The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm - Chapter 118 - Leaving Secretly

In the midst of the blue and purple neon lights, under the gray, metallic sky, it is the frontier of all data, the aftermath of a scientific revolution, also the border of fiction and reality.

Steel versus body; the past and the future.

Here, the Outer World and the Inner World exist alongside each other. It seems like the wall of time is right in front of your eyes.

Darkness gradually swallows the world.

But listen, my friend, we cannot use kindness to survive the darkness. We need fire.

Birth rates are decreasing. Hope is vanishing. The world has gone gray.Humanity, drifting in quiet collapse, receives an email.Every person on Earth. Simultaneously.The Aegis Mandate.Disguised as a cosmic aptitude test, it triggers The Incident of Separation—a global psychic cataclysm that erases identities, wipes memories, and divides all survivors into three factions: Law, Neutral, and Chaos. Overnight, cities become battlegrounds. Apartments become dungeons. Ordinary people become monsters—or the ones who hunt them.Ragnar Vhagar was just a loner university student. Now, thanks to a system he didn’t ask for, he’s a newly minted Demon King, locked in a crumbling apartment with goblins under his sofa and a glowing soul crystal next to his frozen peas. His new job? Build a deadly domain, defend it from invading “Heroes,” and somehow level up fast enough to not die.Alongside him is Isabelle Thorne, a razor-sharp warrior of few words and one very sharp sword. Their reluctant alliance, born in blood and snark, evolves into trust—and maybe something dangerously close to affection—as they rise together through the layers of the game-like world they’re trapped in.With each conquered domain and defeated boss, Ragnar realizes the truth: the dungeons aren’t meant to crown a winner. They’re meant to break the players. The Law faction wants control. The Chaos faction craves destruction. But Ragnar? He wants something they’re all too afraid to say out loud:Freedom.In the ruins of Kanta’s ogre stronghold, Ragnar and his misfit warband take their biggest step yet—claiming a kingdom, unifying a fractured system, and preparing for what comes next. The Heroes are watching. The gods are stirring. The world is watching a war.And somewhere deep beneath it all... Ragnar is rewriting the rules.

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

The world is separated into three realms: Aegaryn, Terranis, and Abyssion.Terranis and Abyssion realms have been in disharmony as the Demon King of Abyssion aims to overthrow all the other realms. In the tackling of this and to help the humans of Terranis defend themselves from the demons,A street orphan becomes a sacrifice in a summoning ritual for an S-rank beast. But he is given a golden opportunity of a lifetime as he is transmigrated into a hyena. Guided by a mysterious system that helps him unlock his boundless potential, he evolves with each rank upgrade, a feat no one of his kind has ever known. His journey is one of transformation, both in form and spirit. Each evolution brings new powers and challenges as he is summoned into deadly wars, cruel betrayals, and battles that threaten the very balance of the realms.Along his journey, he meets a summoner whose kindness and ideals are a stark contrast to all the summoners that he had met previously. Unlike the others, she treated him differently. Gave him a name. Through her, he begins to question his path, torn between his primal instincts and the flickering remnants of his humanity.But as the Demon God stirs in the shadows, threatening to collapse the realms into chaos, he must rise to face his ultimate destiny. To protect those who matter, to shatter the chains of servitude, and to ascend to the pinnacle of power—Ash must embrace his boundless evolution and become a force unlike any the realms have ever seen.