I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times - Chapter 77: He Taught Me

“Whose child is it?” Winston and Yu-jin were once passionately in love, but due to a misunderstanding, they separated. Even now, Winston believes Yu-jin was involved in an affair with his father. After being cruelly abandoned, Yu-jin struggled to survive alone while raising his daughter, never expecting to cross paths with Winston again. Then one day, a fire forces Yu-jin out of his apartment, leaving him and his daughter homeless. At his lowest point, he learns that Winston’s father, Harold Campbell, left him an inheritance in his will. Desperate for any help, he decides to visit the Campbell estate. When they meet again, Winston still despises him, while Yu-jin only wishes to collect his inheritance and leave. To his surprise, Harold has left him far more than expected—but with one condition: he must marry Winston and bear another child within a year. Yu-jin tries to refuse, but reality is harsh. Fueled by resentment over Winston’s continued cruelty, he agrees to the marriage out of spite. Winston, on the other hand, makes it clear that their union is nothing more than a formality to fulfill the will. Yet, despite their intentions, an undeniable pull keeps drawing them back to each other. Both insist it’s nothing but lust, desperately ignoring the emotions that refuse to fade…

Important notice, The Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty, also known as “Ming Song”.

Hongzhi eleven years.

It’s a beautiful morning.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao was just an adult.

At this time, Wang Shouren and Tang Bohu were sharpening their swords and preparing for the imperial examination.

At this time, the Little Ice Age has come, and the long and severe cold is raging on the earth.

At this time in Nanhebo’s mansion, Fang Jifan, the idiot son of the landlord’s family and Nanhebo’s direct heir…began his shameless prodigal life.

- Description from novelbuddy

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

Who’s a hero, really?Is it someone willing to risk everything for the greater good?Someone who forgives easily, no matter the wrong?Someone always ready to lend a hand when trouble shows up?Or maybe it’s the one who’d sacrifice one to save all?If that’s what makes a hero… then why do I have his power?Why am I the one with the system that was meant for him?I’m not a hero. I’m not even close.I wouldn’t throw away everything for some noble cause.I wouldn’t give up what matters to me, not my life, not my goal, just to play some role.Because I didn’t come to this world to save it.I came here as an extra, not the protagonist.I’ve read the story—Hero’s Vow.It was your typical chosen-one tale.Orphaned child, gets a cheat power, makes some friends, defeats the demon lord, yadda yadda.Predictable. Familiar. Boring, even.But then… after what happened to me…I woke up as Kai Lorne.Just a background character.A commoner with no ambition, no purpose—just an extra meant to a die a brutal death in Chapter 3.His death wasn’t even for himself. It was just there to spark the hero’s rage.But here’s the twist.I didn’t die.I got the hero’s power.I got the system.The cheat. The Narrative Override.The one thing that lets you alter the story itself. The power only the author of the said story would have.And now, I’m stuck asking myself the same question, over and over:If I’m not the hero…Then why the hell do I have his power?-----------------------------------------additional tags: Transmigration, Slice Of Life, Mana Cultivation, No-yuri, No-NTR, Genius MC, Hidden Identity and Power, Magic, Weak to Godlike, Story Alteration, Cheat system, Demons, Dragons, Beast girls, Swords, Tragedy, Grim dark.