Free Web NovelChapter 214: Chapter 217: Host, It’s Time to Receive the Punishment
Renee Sinclair had always thought the system in her head was just some high-tech product from another dimension—a machine, or a program.
But now, that program was letting out a laugh just like a human’s.
It laughed with scorn and glee, as if mocking Renee Sinclair’s naivety and foolishness.
[Host, if you could have thought of another way, would you have ended up in this predicament?]
"...You’ve certainly played a big part in me ending up in this predicament." Since the system was going to be snarky, Renee Sinclair saw no reason to be civil with it.
She sneered, her tone derisive. "If you hadn’t been misleading me this whole time, making me use the wrong methods to go after Felix Preston, would I be in such a miserable state right now?"
[I misled you?]
The robotic female voice was full of incredulity. [Host, when did I ever mislead you? Driving away Charlotte Shaw to become the only woman by Felix Preston’s side—wasn’t that the optimal route for your mission?]
[I gave you the route and the methods, yet you failed to earn a single favorability point. Is that my fault, too?]
Renee Sinclair: "Of course it’s your fault. You said you were Mister Know-It-All, that you understood every single person in this novel. So why didn’t you know that Charlotte Shaw was a transmigrator, too?"
[...]
For the first time, the robotic female voice fell silent.
"Hmph..." Renee Sinclair rolled her eyes. "Charlotte Shaw isn’t Sonia Quincy. She’s not the malicious supporting female character, nor is she a cruel and vicious villainess. You misjudged her true nature and tricked me into using methods for dealing with a villainess against her. That’s what caused me to make one wrong step after another, leading me to this irreversible point!"
The robotic female voice: [...Detecting transmigrators is not part of the system’s job.]
"Heh," Renee Sinclair laughed, truly incensed. "You can’t even detect a transmigrator, so what right do you have to be so snarky with me? Am I the only one who screwed this up?"
[...]
The robotic female voice fell silent once more.
Renee Sinclair stood there for a few seconds, and when she didn’t get a response from the system, she decided to open the car door and get in.
She took a few steps forward and had just pulled the car door open when she heard the system say coldly, [The system does indeed bear some responsibility in this matter.]
"Some responsibility?" Renee Sinclair pulled her hand back and asked, standing by the open car door, "And?"
The robotic female voice: [There’s no need to rush, Host. Haven’t I been trying to figure out a way to salvage this? You and I are in the same boat now. If you die, I die. I would never, ever do anything to harm you.]
Renee Sinclair ignored the useless chatter and just asked, "So what kind of solutions have you come up with?"
The robotic female voice: [I’ve already told you the solution. Between you and Charlotte Shaw, one lives, and one dies.]
"I don’t want that solution!" Renee Sinclair’s brow furrowed, her voice now thick with anger. "Charlotte Shaw has already died once. Are you going to make her die all over again?"
The robotic female voice: [How many times she’s died has nothing to do with you, Host. You can barely save yourself, and you have the spare energy to pity her?]
"..." Renee Sinclair’s fingers tightened into a fist, her sharp nails digging into the flesh of her palm. "Charlotte Shaw is innocent. She shouldn’t be a sacrifice for this mission. And I’m not willing to live on at the cost of her life."
[...It seems the Host has already made her choice.]
The robotic female voice suddenly became light. [The Host thinks Charlotte Shaw is pitiful. The Host was swayed by Charlotte Shaw’s sweet talk. The Host has started treating Charlotte Shaw as a friend. And so, you’ve decided to sacrifice yourself to save Charlotte Shaw’s life. Is that right?]
Renee Sinclair: "No, why are you so fixated on Charlotte Shaw dying? She has nothing to do with our mission, so why must you take her life!"
[Heh...]
The robotic female voice gave a strained laugh, and its next words sounded like they were ground out between gritted teeth: [Host, if she doesn’t die, we die. I have no other choice.]
[You don’t need to ask so many questions. You just need to tell me, have you decided to save Charlotte Shaw?]
Renee Sinclair gritted her teeth. "Yes!"
[...]
The robotic female voice was silent for a moment, then it suddenly erupted in fury.
[Foolish! Giving up your own life for the sake of a 2D character! Did you get your head slammed in a door, Host?]
"..." It was the first time the system had ever cursed at Renee Sinclair. The shock of it momentarily outweighed her anger, and she completely forgot to retort.
The robotic female voice: [I just remembered, it seems the Host hasn’t received today’s punishment yet.]
A jolt of alarm went through Renee Sinclair. "What are you doing?"
The robotic female voice: [I’m just a system. What can I do besides dispense punishments?]
Renee Sinclair: "You—"
The word had barely left her lips when her heart suddenly felt like it had been slashed by a knife, and a violent, sharp pain seized it.
"Ah—"
She dropped everything in her hands and clutched desperately at the fabric over her heart, her body doubling over in pain.
The pain was exceptionally intense this time. She trembled as she fell to her knees, and it wasn’t long before her vision went black and she passed out.
...
"Charlotte, are you hungry?"
After feeding Sandy, Brianna Bell came down from the third floor, holding him in her arms.
Charlotte Shaw was curled up on the sofa, watching TV while eating the remaining strawberries from a bowl.
"Not yet... So, Mom, what are we having for dinner?"
Brianna Bell’s eyes curved as she smiled gently. "We’re having beef tonight. This morning, your uncle had someone send over a huge leg of beef. I’m planning to use it to make a simple version of a ’Full-Beef Banquet’."
"Mmm..." Just the thought of it made Charlotte Shaw’s mouth water.
"Cluck cluck cluck, time to eat..."
"You dare say ’cluck cluck cluck’ one more time?"
"Ah... my arm!"
A popular Xianxia drama from this year was playing on the TV. Charlotte Shaw hadn’t seen it before, so she was quite interested.
She had already finished the strawberries in the bowl, but she was so engrossed in the show that she forgot to put the empty bowl away.
"Hahaha..." The dialogue between the male and female leads made her laugh. But after laughing, she suddenly thought of something.
"Mom, did you hear Renee Sinclair’s car leave?"
Brianna Bell: "No, I didn’t. When did Sinclair leave?"
Charlotte Shaw glanced up at the vintage grandfather clock next to the TV wall and said with a frown, "She left almost ten minutes ago, but I haven’t heard her car at all."
"Maybe you were just too engrossed in the TV to notice," Brianna Bell said, not thinking much of it.
But for some reason, Charlotte Shaw felt that something was wrong.
"...Forget it, I’d better go out and check. It’s been especially cold these past few days. If she hasn’t left yet, she’s probably frozen stiff at the gate by now."
Brianna Bell: "Then put your coat on! It’s windy outside!"
Charlotte Shaw grabbed the down jacket from the sofa and started putting it on as she walked outside.
A chilling wind was blowing outside. It wasn’t strong, but it was enough to make one’s face ache.
Charlotte Shaw pulled up the hood of her jacket and hunched her shoulders as she walked toward the main gate.
Outside the gate, Renee Sinclair’s berry-pink Mercedes was parked silently by the wall. Renee Sinclair herself was lying in a pathetic heap in front of the car door.
"Renee Sinclair!!"
