The Creatures That We Are - Chapter 37: Condolences

Sixty Years ago, one middle aged man brought a Qilin that looked like a pug and a mandarin duck that looked exactly like a duck, walking into the Imperial City of the Central Plains for the first time.

It begins on the mountain.

With the glint of a knife, a flash of steel in the hands of a sworn brother. A betrayal.

Stabbed and pushed down the mountain, Zi Chen lied within the red-stained snow, left to die.

This is where it begins; he is given life by lightning,
baptized by thunder.

Those who had once betrayed him should all suffer in his cruel revenge.

- Description from Novelupdates

In 1668, our city earned the title of “The Safest Place in the Country.”I had a lot to do with that. How?Because I was arrested.

Our protagonist, once a homeless child navigating the city's harsh realities, clawed his way towards a better life. He stole coins to buy knowledge. However, the prestigious university scholarship he craved was a rigged system, awarded to a politician's son who needed the name, not the education.Descends into a life of crime.After being forced to taint his pride his death is ordered with his own making the final blow.god “congratulations you're given a chance at a new life...”him “ why?”god “cause you had a tough life so im being generous... and making you reincarnate in a mana world...”him “ bullshit...”On the brink of oblivion, a dubious offer arrives – a second chance from a strange god. Haunted by the shadows of past 'generosity', Rei struggles with suspicion. Accepting means becoming a pawn, rejecting means eternal damnation. With no good options, Rei plays along, unaware his role thrusts him into a cosmic conflict.