I get reborn, this time bound to a simp system.

In my previous life, when the apocalypse happened during Christmas Eve, I gave Victoria Blake, a beautiful woman, shelter and respite, only for her to backstab me in the end.

Apparently, she had revealed my home's location to a scion named Tristan Cole when I wasn't paying attention.

Not only did those bastards take over my shelter, but they also tossed me to the zombie horde.

When Tristan asked Victoria if she felt guilty, she just reclined in his arms while tittering daintily.

"That's just one of the lapdogs I've reared. If he's dead, then so be it."

Now that I'm given a second chance at life, I'll make sure to repay them for the pain and hurt they've caused me in my previous life.

I was reborn and sent back to three weeks before the zombie virus outbreak.

In my previous life, a zombie virus suddenly broke out in my city on Christmas Eve. The entire city collapsed within two days.

I was an orphan. My parents had died in a car accident, and I used their compensation money to open a supermarket.

Before the zombie virus spread completely, I built a makeshift shelter inside my supermarket. I took in Victoria Blake, a young woman I admired, out of kindness, but she ended up betraying me.

In my previous life, Victoria secretly told Tristan Cole about the shelter. Tristan was a wealthy heir who was close to her.

Before long, Tristan showed up with a group of his men and took over my shelter. I ended up at the bottom of the very place I had built myself. They ordered me around every single day and treated me like I was nothing.

Later, when supplies ran low, Victoria suggested throwing me out of the shelter.

Tristan sat back in his chair with his legs crossed, as if he were enjoying the show. "There's no need to be so heartless. After all, this is his place."

Victoria snuggled into his arms, smiling sweetly. "Adrian is just a dog I kept around. It's no big deal if he dies."

Tristan's men grabbed me and shoved me out the door. I was overwhelmed by a wave of zombies almost instantly. The zombies tore into every inch of my body. The agony was unbearable, and I blacked out within seconds.

Then a cold, mechanical voice sounded in my ears. "Attention. The system has been activated. Your first task is to make Victoria fall for you. The reward for completing this task is a basic energy shield that blocks zombie attacks. Every dollar you spend on Victoria will be returned to you tenfold."

I snapped awake in an instant, and the agony of being torn apart was gone. Fate was kind enough to give me a second chance.

I quickly checked the time. There were 20 days left until Christmas. I vaguely remembered that in my past life, the outbreak had happened on Christmas Eve.

At first, everyone assumed it was nothing serious. None of them cared and kept snapping up holiday supplies.

I thought about the timeline and went over what the system had just told me. Any money spent on Victoria would be returned tenfold—this was basically a system designed for people like me.

In my past life, I was a total simp who followed Victoria's every word. I covered everything for her, from rent to her phone bill, yet I couldn't even share a meal with her.

To test this ability, I topped up Victoria's phone with one hundred dollars. As expected, the moment the payment went through, one thousand dollars was credited to my bank account.

The most pressing thing now was to complete the task, then build a safe house.

I found Victoria's number in my contacts and called her, but she hung up within two seconds. I had no choice but to message her on WhatsApp, saying I wanted to take her out for dinner.

Her reply came back quickly. "Who do you think you are?"

I clicked my tongue. If it weren't for the money, I'd have no interest in seeing her again. Now, it seemed like I had to go find her in person.

I knew where Victoria lived because I had rented the place for her. To pursue her, I had gone out of my way to get her an apartment in the busiest part of downtown, with a monthly rent of four hundred thousand dollars.

I had done many things for her, yet she got me killed in my past life. I had truly been a fool back then.

I knocked on the door a few times. The door was answered by her best friend, Isabella Hart. Isabella called out into the apartment. "Vicky, your simp is here."

All of Victoria's friends knew I was her simp, and I had gotten used to being called that.

"You're so annoying. What are you even doing here? I've already told you that I don't have time to eat with you. Who do you even think you are? Go get a reality check and take a good look at yourself before you even think about talking to me," Victoria said.

She looked extremely impatient and slammed a poker card onto the table. "Nine of Diamonds!"

Just then, I saw a number above Victoria's head. It showed her affection level at 20%.

After she finished speaking, the number over her head flickered and dropped to 10%.

Thinking about how she had betrayed me in my previous life left a bitter feeling in my heart. But my task was to make her fall for me, so no matter how low I had to go, I would see it through.

I pleaded with her humbly, "Vicky, please give me a chance."

She ignored me and continued playing poker. "I'm not some lowlife like you who can eat at any random roadside stall."

Her friends began to jeer. "Is this how you beg someone? You didn't even kneel. There's no sincerity at all."

Victoria held a poker card and beckoned me over with a finger. "That's right. Kneel and crawl over here like a dog to beg me. Perhaps then I'll agree."

Damn it. Once I completed the task, she would get what was coming to her. I swore to myself that I would make her pay for it twofold.

To complete the task as quickly as possible, I could only do as she said. I kneeled and crawled from the doorway to her feet like an animal.

Without even glancing at me, she pressed her foot against my head and said flatly, "My shoes are a little dirty. Lick them clean for me."

I tilted my head up and stared at her.

She reached out and slapped me across the face. "What are you looking at? Lick them!"

With the task in mind, I had no choice but to obey her.

"Vicky, I really envy you for being able to keep such a good dog," one of Victoria's friends said.

"Yeah, Vicky. Teach me how. I want to raise such an obedient dog too," another friend said.

One of her friends grabbed my hair and said, "Come here, you filthy animal. Lick my shoes. They're even dirtier. I haven't washed them in six months."

I glared at her, and she slapped me several times. "How dare you glare at me! Do you want to die?"

Victoria kicked me impatiently. "Get lost. Don't ruin my game."

It seemed this approach wouldn't work. I could only leave for now, dejected.

After leaving Victoria's house, I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. I checked my phone and saw that I only had one hundred thousand dollars. The most important thing now was to spend it all on Victoria.

I drove to the most luxurious mall in the area and entered a high-end boutique. After looking around, I realized that buying bags or watches was the fastest way to spend the money.

Women usually preferred bags, so I picked one worth one hundred thousand dollars, paid for it in full, and hurried back to Victoria's apartment.

"Why are you here again? Aren't you tired of this? You're really pathetic," Victoria said.

"Vicky, I came to apologize to you. This is a bag I bought for you. Please forgive me," I said.

She glanced at me. "Don't buy something this cheap again. It's embarrassing."

"No, this is the latest model. It's not expensive; it only costs one hundred thousand dollars. I'll leave it here. You can check it when you have time."

After I finished speaking, I placed the bag on the table.

When Victoria heard that it was worth one hundred thousand dollars, she looked at me for a moment longer and walked over. "If this is a trick, you're dead."

I took out the receipt to show her. "You can check with the store if you have time. I would never lie to you."

After saying that, I left.

On my way back, I checked my bank account. I had only a few cents left. I started to feel uncertain. The system wouldn't lie to me, would it?

That evening, my phone suddenly showed a notification. One million dollars had been deposited into my bank account.

Immediately after, I received a message from Victoria. "Since you're so sincere, come to this location tomorrow."

Then she sent me an address.

The next day, I made my way to the address Victoria had given me. It was a real estate sales office.

When I arrived, Victoria was already there. Tristan was there as well.

Victoria clung to Tristan's arm affectionately. The sight of them together turned my stomach.

Tristan asked Victoria in a voice full of disdain, "Is this the loser you were talking about?"

Victoria put on a wounded expression. "Yeah. He's such a nuisance. I've already told him that nothing will ever happen between us, but he just keeps pursuing me."

Tristan turned to me. "I'm warning you. Stay away from Vicky from now on. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless. Could a loser like you even afford a place here?"

As soon as Tristan finished speaking, a sales representative quickly stepped forward. "Mr. Cole, please follow me to see the unit you wanted."

Tristan instructed the representative, "Don't let people like him in here anymore. It'll ruin the reputation of this place."

I ignored him and walked over to the front desk to ask about the prices. The staff member told me the best unit cost over eight million dollars, and with the current low interest rates, the monthly mortgage would only be around one hundred thousand dollars.

I told her that there was no need for a mortgage and that I would be back in 15 minutes to pay in full with my bank card.

After that, I walked over to Victoria. I told her the most expensive unit here was only around eight million dollars, and that I planned to buy her one outright. But first, I wanted to get her a car, and we'd come back for the apartment later.

The moment I finished speaking, both Tristan and Victoria burst out laughing, saying I was talking nonsense.

I told them I was serious and that, if they didn't believe me, they were welcome to come along and see for themselves.

There was a car dealership right across the street. Hoping to watch me embarrass myself, they followed me there.

I found a sales associate and asked what their most expensive car was. She asked about my requirements, and I told her I had none, only that it should be around one million dollars.

Upon hearing this, she realized that I was a major client and immediately walked me through the options that fit my budget.

I glanced over at Victoria. "Vicky, do you like this one?"

Vicky shot back, "You really don't know when to stop, do you? If you actually have the money, then buy it. I'll take it if you do."

I pulled out my bank card and handed it to the associate, telling her that I'd take the car and pay in full. From walking in to placing the order, it took less than three minutes. Everyone stood there in shock.

At that moment, I noticed the number above Vivian's head starting to flicker, climbing to 50%.

Right after the payment went through, ten million dollars arrived in my account.

"Let's go, Vicky. Time to get that apartment," I said.

Seeing how easily I had paid, Victoria immediately let go of Tristan's arm and moved to my side.

After returning to the sales office, I paid in full for the best unit within minutes and had it put under Victoria's name. By the time everything was done, the number above her head reached 90%.

Why was it still a little short? She really was greedy.

Once all the paperwork was completed, I glanced at Tristan and said loudly to the staff, "Next time, don't let people in who spend hours browsing but never actually buy—it's honestly embarrassing."

After hearing that, Tristan's face turned pale with anger, and he stormed off.

I checked the number above Victoria's head again. That wouldn't do—it was still too low.

I took Victoria to the villa sales center. I told her the eight-million-dollar apartment wasn't good enough for someone of her status, so I planned to buy her a villa. At some point, she had wrapped her arm tightly around mine.

I finally completed the task after buying the villa.

A notification from the system sounded. "Congratulations on completing the task. You have been awarded a Level 1 energy shield, which is capable of repelling zombies within a 16-foot radius. Your second task is to rescue 20 people during the apocalypse."

Damn. It was only a 16-foot energy shield.

I didn't have time to complain. The most urgent thing right now was setting up a safe house.

After everything I had done that day, my bank account balance grew to eight hundred million dollars. That should be more than enough.

…

The next day, I found a warehouse and bought it outright. After that, I hired a contractor to reinforce the entire structure.

I had a Grade-A blast-proof door custom-made that could only be opened using my facial recognition. All the windows were made of bulletproof glass, and soundproof and thermal insulation panels were installed on all four walls and the roof of the building.