MTL - City: I Started As a Rich Second-generation Villain - Chapter 24 distressed

[You have entered the dungeon at Gwachun Station’s 1st Exit.] When former high school student Kang Woojin finds himself returned back to Earth after being forcibly summoned to a foreign planet for 20 years, he soon finds that Earth is not the same, normal place as he once remembered it to be.

Arriving in a new world where the steam industry was booming, he inherited a three-story apartment on the capital’s royal square, took in someone else’s cat, and listened to the whispers at his ear, ready to witness this mysterious and bizarre era. The epic of the Sixth Era was about to commence, and behind the curtain, The Chosen One was destined to step into legend. Old Gods, Relics, steam, witches, detectives, ancient secrets, the Era’s brilliance... “Would you like to play a round of Roder Cards?” Time engraved the hours, as Silvermoon illuminated the shadows. I compose your legend, you whisper your verses to me.

Earth fell long before Auron Drex was born. By the time he turned nineteen, the skies were brown, the air filtered through broken machines, and humanity had retreated underground, outnumbered, outgunned, and slowly fading.Auron was one of the last unmodified humans, no implants, no neural lace, no connection to the system. Just blood, flesh, memory, and a little bit of fight left in him.Then he died.Killed in an invasion with the machines, Auron thought that was the end. But something else was waiting for him.The Goddess of Death.She offered him a contract. A second chance at life, a new world far from Earth, and one simple promise: when the time came, he would help her. No explanation. Just a bond, sealed in death and carried into life.Now, Auron wakes in a world nothing like his own. A cultivation realm, where beasts roam free, ancient sects dominate the mountains, and humans wield godlike power through spiritual force and brutal discipline. It’s a world where strength decides everything, and weakness is an invitation to die again.But he’s not alone.The Goddess of Death, bound to his soul, follows him, watching, guiding.He doesn’t know her true reason for bringing him here.He doesn’t understand what help she’ll need or when. But he remembers Earth. He remembers the silence. And if there’s a chance this journey will give him the strength to return, to fight back against what destroyed his home, he’ll take it.He was forged in a dying world. Reborn in one that lives by the sword. And somewhere between them, Auron Drex will carve out who he’s meant to become.

“The author wants to kill me! Why else would he plan so many insidious subplots centered around me, an Extra?”This was Han Xuhan's plight since he had transmigrated into a semi-familiar novel.The novel, written by a degenerate author, was truly messed up beyond description. All Han Xuhan had was a system that barely kept him alive from the dangers of this fictional world.But after he survived the introductory arc, the mad author even began influencing that system!Why else would the Quests issued by it be so difficult? Every time a new quest was issued, Han Xuhan could sense the author's killing intent through it!Ding![ Detected that host has met a child of destiny! Issuing Quest: Manipulate her for benefits! ][ Warning: She is a Regressor who knows your plan. And her hobby is skinning people alive. ]Ding![ Detected that host has met a legendary Ring-Grandpa. Issuing Quest: Trade him back and forth among your circle of friends to squeeze out all of his value! ][ Warning: This Grandpa can escape from the ring anytime! He'll refine your soul in hell when he figures out what's going on. ]Ding![ Detected that host has triggered an apocalypse by harvesting too much protagonist halo. Issuing Quest: Kill the harbinger of the apocalypse. ][Warning: His cultivation is three major realms above you. You're never beating him in a fight. ]As the quests grew more and more difficult, Han Xuhan finally decided that offence is the best defence; and so, to combat the author's murderous intentions, he attacked the main storyline itself!“Hahahaha! The author really loves this female lead, doesn't he? Let's see if he can save her from my evil influence! I will radicalize every precious character of his novel!”Soon, Han Xuhan discovered that this might not have been a great idea, because all the favorite characters of the author were crazy!Additional Tags: Time Travellers, Transmigrators, Reincarnators, Regressors, Machiavellian Characters, Ruthless Scheming, Villainous MC, Multiple Timelines, Paradoxes, Extensive Worldbuilding, System, Survival, Yanderes, Overpowered Female Leads, Enemies To Lovers, Villainesses, No NTR or Yuri, Mysterious Past, Bloodlines, Multiple Power Systems, Politics, Older Love Interests, Master-Disciple Relationship, Wholesome Relationships, Kingdom Building.