MTL - The End of The World’s Reborn Cannon Fodder Counter-attacks - Chapter 13 : The truth, the pain that is never recognized!

Absolute power comes at a price, Midas' touch is a fine example of it.After becoming an existence more feared than the demon king and his army of millions, Ethan returns home. However, while he lost all of his powers, one of them didn't leave him... the power to take the mana and memories of those he touches. He thought that his journey had ended, but it had just started, with the goal of learning how to control his power, he will have to travel Earth and other worlds again in search for what he wants.--------A few decades after the start of the new millennium, people all over the world began to disappear from Earth, only to reappear after days, weeks, and sometimes even years after. At first, those people stayed silent as to where they had been, but after a while, weird information began to spread. These people had gone to other worlds…No one took that information seriously. However, when one of those who disappeared returned, bringing a horde of monsters with them, some people began to think that perhaps not everything was nonsense. The information, after a while, began to receive more credit when a small country in South America got decimated by the horde of monsters. The same thing happened in Europe and Asia. After a while, it was learned that that happened because these people failed to save the other worlds, and even Earth had to pay a price for it.To avoid future disasters, many countries decided to do what they could to identify and train those people. So, in order to train the future heroes of other worlds, many countries created their own summoned heroes’ schools. Unfortunately, they also decided to put in check those who managed to return and use them as assets in exchange for many rewards, but who knows what their true intentions are...

Kenji’s life was hard. During the day, he worked in a bookstore. At night, he served ramen. He did it all to take care of his family. His mom was sick and needed medicine, and his little sister needed money for school. His best-paying gig was working for a mysterious author, illustrating the manga for a popular web novel. There was just one problem: he hated the story.He was in the middle of drawing the academy arc when his frustration peaked. The story’s villain, a rich kid named Azrael Ashveil, was weak. He made dumb mistakes and died unfairly. Kenji thought the character deserved better. After finishing a panel showing Hero's Victory, Kenji collapsed from exhaustion.He wakes up not in his small apartment but in a fancy bed with silk sheets. Looking in the mirror he sees the handsome, violet-eyed face of Azrael Ashveil. He has entered the story he hated and is now the doomed villain.Worse, he's arrived late to the party. The original Azrael has already made a mess of things. The story's golden-boy hero, Kaelen, already despises him. His beautiful wife, the half-elf heroine Elvara, is terrified of him. And all of his death flags-the events that lead to his execution are right around the corner.Azrael must use his knowledge of the future just to stay alive. Can a minor villain with no power of his own really change his fate, or will he just find a new, even more tragic ending than the one he was trying to escape?

'Why' does one strive to attain power?For what reason does one endure various rigorous trainings, endure the bruises and the batterings, and go ahead to drill their soul and body into perfect shape just to become stronger?Those ridiculously overpowered, god-like monsters that walked the Earth knew, because they never stopped training.But I didn't know the reason.Why, one might ask?The answer was quite simple, really.I had no desire to 'know' the reason, and I had no drive to discover the 'why.'It was because my circumstances gave me no reason to become stronger. And stupidly enough, I greatly believed that I was strong enough to fend for myself.But boy was I wrong.Fate punched me in the guts, and proceeded to give me very, very good reasons to abandon my narrowed mentality and strive to become stronger than I thought I was.And those reasons multiplied by the day.As I ventured out of the dreary slum-like backlands that I grew up in — diving head first into the wider world overrun by monstrous aliens, insanely advanced technology, and humans with supernatural powers — the initial 'why' had grown to become quite... numerous.So come. Come read my story.And see how I crawled out of the depths of the dejected Island called the backlands as a nameless underachiever, and grew to become a.. tether to the entire universe.Come read how I came to be called...The Twilight of the Vast Expanses.

Aurora Waters was overwhelmed with despair when she faced the truth about her family.She had been born into a family of villains.Even worse, her family had an unhealthy obsession with faking their identities.They took “Fake it till you make it” so seriously that it usually ended with them getting killed!Her oldest brother pretended to be a CEO just to mess with the female lead, but that backfired when the male lead showed up and threw him out.Her second brother? He was an obsessive lover who pretended to be a wealthy second-generation heir—until the real heir ended his life.Her third sister? She faked being an heiress to manipulate the second male lead but ended up being killed by him.Her fourth sister? She faked an illness to attract the third male lead’s attention, only to die from a real one.Her mother? She put on a facade of being a kind and loving mom but ultimately met her end at the hands of the male lead.Her father? He pretended to be a powerful tycoon but lost his job and was drowned by the second male lead.And Aurora? She planned to impersonate the daughter of the richest man alive, but if things went the way they always did in her family, she’d probably meet her end by accidentally falling down the stairs.However, there was one glimmer of hope in this nightmare: she had a 100% rebate system that rewarded her for spending money on her family![Beep! You bought an eraser worth 1 dollar for your eldest brother! 2 dollars have been credited to your bank account!][Beep! You bought a candy worth 1 dollar for your second brother! 2 dollars have been credited to your bank account!]Aurora’s eyes sparkled as an idea took shape. She began spending on her family like crazy to rake in cash.She even wished her family were greedier so she could earn more! Just as she was brainstorming new ways to splurge on her family, she unexpectedly ran into her childhood crush.[Beep! You gave a bun worth 20 dollars to your childhood crush! 100 dollars has been credited to your bank account!]Aurora: …! That’s walking money!