This is really not mechanical ascension - Chapter 24 - : Take Action! Guard the Gate?

Hadica was built around one of five Towers, an infinite structure filled with floors of monsters, magic, and treasures that the city plunders like clockwork. Most of the city, at least. Growing up in Westhill, Micah's family abstained from all of their Tower's bounties. He became an [Alchemist] at an age younger than most and just wanted to level in peace, but soon ran out of mundane ingredients to brew into potions. Ryan is a budding [Fighter] with the strange ability to mimic beasts, including monsters, but he doesn't understand it or even himself. After a Tower climb goes horribly wrong, their lives and the world around them begin to change as they try to figure out who they want to be.The Salamanders is a slow-paced story about characters growing up in and exploring a fantasy setting. It updates sporadically. Please mind the tags.

The smell of blood invaded my nostrils. I watched helplessly as the woman standing over me raised her sword. I was completely drained, I had no mana left, no items, nothing. As the crimson tendrils held me down by my arms and legs, all I could do was wait for my death.

As the sword drew near, I felt the last bit of courage I had disappear. I was going to die. Alone. In this god forsaken place filled with evil. And for what? To protect those ‘friends’? The same people who mocked me, took advantage of, and used me?

Oh, who am I trying to fool? I was here only because of my own greed. Because I wanted to be useful to someone. Because I wanted to that group to need me. To value me. To have a reason to keep me around. How naïve I was, thinking that power would grant those wishes. All it did was help build a wall between me and everyone else.

The sword approached. I saw the purple light reflect off the sword’s blade. After everything I went through, I hadn’t expected my death to be by the hands of another player. I saw her smile, but this time I didn’t think it was beautiful. It was an ugly smile because it was genuine. She was enjoying watching me die. She was enjoying killing me.

The sword struck my chest and pierced my heart. I let out a scream of pain and agony. The pain was so real, all of this was so real. It shouldn’t be, but it was. What should have been a simple game had become my new reality – all of our new reality. A reality filled with magic, war, blood, and death.

My vision darkened as the pain slowly faded. I felt the last of my vitality leave my body. It felt cold. I wondered to myself, when would I stop being? When would my thoughts disappear?

Soon, I saw those words I feared for all this time appear before me. “DEATH”, in the pale blue font the game always used. They remained suspended in the air for several seconds. It was over. After a long time of fighting, grinding, and exploring, it was finally over. I had died. This was the end of my story.

Suddenly, words before me shifted and changed into something different. I took a shallow breath as I heard a faint heartbeat.

……………………………………………………………

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In order to avoid marrying an old man from the neighboring county, she must run away. The first time she escaped, the general entered the city, and she rolled and fell in front of him, no, she kneeled in front of him (really not on purpose). The second time she escaped, the general came to visit her house, and the general caught her (he must have done it on purpose). The third time, she was bruised and battered, almost desperate, and he came galloping and took her into his arms. (He was very well-intentioned.) The general said, ” Although I do not want to hold a favor to you, it is true that you owe me a favor.” So? 

 An Ruochen is unwilling to submit to fate and meets General Long three times when she runs away from home. She expects to get help from a powerful man, but she is involved in a secret conspiracy instead. Vicious family, a missing younger sister, a mysterious spy, and power struggles. An Ruochen becomes the key to solving the mysteries and becomes the core of General Long’s heart. 

One sentence synopsis: The right person at the right time changes everything.

- Description from Novelupdates

Just like how everyone adored heroes in their childhood, a certain young man adored those powers hidden in shadows. After hiding his strength and living the mediocre life of a mob character by day while undergoing frenzied training by night, he finally reincarnates into a different world and gains ultimate power. The young man who is only playing at being a power in the shadows, his misunderstanding subordinates, and a giant organization in the shadows that gets trampled…. This is the story of a young boy who had adored powers in shadows possibly eventually reigning over the world of shadows in another world.