Firebrand - Chapter 534: A Broken Threat

“The masterminds are cooler than heroes,” I mutter as I stare at the chess pieces before me. It is easier to be the one who sits in the shadows and moves the pieces, likewise deciding the flow of the game.Heroes will foolishly sacrifice their lives for the good cause and villains will sacrifice the world for their own gain, but masterminds will use both the heroes and villains to their own benefit.Why, you ask? Well, that's because I've lost my life once while trying to be a hero so, I don't want that anymore. I'd rather be a mastermind who molds the world as per my convenience and live peacefully. Because, why not?***[Defender of Divine Glory says you are the hope of this world.]What?[Goddess of Wisdom believes that you will be the one to save the world.]Wait, what?![Propose the Grand Duke the idea of a fake marriage.]And, why would I do that?![Stop the assassination of Prince Eric.]Why would I save him?![The candidates for the throne are:... Who will you choose?]Ah! I give up...It seems like a curse that anyone who wishes for a slacker life in Isekai will have to go through the most troublesome things.In my past life, I died because of one rookie mistake but after being transmigrated in the world of fantasy I've gotten an opportunity to start afresh, but unlike the protagonists who look for their love and glory, I'd rather make money and live a life of a slacker.I have magic, I have power and I have money, what else do I need?Well, that was the plan but this damn system is getting on my nerves. I mean who in their sane mind would want to mess with the complicated royal family and political affairs? But that's not all though.I've also become the saviour of this world. Things just can't be anymore worse!Besides, the penalty of failing this quest is...[Failure: Destruction of the World.]It seems like if I screw up in selecting the right person then the destruction that is going to befall the world won't be stopped.If I speak of my reward then it's this vague thing.[Reward: Fulfillment of any wish.]“If that's the case then, I'd rather choose the person who would be the best fit for the throne.”And that's how I decided that I would become the Kingmaker.

In the Country of Fine Cuisine, chefs are the most respected vocation.

Luo Xiu, an award-winning chef from planet Earth, crossed over into this world by accident. With a Mapo bean curd in his hand, the dish created a strange vision of Flaming Mountain.

Food that caused clothes to explode? Food that glows? Food that creates visions? Food that causes illusion?

That’s right, a Xiuzhen chef on this continent can produce these special effects when they cook.

Have you seen potatoes as big as a human head?

Have you seen jade colored wheat?

What about chickens that are 0.8m tall?

In this world, these are just the most basic ingredients.

“Well, these ingredients are interesting and are a good fit for Chinese Cuisine!”

“If you move again, I will release the dish- Buddha Jumps over the wall!”

Boom!

A large golden Buddha sat on 10 Xiuzhen practitioners and squashed them to death!

- Description from Novelupdates

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.

She was deceived into marriage, she was used as a nanny for free, and finally she was beaten to death by her adoptive mother in front of her adoptive father’s bed. Shen Mianmian’s miserable life came to an end.

When he opened his eyes, he turned back to the age of fifteen. Shen Mianmian vowed to get rid of the fate of his past life and take care of his vicious cousin and adoptive mother, but he was accidentally brilliant.

The third-to-last scumbag suddenly counterattacked and became the place that the famous universities competed for. The teachers and students of the school were in an uproar…

Others are busy studying, Shen Mianmian is busy doing small business to make money…

Others were preparing for the college entrance examination, but Shen Mianmian bought the two most famous haunted houses in Kyoto in one go… She became an outlier in the eyes of everyone, laughing at her if she bought it with life, but not necessarily with life.

Others were busy looking for jobs after graduation, but the haunted house purchased by Shen Mianmian was expropriated by the government and received a considerable amount of demolition money.

The person who once laughed at her couldn’t help but slapped herself… I asked around where there were still haunted houses for sale.

Shen Mianmian, who originally had to borrow all the tuition fees, took the demolition funds and used the advantages of rebirth to buy a suitable location, built a group rental building, and transformed himself into a fat and oily charter woman in Kyoto…

One day, Shen Mianmian was dragged to the Civil Affairs Bureau just after collecting the rent while carrying a bag of keys.

“Shen Mianmian, what you owe me should be repaid.”

- Description from novelbuddy