A Reaper's Philosophy - Chapter 16: An Enigma

Jiang Tong was a person who had no tomorrow. She was stuck in an endless loop, repeating the same day, 4th April of the year 2022. From the initial excitement up until despair, Jiang Tong had tried everything to escape. She killed herself countless times, using different methods, but she would always wake up on the day of 4th April 2022. To pass her unlimited time, she learned more than a thousand and three hundred skills. From languages, to shooting skills, culinary skills, performing arts, etc. Jiang Tong learned everything imaginable. She enjoyed the excitement and hotblooded fights brought about by wrestling; she enjoyed the speed and thrill brought about by car racing; the pleasure of seducing and tasting all kinds of handsome men; the therapeutic sensations of playing various instruments.

No matter how much trouble she got into, when it got to four in the morning, she would suddenly fall asleep and wake up on the morning of 4th April. Until… After countless trials and errors, she finally managed to bed Z City’s most dignified but also the weakest young master, Ji Lanzhou. Ji Lanzhou was the Ji family’s youngest young master. Due to his frail body, he was the apple of the Ji family’s eye. No one in Z City dared to mess with him. But Jiang Tong didn’t care because she would have to relive this day again tomorrow. Yet… When dawn came, Jiang Tong was shocked to find Ji Lanzhou sleeping on her bed when she opened her eyes. The man even looked pale from having overexerted himself. Jiang Tong was delighted! She looked at her phone, and the date showed 5th April, 2022! After five hundred years, more than a hundred and eighty days, she was finally out of the loop! Ji Lanzhou woke up to see Jiang Tong laughing and crying like a mad woman. He pursed his pale lips and said, “Liar.” Jiang Tong raised an eyebrow. “It was an accident, Sweetie. So now I have to run for my life.” Ji Lanzhou was baffled.

10 billion people in the world traveled through the apocalypse to survive, but the protagonist directly turned into a zombie after crossing…

And with the passage of time, the body is gradually decaying.

For zombies: Rotten clean = dead.

So, Jiang Si’s time is running out…

In order to survive, he opened the novice gift bag.

Got the trash skill: ?Xingchang?br>“?Xing Changhe? After eating alien creatures, you can get additional experience points. If the ingredients are fresh enough, there is a chance to get this biological skill.”

…

Um.

Really useless.

Alien creatures are full of poison, and the taste… is extremely unpalatable!

Eat alien creatures to gain skills?

That is courting death!

Such rubbish skills, after all…

Etc., etc? !

right? !

I’m a zombie. Since I can eat people, isn’t it the same to eat xenogeneic creatures? !

With a move in his heart, Jiang thought to a possibility.

Then, the journey to eat the world began:

“Ding, you ate the Poison Horned Rabbit and gained 400 experience points, and your skills are fast.”

“Ding, you ate the Lion of Ice and Fire, gained 5800 experience points, and the skill Flame Body.”

“Ding, you ate the Wetland Poison Dragon and gained 180,000 experience points and skill dragon scale skin.”

“Ding, you ate the true ancestor of vampires…”

- Description from novelbuddy

Horror of the Continent: The Immortal King Brings Despair, While the Light Knight Defies the Divine Will.In an era of chaos, numerous heroes emerge, striving to navigate the tumultuous land. However, amidst this turmoil, sudden and enigmatic forces make their appearance on the continent.Little did they know, it was all me.…To be precise, they were my alter egos sent to this other world.#Unintentionally becoming the villain of the world.#Somehow, I become both the demon king and the hero.#One person, multiple roles.

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.