Mushoku Tensei - Volume 20 Chapter 2 — Foreboding

“After every fire, ants survive.”

…

Mysterious anomalous biological metals have polluted the world, and the world has undergone tremendous changes. Metal sickness is like a key that opens the door to evolution. Under the tide of evolution, there are no innocents.

The choice is up to you, do you want to be the surviving ants after the fire, or do you want to risk your life, step on the glorious long steps to the gods, and glimpse the supreme glory of the mother goddess?

…

Touch the totem in your heart, follow the inspiration, and step on the long steps of ascending to God:

[Amphibians] → [Atlantic Glory] → [Ningen]…

[Eight Arms] → [Nightmare in the Sea] → [Deep Divers]…

[Eagle Eye] → [Owl Ghost of the Night] → [Jersey Demon]…

[Living Dead] → [Grave Digger] → [Death Ferryman]…

…

“On that day, the world was polluted, and I was the source of pollution. Human desires are endless, desire is the best food on the way to evolution, and I am the embodiment of desire.”

– Joe Tour.

- Description from novelbuddy

s a self-professed no-lifer, Yuri idles his days away in front of a computer. This all changes the moment his life in Japan comes to an abrupt end and he finds himself reborn in the strange new world of the Shiyalta Kingdom. His new life includes everything he once lacked: loving parents, a comfortable home, and a promising future breeding and raising birds on his dad’s ranch. For centuries, the kingdom he now calls home has enjoyed peace and prosperity, shielded by friendly nations that, like Shiyalta itself, were established with the collapse of a once-great empire. War is a distant problem, relevant only to Shiyalta’s ruling families whose warriors periodically set out to join the fighting upon massive birds trained by Yuri’s dad and others. But this peaceful existence can’t last forever. Something rotten lies at the heart of the kingdom, and it doesn’t take someone with Yuri’s exceptional intelligence to realize that those distant battles will only remain irrelevant for so long.

Even the most capable people cannot escape calamity. Zhang Ping, who dreamed of becoming the world’s best, voluntarily enters the palace to become a eunuch before his father has to resort to plundering and crime.

How can a prince be so thin and bony, that was Zhang Ping’s first impression of Huangfu Jie.

The prince looks at the kneeling eunuch, the scars and wounds on his body not yet healing.

Zhang Ping’s eyes turn red—I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations!

He is just little uglier; weirder than normal people.

Are ugly people not human? I, Zhang Ping, swear to cultivate the world’s second best over here in the palace!

- Description from Novelupdates

Li Jing, who is unemployed in a first-tier city, obtains a system where enjoying life can double the amount of money spent.[Congratulations, host for spending two thousand yuan to enjoy gourmet food, positive emotion one star, return ten times the consumption amount of twenty thousand yuan.][Congratulations, host for spending fifty thousand yuan to stay in a luxury hotel, positive emotion two stars, return twenty times the consumption amount of one million yuan.][Congratulations, host for spending one hundred thousand yuan to enjoy the pleasure of purchasing luxury goods, positive emotion three stars, return...]By becoming wealthy through the system, Li Jing finally experiences the joy of life, luxurious spending, perfect service, and transcendent status, all of which make him deeply understand the power of money.Especially those once unattainable goddesses, due to Li Jing's improved economic level and upgraded social circles, wonderful and unforgettable stories centered around him occurred.In the top floor suite of the world's tallest building, Li Jing stands with a wine glass in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the entire city, and sighs:“People without money are merely alive.People with money truly live.”