Crimson Vale Academy - Chapter 12: The Cold Beneath His Smile

Xiao Xin, a Pokémon’s diehard powder, accidentally succumbed to death while using the game modifier, the soul passed through the Pokémon world, a child who accidentally swallowed a lightning stone in thunderstorms and was strangled by lightning.

On the body, the most important and most important, he also brought his props backpack in the game…

- Description from Qidian

Birth rates are decreasing. Hope is vanishing. The world has gone gray.Humanity, drifting in quiet collapse, receives an email.Every person on Earth. Simultaneously.The Aegis Mandate.Disguised as a cosmic aptitude test, it triggers The Incident of Separation—a global psychic cataclysm that erases identities, wipes memories, and divides all survivors into three factions: Law, Neutral, and Chaos. Overnight, cities become battlegrounds. Apartments become dungeons. Ordinary people become monsters—or the ones who hunt them.Ragnar Vhagar was just a loner university student. Now, thanks to a system he didn’t ask for, he’s a newly minted Demon King, locked in a crumbling apartment with goblins under his sofa and a glowing soul crystal next to his frozen peas. His new job? Build a deadly domain, defend it from invading “Heroes,” and somehow level up fast enough to not die.Alongside him is Isabelle Thorne, a razor-sharp warrior of few words and one very sharp sword. Their reluctant alliance, born in blood and snark, evolves into trust—and maybe something dangerously close to affection—as they rise together through the layers of the game-like world they’re trapped in.With each conquered domain and defeated boss, Ragnar realizes the truth: the dungeons aren’t meant to crown a winner. They’re meant to break the players. The Law faction wants control. The Chaos faction craves destruction. But Ragnar? He wants something they’re all too afraid to say out loud:Freedom.In the ruins of Kanta’s ogre stronghold, Ragnar and his misfit warband take their biggest step yet—claiming a kingdom, unifying a fractured system, and preparing for what comes next. The Heroes are watching. The gods are stirring. The world is watching a war.And somewhere deep beneath it all... Ragnar is rewriting the rules.

So, I died. Face-planted on my keyboard after a 72-hour coding marathon. Very heroic. My one dying wish? To finally get some sleep.But the twist is : I got isekai'd. But I wasn't reborn as a legendary hero with a harem and a cheat skill. Nope. I'm a rock. A Dungeon Core, to be exact.My new job description is simple: create a terrifying labyrinth, murder heroes, and generally be a menace to society.Yeah, hard pass. That sounds like way too much paperwork. My new life goal is achieving a perfect 100-year nap.Luckily, I found a bug in the System—or maybe it's a feature? My unique “Slumber System” gives me way more XP (they call it Dungeon Points here) when adventurers take a nap than when I, you know, kill them. My assigned fairy guide, FaeLina, is having a non-stop panic attack about this. Apparently, “aggressive coziness” isn't covered in the Dungeon for Dummies handbook.So, I leaned into it. I started building the world's first 5-star dungeon resort, complete with fluffy moss beds that feel like clouds, a tea shop run by a friendly slime waiter, and pillows that hug you back. The place went viral. Knights come for the naps, mages for the therapeutic tea, and bards for the sweet, sweet content.The problem? My five-star reviews are tanking the property values of the 'Blood Pit' dungeon next door. I'm being forced into official Dungeon Tournaments where my ultimate weapon is a lavender-scented fog machine. And the stuffy bigwigs on the Fairy Council are starting to think my little “peaceful revolution” is a threat to their entire “kill-stuff-for-profit” business model.But the more I build, the more I realize this isn't just me being lazy. I'm uncovering an ancient, world-changing secret about why dungeons really exist, and it's a truth the gods themselves tried to bury.My name is Mochi, and my quest is to level up from a sleepy rock to the God of Dreams. My final boss isn't some dragon or demon lord. It's the original God of Combat himself.And I'm going to challenge him to a Nap Off for the fate of all reality.Who knew the path to ultimate power was this comfy?

Chen Xi was a jinx who radiated misfortune the way a torch radiated light, and everyone around him knew it. His entire clan was annihilated when he was young, and not too long after that his parents disappeared. His marriage contract? Poof. Torn to shreds and gone up in smoke before the eyes of everyone in the city, almost humiliating his grandfather to the point of suicide! Cultivation? No time for that, he had a family to take care of!

This is the story of Chen Xi, a youth forced to stop cultivating and instead craft talismans to pay for his younger brother’s tuition… and who, in the process, would rise to become known by all as the Talisman Emperor!