Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story - Chapter 352: First Night Back

“Ahhhh why meeee?! I didn’t do anything, just played this shitty game, fuck, fuck fuck fuck!”[System: Your heart rate—]“Shut up! Millions of people played this shit and you choose me?! A fucking town girl who didn’t even stepped in a city in her life?! To be a fucking Empress?!”[System: You have fit the description][Woman, with no family. A woman who played at least 500 hours. A woman who reached max level. A woman who completed the final achievement. A woman who is in her late 20s.][Out of 43,456 candidates you were the one who got picked on a random roll. Be happy.]“Happy?! Happy that you have destroyed my life?! I bought my first house working twelve hour shifts every single fucking day and suddenly a black hole fucking vacuumed me in and I wake up in this terrible dress in a palace!”[System: Correct.]Indeed, the System was correct and even her, as she was in the grand palace of the Klimantina Empire, the exact same empire that she ruled… in the game at least.An empire that put her in the 17th century, the well known Rococo era… with a difference that it wasn’t based on a total fictional world, a total fictional country and its people and history.A game where the Empress took the throne after her family perished in a fire. In doing so, she not only assumed power but also entered a dangerous internal struggle, as her own people sought to overthrow her and claim the throne for themselves

“The masterminds are cooler than heroes,” I mutter as I stare at the chess pieces before me. It is easier to be the one who sits in the shadows and moves the pieces, likewise deciding the flow of the game.Heroes will foolishly sacrifice their lives for the good cause and villains will sacrifice the world for their own gain, but masterminds will use both the heroes and villains to their own benefit.Why, you ask? Well, that's because I've lost my life once while trying to be a hero so, I don't want that anymore. I'd rather be a mastermind who molds the world as per my convenience and live peacefully. Because, why not?***[Defender of Divine Glory says you are the hope of this world.]What?[Goddess of Wisdom believes that you will be the one to save the world.]Wait, what?![Propose the Grand Duke the idea of a fake marriage.]And, why would I do that?![Stop the assassination of Prince Eric.]Why would I save him?![The candidates for the throne are:... Who will you choose?]Ah! I give up...It seems like a curse that anyone who wishes for a slacker life in Isekai will have to go through the most troublesome things.In my past life, I died because of one rookie mistake but after being transmigrated in the world of fantasy I've gotten an opportunity to start afresh, but unlike the protagonists who look for their love and glory, I'd rather make money and live a life of a slacker.I have magic, I have power and I have money, what else do I need?Well, that was the plan but this damn system is getting on my nerves. I mean who in their sane mind would want to mess with the complicated royal family and political affairs? But that's not all though.I've also become the saviour of this world. Things just can't be anymore worse!Besides, the penalty of failing this quest is...[Failure: Destruction of the World.]It seems like if I screw up in selecting the right person then the destruction that is going to befall the world won't be stopped.If I speak of my reward then it's this vague thing.[Reward: Fulfillment of any wish.]“If that's the case then, I'd rather choose the person who would be the best fit for the throne.”And that's how I decided that I would become the Kingmaker.

❗[Current Writing Contest-WebNovel Spirity Awards 2025 Fantas]❗Flain grew up in a futuristic world. When he was born his parents didn't want him because he didn't live up to their expectations and so he ended up very badly.Flain was employed as a slave. He was forced to mine radioactive iron deep in the mines. It was drilled into his head that he existed only to obey orders.Young Flain was obedient. He doubted some of it but knew nothing else. For years, he never saw a single ray of light; light was only spoken of among the others as a legend.The routine was the same: in the morning, he would take a nutrient tablet and water. Then he would mine all day, sleep eight hours, and repeat.Flain worked like this from childhood until he was ten years old. He even found a friend, but that friend died of radiation poisoning right in front of Flain. Flain couldn't stop mining. He kept mining with tears streaming down his face.Before bed, Flain cried. “I will become the strongest. I will kill you all, and you will become my slaves.”Flain stopped crying, stared blankly at the rocky ceiling, then looked ahead. A manic grin appeared on his face, one that would often adorn it from that moment on.At the age of ten, Flain was assigned to a military camp due to his endurance in the mines and his survival against radiation.In the camp, Flain was trained. The regime was much looser; he even had an hour of free time each day. However, Flain didn't make any more friends. Even during his free time, he trained with a smile. He would achieve his goal at any cost, even if it meant training himself to death.Experiments were conducted on Flain. He lost his hair, two long gray arms grew on his back, and a third red eye appeared. Flain became a mutant.Flain was then sent to war. He fought with sharp katabas. He performed quite well in the war, earning himself command of ten soldiers and becoming a small commander.But one day, everything changed.Flain then dies, is swallowed by darkness, and Flain refuses to die, thus appearing as a skeleton in a fantasy world.

He was The Greatest Talent in the Nine Hells Realm.

Shen Zhenyi began to practice his sword when he was four years and two months old.

At the age of seven, he studied the Ten Thousand Sword Sutra. By the age of eleven, he fought against the Yudao in Shangqing Palace. In an instant, he unleashed one hundred and eighty-five sword strikes, making it impossible for anyone to retaliate. The Yudao admitted defeat and deemed him as “The Peerless Genius.”

At the age of 14, Shen Zhenyi, with his Six Forms of the Ancient Sword, surpassed the swordsman Zuo Tianxing who was ranked among the top ten masters in the world, and won the title of “The First Swordsman of the Abyss.”

He now lies crippled. A fraction of the state he was in before. Or so they thought.

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