I'll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 86 - A Reluctant Choice (2)

Birth rates are decreasing. Hope is vanishing. The world has gone gray.Humanity, drifting in quiet collapse, receives an email.Every person on Earth. Simultaneously.The Aegis Mandate.Disguised as a cosmic aptitude test, it triggers The Incident of Separation—a global psychic cataclysm that erases identities, wipes memories, and divides all survivors into three factions: Law, Neutral, and Chaos. Overnight, cities become battlegrounds. Apartments become dungeons. Ordinary people become monsters—or the ones who hunt them.Ragnar Vhagar was just a loner university student. Now, thanks to a system he didn’t ask for, he’s a newly minted Demon King, locked in a crumbling apartment with goblins under his sofa and a glowing soul crystal next to his frozen peas. His new job? Build a deadly domain, defend it from invading “Heroes,” and somehow level up fast enough to not die.Alongside him is Isabelle Thorne, a razor-sharp warrior of few words and one very sharp sword. Their reluctant alliance, born in blood and snark, evolves into trust—and maybe something dangerously close to affection—as they rise together through the layers of the game-like world they’re trapped in.With each conquered domain and defeated boss, Ragnar realizes the truth: the dungeons aren’t meant to crown a winner. They’re meant to break the players. The Law faction wants control. The Chaos faction craves destruction. But Ragnar? He wants something they’re all too afraid to say out loud:Freedom.In the ruins of Kanta’s ogre stronghold, Ragnar and his misfit warband take their biggest step yet—claiming a kingdom, unifying a fractured system, and preparing for what comes next. The Heroes are watching. The gods are stirring. The world is watching a war.And somewhere deep beneath it all... Ragnar is rewriting the rules.

Throughout this current life of mine, I will pay no attention to my past lives, nor will I seek future lives. I wish to live vigorously, to pay back debt of gratitude and fulfill duty to avenge, to defeat valiant heroes from all species, and to proudly laugh at all the Gods and Demons of the Six Path of Reincarnation!

- Description from Novelupdates

In a world where dungeons loom like dark secrets and monsters stalk the land, Rem’s awakening shattered the status quo. A surge of raw power flooded his veins as the Monster Monarch System bound itself to him, unlocking a terrifying potential.Each heartbeat echoed with the promise of countless souls waiting to be absorbed—skills, abilities, and monstrous strength ready to be claimed.Fuelled by an insatiable thirst for power, Rem set out on a deadly quest, driven by one singular goal: to rise above the chaos and stand at the pinnacle of the world. With nothing but the deadly abilities granted by the System, and a burning will to crush any who dared stand in his way, he carved his path through savage lands and ruthless mages.The hunt for strength never ends. The battle for supremacy has only just begun. Rem’s eyes are set on the throne of the Monarchs, and the Monster Monarch System will ensure nothing stands between him and his destiny.The grind was eternal...