Father, Mother Escaped Again - Chapter 178

This world is not only as the public knows it; there is an underworld that ordinary people don't encounter.Government agents handle troubles in the shadows, while corporate assassins privately deal with issues.Assassins, mercenaries, arms dealers, and spies exist, along with a dark web that ties this world together, and tycoons who attempt to control everything with money.Gao Yi entered the underworld, unbeatable in close combat, carving out his own domain.But there are guns in this world. Beyond seven steps (close combats), guns are faster.Within seven steps, guns are both accurate and quick.Only within three steps does Gao Yi's punch become faster.Unable to beat them, he chose to join them, aiming to rule them all.To rule everything, become the king of killers in the eyes of mercenaries, the king of spies in the eyes of assassins, the king of killers in the eyes of spies, and the king of intelligence in the eyes of arms dealers.Until he is crowned king by the entire underworld, Gao Yi is the ultimate firepower.

The protagonist, Winnie (文尼), confesses his love to his childhood friend—the princess he’s been secretly in love with for years—but is brutally rejected in public. His heart shatters, he’s humiliated and ridiculed, and he collapses unconscious. When he wakes up, he vaguely remembers his past life’s memories and realizes he has transmigrated into the world of an otome game he played before. At first, he’s thrilled, thinking, “Nice! I must have been reincarnated as a villainous side character who disrupts the protagonist’s romance, right?” But then… surprise! He’s not just the villain—he’s the “Saintess”!

She was born into a powerful family of the nobility, a blue-blooded aristocrat as capable as any man. He rose from humble origins up the military ranks, an iron-blooded knight with high ambitions. A transaction for power severed her from her childhood sweetheart. A tardy encounter was the beginning of his and her vow to meet life and death under heaven, standing shoulder to shoulder.

Political intrigue, dynastic succession struggles. He trampled through it all in the toil of becoming emperor.

Old enmities became new disputes, concerning life and death of entire families. She entered once more into the palace, changing the entire political climate of their world.

Meeting once again, they had become strangers. The peach blossom were all fallen, no more than a golden age grown cold.

- Description from Novelupdates

I became the childhood friend of the protagonist in a novel. The childhood friend who died from taking drugs.