This is really not mechanical ascension - Chapter 18 - No Wonder the Killer Likes to Return to the Crime Scene

Michael didn't want to die. He didn't deserve to die. After a lost battle with cancer that started only a year after he retired, he'd lived what many people would call a full life, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more time. Time with his wife. Time with his kids. Time with his grandkids. When he found himself drawn toward the light, he fought his way away from it. Unfortunately, that didn't take him back to the life he wanted to live. Reincarnated in another world, Michael is forced to be a Penitent, a soldier in the country he was reborn into in order to pay a debt to society he owes for taking the life of the child whose body he inhabits. It's not the life he wants, but it's the only one he has.An Isekai with light litrpg elementsMC will gain powers similar to those of a paladinBook 1 spends a lot of time in a military academy. MC does not stay a child for very long.Story will be a slower pace than my others.MC may not be to everyone's taste. He feels guilt for his actions that may seem unreasonable and is very human. He will grow, but it will take time.

In this world, mastering runes is the key to becoming a cultivator. The ability to control these runes depends on the development of one’s Brain Domain. The more advanced the Brain Domain, the quicker and more precise the rune control, determining one’s potential as a cultivator.He was a boy from the slums with slim chances of rising above his station. Despite knowing his limitations, he worked tirelessly, driven by his dream and gratitude towards a childhood friend who helped him secure a spot in a prestigious high school. However, with a less developed Brain Domain, his prospects for further education and becoming a cultivator were bleak. His hard work seemed in vain when, six months before the crucial entrance exam, the girl he cherished rejected him, claiming their worlds were too different for their paths to cross again.But then, everything changed when he found himself engulfed in a mysterious ocean of golden runes!

Theatrical regression life of an old-fashioned villain (kkondae) who recalled his past life.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for a better life.”

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Survival in the ‘Otherworld’; a place where only the insane can set foot in.

“It’s true… So why does no one believe me?”Sometimes, I play small pranks, but they’re really just small ones.I’m not the mastermind at all.