Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 185

“When it first lodged itself in my consciousness, I was terrified. I didn’t dare defy its commands and strove to complete every task until one day, it instructed me to steal our national defense plans and hand them over to Zhao Guo. I would rather die than complete such a task. When I failed the punishment task, I suffered intense abdominal pain. That time, I couldn’t endure it. Just as I was about to die from the pain, I felt a surge of unwillingness. I had worked so hard to complete so many tasks, and now I was about to die from failing just one. At that moment, I thought, why should I accept this? But I didn’t know how to resist. So, I developed a sense of revenge. If I was going to die, I might as well spend all my points before that. I emptied all the system’s points, causing it to undergo formatting, just like you did now.”

Zhao Yue paused, sighing, her eyes reflecting a mixture of helplessness and faint sorrow.

“Just as it was formatting, I was smothered with a pillow by He Yujiao. At the time, I didn’t understand what was happening. I was clearly suffocated to death by He Yujiao, but when I woke up again, I had been captured by Gu Zongming. At that time, the system was still in my consciousness. To be precise, my consciousness had merged with the system’s consciousness. I became a part of the system’s awareness.”

Lu Tang: !

This is absurd!

Wasn’t this supposed to be a historical transmigration and business success story?

How did it turn into a sci-fi tale?

“That’s when I discovered that every host chosen by the system invariably died after the task progression ended. During the task period, if the points met a certain threshold, the host would suddenly die without any apparent reason. The system would then recognize the host’s consciousness as superior and absorb it into its own. If the points didn’t meet the threshold, the host would be punished to death, typically through abdominal pain. The system wouldn’t retain their consciousness. I knew clearly that my consciousness was within the system. I wanted to extricate myself, but I didn’t know how. The system was also frustrated, wanting to either expel me or absorb my consciousness because I interfered with its task assignments, but it couldn’t. Because during the last formatting, I coexisted with it.”

Hearing the word “formatting” from an ancient princess felt out of place to Lu Tang.

“For a long time after that, the system couldn’t assign me tasks because I was a part of it. It couldn’t assign tasks to itself. During that period, the system became very agitated, eager to find a new host. However, as long as my consciousness remained, it couldn’t find the next host according to its rules. This stalemate lasted for several years until it awakened in your consciousness. It had originally lodged itself in your consciousness but couldn’t detect your awareness at that time, which is why I was chosen. As it started assigning you tasks and your task points increased, my presence weakened.”

Lu Tang frowned, interrupting Zhao Yue, “That doesn’t make sense. When I checked the system points, they were quite high, not like they had been formatted to zero.”

Zhao Yue smiled, “It was reset to zero. When you checked the points, you had already completed many tasks. Those points were actually your own. The system also said that if it accumulated enough points, it could become tangible.”

Zhao Yue sighed, “From what I understood while in the system, it seemed to be a research project. If it could absorb enough diverse human consciousnesses, it could indeed manifest as an omnipotent being. But the price is that every person whose consciousness it absorbs must die. Before finding me, all the people the system absorbed were different from me. Their consciousnesses were similar to yours before.”

Lu Tang suddenly understood.

The system was a modern creation. After being selected by the system in modern times, she transmigrated to the ancient world, bringing the system with her.

The system was likely confused at the time.

Unable to detect her original consciousness, it lodged itself in Zhao Yue’s mind.

“How can we get rid of the system?” Lu Tang didn’t care about its origin, only how to eliminate it.

Zhao Yue shook her head, “I don’t know. I only know that spending all its points causes it to format and disappear for a while.”

Lu Tang’s shoulders slumped.

No solution, huh~

“Oh, right, Gu Zongming seems to be related to the system as well. What’s his story?”

Zhao Yue sneered, “Gu Zongming wanted to kill me. If my body died, my consciousness within the system would be fully absorbed by it, erasing me completely. The system was eager for my death. After I was knocked out, I did stop breathing for a while. At that moment, the system tried to lodge itself in Gu Zongming.”

Lu Tang was stunned, “But didn’t it say it couldn’t lodge itself in two people at the same time? It was already in me.”

“You were bound to the system with a punishment. The system was eager to sever its connection with you. When my consciousness was fading, it transferred your part to me. Once I disappeared, you would follow, allowing it to lodge itself in someone else.”

Lu Tang: This is so sci-fi.

She didn’t want to listen anymore.

No matter how much she heard, she felt she couldn’t understand this fantastical stuff.

Zhao Yue was indeed exhausted. Lu Tang comforted her briefly before taking her leave.

Qin Mo was waiting outside the hall. Seeing Lu Tang emerge, he immediately went to meet her.

However, whether it was due to the system formatting affecting her brain or the overload of sci-fi information, as she stepped out, she stumbled and fell.

Lu Tang had a long dream.

She dreamt of lying in a hospital bed, covered in tubes.

This dream seemed vaguely familiar.

In college, she participated in some volunteer activity. An IT company recruited high-paying volunteers to cooperate with a private hospital for seven days to test a new product.

Such a unique experience should have been memorable, yet she couldn’t recall it.

Rubbing her aching head, she sat up, parched.

The scenes from the dream lingered faintly, but she couldn’t remember any details.

“Little Tang?”

As soon as she sat up, a crowd rushed to her bed.