After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times - Chapter 27 - 21 The Imperial Edict

“The masterminds are cooler than heroes,” I mutter as I stare at the chess pieces before me. It is easier to be the one who sits in the shadows and moves the pieces, likewise deciding the flow of the game.Heroes will foolishly sacrifice their lives for the good cause and villains will sacrifice the world for their own gain, but masterminds will use both the heroes and villains to their own benefit.Why, you ask? Well, that's because I've lost my life once while trying to be a hero so, I don't want that anymore. I'd rather be a mastermind who molds the world as per my convenience and live peacefully. Because, why not?***[Defender of Divine Glory says you are the hope of this world.]What?[Goddess of Wisdom believes that you will be the one to save the world.]Wait, what?![Propose the Grand Duke the idea of a fake marriage.]And, why would I do that?![Stop the assassination of Prince Eric.]Why would I save him?![The candidates for the throne are:... Who will you choose?]Ah! I give up...It seems like a curse that anyone who wishes for a slacker life in Isekai will have to go through the most troublesome things.In my past life, I died because of one rookie mistake but after being transmigrated in the world of fantasy I've gotten an opportunity to start afresh, but unlike the protagonists who look for their love and glory, I'd rather make money and live a life of a slacker.I have magic, I have power and I have money, what else do I need?Well, that was the plan but this damn system is getting on my nerves. I mean who in their sane mind would want to mess with the complicated royal family and political affairs? But that's not all though.I've also become the saviour of this world. Things just can't be anymore worse!Besides, the penalty of failing this quest is...[Failure: Destruction of the World.]It seems like if I screw up in selecting the right person then the destruction that is going to befall the world won't be stopped.If I speak of my reward then it's this vague thing.[Reward: Fulfillment of any wish.]“If that's the case then, I'd rather choose the person who would be the best fit for the throne.”And that's how I decided that I would become the Kingmaker.

The world is in ruins. Extreme sub-zero temperatures suffocate the surface, making even simple survival an ordeal. Frozen derelicts of bygone eras span across massive ice wastes. And the survivors closely guard any technology rediscovered within.The only escape from the deadly climate is beneath the surface. But it’s another disaster underground. Monstrous machines lurk in the depths. Unhinged demigods war against them, dying over and over, treating it all like a game. The land itself shifts over time, more contraption than rock. And an ominous prophecy states that the key to everything waits on four heroes - but nobody knows who or where they are.When an expedition into the far uncharted north goes terribly wrong, Keith Winterscar and his father get trapped together in a desperate fight for survival. Stumbling upon an ancient war of titanic scale; the two will need to set their differences aside while they struggle against Gods, legends, and the grand secrets of the realm that lies below.

Ten years ago, Joseph Cassian was thrown into a maximum-security prison for crimes he didn’t commit framed by the very family whose blood runs through his veins.Now, at twenty-eight, he walks free into a world where the city’s mafia empires have mysteriously crumbled. Their leaders, slaughtered. Their empires, burned.All while Joseph sat in silence behind bars... no one can prove he did anything and yet it all happened as if he planned it.Was he just a wrongfully imprisoned scapegoat, a man who survived injustice?Or is he a mastermind a Don who orchestrated revenge so flawlessly that not even he had to lift a finger?Now that he’s free, Joseph stands at a crossroads.He can leave the blood behind, walk away from the ashes of an empire that once owned the city.Or he can claim what’s left of his legacy and become the very Don the world has feared all along.

I thought I had been abandoned,But I was actually the child that the Namgoong family had been searching for.It wasn’t until I was killed by the Blood Demon, whom I had called “teacher,” that I learned the truth. When I awoke again as a thirteen-year-old child, I decided to return to the Namgoong family.I didn’t seek to be recognized as family.I only wanted to prevent the Namgoong family from falling apart as it had before.“This is the jewelry, silk, gold bars, and elixirs that the family head has gifted to you.”“Here, little one. This is a congratulatory gift for your return.”As soon as I was recognized as the lost granddaughter of the Namgoong family,I gained delicious food, fine clothes, gold and silver treasures, and a high-quality sword!I also gained a grandfather and a father who cried and laughed for me.But what was that strange, tingling feeling in my chest every time that happened?In order to protect the smiles of those I had once killed,and to preserve this warm and ticklish sensation for as long as I could,I was determined to change the bloody future that awaited me, unlike my previous life…**Namgoong Mucheon’s face darkened.‘Is this child truly raised to be an assassin?’The sharp killing intent and the sword techniques essential for an assassin were reflected in her life, as if they were embedded in her very being.‘Damn brat.’Anger surged within Namgoong Mucheon.He restrained himself from cursing aloud in front of his granddaughter, muttering in his mind instead.‘How dare they raise my granddaughter as an assassin?’The blue energy surrounding Namgoong Mucheon grew even stronger.