Ernesta, the daughter of a wealthy family, had lived like an orphan for over a decade after being separated from her parents as a young child. At sixteen, she was finally found and brought home. Ernesta believed her life was starting anew, that she would finally be surrounded by her family's love. But she had no idea what awaited her: her brother's judgmental gaze, her father's disdain, and her mother's feigned affection. This was because someone had completely usurped her place in the family. Her foster sister, Kiera, though unrelated by blood to the Merediths, had been raised in luxury and had become a true lady. Ernesta, the real daughter raised in a less fortunate environment, wasn't considered noble enough, elegant enough, and was treated like an outsider. On the night of Ernesta's 20th birthday, also the night her engagement to Ryder was announced, he coldly stated, “The only one I've ever loved is Kiera.” Why hadn't he said it sooner? Why did he have to say it today, in front of so many guests, making her look like a fool? To make matters worse, her father, mother, and brother all turned their backs on her to protect the deceitful Kiera. Ernesta turned and walked away. This time, she was determined to let go of the family love she had always craved. She wanted to prove to the Merediths and Ryder that her life would be even better without them. But a serious car accident nearly claimed Ernesta's life. When she awoke, a mechanical voice echoed in her ears, “Ding! Congratulations, master, on successfully installing the Life-Altering System. Your brain is severely damaged, and your body is in a vegetative state. If you want a chance to wake up, you need to complete the mission assigned by the Life-Altering System.”
View MoreAt that moment, Ralph slowly stepped in from outside. No one knew how long he had been there or how much he had heard.Fiona’s face turned ghostly pale, her breathing quick and unsteady as if she might faint at any second.Ralph didn’t seem to notice her distress. He walked straight to the computer, took the programmer’s seat, and started testing the game himself.After five minutes, he looked up at Ernesta, his eyes full of admiration.“Did you write this?” he asked.Ernesta nodded. “Yes.”Ralph smiled, his expression noticeably softer. It was the first time he had ever smiled at her.“You should keep learning programming. Stick with it, and don’t give up.”Ernesta hesitated, glancing at Ralph, then at Fiona, before speaking cautiously.“But… Fiona…”“You don’t need to worry about her. I’ll talk to Fiona. Your job is to develop your talent and give it your best.”This time, Fiona didn’t even have to pretend to be sick, because she truly felt unwell.Ever since Ralph walked in, he had
As soon as Ernesta finished speaking, 001 blurted out,“Master, what are you doing? You can't harm the female lead! That’s what antagonists do, and antagonists in novels never have a good ending. If this goes wrong, our mission will fail!” Its voice was still flat and robotic, but it was talking way faster than usual.Ernesta shot back,“Take a good look. Who’s really trying to hurt who here? And besides, this isn’t just some novel anymore. This is a real, complete world.”001 didn’t know how to respond. The female lead was supposed to be the good guy, but if that were true, why was she falsely accusing its master of stealing her work? It felt completely lost, maybe it needed a system update to process all of this.Ernesta ignored 001’s internal crisis and got back into character.“I can prove I made this game. Are you still sticking with that story?” she asked Fiona.Fiona suddenly felt uneasy, but she was already in too deep, there was no backing out now. She just had to go with it
Ernesta swiftly opened a pre-installed game development tool on the computer screen. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, churning out lines of code like a machine gun. As she typed, she effortlessly explained the game's concept and mechanics, her words flowing as smoothly as the code itself. The most astonishing thing was her ability to juggle two tasks at once without sacrificing speed or accuracy.Even before anyone knew what kind of game Ernesta was building, her sheer skill had everyone impressed.Fiona's face turned pale. She had no idea Ernesta was this good. While Fiona could type just as fast, she could only do it when fully focused. To chat and code simultaneously while maintaining accuracy was simply beyond her. At that moment, Fiona felt like Ernesta was glowing with talent.Fiona, of course, didn't want Ernesta to outshine her. But she was the one who had suggested Ernesta show off her skills, and it was too late to back out now. She could only tell herself
Despite Fiona's heart condition flaring up, causing a stir in the house, Ralph still made sure a computer was installed in Ernesta's room by the end of the day. He even brought her a pile of documents on programming languages and game design.It seemed he was determined to nurture Ernesta, testing if she truly had the potential to fully replace Fiona.Staying in her room, Fiona kept tabs on everything happening outside. With the help of the maid, she knew exactly what Ralph was doing. Her chest tightened, her hands gripping the blanket. She forced herself to stay calm, knowing her weak heart couldn't handle any more stress.But how could she stay calm when she saw Ralph's affection for her being taken by someone else? Even if it was her own sister, she couldn't accept it.She simply couldn't see Ernesta surpassing her in programming and game design. The things Ernesta boasted about were just basic introductory knowledge. It wasn't worth Ralph's attention.Perhaps
Seeing Ernesta's confident air, Fiona gave her a supportive smile, secretly excited to wait for her sister to get flustered and embarrassed.She said, “Okay, now I'll ask you a question. Let's say you have a variable x = 10 and a variable y = “10”. What are the data types of x and y, and why? Explain the difference between these two variables.”Ernesta didn't hesitate for a second and replied, “The data type of variable x is int (integer) because it contains an integer, 10. The data type of variable y is str (string) because it contains a string of characters, “10”. The main difference is…”She answered smoothly, as if the knowledge was deeply ingrained in her mind.Fiona wasn't satisfied and continued to ask more challenging questions, but Ernesta kept up the pace and answered them quickly.Fiona wanted to see Ernesta stumble and look foolish, but her sister's expressions were completely unrelated to those two words. So, besides being embarrassed, Fiona was only left with anger.“Cl
“001, why doesn't the novel mention how bad Fiona's condition is?” Ernesta asked.001 didn't answer right away like it usually does. A few seconds passed before it replied,“Master, maybe Roger gave us wrong information.”Ernesta laughed at how clueless it was. She said,“Fiona's a client of Roger's hospital, so it's no surprise he might have picked up some secrets. Plus, if what he said is true, then everything makes sense.”001 was totally lost. It asked:“How does it make sense?”Ernesta didn't answer. Seeing the car had stopped in front of the beautiful white villa, she said to 001,“We're here, let's go see my genius little sister.”Ralph Harold's place was a fancy two-story house with a big garden, right in the middle of the city. Ernesta walked up the pretty marble path leading inside. As she got closer to the front door, she saw a window open on the second floor, and a beautiful figure was looking out at the world.Ernesta used her memories to wave to Fiona, just like her curr
After school today, Roger saw the school bullies trailing the new girl. He couldn't help but feel worried and secretly followed them.Sure enough, just as he predicted, after Ernesta went into the bathroom, the four tough girls blocked the door, waiting for her to come out. But unlike usual, this time Ernesta didn't just stand there and take it. She cleverly distracted them and ran away, showing some improvement from before.As Roger thought he might not need to step in and Ernesta could safely leave school, a soft body bumped into his chest. To prevent them both from falling, he instinctively held her close. The sweet scent of strawberry body wash filled his nose, making Roger's ears turn red.Ernesta looked up, a familiar feeling washing over her. The brown-nut hair, the clear amber eyes, Roger's appearance reminded her of a childhood friend. If he had grown up, he might have looked just like the guy in front of her.Roger was handsome, wearing a black hoodie and wide-legged khaki p
In a blink, all the memories of this body's owner washed over Ernesta, filling her mind. From the everyday routines to the major life changes, everything played out vividly in her head. Seventeen years of life were absorbed in just a few seconds. Ernesta was amazed by the system's incredible power.Once Ernesta had processed all the data, 001 spoke up,“This body's owner just wanted to live, to keep designing games. Simple as that. So, on the day of the accident, all you had to do was stay off the road, and you would have been safe. Mission accomplished! Easy, right?”Ernesta couldn't help but laugh. “001, is this your first time on a mission?” she asked.“How did you know?”Because your inexperience is practically shouting from every number. Of course, Ernesta wouldn't say that. Until she understood the system's true purpose, she wouldn't turn against it.She tried to avoid the question, changing the topic. “Don't you think this whole story is kind of weird?”001 went silent for a
“Ding! Congratulations, master, on successfully installing the Life-Altering System. I am 001, your AI assistant.”A flat, emotionless voice echoed in her ears. Ernesta opened her eyes wide, looking around in confusion.She found herself suspended in a pitch-black void. Strangely, despite the lack of light, she could see every detail of her own body.Wait… hadn’t she just been hit by a car? Why wasn’t she in the hospital? Could it be that she had died and was now in heaven?“Master, you haven’t died, but the severe brain damage has put you in a deep coma, you’re essentially in a vegetative state. To put it simply, you’re not in heaven, you’re in the system’s space.”That same flat, robotic voice echoed again, making Ernesta freak out. She spun around, looking for something, anything, in the endless darkness, but there was nothing.“Don't bother looking, I'm in your head. We can talk through your thoughts.”Ernesta knew this was totally weird, but freaking out wasn't going to help. She
The rain was coming down in sheets, each drop heavy and tearing through the night, making a loud noise as it hit the ground. On the empty street, a skinny figure walked slowly, the heavy rain pressing down on her shoulders, making her look even smaller and weaker.“Ernesta, honey, don't be so stubborn. I know you've had a tough time, but Kiera's not feeling well. Can you just give in to her a little?”“Ernesta, can you stop acting like a spoiled brat from the wrong side of the tracks? You're making our family look bad!”“Kiera's been spoiled rotten since she was a kid, so she's a bit fragile and can't handle pain and pressure. You've been through more, you're stronger, you can definitely handle it. Don't make a scene!”“Ernesta, the only one I've ever loved is Kiera. So what if she's not the Meredith family's biological daughter? You can't force feelings, you should let go.”Ernesta stumbled through the rain, her elegant evening gown soaked, her once-voluminous blonde hair now limp an...
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