The Genius System - Chapter 17: Power Plays

Humanity was on the brink of destruction. Muyoung, an assassin from the Forest of Death, fell to his knees. There were corpses all around him. For years, he had worked for the Forest of Death and had finally been able to eradicate them. Now, he, himself, was about to die. He closed his eyes as he felt his heart stop beating.

Melanie Collins was the perfect wife—caring, strong, and dependable. For the last few years, she had managed her husband’s messy family, and business alone while waiting for her husband to return from studying abroad. But when he finally came back, Melanie’s world fell apart—he wasn’t alone. Along with him was his 'best' friend.Broken and confused about the change in her husband, Melanie didn’t know where to turn. And then she stumbled into another cold reality. Everything she had believed was a lie.Seething with anger and humiliation, as she tried to come to terms with the betrayal, an unexpected person steps into the picture, intent on seducing her and conquering her.The only problem? The man was her ex brother in law...And against her better judgment, she is attracted to this bad boy...But as Melanie tried to make sense of the changes, she discovered there was more going on than she ever imagined. Had both brothers loved really fallen in love with her? Or was she just a pawn in a bigger game?excerptSince he had already been leaning against the table, he simply slid onto it, and with one swift motion, he hooked his boot around the leg of her chair and pulled it—pulled her—closer.The sudden movement made her jolt slightly, and when she looked up or rather when she looked ahead, she found herself staring directly at the zipper of his jeans... She looked up then and met his gaze.He caught her chin,“ Would you like to check if I am only pretending, sweet melon?”Melanie stiffened. And then pushed back her chair suddenly, so that Adam almost lost his balance, as she stood up.Before he could balance himself, she placed her hand on his shoulder, her fingers brushing against his neck. Adam stiffened, his eyes glittering as he waited to see what she would do next. And she, of course surprised him as her other hand, slowly settled on the inside of his thigh. And then, the hand on his shoulder started to move. Her fingers tracing the side of his neck before lifting as she shot a glance to the corner of his mouth. The little piece of metal glinting there. She flicked at it lightly, barely a touch, but Adam could feel the heat all over his body, as she leaned in close, her lips barely a few centimetres away...so that they could both feel each other's breaths…She smiled slowly then. “Careful, Adam,” she murmured, her voice playful, but carrying the unmistakable edge of a challenge. “Keep pushing, and I just might call your bluff.”

Mimizuku, a small girl with chains on her wrists and ankles and the numbers “332” branded onto her forehead, wanders into the Forest of Night seeking to be eaten by a monster. However, when the ruler of the monsters, the mysterious and beautiful “King of Night,” refuses to eat her, she tries to formulate a way to convince him otherwise.

Severin Reignhart was just an ordinary gamer—until a truck accident sent him into the world of Legacy of Heroes, a novel he had once read.But instead of becoming the protagonist or even a powerful villain, he finds himself reborn as a complete nobody. An extra with no screen time, no future, and worst of all… no real strength.His so-called Talent Ability—Command—doesn’t make him stronger. Instead, it grants a 300% boost to the abilities of those who are bound to him and follow his orders. A powerful buff, but utterly useless when he is weaker than even the lowest-ranked students at Zenith Hero Academy.Thrown into a world where strength is the only law, Severin quickly learns that if he can’t fight, he’ll be crushed. Refusing to accept the fate of an extra, he turns to manipulation, deception, and blackmail, using his intelligence to twist the battlefield in his favor. If he can’t be the strongest, he’ll control the strongest.With the looming threat of world-ending catastrophes and prodigious heroes destined to take center stage, Severin must navigate the deadly hierarchy of the academy. He will recruit, betray, and outwit both heroes and villains—because in a world where power is everything, strategy is his only weapon.And one thing is certain: he refuses to die a nameless extra.