What is a villain without divorce?
What is a villain without destroying their perfect world plot?
What is a villain without an ultimate death?
She looked at the run-down home library with a speechless expression.
The paint was peeling, but the door looked sturdy. It required facial recognition to unlock.
She entered the library after unlocking the door.
The books were too appealing. She stood there for a few seconds to savor it.
Cassen just watched her, lost in thought.
He didn't know why, but the moment she stood there in the living room with the other spouses, he couldn't hear her thoughts.
But that strong resentment that overflowed, the way she tightened her fists, showed she was thinking of some unforgettable memories.
It puzzled him because, since meeting her, she had never shown resentment toward anyone.
He couldn't wait to see them dead, because _how dare they_ make her angry? But he couldn't let her hands be dyed with her husbands' blood. Never.
He listened to her inner voice as she disparaged her library, and he was relieved to see her mood already lifting.
Chloe looked at the library in awe. It had a total of four shelves that stretched up to the ceiling, with books carefully arranged.
The shelves looked old and ancient.
She went to the first shelf, which had books about Novearth's history.
The first row had books that were the same shape and size, but one looked different. With curiosity, she retrieved it.
Opening the first page, she found out it was a notebook. Her handwritten notes.
_This written book will hold all the history and my memories of my life in this world._
_I have a feeling that, after breaking free from the world's plot, my memories will be erased. I will become new…_
As she continued reading the handwritten summary, she discovered that a hundred thousand years ago, Novearth was like Earth.
It had five continents, and every continent had five countries.
Every country was ruled by a king or queen, depending on the occasion.
The continents were named from A to E, while its countries were named from V to Z, which hasn't changed up to now.
Like her—Chloe—she was living in Continent A, Country Z, while another person could be in Continent D, Country Z.
There were only two genders at that time: men and women.
The men started marrying more than ten wives, even exchanging them for goods or trading them with fellow business partners.
In short, females were like useless commodities to them—more like breeding machines.
The females were abused, starved, enslaved, and killed.
As time went by, the female population began to dwindle.
The remaining women never stopped praying, wishing, and fighting for a miracle to happen.
For them to be freed.
To be respected.
To be loved.
And their wish one day came true.
Just like any other day, it rained. The saying of 'cats and dogs' wasn't a lie. It rained heavily.
For days. For months. They didn't know.
After it stopped raining, the men started dying.
With no symptoms, they died and turned into the walking dead—the resentment corpses/the undead.
The children born from that generation onward were different.
Scientists researched, and the discovery relieved females.
They rejoiced, for they were saved, because the third gender emerged: the mers.
They were men who could get pregnant and give birth like females, while females could no longer give birth.
The mers were beastified. They had fox genes. They were too beautiful and enchanting.
Every tail represented power—from one to nine—and every eye color represented their fox colors.
The birth rate of mers became too high. Their population ratio was 10:1:1000—female, male, and mers, respectively.
Females became precious.
They started to rule.
They started polyandry.
They constructed protective rules.
They became heads of their families and shaped the world.
They became the rules.
The world changed. Resentment corpses emerged. And with the undead, power emerged. The world became dangerous.
Females and males were given powers, and with power came responsibilities.
The females had to fight more than any other gender to kill the resentment corpses.
People started to cultivate. In their bodies, they discovered cores.
Ranging in different colors:
Purple—lightning.
Green—purifying plants.
White—healing.
Colorless—water.
And with these powers, they ruled.
Chloe sat on the couch in the library, shocked and in awe.
The knowledge of everything—her life, the world—was new and compelling.
Maybe, just like the priest said, this world was the grey part.
[Host, I'm back.] The system's childish voice made her realize she was in a different world.
"From where?"
[From sleep.]
"You need to say 'I am awake.'"
[Got it. I wanted to tell you that I've already read that book from your library. I almost forgot—I've been upgraded. Now I can give you punishments and…]
"Congratulations on your upgrade. So what did you find out?" she congratulated the system without waiting for it to finish.
[The novel you read and your first life aren't the same.]
"What are you trying to say, System? Aren't my husbands reborn?"
[Apparently, they are, but their first-life memories are from the novel you read back on Earth, while your past-life memories are from the novel here on Novearth.]
"I still don't get you, System."
[You won't, because even I don't. But what I know is that in all the novels, you are the Villainess.
In all the novels, you married them.
In all the novels, you abused them.
In all the novels, you were killed.
The difference is that in your past life you never had sex with them, while in their past life you forced them.
In your past life you didn't skin their fox fur, while in their past life you did.
In your past life you beat and starved them, while in their past life, not only did you beat and starve them, you also paraded them naked after finding them talking with the heroine.
Host, you are truly vicious.
But what I find strange is that you never did any of that, so the question is: who used or controlled your body to commit those crimes?]
The information she heard was too shocking.
"So System, in their version—their reborn version—is where they got their revenge? And that is the version I'm in now?" She hoped it wasn't.
[Yes, Host. And I think the last chapter was hidden. After they got their revenge, they never married the heroine, your stepsister. They killed themselves. In fact, they killed her.]
"What! But why?"
[I don't know, Host, but what I know is that those two books were written by different authors.]
"So what is the real version? The real book?"
[Your past-life version is the real book, written by a person called Silence.]
"The Priest?" That was the only person she knew named Silence, and he was always mysterious. "So his book was plagiarized?" She asked no one in particular. And that idea made her a little happy.
How would an author feel when he realized the work he spent sleepless nights on was being used by other people?
[Don't be too happy, because your version—arc 2—is being updated.]
She almost fell down. She saw the priest get shot dead in the head with her own eyes. How could he still be alive, spying on their lives and writing it down?
"Why did I want to be reborn? What did I want to fulfill? And whom did I want to take revenge on? System, what exactly are you?" she fired the questions with an urgent tone.
Everything was starting to become complicated.
She wasn't one to hold grudges, so it couldn't be revenge, right?
And if it _was_ revenge, what kind of grudge could make her leave her comfortable death to start a life again?
[Revenge and saving, Host. As for me, I don't know. What I know is that I'm here to help you live happily with your beast husbands.]
"No!" She stood up hurriedly. Everything she was carrying fell down.
"I want to divorce them."
[Haven't you finished reading that notebook? If you haven't, then you should. Divorce is not allowed.]
"What! System, you should be joking, right?" Her tone sounded unbelieving.
She hurriedly picked up the fallen notebook with trembling hands.
She read the last page, every word, worried she would miss something important.
"How is this even possible?" Her eyes shook. She sat on the couch, her energy already gone. The words still glared on the open page.
_Because the women never got divorces before the emergence of the third gender, they banned divorce from mers._
[Host, the one who banned divorce was your ancestor, a queen of that time and a ruler. If you want a divorce, you need power.
You are a princess.
The heiress to the throne.
You have the power to make rules, Host.
To divorce, you must be a queen. The greatest power lies with the throne itself.]
The system's words didn't help her at all. In fact, they made her mood worse.
To become a queen, you needed more than ten spouses from nobility.
More than ten jealousy problems. She wasn't being narcissistic, but with her beauty, she knew they would eventually fall for her.
More than ten divorce applicants.
As she looked outside, the two suns had already separated. Yes, two suns. In this world, there were two suns that met each other in the morning and merged into one. By evening, they had already separated.
She left the library, her mood hard to describe, but it wasn't happy.
As she walked to the kitchen, the other husbands greeted her, but she replied absentmindedly. The only thought was what to eat.