Quills: the Rise of the Northern Matriarch - Chapter 78: Nora

The royal bastard of House Vasquer, Argrave, changed after his stay studying magic at the Tower of the Gray Owl.

The sickly man's awkward posture and cruel behavior have been replaced with a neat dignity and acerbic wit.

Though once listless, he now strives towards his goals with a life-or-death tenacity.

Most come away thinking he seems to know too many details about too much. Few can claim to know his motives or his goals.

Yet behind that confident appearance, the primary contributor for an open-world RPG's wiki battles existential dread and things far beyond his ken as he struggles to adapt to a grim, gothic fantasy world mirroring his favorite game.

The prospect of fighting against a world-ending calamity loses all of its appeal when it transitions from entertainment to reality.

Argrave is spurred towards unwanted heroism to preserve his life as he struggles desperately to keep this sinking ship afloat.

Zhou Xiaoxiao, an ordinary fine arts student, transmigrates over to a strange ancient world. She becomes an insignificant character who is highly skilled in martial arts.

Zhou Xiaoxiao was determined to escape her lowly identity as a henchman and live independently. However, she suddenly comes across the exquisitely handsome scholar Yu Xingzhi, who was tormented until he was on his dying breath.

Since staying alive in this dog eat dog world is already difficult, will she rescue him or will she go down her own path? And can she possibly return to the modern world?

This is an unlikely romance story between a heroic woman and a frail yet beautiful scholar.

Mini Theatre:

Yu Xingzhi: “Wife, don’t return to your maiden house, I’ll agree to all your requests.”

Zhou Xiaoxiao: “You’ll agree to all my requests? Then strip nude and become my art model.”

Yu Xingzhi was blushing from ear to ear as he removed his armor and clothes.

- Description from Novelupdates

When I woke up after a pretty crappy death, what greeted me was one of those famous fantasy worlds! I didn’t expect anything like becoming the strongest with a common job, or rising to the top with the weakest class…All I wanted was to live a slow farming life, but the world just wouldn’t leave me alone! And so I equally backstabbed good people and bad people alike, becoming a villain with a true sense of equality and just when I was about to retire and enjoy a proper life on a farm…“Master!”My former disciple at the evil organisation, currently the hero of justice came looking for me. Can’t you all just leave me alone?

Villain System: Activated> Alignment: Chaotic EvilObjective: Obey the plot, serve the empire, die like a good villain.Yeah, no thanks.I woke up as Dorian Valen—sadistic noble, arsonist, war criminal, mid-tier villain with a face everyone wants to stab. The story wants me to beg for my life, cough up secrets, and die at sunrise so the hero can get a shiny new power-up. Been there, read that.But I'm not here to follow the script. I'm here to flip the table.I’ll expose the cracks in the empire, dismantle the hero’s halo, weaponize every trope, and corrupt the system that tried to cage me. And if I have to burn the world down to do it?Well… I’ve got the villain system. Might as well make it earn its name.