A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 173: Companion

“Even if this universe is truly nothing more than a brutal bloody shadowy forest, we Cultivators will burn all that we have just to give off a single weak flickering spark in the darkness!

I was just your average student—no special talents, no grand dreams, and most importantly… no girlfriend. My days were spent grinding through life, with my only true passion being games, mangas, and web novels.Every day, I’d see couples walking by, holding hands, whispering sweet nothings, and I’d think, Hell yeah! When's it my turn?! I mean, I deserve a cute girlfriend too, right? Someone to hold, someone to kiss—just once, please!But, of course, life had other plans.One second, I was daydreaming about romance. The next? BAM! Truck-kun hit me with the ultimate rejection letter—straight to another world. When I opened my eyes, I realized I had reincarnated... but not as the hero, not even as the sidekick. Nope. I got stuck as some low-level villain—a total extra—the kind that exists just to get one-shot by the protagonist in the early chapters.The good news? I know this game inside out.The bad news? The whole world is out to kill me.But if they think I'm going down that easily, they're in for a surprise. Using my game knowledge, I'll dodge every death flag, exploit every loophole, and rise to the top! And hey, if I end up with a harem of gorgeous girls along the way? Well… let’s call it a happy bonus!This is my story—where I rewrite my destiny, break the game, and maybe... just maybe... finally get that kiss!Support this Shameless Author with Power Stones Gifts and Golden Tickets

I was some twenty-something woman dying of stage four cancer.I got obliterated by the “Truck-kun” you nerds are always joking about. Turns out it's a lot less funny when it's your guts splattered on the pavement. Crap.Next thing I know, I'm floating in the dark and this thing pops up in my face.[A choice is now available to you.][Option One: Fade.Cease to exist.][Option Two: Reforge.Begin anew.]You think you can just erase me? Hah. As if.Fueled by pure, uncut spite, I slammed the reforge button. Turns out the universe has a totally sick sense of humor, though.I woke up as a male elf. A seriously hot elf —a mage, of all things. Let's just say I was working with some… unfamiliar hardware downstairs.And Jonny? My best friend, my bro, my lifelong meat shield? The universe decided he'd look better as Yael—a stunningly beautiful elf chick with a charisma stat that was probably maxed out.For a while, we weren't just getting by. We were crushing it. It was awesome.Our new life was shattered by the arrival of Vex, an overpowered demigod who saw our world as a resource to be harvested. He was a cosmic-level threat.My pride, the same stupid pride that always gets me into trouble, wouldn't let me kneel. So I told him where he could stick it.Big mistake.The price for my big mouth was paid in her blood. Vex decided to make an example of her. He didn't just defeat her; he shattered her legs into pulp right in front of me.After that, she just… erased me. Walled me off. I went from being her best friend to a ghost she looks right through. Her hatred isn’t loud; it's a permanent debuff, and the silence is a thousand times worse than her screaming would have been.Broken by my failure and rage, the System offered me another choice.I accepted. The System laid out the cost in cold, hard code:The friendly blue “Overwhelming Pride” interface shattered, overwritten by a brutal, blood-red OS running one program: The 'Overlord Slayer'. My personality was stripped for parts. My charm and pride were forged into an 'Aura of Dread.' My guilt became a damage buff called 'Pain Eater.' My grief is now, literally, my mana pool.My quest is no longer about survival. It is brutally simple: Kill Vex. Absorb his power. Fix what I broke.But to become strong enough, I have to grind this new 'Slayer' class, and every level up feels like I'm deleting a piece of myself.The real question is, by the time I'm strong enough to squash him, will there be anything left of the person Yael knew?And even if I can fix her legs… what's she going to think of the monster who comes back?

He is Xi Liang’s legendary emperor: a decisive and ruthless king; a man of supreme wisdom; a cunning strategist.

According to legend, he once conferred the love meant for the three thousand concubines in his harem onto one woman, while the world watched in envy.

According to legend, he once executed a hundred people for her, turning the palace into a purgatory overnight.

According to legend, he ultimately sentenced that same woman to death by execution…

A conspiracy that swept through the country resulted in her tragic end. This lifetime seems to be a repeat of her past life. Can she escape the clutches of fate to attain true love in this life? In both lives, she was the Emperor’s wife, but is that ruthless man really her true love mandated by Heaven?

Did she really die, just like that?

In the end, beyond the veil of lies and mysteries, who exactly was she? Was she a woman that he truly loved, or was she merely a chess piece to be used in his political machinations?

The stories passed onto later generations remain fraught with conflicting opinions.

- Description from Novelupdates