Collecting Titles In The Apocalypse - Chapter 5: The System

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.

Xiao Shan is a famously profligate prince, the kind that makes his emperor father angry just by being seen. Xiao Shan’s greatest wish in life is to be a salted fish who lives without any worldly strife, until his father bestows upon him Xie Zhui, a ger who has been mixing with men, to be his bride. Xie Zhui took his brother’s place in the army at fourteen, achieved great merits by successfully defending against enemies outside the northern border city at sixteen, and was discovered to be a ger after being seriously injured at eighteen. After returning to the capital, the emperor pardoned Xie Zhui’s crime of deceiving the monarch and bestowed him to Xiao Shan as his rightful spouse. Everyone says that Xiao Shan has married a ger who came out of a pile of men, with a vast grassland above his head. They think about how much the emperor must dislike Xiao Shan to have given him such a troublesome marriage.

How did he meet such a bandit-like man? He drags you away the second he sees you! And yet, the only thing he can do is try his best to set the boundaries between them.

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“Don’t you ever try to leave and reason things out. It’s futile. Yelling is also useless. This lao zi has already fallen for you and I shall make you mine.”

***

“Be obedient and wait for me at home, so I can pamper you till the day I die.”

***

“Running away? What about it?

You dare to run away again and this lao zi will spend his lifetime seeing you try.”

- Description from Novelupdates

Reborn in a parallel world, Fang You landed on earth with the cry of a newborn!By achieving growth goals, he could unlock various unique talents, positioning himself to win right from the starting line!As a baby: Accomplish 1,000 rollover movements to unlock the talent “Reverse Life”;As a toddler: Master 10 paper airplane folding techniques to unlock the talent “Origami Celebrity”;As a youth: Secure 100 victories in “Three Kingdoms Kill” to unlock the talent “Rising to Prominence”;“Absolute Focus,” “Eat without Gaining Weight,” “Never Nearsighted,” “Five Seconds to Sleep,” “Photographic Memory”...With the continuous acquisition and accumulation of growth energy, more all-around talents gradually emerged...Starting as a well-known internet sensation baby cutie and accompanied by the neighborly companionship of a girl who was like a sister from another life, enjoy the sweet, loving daily life of winning from childhood to adulthood!