GENE DEVOURER - Chapter 36: Rogue Ant

Offered as a bride to Hades at the age of eighteen.

Pestered by evil spirits in the day, and taken advantage of by a perverted demon at night.

Pervert: “Dear, a night with you is worth more than gold.”

I leaned away as I clenched my teeth angrily: “Worth my foot!”

- Description from Novelupdates

Markus spent his life piecing together fragments of his past life on Earth, flickers of faces, half-remembered streets, the ghost of a world that no longer existed.Slowly, gradually, he’d finally found his footing in this new world of monstrous beings. He felt grounded, as if his fractured memories could finally settle into something resembling a family.But it all went downhill from there.A lingering touch, a promise, an obsession. As if fate itself was playing a cruel joke, his life begins to spiral down. Gradually tumbling down like a crescendo of madness, dragging him deeper into something inescapable.Every attempt to claw his way back only pulls him further down, like a bottomless pit with no end in sight.How much can a person endure before they break? And when they do, can they ever truly piece themselves back together?

Lacking a pocket dimension, lacking a power, lacking a thigh to hug onto and the three life advantages (money, power, and looks), he had been cautiously living in the apocalypse for ten years, getting closer to falling inside the zombie’s mouths. But unexpectedly, he had the terrible luck, to be caught in a fight between two gangs and die, it really left people feeling disappointed.

But when he opened his eyes, he had returned to a decade ago, three months before the apocalypse!

Like before he still lacked an ability, an ordinary person without a pocket dimension, but he did have ten full years of experience living in the apocalypse! Even if he didn’t fight zombies, didn’t hunt monsters, he could still live a carefree farming life in the safe zone.

Find a safe house, utilise all kinds of skills from his previous life to farm in exchange for meat, and if possible, find a person to peacefully spend the rest of his life with; ordinary people had their own ordinary little pieces of happiness.

Originally believing he had picked up a beauty he returned home to prepare a golden house, but on the contrary he was the one being pushed down……someone once said, whether it is people or matters, by no means can you only look at the surface!

- Description from novelupdates

“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.