MTL - CEO Above, Me Below - Chapter 3 Pain in reality

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.

Living as a concubine’s daughter in her previous life, He Danggui got herself and her daughter tortured and killed by her family and Princess Zhou, while her husband, Lord Ning, allowed them to do so for a secret. After reborn as a child, she swore to hold back her kindness to the villains. How did she survive in a family with various secrets and conspiracies? Who would be her final choice? The love of her previous life or a new lover who could offer her a happy and simple life? Sharing the identities of doctor, political counselor and princess, was she able to bring great changes both in Jianghu and the imperial family? With her intelligence and excellent medical skills, would she let them pay for what they did to her or live differently as a new one?

When a glorious old civilization was toppled overnight, a strange purple moon rose and thus began the Purple Moon Era.

Damn it! What kind of ecosystem was this? The evolution was messy. Even rabbit bites and plants were not to be messed with. How can one survive all this? Evolve into a Purple Moon Warrior? What did this have to do with the Purple Moon?

What kind of map was this? The Safety Sector? The Floating Domain? The Darkness Port? The Storm Voyage? The True Capital?

The Horror Lullaby List? The resurrection of the Underground Tribe and the prospering Underground City? The Chaos Black Market that suffused the world? The Bloody Road?

More importantly, one could end up in a bloody slaughter when dreaming and enter the Dream Domain? Fine, this damned era!

- Description from Novelupdates

Liola—the best assassin in his world—has vowed to kill no more. He was being chased by an assassination organization when he accidentally dropped into a parallel universe: through a dimensional gate and into poor teenager Kaiser’s apartment. Instead of going to the government shelter for lost dimensional travelers, Liola and Kaiser wind up going to school together.

Liola has been trying his best to live the life of an ordinary person, but after certain things happen one after the other, he begins to realize that being an ordinary person could be harder than being an assassin.