A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 53: The Demon King

An engagement paper to lock one’s destiny. With her family facing financial difficulties, she marries into the family of the richest man in Qingzhou as his wife. Her Mother-In-Law’s doubtfulness; her husband’s childhood sweetheart; her mean elder sister-in-law; her narrow-minded younger sister-in-law… Being inferior, Sang Wan withdraws without a choice. As time passed, she ended up being lonely and died tragically.

In the world of cultivation, countless tales follow righteous protagonists, fated heroes blessed by destiny, or those chosen by heaven to walk the path of immortality.But what of those who stand in their way?What of the villains? The so-called obstacles to the hero’s journey—do they not bleed, dream, and struggle as well?Xiao Ning was never meant to succeed.From the very beginning, the Grand Dao wove him as a stepping stone—a necessary sacrifice to elevate another. His path, like that of all designated ‘villains,’ was doomed to failure by design.But what happens when that design is defied?After death, Xiao Ning awakens—not in the cycle of reincarnation, but in the cold silence beyond it. There, he is offered the Eternal Paradox Codex—a forbidden artifact containing the hidden truths of the Grand Dao System itself.Rules. Loopholes. Vulnerabilities.Knowledge not meant for those like him.With this power, Xiao Ning is granted a single, impossible choice: accept oblivion, or step outside the Grand Dao entirely—to abandon fate, sever karma, and cultivate a path unbound by heaven or law.It is Xiao Ning’s journey, from ashes to something beyond comprehension.Not to become an Immortal among men.But something even the heavens dare not bind.If fate is a chain…Then let him forge his own path in the void beyond.Welcome to this humble tale.The cultivation world is vast and unkind.Let us begin again—on our terms.

Warning: This novel contains explicit adult content, violence, and a ruthless anti-hero MC. Read at your own risk.I was the strongest player in the world—until they betrayed me.When I woke up, I wasn’t a player anymore. I was just an NPC. A nameless mob, doomed to be farmed for EXP and discarded like trash.But then, I heard it:(You have been killed.)(Unique Skill Activated: Infinite Resurrection.)(Each death makes you stronger.)Every time a player slaughters me, I steal their stats, their skills, and their power. I evolve beyond the system’s control, beyond the limits of this world.They thought I was nothing.They thought they could use me, farm me, erase me.Now, I am the final boss—and I will make them suffer.On the battlefield, and in my bed.They will submit. One way or another.

When Simon dies, it turns out there's more to combat than lightning reflexes with his controller, and the path to becoming a hero is more brutal than he can imagine as he descends into The Pit. Death after Death is a dark, time loop/Isesaki story with roguelike elements, that explores some of the common tropes in a different light.