Three Love Interests, and I’m Aiming for the Death Ending

After I failed to win over two billionaire CEOs, I gave up completely. When the system assigned me a third love interest, it gave up too. [Why do you get the death ending every single time? [If you keep dying, we'll be demoted to NPCs.] My eyes lit up. [Wait, that's an option?] Then my new love interest's childhood sweetheart slapped me hard and ordered me to jump into the sea to retrieve a bracelet. I didn't say a word. I plunged straight into the water. My love interest stared in shock, then frantically ordered his men to pull me out. "Is this your way of getting my attention? You're just a kept woman. Do you think your life is worth that much?" He lifted my chin with the toe of his shoe and sneered. I forced a faint smile. "Yes, my life is not worth much at all. I'll go die right now." I snatched his wine bottle, smashed it on the ground, and grabbed a shard to slash my hand. My love interest froze. As I slipped out of consciousness, I heard him shout into his phone. "Hey, were you guys this rough with her in the earlier rounds? This player is going to die at this rate!" Did he just call out the names of my first two love interests? Perfect. I just needed to rack up a few more deaths with these guys, and I could say bye-bye! Chapter 1 I opened my eyes to the lingering smell of antiseptic. Voices filled the room. "I haven't even done anything yet." "Watching her fawn over you two in the earlier rounds really made me want a turn." "Now that it's finally my turn, how did she end up like this? I almost feel sorry for her." The voice carried a teasing edge. I recognized it. It belonged to my new love interest, Peyton Wyatt. The system shrieked in my ear. [No wonder every quest failed! They tampered with their affection scores! [Good thing you decided to give up. Otherwise, these disgusting men would've put you through a third round of their games... [Forget it. I'm giving up too. Call me the Death System from now on. Once you die, we'll become NPCs.] I let out a bitter laugh. Seawater had left my head pounding, and I didn't feel like talking. The door flew open the next second. Peyton swaggered in with his childhood sweetheart tucked against him. She buried her face in his chest and pretended to cry. "Peyton, I really didn't say anything. I don't know why she suddenly went crazy..." "Everyone rushed to save her, and somehow I'm the villain. All I wanted was for her to return the limited-edition bracelet she stole..." She stole a glance at me, her expression smug in a way I knew all too well. After the first two quests, I was used to accusations and taunts like these. At first, I argued desperately. I stood my ground and tried everything I could to prove my innocence. Eventually, I learned to drop to my knees and beg for mercy while they punished me. I only wanted to seem obedient enough for a love interest to pat my head and grant me a few points of affection. And now it turned out those affection scores were fake... The absurdity of it all overwhelmed me. I stared at him blankly and couldn't be bothered to respond. Peyton clearly lost interest. He yanked the blanket off me. "That bracelet cost $318,000. How are you going to pay for it?" Our eyes met before I could look away. "I'm telling you, stop pulling these stunts to get my attention." "Someone like you should be grateful I keep you around to entertain me. That's already more kindness than you deser—" His words cut off. Before his eyes, I found strength I didn't know I had. I climbed straight over the windowsill, with half my body already out in the wind. I gave him a carefree smile. The next second, someone grabbed my arm. Pain shot through my muscles and pulled me back into the room. "Who are you trying to fool?" His relaxed expression vanished. "We're only on the third floor. You wouldn't even die from that fall. Do you really think your worthless life can be used to threaten me?" That was what he said. But his fingers gripped my forearm tightly. "Crazy woman. You'll do anything to get your way..." Peyton forced the insult out. "Didn't you want to seduce me? Then do as you're told. "All these threats to kill yourself won't work on me." He held his stunned childhood sweetheart a little closer, then turned to his bodyguard. "Get her changed. I'm taking her out." I sat on the bed and let people dress me and do my hair. Then they bundled me into Peyton's car. The scenery flew past the window. My brain suddenly kicked back into gear. Would jumping out of the car kill me faster? The moment my hand touched the door handle, Peyton grabbed me. "Shannon Wynn, what are you trying to do now?" His dark eyes loomed close. He looked impatient and irritated. "Why do you keep pulling these stunts with me?" "I told you I like gentle, considerate women. Behave yourself, and maybe I'll give you what you want." Oh. He meant affection points. I used to go to great lengths to find out what each love interest liked. If they liked bold, adventurous women, I took up extreme sports. After several parachuting accidents, I once spent a day and a night with one of them at the bottom of a cliff. I was so hungry I even caught a snake. If they liked gracious, accommodating women, I forced a polite smile and handed over condoms as they went through one kept woman after another. I even endured having a kidney taken and my blood drawn. I did it all for a little of their affection. Today, I finally realized something. What could be better than death? Whatever happened, I still had that option. All I had to do was close my eyes, and I wouldn't have to think about any of it again. Chapter 2 The car soon arrived at its destination. Only then did I realize we seemed to be at an engagement party. Peyton's childhood sweetheart saw me, and her face twisted for a moment. The next second, she and her friends surrounded me. "Where did you come from? Who said you could keep clinging to Peyton?" She spoke through gritted teeth. As Peyton approached, she brushed past my shoulder and plunged into the pool. The move was quick and discreet. I fell silent for a moment, then told the system: [I should learn to seize every chance to get myself killed like that.] "Ah! How could you push her?" Her friends shrieked. Peyton rushed to her rescue. Once he pulled her out, he pointed at me and snapped: "Have I been too lenient with you? Have you forgotten your place?" "How dare you bully someone I care about?" I raised my eyes and almost laughed. "If you don't need me, Mr. Wyatt, you can let me go." "You!" The mockery in my smile seemed to get under his skin. Peyton lost his temper and grabbed the necklace around my neck, pulling it tight. A red mark appeared on my neck as I struggled to breathe. Yes. Pull harder. My eyes lit up. I deliberately pulled in the opposite direction, and a look of satisfaction spread across my face... But the death I imagined never came. Peyton suddenly let go, and the force of my own movement sent me tumbling to the ground. "What's wrong with you?" "Why did you turn into this the moment it became my turn?" Peyton spat the words through gritted teeth. "Peyton, you lose your temper too easily. Do you really think she wanted to die?" I knew that voice all too well. I opened my eyes. The man who spoke was handsome, with a faint, cold smile on his lips. It was Gavin Sullivan, my second love interest. I came into his life when his family was at its lowest point. I drank with business executives for his sake until my stomach was perforated. I also spent six months caring for his critically ill mother. I remembered how he once held my hand and told me I was an angel sent into his life. Now he looked down on me as I lay there, a witness to my humiliation. "Is this your new tactic? I'll admit, it's different." "Why take such an extreme approach to winning us over?" "I suppose you have to take risks to get what you want. You're quite the actress." [These men are awful! They faked their affection scores and strung us along. That's why we failed so many times!] The system fumed on my behalf. Then a pair of polished black dress shoes stopped in front of me. "Shannon Wynn, who do you think you're fooling?" "You'll do anything to seduce a man. You're disgusting." I looked up and saw his face. It was Shane Chandler, my first love interest. I still struggled to breathe. I lay on the ground and coughed weakly, my face flushed. Shane couldn't help moving a little closer. Was that sadness and resentment in his eyes? I couldn't tell. He quickly turned his face away. Then his familiar, icy insults fell on me. "You're making a spectacle of yourself. Did you think threatening to die would earn you sympathy and raise your affection scores?" "None of us will fall for your tricks. You've worked so hard to win us over. Didn't you know we could control the affection scores ourselves?" I didn't look at him. I kept my head down, trying to catch my breath and stand. "What about you? Was your affection score of 99 fake too?" I got to my feet and stared at Shane, as if I could see right through him. He was nothing like the man I met ten years ago. Back then, Shane was an unacknowledged son his parents kept out of sight. They left him in a shabby rental apartment, where he couldn't even afford the rent. When the landlord evicted him, he huddled beneath an awning to escape the rain. The downpour soaked half his body. Then I stopped beside him and held my umbrella over him... However much I hated to admit it, I gave Shane my whole heart. Chapter 3 My last memory of Shane was his affection score rising to 99, then plummeting. I remembered his red-rimmed eyes and the fury on his face. "You lied to me? I'll never forgive you!" The Shane from that memory seemed to stand before me again. His breathing grew heavy. One question from me stripped away his composure. He took two angry steps toward me. "You still dare bring up the past?" His gaze swept over the men I had once tried to win over. "Surprised? All of us have been making a fool of you." "It felt good to watch you fawn over us without a shred of dignity." Shane stood close to me. He kept his eyes fixed on my face. It was as if he wanted to catch every flicker of emotion. To his surprise, I stayed calm. I felt neither anger nor sadness. I gave him a faint smile. "Good. I'm glad you felt better." "This is your engagement party. Don't waste any more of your time on me." A sea of flowers stretched into the distance. Every detail matched the plans Shane and I once made together. I guessed whose engagement party this was as soon as I arrived. When I turned to leave, a brief hush fell over the guests. Then a deafening crash rang out behind me. Shane's fiancée stepped on the tablecloth beneath the champagne tower, and ten tiers of glasses collapsed to the floor. I knew this sort of scene all too well. Shane grabbed me and rushed forward, using me as a shield for his fiancée. In a flash, a jacket appeared in front of me. Even so, shards of glass rained down over my body. The pain sent a thrill through me. I called to the system in my mind. [System, can you make a shard cut my neck so I die right here?] [Uh... Give me a second to check.] Before the system could do anything, the jacket's owner, Shane, shouted in alarm. "Yvonne! Hurry! Call an ambulance!" He knelt beside his fiancée, Yvonne Chambers, and cradled her. The glass cut her. In his panic, he glanced at me and at the jacket lying beside me. His lips twisted. "I must've lost my mind. I forgot you have a system. No matter what happens to you, you always come back alive." "Someone take her too. She can give Yvonne blood!" I felt like a rag doll full of holes. Glass shards and bloody wounds covered my arms and thighs as they shoved me into the car. Pain spread through every part of me. But I smiled with relief. I obediently followed them to the blood donation room. Through a pane of glass, I watched Shane's cold expression. "Her blood type matches Yvonne's. Yvonne is frail and needs the blood. As for this woman..." His smile twisted with hatred when he spoke of me. "You could drain every drop from her body, and she'd still be fine. Nothing you do can kill her." I closed my eyes and held back my excitement. [System, did you hear that? He's going to put me through it! Does that mean I'll die soon?] I watched the doctor connect the tubing to me and couldn't resist telling her: "Take more if you need to. I'm fine. Saving her is what matters." The doctor paused and gave me a troubled look, though her hands kept moving. "Miss Chambers only lost a little blood. She's in no danger. You only need to donate 300 milliliters." I blinked in confusion. The doctor in this virtual world suddenly acted like a normal doctor. My chance to suffer vanished, so I hurriedly called on the system for help. [Don't worry. I've already tampered with the equipment!] [Nice work!] I lay back, reassured. Sure enough, before long, the doctor noticed how pale I had become. "What's going on? Is the pump broken? Why won't it stop?" As I lost more blood, I grew dizzy. My heart raced, and my thoughts blurred. "Shane, what are you doing? You're going to kill her!" "Hey, Shane! I haven't even had my turn yet. Give me a chance! I actually kind of like her." "Shut up!" Had they all gathered here? I couldn't spare a thought for it. Their voices faded. Satisfied, I closed my eyes. Chapter 4 I opened my eyes. A white ceiling stretched above me. Was I dead? Had I moved to another world? I blinked. When I saw the man beside me, I nearly choked. "See? Someone like her would never willingly die." "She has a system to save her no matter what." Shane leaned against the doorway and pushed his hair back in irritation. "She ruined my engagement day. "Peyton, lower your affection score." Peyton sat beside my bed and gave me a mocking glance. "If it goes any lower, it'll be negative. How about this? Beg me, and I might be generous enough to raise it a little." I gave a faint, humorless smile and ignored him. Gavin waved a hand, and someone immediately stepped forward to feed me. "Enough. Since we can't seem to kill her, she might as well stick around and keep us entertained." "Eat your food, Shannon. You still have to witness Shane's big day." I closed my eyes in despair. On the way to the engagement party, I rode in the same car as Shane and his fiancée. Yvonne nestled against him as if she couldn't hold herself up. The slightest movement tugged at the wound on her forearm, and she looked up at him through tears until he comforted her. I curled my lip. [Shane, you and Yvonne could be as affectionate as you liked. Did you have to keep glancing at me?] His looks were full of resentment and anger. Yvonne blinked at me pitifully, though she let her smugness show now and then. I watched them for a moment, then spoke. "The diamond in your engagement ring is tiny." "Compared to the one I got back then, it hardly looks worth wearing." Shane's face darkened. Yvonne looked at him with tears in her wide eyes, and his jaw tightened. "Open your eyes, Shannon. We had this ring custom-made in Valoria. Yvonne and I designed it ourselves. It cost $600,000." "People get the things they deserve. Didn't you know yours was just a cheap imitation diamond?" "Shane, I understand why she feels that way. You two have a past..." Yvonne wiped away her tears, slipped off the ring, and closed her hand around it. "I'll put it back on later. I don't want her to feel bad when she sees it." "Shannon!" Shane's face hardened, and he fixed his eyes on me. I looked back at him eagerly. What would he try this time? Could he finally do something that killed me? Instead, Shane opened the window and threw the diamond ring out. "The engagement party starts in an hour. Get out and find it. If you can't, you can forget about succeeding at this quest." He smiled as he left me by the road. Peyton's car pulled up right behind us. "Poor thing. I'll raise my affection score by two points." Peyton rolled down his window and smiled at me. "Shane put real feeling into this pair of rings, unlike the cheap ones he gave you." I stood stunned amid the traffic. Cars sped past, barely missing me. One furious driver leaned out and shouted: "Are you crazy? Trying to get yourself killed?" I waved excitedly. "Yes! That's exactly what I'm trying to do! Can someone help me?" "Shannon! What is wrong with you?" Gavin crossed through the traffic and pulled me to the side of the road. "Shane threw the ring into the grass. Are you blind? Why did you run into the road?" He rubbed his brow hard, exhaustion in his voice. "Shannon, the romance game is over. Stop pulling these pathetic stunts. I'm tired of watching them." "Drop the tricks. If you come and beg me nicely, I might take pity on you and let you stay by my side." I didn't listen. I nodded just to appease him, my heart racing. The system spoke inside my head. [I'm out of patience, so I called in a cheat! A runaway truck is 200 yards away, Host. Get ready. This one is guaranteed to kill you!] I used the last of my patience to wait until Gavin turned to look for the ring. Then I lifted my skirt and ran into traffic. The truck grew larger before my eyes. Then it hit me. It felt as though my whole body shattered. Pain swallowed everything. Yet my heart surged with excitement. [Preparing to leave this body...] A countdown sounded in my ears. Finally! It was finally going to end!