MTL - Hail the King - ~ 1146, the principal of the Northern Empire

The definition of a villain according to Kim Sangmin: The person who has to die for the story to end.But his story had just begun when the villain of the book he was reading died in the end, and he woke up to start the story again.As he uncovers the hidden, untold truths behind the cascade of a villain, the more he leans towards becoming a true villain—only in pretend, of course! He has a little brother to take care of, he can't just die and leave him alone. He's also his baby brother's role model, so he has to teach him how to live a long life by becoming a hero instead!And how does he plan to become a hero?Obviously, by stalking the actual main character of the book and overtaking his spotlight at every chance. Step by step, he would overthrow the 'real' hero of the book and change his status to one with praise.Easy, right?

Leon was your typical guy, perceived as weak in his school because his skills hadn't awakened, even though they usually did at the coming of age. He attended the prestigious Milham's Magic Knight Academy, where snagging the top spot meant automatic entry into the esteemed position of a Magic Knight in the country. Unfortunately, Leon found himself in the lower caste, labeled the most useless student. To top it off, he was tossed into a class that served as a sanctuary for oddballs and delinquents. Yet, he couldn't care less, as becoming a Magic Knight wasn't his goal.Everything shifted when he crossed paths with Shredica, a woman hell-bent on becoming a Magic Knight at any cost. Observing Leon's lack of ambition and his apparent detachment from the academy's pursuits, Shredica saw an opportunity. She decided to exploit him as a pawn in her ascent through the academy's hierarchy.Yet, unbeknownst to Shredica, Leon was not the complacent, unremarkable figure she presumed him to be.

Buried alive. Forgotten by the world. Cursed to refine death itself.Rin Xie clawed his way out of his own grave with nothing but broken nails, shattered bones, and a core pulsing with rot. In a world where the heavens punish the wicked with celestial fire, where death cultivators are hunted like beasts, Rin awakens with a forbidden path—one that feeds on pain, suffering, and the ashes of the dead.He cannot heal. He cannot forget. But every wound, every betrayal, every death he witnesses becomes fuel for his ascension.Under a crimson eclipse, he walks through battlefields where spirits still scream. In deserts of bone, he consumes lotus flowers blooming from despair. He learns techniques the heavens sealed away in fear—Soul Wither Pulse, Requiem Bloom, Grief Reclamation.But the deeper he dives into death, the less human he becomes.He no longer cries for the fallen.He no longer prays for peace.He begins to wonder—what kind of death should he become?In a world where power devours morality, Rin Xie will either become the end of all things...Or something worse.