The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle - Chapter 52 Despicable Person

My GPA is lower than a slime’s mana.My name is Atheron il Ataraxia, and I’m the walking disgrace of the Royal Academy of Magic.I’ve been held back twice, my essays are used in class as examples of how not to cast spells, and professors sigh in relief when I don’t blow something up during morning lectures.Truth is? I don’t even like this world.I was summoned. A girl from this world pulled me in like a card from a cursed deck, and now I’m stuck living here. Attending classes, battling evil spirits, and dealing with stuck-up nobles whose names are longer than my backstory.But something’s off. My mana doesn’t behave like theirs. The world listens when I speak. And the whispers I hear at night? They’re getting louder.They say evil spirits wander through Ashgrad under the light of the moon. And I think they’re looking for me.They think I’m a failure.Maybe I am.But if this cursed academy wants to survive the next full moon, they might just have to rely on me — the last-ranked summon with a dangerous secret.

In humanity’s final war against the Demon Lord, the strongest heroes fell—not by the enemy’s hand, but by their own, twisted into madness by a cruel illusion. Betrayal. Bloodshed. Despair… and then, silence.Only one person remained: Riley—the weakest warrior of them all. Powerless. Ignored. Forgotten.But he saw through the Demon Lord’s deception. The tyrant was on the brink of death—so weak even a fly could’ve finished him off.And Riley did just that, drawing every last ounce of strength to bite off the demon’s head.Victory? Not quite. A final, desperate strike from the Demon Lord pierced him from behind, killing him instantly.But fate wasn’t done with him yet.Riley awoke ten years in the past—when the online game [Apocalypse] was launched. Before demons descended. Before monsters overran the world.And this time, he wasn’t starting from nothing. He had a decade of experience—and a second chance.Even more shocking, he didn’t awaken his old D-rank Strength Boost talent. This time, he received something far more terrifying: an SSS-Rank Gluttony talent!He could now devour anything—monsters, items, talents, even traits—and gain their power.Ding![You have devoured: Iron Fang Wolf][Acquired: +4 Strength, +2 Agility, Skill: Bite (F-rank)][You have devoured: Goblin ShamanAcquired: +8 Intelligence, Skill: Mana Bolt (E-rank), Talent: Minor Spellcasting Efficiency][You have devoured: Flaming Salamander Drake][Acquired: +22 Endurance, Trait: Dragon’s Resilience, Skill: Flame Breath (C-rank)]Now, there is no demon, no god, no monster who will stand in his way. He will devour everything—and save the world.But the power of Gluttony was a double edged sword. If he wasn’t careful… he could be the one getting consumed.

-- WSA 2025 Entry --“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.[Updating home-world 39515’s version][Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode][Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?][Yes] [No]“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…

At the peak of her career, A-list actress Song Ning announced her withdrawal from the entertainment industry for love, shocking the nation.Everyone thought that she must have found her ideal home. That was why she was so determined.At first, Song Ning thought so too. For the rest of her life, she would not be a celebrity. She would only be a virtuous and virtuous woman who would take care of her husband and children at home.However, on the night before their wedding, she found out that her fiancé was having an affair with her best friend.Enraged, Song Ning found a random man to register their marriage at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.She originally wanted to take revenge on her scumbag fiancé, but she did not expect that the man who registered his marriage with her was the heir of nation's largest financial group, Mu Chen.After they got married, Mu Chen doted on Song Ning and protected her in every way possible. He didn't allow anyone to bully her.Song Ning always thought that she would be happy for the rest of her life and live the best life she wanted.That's right, she got it. It was just a little different from what she had originally imagined. The person who gave her everything was someone else.Many years later…Song Ning looked at Mu Chen affectionately. "I'm really lucky. Thank God I met you and saved me from hell."Mu Chen smiled faintly. “Yes, thank God.”However, Song Ning would never know. Mu Chen wasn't talking about thanking God for letting him meet Song Ning. He was thanking God for letting Song Ning's fiancé cheated on her so that he would have a chance.There was no such thing as an accidental encounter. It was just a premeditated pursuit.That day, he waited for Song Ning outside the Civil Affairs Bureau for ten hours…