Merchant Crab - Chapter 9: Reputable Merchant

Jiang Cheng transmigrated into an urban novel, but his identity is not the protagonist!His identity is the fiancé of the villainous female CEO?!A business genius whose family fell into decline became a son-in-law?[ Ding! System activated! The system of the destiny villain has been activated! ]Gain villain value just by changing the plot and plundering the protagonist’s opportunities?[ Ding! Congratulations on getting the skill ‘Thug in Suit’! ][ Ding! Congratulations on getting the first heroine to confess her love to you. Villain value +9999! ][ Ding! Congratulations on successfully robbing the protagonist of his opportunity! ]Steal the protagonist’s opportunities and connections!From then on, Jiang Cheng went further and further on his way to becoming a villain.

It’s a story that happened long, long ago, in a continent far, far away, about gods and mortals, sword and magic, war and peace, and of course love and hatred.

Amon was a poor miner’s son in a remote town in the kingdom of Hittite. Along with the discovery of a marvelous gem, his fate was changed. People on this land called it Gods’ Tear. But wait, what were the gods? It was said that the gods created the world. Then who created the gods?

Forced by the tantalizing fate, Amon had to struggle to find out the truth behind this world of magic and gods……

This is a tale that distorts the scenario of an otome game.An orphan girl named Alicia is attacked by a woman trying to steal her body to become the “heroine”. From the fragmentary knowledge she acquires, Alicia learns that this world is the stage of an “otome game” in a “world of sword and magic”.Having learned the truth from the knowledge she obtained, the immature Alicia dismisses the otome game as “nonsense” and runs away from the orphanage to escape the fate of the “heroine”.A villainess aims to take her life. A fake heroine appears. Alicia trains herself using the fragmentary knowledge she has gained in order to survive, growing into the “Strongest Assassin” that is feared by both the Thieves’ Guild and the Assassins’ Guild.

Philip never expected his new life to be so… complicated. When a tragic accident in the modern metropolis of Bortinto abruptly ends his struggle for survival, he wakes up as the scandal-ridden heir of a ducal house in a world where magic and science coexist. Any fantasies of an easy, heroic life vanish the moment he realizes that the estate that he is tasked with managing is drowning in debt, and his reputation has been shredded by rumors involving his predecessor’s broken engagement to the socialite Lady Rosetta—the granddaughter of a prince.Even as he scrambles to rebuild his estate’s fortunes—grappling with contaminated land, mounting debts, and shrewed industrialists—he unearths troubling secrets about the original Philip’s heartbreak and suicide. A dark, hidden force seems intent on wiping him out for an unknown reason. As conspiracies emerge linking Lady Rosetta’s departure to these shadowy machinations, Philip struggles to separate ally from adversary, not knowing why this power in high places is so bent on destroying him.Meanwhile, the realm teeters on the brink of monumental change. Technological and social revolutions collide with century-old magical traditions, and war drums thunder on the distant borders. Armed with his modern knowledge of finance—now fused with the kingdom’s burgeoning industrial innovations—Philip attempts to ride the trends and transform his estate into a beacon of prosperity and secure his heirship to the ducal title. Yet each small triumph only attracts more enemies.Tasked by the System with cultivating a supernatural entity while uncovering the real reason behind Lady Rosetta’s canceled engagement and the original Philip’s tragic end, he must also shield those he grows to care about from the looming threats. Will he harness the synergy of magic, technology, and commerce to steer his estate toward greatness, or will malevolent forces quash his second chance at life? Will his second chance at life end the same tragic way as his first?