MTL - To Hold One’s Joy - Chapter 511 a glass of wine

...[Inside an underground basement]“You are going to die for nothing, hahahaha,” the old man's voice thundered through the room, sending chills down my spine.Step.With a swift and ruthless motion, he lunged forward, his sword slicing through the air and slashing my throat, crimson droplets staining the darkness.“We'll see,” I whispered defiantly, my final words escaping as a mere breath against the impending darkness.Slowly, inexorably, my consciousness slipped away, and I descended into a deep, unfathomable slumber.“Huh!?” My eyes fluttered open, and I found myself seated in a bustling tavern, the air thick with laughter and the clinking of glasses.In front of me stood a captivating lady, her beauty juxtaposed with an angry furrow upon her brow, threatening to shatter the harmony of the jovial scene.“Don't follow me around!” Her words pierced the air like shards of ice, the intensity of her emotions palpable as she cast a resentful glare in my direction, before swiftly departing from the tavern....Am I trapped within the confines of a game? The fragments of my shattered common sense scattered before me, leaving me to question the very fabric of my reality.

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

Corporate slave Alexander dies with only one regret—not finishing the fantasy novel in his hands. Fate has a twisted sense of humor when he awakens as Alexander Flamingo, the perverted villain destined to be expelled and killed in that very story!Armed with complete knowledge of the original plot and a mischievous “Harem King System,” Alexander plans to rewrite his fate. No longer the one-dimensional pervert of the novel, he'll use his future knowledge to manipulate heroes, seduce heroines, and rise from disposable villain to the true mastermind of this world.The system grants him power through every relationship he builds—but can this calculating reincarnator use his second chance to avoid his predetermined death and become the ultimate Harem King? One thing's certain: this story won't follow the original script.

A modern-day antihero, who was infamous for his devious acts, dies in an explosion meant to take down a powerful criminal syndicate. Waking up in a world of sword and sorcery, he finds himself possessing a fragile, powerless body with a strange “System” that seems broken. Initially thinking he's doomed, he learns that by pretending to be weak, he can manipulate others into revealing their secrets, granting him abilities they possess. As he rises in power, he discovers that the System was intentionally sabotaged—by none other than his own future self.