Stagnant Water of Apocalypse - Chapter 164: The Flocking Survivors (8)

This is the story of a crazy lich who possesses an internal game system and brings catastrophe to the entire world.

“Let’s look at the daily quests today… it’s the damned choose one-of-two-options-type again. Destroy a town with a population of 30,000 people or above; reward: 10,000 evil points. Steal lollipops from 3 children; reward: 1 evil point. If neither of the quests is completed, then 2 points will be deducted.”

“Tsk! You think I’m stupid? If I really destroyed a town, a crusade of Epic-ranked Holy Knights would definitely come hunting me down. Even if I earned the points, there wouldn’t be any life left in me to spend them. I better just go be a kindly lollipop bandit.”

I’ve already had enough of being a notorious lich. Who says that a lich can’t be a good person? I’m definitely going to beat this damned system and be an upright and dignified good man.

- Description from novelupdates

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

The readers of this harsh world had no interest in the villain’s story. But why didn’t they know? It was also the era of random possession meta.

Pablo Castillo was the worst, the evilest, the biggest criminal in the whole world. He was the ominous figure known as Criminal X.It’s a name that sends shivers down the spines of those who utter it. His past, a mysterious enigma, shrouded in darkness, only adds to the legend of the world’s most notorious criminal.However, Pablo’s reign of heinous crimes comes to an abrupt end when a specially trained military force, an elite group made especially to capture Pablo, finally apprehended him.The capture of Criminal X sent shockwaves around nations, for this man had defied all laws and moral boundaries. The world watched as he was brought to the highest court to face the consequences of a lifetime of malevolence.The International Court of Justice, in a bid to administer justice that matches the magnitude of his crimes, bestowed upon him the most excruciating execution ever conceived.The world erupted in celebration as news of his demise spread like wildfire. An international holiday was declared, a day of liberation from the tyranny of Pablo Castillo. The day was named with triumphant fervor. They all called it—World Independence Day.Pablo Castillo was a man so evil that even the kindest of Gods couldn’t find pity for him.But… Some Gods needed that man. That too, Desperately.