marked by midnight: the enemy's heiress - Chapter 18 : livia as a distraction

I never thought I had meaning to my life, but I guess I have a talent too.

「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」

Lao Chen was just an old, underpaid security guard in a rundown apartment complex, living a miserable life under a stingy, ungrateful boss.His wife left him, his daughter wanted nothing to do with him, and poverty was his only constant companion.In the end, death came in the form of a drunk driver, leaving him broken and forgotten on the cold pavement.But fate wasn’t done with him. In his final moments, he prayed—desperate, pleading to any deity who would listen.And someone did.The God of Wealth and Love took pity on his wasted life and granted him a second chance.Wake up again as Zhao Yiming, a 25-year-old gambler and alcoholic drowning in debt with nothing but a good face and a strong body to his name, he was given the Affinity Money Maker System—a mysterious power that let him gain wealth and influence by forming relationships, whether as lovers, friends, or even enemies.Before he knew it, he had stumbled his way into unimaginable riches.But things never go as planned. One moment of recklessness—one affair with the wrong woman—led to an unexpected murder.Now, the system has thrown him onto a new path: The Villain Route. With a negative perk that keeps the police off his trail but tightens the noose around his future, Zhao Yiming is faced with an impossible choice.Will he claw his way to the top and become the billionaire he was meant to be? Or will his second life end behind bars, just as tragic as his first?

This crossing is so strange, death crossing, game crossing, etc. are probably barely acceptable, but why can you cross even if the fish tank is broken?

and actually passed through the magic tree in “OVERLORD” that is said to be able to destroy the world?

No! It is sad enough to regenerate into a plant. The protagonist, Ainz Ur Gong, the undead king, has also accepted the adventurer’s guild mission and wants to kill me!

I want to change my destiny! Live! I want to-surrender!

Ainz: Since he has accepted the job commission from the Adventurer’s Guild, deliberate failure is detrimental to the prestige of Ainz Ul Christine (the “surrender” button has been deducted)

actually died as soon as he crossed, but there is still a chance to return~ from the beginning of the magic tree to this world.

I must change my destiny this time! Live!

- Description from novelbuddy

Sophia Alcott, the daughter of Earl Alcott, lives a lonely life as a maligned and infamous shut in, with nothing to do but to work on her skills as a budding apothecary in the dusty storeroom she’s forced to call home.That is until she suddenly wakes up one day and finds herself in the body of an even more infamous villainess (one who actually earned her reputation) locked up in a tower.Although the only clue she has about how this happened is a cryptic note, instead of despairing about her new situation, she’s in awe at just how luxurious the treatment she’s receiving in this ‘prison’ is compared to how she had to live before.Meanwhile, back at Earl Alcott’s mansion, all hell is about to break loose.That’s because…