How a Black-Haired Barbarian Survived the Labyrinth in Another World - Chapter 4: Explanation

Ethan's head throbbed violently as he opened his eyes, his vision hazy and unfocused. A dull ringing filled his ears, drowning out his thoughts.“What’s happening…?” he thought, his mind sluggish, struggling to catch up with reality. One moment, he was asleep—or at least, he thought he was—and the next, searing pain forced him awake.His vision swam, shapes blurring together in a disorienting mess. But then, muffled noises filtered through the haze—frantic, panicked sounds. Someone was trying to scream, their voice smothered, choked by something.A cold shiver ran down his spine.As his sight gradually sharpened, Ethan's breath hitched.He was on all fours, looming over someone. A girl.Her body twisted and writhed beneath him, ropes biting into her wrists and ankles. Her mouth was gagged, muffling her cries. Her wide brown eyes, brimming with fear and fury, glared up at him.Ethan's body locked in place, his blood running cold.“What the…?” His mind reeled, thoughts slamming into each other in chaotic disarray. “What kind of bizarre dream is this?”Panic clawed at his chest. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps as he scrambled backward, only to realize his limbs felt sluggish, uncooperative, like they didn’t belong to him.“Is this… is this some kind of twisted fantasy I never knew I had?” A sickening thought slithered through his mind, making his stomach churn.The girl's frantic squirming slowed for a moment, her gaze flickering with confusion as she took in his expression—his trembling hands, his wide, horrified eyes. But the fear returned just as quickly. She struggled harder, her body arching, her muffled screams rising in pitch.Ethan wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but before he could force out a word, a glowing blue window materialized before his eyes.His breath caught.A translucent, hovering screen?“What…?”Lines of glowing text scrolled across its surface.---[System Activated…][Host Confirmed.][Simulating Previous Data…]Ethan awakens in a mysterious world, shackled by a curse that clouds his judgment and drives him toward choices he never wished to make. Burdened by guilt and responsibility, he must navigate the fallout of his actions while unraveling the truth behind the curse—and his place in this enigmatic new reality.

Arakawa Kouki is reincarnated to a Japan with a different history than the Japan he knows with the memories of his previous life still intact. Kouki was discouraged, “Aren’t reincarnation stories supposed to be at some fantasy world filled with swords, magic and elves?!”

[Palace Intrigue + Sweet Doting + Not Purely Chaste + Heroine Focused on Her Career]

On the first day of her transmigration into the imperial harem, Jiang Xinyu was already out of favor.

Everyone said she was merely a pretty face without substance.

On the second day of her transmigration into the imperial harem, Jiang Xinyu regained the emperor’s favor.

From then on, she held the emperor’s heart firmly in her hands.

She fought monsters and leveled up, rising from a noble consort all the way to the honorable imperial consort, basking in unwavering favor.

Emperor Xuan Wu: At first, it was lust at first sight, but later I became truly captivated by her charms. Who knew this woman had so many more faces that I was unaware of?

Jiang Xinyu: The emperor is the harem’s highest-level boss with the thickest health bar. If I can deplete his health bar, I can become the supreme empress of this harem.

P.S. The heroine is solely focused on her career, yearning for riches and glory, a life of luxury and indulgence. She excels in all pursuits, with layer upon layer of schemes to conquer the emperor’s heart.

Freshly turned eighteen, John Newman, a helpless nerd, suddenly gets video game abilities granted to him. A mysterious higher power, a secret Abyss of magic beneath the surface of the normal world, mages, martial artists, eroticism, tragedy and a harem of hot girls awaits.