Rise of the Northern Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence - Chapter 38: Under Inspection

[You Have Been Chosen.]When the apocalypse started, everything fell apart. I lost my job before they pushed me out into the street. Facing the undead, I became desperate and ran like a coward.Until I heard a voice...At first I couldn't believe the voice, thinking I might be insane and finally lost it... But as I was about to die, I saw a strange game-like panel appear in real life![The Throne System has activated.]This strange system let me gain points by killing zombies and the ability to recruit people as subjects who wouldn't betray me like my previous co-workers.My first subject?Mu Qinglan.The ruthless Ice Queen CEO I once called “Boss.”Cold, untouchable... and now infected.As her bloodthirsty jaws closed around my neck, I barely saved her with the system’s makeshift cure.[Recruitment Available.][Subject: Mu Qinglan (S-Tier)][Press to Confirm.]A glowing button floated before me.I hesitated.Then, slowly, I reached out.[Recruitment Complete.]▼ Mu Qinglan's attributes are now visible.+ 100 Experience.+ Leadership: Level 1+ Random Skill from Mu Qinglan[Rank Up!]▼ Rank: Loser → Partner+ Attributes Increased | Subject Cap: 2Every subject I command strengthens me.Every kill feeds my dominion.In this world of death and chaos...I will build an empire of S-Tier Beauties and ascend as the Apocalypse King.

When I opened my eyes, I was inside a novel.

When Li Fan transmigrated into a new world, his life seemed unremarkable. He was moderately well-off, with a wife and children, but nothing extraordinary. Everything changed upon his death, when he awakened the ability Return to Truth: the power to virtualize an entire lifetime’s worth of experiences, run it as a simulation, and return to the age of twenty armed with that knowledge.With this ability in hand, Li Fan finally saw a chance to pursue the dream he had always harbored: eternal life. In other words, the path of immortal cultivation.But the world of cultivation was nothing like the paradise he imagined. After countless generations of cultivators plundering heaven and earth, the heavens had struck back. Mortals now carried the Immortal-Mortal Miasma within their blood, a disease that, when encountered by cultivators, led to cultivation decline and death. No technique could be practiced by more than a single person. Calamities descended from the Heavenly Dao without warning.In such a hostile world, where even the heavens themselves resist immortal cultivation, can Li Fan truly seize eternal life? Or will he meet his final end, his Dao dispersing back to heaven?

Ren has never known kindness. He grew up alone in the slums, learning to survive by staying out of sight and trusting no one. One night, he stumbles into a strange tunnel and finds a hidden shrine forgotten by time.There, he sees a black cat with golden eyes and hears a voice inside his head.The shrine is more than it seems. So is the cat.As Ren is pulled into something ancient and mysterious, he must decide if he's willing to take a different step in life or keep running from the world that hurt him.Because the city doesn't care if he lives or dies, but something in the dark might.(No system, no isekai, no reincarnation, no regression, no harem. The story focuses on mystery and character development.)