I've been trying to woo Caroline Davis for the past five years just so I can receive a healthy body and return to my original world.

But Caroline, in her attempt to appease her first love, Kyle Holden, makes me the scapegoat for Kyle's crimes and gets me locked behind bars.

After getting released from prison, Caroline forces me to drink the alcohol that's given to me by Kyle despite knowing that I'm allergic to alcohol.

Flooded by despair, I try to commit suicide.

"I'd rather die than continue to pathetically woo a woman who doesn't love me at all!" I cry out.

But the system suggests that I exchange away 30 years of my lifespan for a brand new conquest target instead.

As I lay dying of cancer, I bound myself to a Survival System. I was told that as long as I could earn Caroline Davis' love, I'd be able to return to the real world with a healthy body.

So, to make her fall in love with me, I catered to her every whim until I successfully married her. Yet, in the end, my endless devotion only landed me in prison.

The day I dragged myself out of prison, my legs felt like lead. The sunlight was so blinding that I could barely keep my eyes open, and my whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Caroline looked at me with open disgust, her tone sharp with impatience. "Are you putting on this pitiful act just to make me feel guilty? All I asked was for you to serve a three-year sentence in Kyle's place. He's your brother, for goodness' sake. Don't be so petty!"

I clenched my fists so tightly that the veins bulged beneath my skin. But with one finger missing from each hand, the gesture looked ridiculously absurd.

She had said it so casually, but it felt like a giant hand had crushed my heart, leaving me unable to breathe from the pain.

Three years ago, my brother Kyle Holden misdiagnosed a patient with stomach cancer. He prescribed cancer treatments and even removed a third of the patient's stomach during surgery to cover up his mistake.

Later, when the patient went to another hospital for treatment, he learned that he only had a common gastric issue that never required surgery.

The patient exposed everything. Kyle's actions constituted medical malpractice, carrying a three-year prison sentence.

When Caroline found out, she—completely disregarding my future and career—pulled every string she could to force me, also a doctor, to go to prison in Kyle's stead.

Back then, with bloodshot eyes, I had asked her, "Have you ever loved me at all?"

But she only turned her face away. "I'll make it up to you after you get out."

Although I was bound to the Survival System, it provided absolutely no information about what might happen next, only insisting that I had to complete the mission on my own.

For the past three years, I spent my days working the sewing machines and my nights washing the prison kingpin's feet while constantly showering him in flattery. The second my attention slipped, I was pinned to the ground and beaten.

Once, because I failed to cater to him to a level that satisfied him, he brutally broke two of my fingers. Even now, I could still remember the suffocating agony that instantly flooded my brain when it happened.

But in Caroline's eyes, my time in prison had apparently been as comfortable as lounging around at home.

"Quit looking so miserable," Caroline snapped, frowning as she drove. "Kyle was thrilled to hear you were getting out today, and he booked a private room at a restaurant to throw you a welcome-back dinner. Be tactful for once, and don't embarrass me later. Got it?"

Three years ago, if Caroline had spoken to me like this, I probably would've "punished" her a little, like making her cook soup for me for a whole week or asking her to go volunteer at a free community clinic with me.

But now, after three years of prison and inhuman torture, all my sharp edges had been worn down. Her cruel words merely bounced off me, leaving me feeling nothing at all.

Lowering my head, I stared at the patch sewn onto the knees of my pants. "Whatever you say, Ms. Davis."

…

The moment we arrived at the private room, the door swung open, and Kyle appeared in front of me. When he saw me, a look of revulsion and smugness flashed across his eyes, but it was quickly replaced with surprise and joy.

"Dominic, you're finally out. Dad got so angry about you going to jail that he fell ill. He'll definitely get better now when he hears that you're back."

He spread his arms and stepped forward to hug me, but I sidestepped him immediately. He ended up hugging the empty air instead, and his face flushed crimson.

When Caroline saw his expression, she turned livid and shot me a piercing glare.

"Dominic Holden, Kyle organized this welcome-back dinner for you. Don't be ungrateful."

I rubbed the hem of my shirt. My heart was already entirely numb, but I still lowered my voice and said, "I'm filthy. I'm worried about dirtying Dr. Holden's clothes."

The clothes that had fit me perfectly three years ago now hung loosely on my frame. A hole had ripped open under the armpit, and the soles of my shoes were peeling apart. One more step and my toes would probably peek through.

Caroline looked visibly uncomfortable before she hurried me inside.

The private room was filled with Caroline and Kyle's friends. The moment they saw me walk in, they started whispering among themselves.

"Dominic spent three years in prison. His record is permanently stained. No hospital will ever hire him now."

"So what if they don't? He's married to the eldest daughter of the Davis family. Living off her money for the rest of his life counts as a skill in its own right."

"But Caroline's first love has always been Kyle. Dominic couldn't even compare to him when he was a brilliant oncology expert. Now that he's an ex-con, he's even less worthy."

My heart was so still it didn't register a single emotion, and I just sat there silently. But Kyle approached me, holding a wine glass in his hand.

"Dominic, prison must've been rough on you these past three years," he said. "Here, I'll drink to you. Let bygones be bygones."

Seeing the wine glass filled to the brim, I stared at Kyle and felt my lips curl into a mocking smile.

Let bygones be bygones? Yeah, right. They'd pay back all they owed me sooner or later.

When I still didn't reach for the glass, Caroline's gorgeous face turned frosty.

"Dominic, don't be difficult," she said icily. "Kyle is showing you respect by toasting you. After this, neither of you will owe the other anything."

Even though my heart was already riddled with holes, hearing Caroline's words still made me tremble uncontrollably.

I was allergic to alcohol, and she knew that. Yet, just to make her first love happy, she was willing to completely disregard my life and force me to drink a full glass of wine.

I closed my eyes, opened them again, then resignedly took the glass from Kyle's hand.

The people around us, ready for some juicy drama, fell completely silent the moment they saw the index finger missing from my hand. The irritation on Caroline's face vanished, replaced by wide-eyed shock.

My bloodshot eyes locked onto hers. "Caroline, once I finish this glass, we're done," I said, enunciating each word clearly.

Ignoring the stunned look on her face, I threw my head back and downed the glass. The alcohol had barely hit my stomach when my entire body began to burn, and red hives broke out across my arms. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor.

Screams erupted around the room. Then came Caroline's sharp reprimand.

"Dominic Holden, three years in prison, and you don't even know how to behave anymore? You're pulling a stunt like that now? Here?"

My throat burned and itched so badly that I couldn't answer her.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard someone say, "Hard to believe that the once-brilliant Dr. Holden, whose patients lined up just to get appointments with him, would end up like this. With how beautiful and successful Caroline is, can she really stay with a loser like him?"

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at the cold, sterile ceiling of a hospital. An IV drip was still connected to my hand, but the room was empty except for me.

Ever since I came to this world, the only moments that ever made me feel any warmth were when I saved patients and saw them regain hope for living. Everything else had brought me nothing but humiliation and suffering.

All the inhumane torture I'd suffered in prison, and the humiliation at that welcome-back dinner, had been because of Caroline enabling Kyle's behavior.

Unable to hold it back anymore, I lashed out at the system.

"What kind of garbage are you? And you call yourself a Survival System? A Sadistic System is more like it! I'm a doctor who saves lives, yet instead of building my career, you force me to simp after some woman. I'm done with this mission! I'm just going to kill myself—"

A beeping interrupted me.

"No, don't kill yourself!"

The electronic voice, which had always been cold and detached, now sounded incredibly panicked the moment I mentioned suicide.

I had guessed right. The system was bound to me. If I died, it would cease to exist too.

"Why can't you just look on the bright side? If you just hold on a little longer, maybe Caroline will fall head over heels in love with you. Besides, you chose her yourself!"

I let out a self-deprecating laugh and shook my head.

"Even if Caroline fell in love with me now, I don't love her anymore."

I had indeed chosen Caroline myself. Back in the real world, I'd been too busy with my studies and career to ever date anyone.

After getting bound to the Survival System, it had asked me to choose my own target. Out of all the profiles it showed me, I had fallen for Caroline at first sight.

The first time we met had been at the hospital. Her arm was in a cast, and a young boy running down the hallway slammed right into it.

Seeing her break out in cold sweat from the pain, I rushed over to check on her.

The moment our eyes met, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Her eyes were beautiful. When she looked at me, she looked dazed for a moment.

Even though Caroline was a woman, she was the successor to the Davis family empire. To outsiders, she was the cold, ruthless CEO of Davis Group. But when she was with me, she was gentle and polite, and sometimes, she'd even act cute to get her way.

I pursued her for five years, eventually going from her boyfriend to her husband. I gave her my whole heart, and I truly fell in love with her.

I asked the system, "Does marrying her count as a mission complete?"

But the system always gave me the same cold response. "She hasn't truly fallen in love with you yet."

It wasn't until Kyle came back to the country and I repeatedly saw headlines of them out together that I realized the truth—her dazed look when she first saw me was because I resembled him a lot.

Caroline loved Kyle. In her eyes, I was nothing more than his stand-in. There was never any chance she would actually fall in love with me.

Thus, when Kyle committed medical malpractice, she didn't hesitate. She forced me—the stand-in—to go to prison for him.

Every time I was beaten within an inch of my life in prison, my hatred for her grew a little stronger.

The light in the hospital room gradually dimmed. The past was like a heavy boulder, crushing me and making it hard to breathe.

My voice rang out through the room, steady and firm. "I'm never going to hope for her love again. Either change the mission, or I'm killing myself. I'd rather die than grovel so pathetically after a woman who doesn't love me."