Creating an Industrial Empire in 19th Century Parallel World - Chapter 72 Sealing The Deal

[Congratulations, you have earned +9 coins. You have repaid 999,999,999 / 1,000,000,000 Coins. You need 1 more coin to repay your debt.]“You’ve got to be kidding me.”______After living a hundred lives, Lucian finally managed to repay his debt to the system. World after world, he fought, bled, and struggled—all for the freedom he had foolishly given up the day he begged the system to save his life.At last, he had done it. 999,999,990 coins. Just one more mission, one last world, and he would finally be free...Or so he thought.But this was no joke. The system had screwed him over one final time.Still, there was hope. With only a single coin left to repay, the system could no longer play its tricks. Freedom was just within his grasp—if he could survive this last world.All Lucian had to do was reach the end. Simple, right?Except this time, the world itself seemed determined to destroy him.

Kurokami Haruto, a 16-year-old high school student, lives an ordinary life with his older sister Kurokami Satsuki—a beautiful, gentle nurse who’s… a little too devoted to her little brother.Haruto always dismissed rumors about “Awakened Ones”—people who suddenly gained supernatural powers—as nothing more than internet nonsense. Until one day, after fighting with scoundrels to defend a strange girl, he woke up to a system interface flashing before his eyes:> 《 SYSTEM: “Chosen of the Abyss” Activated 》> • Main Skill: [Moonlight Blade Manifestation] - Summon up to three spectral swords.> • Main skill: [Abyssal Devour] – Absorbs energy from the moon, converting it into personal strengths.> • Hidden Skill (Rare): [Yandere EXP Farm] – Whenever a yandere develops feelings for him, all main skills gain double experience.> • System Service: “Scanning for yanderes within 10 miles… Detected: 1 target:Kurokami Satsuki.”Haruto: “…What is this?! My onee-chan?!”

Having spent her childhood confined in chains, Alice was a child who knew neither love nor joy. Scorned by her family while being tortured in the name of the greater good for years, she grew numb to all feeling and thought. That is, until one day, a man in black offered her a chance to escape.There were once rumours widespread of an endless hell, a land of glorious death and dreadful opportunity. Fools went in search of it, and the clever never ventured into it. Only when its baleful mysteries spilled unto the earth did all hear its name — the Abyss.A single drop of its blood could give someone the power to control shadows, move faster than sound, or strength greater than the strongest man. Yet, it all came at a cost; the blood would always make sure those who consumed it became part of the Abyss, with one exception — Alice. Cast away by her own blood, it was her destiny to rot in a gilded cage.But, that fateful day changed everything. Gifted a second chance at life, a chance to turn her life around and claim vengeance against her family, a chance to dive deep into the Abyss and gain the power to govern her own fate, Alice took his hand, unaware of the destiny unfolding before her.

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.