The Lustforged Hero - Chapter 23: Rising stakes

Death followed Achilles like a plague.Finding himself at his lowest point, he comes to realize how little value human life held as terrifying Advanced Humans and Evolutius Beasts waded across the Colonies of this world.About to lose the only remaining person close to him by falling into the jaws of an Evolutius Beast, a spark bloomed inside of him, and he saw a distinct blue panel appear before his eyes![Achilles Maxwell][Assimilation]:: -[Existence Corruption Value]:: 0%[Complexity]:: NegligibleA simple spark. And yet the changes it brought…were limitless!

Eric Maddox, a 70-year-old American retired football coach once hailed for his tactical brilliance, now forgotten by time—closes his eyes for what he believes is a normal nap in his quiet Florida retirement home.But when he opens them, he's not staring at ceiling tiles, instead, he's on a touchline.Wearing boots in the rain.With players running on the pitch, fans jeering behind barriers, and the smell of cheap turf pellets in the air.“What the hell is this?”He’s twenty-five again, but it’s not Earth. It’s a world where football reigns supreme. A world where the sport is religion, its practitioners, deities in cleats. Coaches are revered, players are worshipped, and even the kit man gets treated like royalty.But there's one catch: none of it is familiar. The clubs, the players, the leagues, the competitions, and even the currency—they're all different. Alien. Like waking up in a dream where the rules are the same, but the language is foreign.As if that wasn’t enough, the body he’s now in? A youth coach with a laughable win record, a looming divorce, and a measly fifty thousand in the bank that his ex-wife is fighting tooth and nail to take. All of it.Just when the spiral seems inevitable, a monotone chime pierces the noise.[Initiating Golden Finger…][…45%… 75%… 100%][System Integration Complete.][Welcome, host. You are now bound to the Pro Manager System. Objective: Dominate the Football World. A new era begins]From washed-up has-been to chosen one of destiny, Eric Maddox is about to trade arthritis pills for tactical boards, and shuffleboard for Prestigious Cup glory.Because in this world, tactics are power.And on this touchline, he’s about to become a god.

Ye Zhen, a female Ph.D. in the Department of Mathematics of Huada University, changed her career to enter the entertainment industry in order to investigate the death of her birth father, Film Emperor Ye Yi. During her interview, she accidentally made CEO Rong Cheng Jue lose face in public. Yet Rong Cheng Jue, unlike what was to be expected, didn’t take old grudges into account and let Ye Zhen join his company. When everyone thought Ye Zhen would become Rong Cheng Jue’s personal secretary, she actually joined the entertainment department. After several twists and turns, Ye Zhen became an errand reporter for Rongcheng Entertainment’s “Treasures of Great Tang”.

Her colleagues’ bullying towards her, the pressure of changing career, and the many obstacles in her investigation all left her confused. Under Rong Cheng Jue’s silent guardianship, she didn’t forget her original purpose, overcame every obstacle, and eventually became an ace producer.

Ye Zhen and Rong Cheng Jue shared a common belief : no matter how bleak the hope is, how thorny and dark is the road ahead, they had only one thought in their hearts: to uncover the truth, and therefore bring peace to the soul of the Film Emperor Ye Yi.

- Description from Novelupdates

“I hate this world. I hate everyone. There's no justice for the weak,”Once happy and carefree, Reign's life took a dark turn when he was kidnapped and undergone brutal experiments.These trials broke not only his physical body but also shattered his mind.In the end, his body couldn't withstand the ordeal, and he died like a pitiful lab rat.But death wasn't the end.He woke up in a new world as a corpse, armed with the Ultimate Mutation System.A system that enabled him to mutate and gain power in exchange for his own humanity.Determined to avoid being exploited again, he sets out to become a true powerhouse.He knew that being weak would only make him a target, especially now that he was a monster.“Kill or be killed.”That was his only option.