Chrome Shelled Regios - Volume 22, Chapter 5 — Choice of Worlds

In humanity’s final war against the Demon Lord, the strongest heroes fell—not by the enemy’s hand, but by their own, twisted into madness by a cruel illusion. Betrayal. Bloodshed. Despair… and then, silence.Only one person remained: Riley—the weakest warrior of them all. Powerless. Ignored. Forgotten.But he saw through the Demon Lord’s deception. The tyrant was on the brink of death—so weak even a fly could’ve finished him off.And Riley did just that, drawing every last ounce of strength to bite off the demon’s head.Victory? Not quite. A final, desperate strike from the Demon Lord pierced him from behind, killing him instantly.But fate wasn’t done with him yet.Riley awoke ten years in the past—when the online game [Apocalypse] was launched. Before demons descended. Before monsters overran the world.And this time, he wasn’t starting from nothing. He had a decade of experience—and a second chance.Even more shocking, he didn’t awaken his old D-rank Strength Boost talent. This time, he received something far more terrifying: an SSS-Rank Gluttony talent!He could now devour anything—monsters, items, talents, even traits—and gain their power.Ding![You have devoured: Iron Fang Wolf][Acquired: +4 Strength, +2 Agility, Skill: Bite (F-rank)][You have devoured: Goblin ShamanAcquired: +8 Intelligence, Skill: Mana Bolt (E-rank), Talent: Minor Spellcasting Efficiency][You have devoured: Flaming Salamander Drake][Acquired: +22 Endurance, Trait: Dragon’s Resilience, Skill: Flame Breath (C-rank)]Now, there is no demon, no god, no monster who will stand in his way. He will devour everything—and save the world.But the power of Gluttony was a double edged sword. If he wasn’t careful… he could be the one getting consumed.

Warning this novel contains explicit content!!!I’ve always been invisible. Just another face in the crowd. The kind of guy who gets overlooked, dismissed, and forgotten.And she? The woman I’ve always had a crush on? She doesn’t even know I exist. To her, I’m just the guy who picks up her coffee at the café, the guy who runs errands, the guy who’s nowhere near her league.But then, everything changed.One day, out of nowhere, I’m granted a system. A tool that promises to transform my life.[Ding! New Mission: Seduce and Conquer a MILF – Reward: $10,000 + Charisma Skill Unlock]A MILF? I had no idea what I was getting into. But when I started, it was clear: the game wasn’t just about women. It was about power.The system gave me everything I needed to start my ascent: confidence, charm, skills, and soon, I was stepping into the world of the rich, the influential, the women I once only dreamed about.With every conquest, I get closer to something bigger: wealth, status, connections. Each MILF I win over not only elevates my life but also unlocks new opportunities, new tasks, and new challenges.[Ding! New Mission: Win Over the Wealthiest MILF in Town – Target: A CEO of a Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation]The rewards are insane. The women? Gorgeous, powerful, and oh so willing. But the deeper I dive, the more I realize the stakes. The wealthier the MILF, the more dangerous the game.I’ll use my new skills to rise higher, becoming a man of influence and power. A force that can’t be ignored. From one conquest to the next, I’ll build my empire of women and riches.Money, women, power- nothing will stand in my way. Not even the world that once looked down on me.[Ding! New Mission: Secure an Elite Position in a Fortune 500 Company – Reward: Unlock Elite Social Status + Advanced Influence Abilities]They thought I was a nobody. Now, I’m the man they’ll never be able to forget.

Qin Mei accidentally transmigrated to the 1970s. The original owner of the body was also named Qin Mei. She wasn't in an arranged marriage without choice, but rather coveted Jie Jingchen. Having heard from somewhere that he was going to marry a primary school teacher, she decided to strike first, creating a fait accompli and forcing him to marry her.Her methods were despicable, but they were effective.The original owner was a massive troublemaker; at only eighteen, she had already become a widow, branded as a husband-jinx.The 'Chong Xi' marriage failed, sending the person on their deathbed to their grave, and she was nailed to the village's pillar of shame....She has none of the original owner's memories. As someone from the 21st century, how is she supposed to survive in the 1970s?Fortunately, the original owner found her a husband before she died. She'll cling to his thigh, live off him, curry favor with her parents-in-law, dominate her sisters-in-law, tear apart the “green tea bitches,” help her eldest sister-in-law, kick her brother-in-law, encourage her disabled younger sister-in-law, and ride the spring winds of reform to get rich....“Why isn't Sister-in-law here to take care of you yet?”Jie Jingchen's mouth twitched. He looked at the busy figure by the next sickbed; his wife was taking care of another man.“Are you sure he's your husband?” Jie Jingchen couldn't help but ask.“Are you kidding? Would I mistake my own husband?” Qin Mei glared at him.Not until the man's wife arrived and she was beaten up for being the “other woman,” did Qin Mei become completely bewildered. After taking meticulous care of him for a week, who on earth had she been taking care of?...Under a tree, the neighbors sat together chatting.“So-and-so's daughter-in-law died from drinking pesticide.”“Why drink the pesticide herself? Why not give it to her in-laws? If you're not afraid of dying, why would you be afraid of poisoning their whole family? If it were me, I'd definitely drag their whole family down with me to be buried together. That way, I wouldn't be lonely on the Yellow Springs Road.” Qin Mei couldn't help but chime in.“...” Everyone was speechless.This conversation... made all the in-laws tremble in fear.

'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.