Memoirs of Your Local Small-time Villainess - Chapter 209 - Subterfuge

“Martial Arts World...” Death murmured, shocked by the turn of the events. How could he, primordial being of the afterlife, get tricked by a mere human? Not just a mere human, but also earthling, race that was weakest of the twenty realms. Death realized the extent of his mistake. An earthling had just jumped into the river of the reincarnation, where he definitely didn’t belong. It was too late. The damage has been done. The matter was now out of his hands. “Kiernan Hunter...” ... Remake of the Martial Arts System, and while the concept stays the same, the story is completely different. A few names, etc, stays the same, but mostly whole new story.

Part 1:

On April 3rd, 2019, there was a virus outbreak and the cities were besieged with zombies.

A month later, on the national road outside H City, Shen Shian carried a heavy sword and walked around the vehicles abandoned everywhere.

“Don’t make trouble,” he said while turning back. “Keep up, the sky is becoming dark.”

“Hey!” A child who looked to be only four or five years old answered. He slashed the sword in his hand and cut the head of a zombie. Then he reached in and pulled out a marble-sized transparent crystal.

After rubbing it a few times on his clothes, he carried a Tang Sword that was half the height of an adult human and ran to Shen Shian.

“An An, I’ll give it to you!”

Part 2:

Shen Shian picked up a miserable puppy with dirty and knotty fur and a terrible smell.

The first time he brought the dog into the spirit spring, the dog turned into a child.

The second time the child was brought into the spirit spring, he turned into a man.

On the edge of the misty spring, Shen Shian looked at the man swimming and asked with a frown, “Can you change back?”

“Why?”

Shen Shian pursed his lips. “…You will eat too much.”

The man wrapped himself in a bath towel and emerged from the space with the Tang sword. After a short while, he inserted the sword into the grass and handed Shen Shian a handful of sparkling crystals.

“I might eat more but I am also more capable!”

- Description from Novelupdates

The Apocalypse is in full swing. Defiled - powerful creatures corrupted by the Great Collision - prowled the lands in search of prey. Unfortunately for them, the human race had long since retreated behind the secure walls of the Sanctuary of Everlast. During one of his regular excursions outside the Sanctuary, Alden is separated from Celeste. - his childhood friend and crush. In that moment, he came to regret never summoning the courage to confess. Somehow managing to survive thanks to some trickery, Alden awakens as a mage. Instead of receiving a normal power, he gains the ability to decay. What’s more, during his ascension, he received a vision from his future self advising him not to trust the Asterons - celestial beings who had saved his race from inescapable doom. Normally... such a revelation wouldn’t faze Alden. However, there was only one major problem with the declaration, though. Celeste was bound with an Asteron. And not just any normal Asteron... She had made a pact with one of the Divine Sovereigns.

In a mind-blowing twist, I found myself reborn into a steampunk-themed JRPG made by a Japanese game company. To my shock, I was appointed as an executive of the villainous faction. However, the protagonist’s party was way too diligent.