakness washed over my entire body. I had agreed to take on the new mission, but I honestly had no idea if I could actually pull it off. After all, I had spent so many years failing to earn a single shred of their love, so it was hard to believe they would suddenly regret my death now. Still, I didn't have time to dwell on it, for the massive blood loss and agonizing pain were quickly dragging my consciousness under. I still remembered right after the accident happened, someone moved my limp body around. It was my older brother, Owen Winslow. He had nothing but a tiny scratch on his leg, yet he was leaning over me and smearing my blood all over himself. So, when the ambulance screeched to a halt and the doctor jumped out, the first thing she saw was Owen lying in a pool of blood. She frantically ordered her crew to load him onto the gurney first. Hearing that familiar voice, I fought to force my eyes open, even though the blood had nearly sealed them shut. The doctor running the show was none other than Audrey Hayes, my wife of ten years and the original target of my mission. I forced my arm up, reaching out to her for help, but she only offered me a brief, hesitant glance. "Owen's condition is critical," Audrey said. "The next ambulance is going to be here any minute, so just wait right here." Seeing her turn to leave, I used every last ounce of strength to grab the hem of her pants, but she pulled away. "I know all about those weird abilities of yours!" she snapped. "You aren't going to die, but Owen might." With that, she turned and rushed into the ambulance, leaving me stranded on the freezing pavement and watching in despair as the ambulance faded into the distance. By the time the second ambulance finally got me to the hospital over ten minutes later, I had already slipped into a coma. Because of the delay, I had missed the critical window for survival. After undergoing an emergency surgery, I was wheeled straight into the ICU. Deep down, I knew my time was up, but then again, I was never supposed to stay in this world anyway. I was a mission runner who had moved through countless assignment worlds. Winning over Audrey was my very last mission, and succeeding meant I could finally return to the real world. Audrey was just an ordinary surgeon in this world, but before she met me, she was a total magnet for troubles. Walking down the street only to have a flowerpot fall on her head or to fall into open manholes was a daily occurrence for her. To complete my mission, I didn't hesitate to spend the points I had accumulated across other worlds just to protect her from all those disasters. It was the most difficult mission I had ever accepted. To balance out Audrey's streak of bad luck, I spent practically every single point I had to my name. I even put myself in harm's way for her multiple times, nearly dying on the spot on several occasions. Nevertheless, my efforts finally paid off the day she asked me to be her boyfriend, marking the mission as complete. The night before my scheduled departure, a massive blizzard broke out, and I told her that I had to leave. Instead of letting me go, she drove through the blinding snow overnight just to see me, bringing a homemade meal because I had once mentioned offhand that I wanted to try her cooking. Audrey's tears were streaming down her face as she pressed the warm lunchbox into my hands. She said that although she didn't know where I was heading, she hoped I would always remember the taste of that meal and the person who had made it for me. Chapter 2 At that moment, I hesitated. I had completed so many missions, but Audrey was the very first target who had ever made my heart skip a beat. After turning it over in my mind, I decided to stay. Back in the real world, I was just an orphan with no family to call my own anyway, so it made more sense to remain here and build a life with Audrey. At first, things were genuinely peaceful and sweet between us. But everything changed after my twin brother, Owen, who had been abducted years ago, was found and brought home. Owen came back into our lives shortly after Audrey and I got married. Faced with the son they thought they had lost forever, Mom and Dad broke down in tears of absolute joy. No matter what Owen said or did, they believed him and gave him anything he wanted. I could understand my parents' reaction. For some reason, though, Audrey started growing incredibly close to Owen as well. I remembered seeing Owen whispering something to her one day, and that very night, she uncharacteristically drank herself into a total stupor. Once she sobered up, her entire attitude toward me shifted, and she became increasingly distant and cold. I tried asking her what was wrong, but she always brushed it off. Fortunately, Audrey got pregnant not long after that and gave birth to our son, Ethan Winslow. The arrival of our baby finally eased the tension between us, and I poured every ounce of love I had into Ethan. When he was little, Ethan looked at me like I was the center of his universe, his protector and the rock he could always lean on. As he grew older, though, he inexplicably started gravitating toward Owen, too. He was constantly talking about how cool Owen's tattoos were, insisting he wanted to get inked just like him when he grew up. I didn't know what Owen had gone through during all those years he was missing, but my gut told me to keep Ethan far away from him. But the harder I tried to shield him, the more Ethan resented me for it. At the time, I just chalked it up to a kid going through a rebellious phase. That was until Ethan's birthday party. I came home with his favorite cake, only to stop at the front door when I saw him introducing his family to his classmates. With a massive, proud grin on his face, he pointed at Owen and said, "This is my dad. Pretty cool, right? Don't you think he looks perfect with my mom?" In that instant, my blood ran cold, and I realized that my entire reason for staying in this world had become an absolute joke. Just look at me now, lying in the ICU with nobody coming to check on me. I could feel my soul slowly pulling away from my body, and I sighed. This was never my actual body to begin with, and I should've never let myself crave that fleeting taste of warmth. Growing up in an orphanage, I had spent my whole life dreaming of having a mother, a father, a brother, and a wife who truly loved me. In the end, that was the exact thing that walked me right into a dead end. "Where's Uncle Owen? Is he okay?" Through the haze, I heard Ethan's voice. "Ethan, your Uncle Owen is going to be just fine," a nurse said. She knew our family and told him, "It's actually your dad who's in trouble." Hearing those words, Ethan let out a massive sigh of relief, a bright grin spreading across his face. "Oh, so Dad's the one who's sick! That's awesome. I'm just glad Uncle Owen is okay!" The young nurse seemed to think he was just too little to understand what was actually happening, because she tried to guide him toward the ICU to come see me. Ethan yanked his hand out of her grip, his face tightening with annoyance. "I don't want to see him! It'd be better if he died! If he's gone, I can finally have Uncle Owen be my dad. Uncle Owen is actually cool, and he actually loves me. I'm going to see him instead!" said Ethan. Floating in midair, my soul stared down at him in disbelief. Was this the boy I had given every single ounce of my love to since the day he was born? I was nothing more than a spirit now, so why did my chest still ache this terribly? A wave of crushing sadness washed over me as my soul completely broke free from my body. Next to my body, the heart monitor emitted a piercing, continuous whine. Chapter 3 Doctors and nurses rushed in to try and revive me, but my body had already grown cold. In the end, the doctor had no choice but to call my time of death. Mom and Dad hurried in shortly after hearing the news. Floating in midair, I watched them sprint toward the front desk, frantically asking the nurse which room Owen was in. Once they got their answer, they bolted down the corridor toward his room. They didn't ask about me once, as if they had completely forgotten they had another son. I watched them run right past the ICU, completely fixated on getting to Owen. When I first arrived in this world, Mom and Dad were the very first people I saw, and I had inherited all of the memories of the body's original owner. Before Owen was found, my life with the Winslows had been pretty happy. But the moment he came back, Mom and Dad started pouring all their affection into him, probably feeling guilty for all the years he was missing. I could understand why, but Owen wasn't a good person. He was constantly putting on a pitiful act in front of Mom and Dad. "I was gone for so long, and you guys owe me for that," he'd snap. "Don't you think I deserve this?" Faced with the harsh reality of their past mistake, Mom and Dad did everything they could to make it up to him. On top of that, Owen never stopped driving a wedge between us, constantly making up lies that I was bullying him. Mom and Dad believed him without question, and over time, the way they looked at me grew colder and more irritated. At that moment, I had the sudden urge to see what Audrey was up to, so I drifted into Owen's room. Audrey, who was usually so busy, was sitting quietly by Owen's bedside, holding a bowl of mushroom soup. "Audrey, it hurts so bad," Owen whined, his face a picture of feigned agony. "Are you sure my leg isn't broken?" Audrey flashed him a helpless smile, gently blowing on the soup to cool it down before carefully feeding him a spoonful. "Don't worry. I'm a doctor, remember? I looked at the X-rays myself. You just have a sprained ankle and a tiny scratch. You'll be back on your feet in no time." Ethan was right there by the bed, too. "Uncle Owen, you have to get better fast. You promised to take me to the aquarium, so you can't back out now!" Mom and Dad were also fussing over him, with one peeling fruit and the other pouring him a glass of water. Watching the five of them sharing such a warm, happy family moment, I felt like a knife had been driven straight through my chest all over again. As it turned out, the happiness I had lived with for more than ten years had never belonged to me in the first place. Maybe fate had always intended for me to grow old alone, and everything happening now was just my punishment for being greedy enough to want a family. Owen soaked up all the attention and comfort before he finally deigned to bring me up, asking, "By the way, does anyone know how Noah's doing?" "Honestly, it's all my fault," he said, putting on an innocent expression. "I bumped into him on the street, but for some reason, he looked furious the second he saw me. I was just trying to explain things to him when that car came out of nowhere and hit us both." I knitted my brows. It was a shame I was just a spirit now, for I couldn't march over and punch him in the face. His knack for twisting the facts was as sharp as ever. The truth was, I was just about to cross the street when he suddenly lunged from behind and shoved me into traffic. I had instinctively grabbed onto him, but he managed to shake me off. That was how I ended up taking the full force of the impact while he walked away with barely a scratch. Just then, a female doctor threw the door open and rushed in, shattering the heart-warming moment. "Are Noah Winslow's relatives in here? Where's Noah's family?" "What's the matter?" Mom grumbled, furrowing her brows in annoyance. "Can't you see we have a patient trying to rest here?" The doctor's face hardened. "Are all of you related to Noah? He was lying in the ICU, so how do you people have the heart to sit in here laughing? Noah passed away five minutes ago after we failed to revive him. I'm sorry for your loss."