Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (WN) - Book 5 - 5-8. Shadow Stalker

During his patrol, Ji Xiu Yun, a marshal of the Empire, was ambushed and went missing. When he returned, there was a pure white creature crouching on his army cap.

Through genetic testing, it was determined that this cute and delicate little fellow was a creature that had faded away with the mother planet of humans 2000 years ago——a cat.

The last cat in the universe!

The people of the Empire were frenzied!

- Description from Novelupdates

A story following a young hunter named Jay. He has grown up in a world where dungeons, monsters, and humans with leveling systems are a cultural norm. At the age of 20, he awakens a skill that allows him to steal the abilities of monsters. While others are stuck with a specific skill set, he continues to grow stronger after every battle.

Follow Jay's journey as he learns more about his unique situation in a world that's grown blind to the real dangers of modern-day dungeon diving.

I became the childhood friend of the protagonist in a novel. The childhood friend who died from taking drugs.

A lifetime ago, Chu Xun was shackled and thrown in jail on false charges. For three whole years, he suffered extraodinary torment from his cellmates every day. Even though he had escaped death many times, he still died from his cellmates’ fists the day before he was to be released.

After death, Chu Xun transmigrated to a different world of cultivation, where cultivation was the one true path. Carrying the weight of his hatred, Chu Xun began to cultivate in hopes of becoming an Immortal Emperor, who could manipulate heaven and earth and travel through time. After painstaking cultivation of three thousand years, he succeeded. Then he sacrificed all his cultivation without hesitation and returned to the day before he was to be released.

This life, he wanted to find out the truth and the one behind his murder in last life. He would continue to cultivate and strengthen himself so that the tragedy would not repeat itself. He wanted to master his own destiny.

In this life, what people would Chu Xun encounter and what experience of love and hate would he have with them? What difficulties would he encounter and how would he overcome? The answer is the book.