My Youth Began With Him - Chapter 415 - Let's See Who's More Ruthless (5)

Kai was a 17-year-old dropout. A NEET. A background character in real life with nothing to his name but bitterness, novels, and guilt. After his parents died, he gave up on the world. People were fake. Dreams were pointless. And that one novel he kept reading? He hated it especially the main character, June. Perfect, noble, always standing tall. Everything Kai wasn’t.Then, one night, a voice asked: “What if you did meet June?”He said yes, half-asleep and half-mocking.Now he’s trapped in the novel. Isikeid. But he’s not June. He’s not a hero. He’s not even in the main cast.He’s an extra in the background of a world he knows too well and he’s had enough of watching things play out the same way. This time, he’s going to change everything. Whether the world likes it or not.

Facing extinction, humanity seeks salvation in the Astral Verge, a dangerous dimension accessed via portals that threatened to wipe out the entire planet.Few years later, aspiring recruit Daniel Vance enters the Verge for his final assessment, hoping to Awaken a Talent and secure his future. While others gain common abilities, Daniel secretly Awakens the mythical SSS-Grade Talent: [Soul Assimilation]. This allows him to absorb essence, enhancing gear, gaining stats and EXP from slain creatures, and crucially, absorbing attributes and skills from fallen Awakened.Witnessing the swift death of the arrogant Jaxon Rex, Daniel makes a grim choice: he assimilates Jaxon, gaining his first skill, [Kinetic Pulse]. This sets his path: scavenging the aftermath of others’ battles. He enhances gear and, after achieving his first kill on an injured beast, waits patiently to assimilate two more fallen recruits, acquiring [Quick Step] and the invaluable passive [Aura Sense].Starting as average, Daniel rapidly gains power in secret, enhanced gear, multiple skills, and boosted stats , far exceeding his peers while remaining outwardly unremarkable. He navigates the lethal Verge alone, using its inherent dangers to fuel his growth, wrestling with the moral cost of his unique, overwhelming power.

Holo’s life was once a series of relentless hardships—bullies at school, abusive parents, and heartbreak at the hands of those he trusted. After a failed suicide attempt, a mysterious man offers him a deal: help rehabilitate four psychopathic girls, and in return, earn ten million dollars. Desperate and naive, Holo accepts, not realizing the chaos and danger awaiting him.Each girl comes with her own dark tendencies—Trixie, a violent and feral girl who acts on impulse; Scarlet, a master manipulator who delights in breaking people down; Felicia, a dangerously seductive woman battling a sex addiction; and Eleanor, a cold, calculating girl with a desire to watch the world burn. As Holo works to bring out their humanity, the girls become obsessively devoted to him, their love transforming into something darker.

Intellectual Villages are old fashioned rural villages recreated with cutting edge technology. Those villages attract the Japanese monsters known as Youkai.

The high school boy Jinnai Shinobu lives in one of those villages and has a Zashiki Warashi living in his house. He tends to run across Youkai with unnerving frequency and this often leads to trouble for him.