The Rise of Phoenixes - Chapter 49

One day, a silver-haired goddess appeared before him.“Heaven-Defying Star. The one who goes against fate. The sole savior of a world doomed to end—”What the hell is this woman even talking about?“You must be the Regressor.”“… What?”No, I’m not.

Facing extinction, humanity seeks salvation in the Astral Verge, a dangerous dimension accessed via portals that threatened to wipe out the entire planet.Few years later, aspiring recruit Daniel Vance enters the Verge for his final assessment, hoping to Awaken a Talent and secure his future. While others gain common abilities, Daniel secretly Awakens the mythical SSS-Grade Talent: [Soul Assimilation]. This allows him to absorb essence, enhancing gear, gaining stats and EXP from slain creatures, and crucially, absorbing attributes and skills from fallen Awakened.Witnessing the swift death of the arrogant Jaxon Rex, Daniel makes a grim choice: he assimilates Jaxon, gaining his first skill, [Kinetic Pulse]. This sets his path: scavenging the aftermath of others’ battles. He enhances gear and, after achieving his first kill on an injured beast, waits patiently to assimilate two more fallen recruits, acquiring [Quick Step] and the invaluable passive [Aura Sense].Starting as average, Daniel rapidly gains power in secret, enhanced gear, multiple skills, and boosted stats , far exceeding his peers while remaining outwardly unremarkable. He navigates the lethal Verge alone, using its inherent dangers to fuel his growth, wrestling with the moral cost of his unique, overwhelming power.

From childhood to adulthood, Luo Zhi didn’t seem to have done anything right.

His biological parents didn’t like him. They only saw an excellent eldest brother, a caring sister, and a sensible stepson in their eyes. The sister whom is well-behaved towards everyone else, only treats him as air. The childhood friend that he grew up with would accept his gifts on the surface, only to turn around and throw it to the stray dogs on the roadside.

When he debuted as a singer, it was not gifts that he received, but countless of threatening letters scolding him for using his family background to oppress others and threatening him to quit the circle. He started his own film and television company, and spent money to hire an eighteenth-tier star to say “Happy Birthday” to him. When the little star unexpectedly exploded into the top stream, it was regarded as a robbery by fans, and it was picked up and scolded all the way to the hot search. The family accidentally fell overboard, and Luo Zhi was immersed in the bone-chilling ice cold water. He could only watch as his always indifferent eldest brother eagerly stretch out his hand to save his adopted brother.

When he was completely engulfed by the darkness, Luo Zhi finally felt that the world was really dull. If there was someone who can love him, let them appear. He wasn’t able to find them anyways.

After waking up in the hospital, he leaned back against the bed. He didn’t care current state of health nor did he care about the treatment. He was no longer interested in anything. But this time, everything was different.

His parents kept going to top hospitals and begged countless doctors just to save his life. The eldest brother’s eyes were red while he took care of him. His sister cried to the point of fainting by his bedside.

With scarlet eyes and fierce methods, he frantically took revenge on the eighteenth-tier star who slandered him at the beginning. He was inexplicably on the hot search once again, but this time the entry became #The whole world is waiting for Luo Zhi to come back#.

Later, the whole world did not wait for Luo Zhi.

However, someone familiar with the matter revealed that the Ming family, who built an entire maritime business empire and sank a top-level luxury cruise ship worth hundreds of billions of yuan, not only has another young master, but also the youngest captain who sails the world.

- Description from Novelupdates

In every story, there exists the hero and the villain, the protagonist and the antagonist.And like every story, the hero always wins, and always gets the girl.But what happens now that I died and became a villain in the last book I read? Not even a proper villain, but one that the protagonist kills in the early chapters.I don't want to die again, and I don't want that simp of a protagonist to walk all over me. Maybe I should just become a better villain.I've always admired the smart badass villains that took on the protagonist. Maybe I can be one of them, maybe I can win—the first villain to win against the hero.I'll rewrite this story into one where I become the greatest villain. Call me sick or evil, but it's my time to shine.