Crown of Thorns - Chapter 3

In the winter of Taikang Year 3, a girl pays a visit to her future in-laws, the Ning Family of Beiliu, Yangcheng.

After her engagement was denied, the girl decided to hang herself in front of the Ning Family to show them her sincerity.

When the girl who had died opened her eyes once more, many people’s fates were changed forever.

- Description from Novelupdates

Crossing the prehistoric times, Chen Changsheng bowed to Tongtianmen and became the most sturdy senior brother of the Intercepting Sect, awakening the reading system.

Read [Holy King], extract the god statue, and automatically upgrade it to the immortal way.

Read [Perfect], extract the self-indulgence method of his transformation, and automatically upgrade it to chaos and self-inflicted law.

Read [Star Change], extract the method of stars, and automatically upgrade Hongmeng Star Change.

…

Just like that, relying on reading from the heavens, Chen Changsheng became the first person to communicate with each other in the past and present.

- Description from novelbuddy

In a world where strength determines one’s future, William, an orphan with no extraordinary talents, faces a grim destiny—until a brutal attack leaves him clinging to life. Instead of death, he awakens to a mysterious and powerful entity lurking within his mind: the Shadow System, a game-like interface that promises him unimaginable power. But this power comes with dark secrets, and refusing it would mean his death. Forced into a pact with a voice that can hear his every thought, William must navigate a dangerous new reality where shadow abilities and celestial power collide. As he enters the prestigious military academy, his newfound abilities draw both allies and enemies, all while a deadly conspiracy brews in the shadows. With the odds stacked against him, William must unravel the mystery of the Shadow System and decide whether to embrace the darkness within—or be consumed by it. His journey from a bullied outcast to a potential god will challenge not just his survival, but his very humanity. Power always comes at a cost—will William be able to pay the price? “What am I?” William asked the system. The system’s voice echoed in his head, cold and indifferent. “You are nothing.”

He wasn’t some chosen hero.Not the golden boy in prophecy.He was just Kieran Marcoth—a boy born on the wrong side of fate,A mistake, a misfit.Not blessed by heaven.Too stubborn for hell.And now…Thrown onto a battlefield meant for gods.The world had already been broken long before he came into it.People sinned, as they always do—And one day, the sky finally answered.The day God turned away,Everything fell.Cities burned.Families vanished.The silence afterward was louder than any explosion.But even in wrath, the Divine left something behind.A final olive branch—if you could call it that.A way to survive what came crawling out of the darkness.Talents.Powers.Strange, unique abilities passed down like gifts from a god who no longer cared.And on the day Kieran stood in line—quiet, hopeful, a little scared—Waiting to receive his talent,He dared to believe his life might finally start to make sense.Instead…He awakened something different.A hidden SSS-ranked talent.The kind with a condition attached.A catch.And just like that, everything went wrong.Laughter.Whispers.Stares like knives.He became a joke.A disappointment.Even the instructors didn’t bother to hide their sneers.Then the bullying started.The beating.The betrayal.And one day, it nearly killed him.He lay there, bleeding.Angry.Humiliated.A part of him still hoping this was some twisted mistake.But it wasn’t.And then—A sound.> [Ding! Conditions have been met][Host has been successfully selected as a God Candidate][Defeat the other candidates! Become the next God of this ruined world]Kieran stared at the message blinking in front of him.He didn’t smile.Didn’t cry.Didn’t feel triumphant.He just felt tired.And then, something in him shifted.One thought, sharp and cold, rose to the surface:“I’m going to fucking kill those bastards.”Not for power.Not for glory.But because he was done being the punchline.That’s how his journey began.Not as a hero.Not yet a monster.Just a boy who had lost too much—And found something worth fighting for in the wreckage.The question now is:Will the world break him again?Or will he become the god who remakes it?