The Extra Villain: I Made a Contract With The Dragon Empress! - Chapter 257: A Duel Challenge

“The masterminds are cooler than heroes,” I mutter as I stare at the chess pieces before me. It is easier to be the one who sits in the shadows and moves the pieces, likewise deciding the flow of the game.Heroes will foolishly sacrifice their lives for the good cause and villains will sacrifice the world for their own gain, but masterminds will use both the heroes and villains to their own benefit.Why, you ask? Well, that's because I've lost my life once while trying to be a hero so, I don't want that anymore. I'd rather be a mastermind who molds the world as per my convenience and live peacefully. Because, why not?***[Defender of Divine Glory says you are the hope of this world.]What?[Goddess of Wisdom believes that you will be the one to save the world.]Wait, what?![Propose the Grand Duke the idea of a fake marriage.]And, why would I do that?![Stop the assassination of Prince Eric.]Why would I save him?![The candidates for the throne are:... Who will you choose?]Ah! I give up...It seems like a curse that anyone who wishes for a slacker life in Isekai will have to go through the most troublesome things.In my past life, I died because of one rookie mistake but after being transmigrated in the world of fantasy I've gotten an opportunity to start afresh, but unlike the protagonists who look for their love and glory, I'd rather make money and live a life of a slacker.I have magic, I have power and I have money, what else do I need?Well, that was the plan but this damn system is getting on my nerves. I mean who in their sane mind would want to mess with the complicated royal family and political affairs? But that's not all though.I've also become the saviour of this world. Things just can't be anymore worse!Besides, the penalty of failing this quest is...[Failure: Destruction of the World.]It seems like if I screw up in selecting the right person then the destruction that is going to befall the world won't be stopped.If I speak of my reward then it's this vague thing.[Reward: Fulfillment of any wish.]“If that's the case then, I'd rather choose the person who would be the best fit for the throne.”And that's how I decided that I would become the Kingmaker.

Zheng Tan somehow returns to the year 2003, turning into a black cat. Picked up from a rubbish heap by the Jiao family, he is given the name “Charcoal”, and so begins the life inside Professor Jiao’s family. Zheng Tan remembers that he was once a person, but currently his body is that of a cat. He has no way of speaking the human language, but can understand it, and even retains the thinking and IQ of a young 20 year old youth. Read along as he adapts to this new world, and somehow tumbles from a group brawl to catching a thief.

- Description from Novelupdates

In an inaccessible village, there were a few houses on the hillside.

People from far away were attracted here and the mountain road was crowded with luxury cars, because, in this town, there was a young man with incredible medical skills who could cure all kinds of illnesses!

He was The Greatest Talent in the Nine Hells Realm.

Shen Zhenyi began to practice his sword when he was four years and two months old.

At the age of seven, he studied the Ten Thousand Sword Sutra. By the age of eleven, he fought against the Yudao in Shangqing Palace. In an instant, he unleashed one hundred and eighty-five sword strikes, making it impossible for anyone to retaliate. The Yudao admitted defeat and deemed him as “The Peerless Genius.”

At the age of 14, Shen Zhenyi, with his Six Forms of the Ancient Sword, surpassed the swordsman Zuo Tianxing who was ranked among the top ten masters in the world, and won the title of “The First Swordsman of the Abyss.”

He now lies crippled. A fraction of the state he was in before. Or so they thought.

- Description from Novelupdates