Ace of the Bench - Chapter 14: Visualization Drill

When Lu Huang woke up as Lidia—the villainess of a cringe-worthy romance novel—she was determined not to let the story play out like the dumpster fire it was written to be. Nope. Dying at the hands of the Alpha King after being falsely accused, publicly humiliated, and manipulated into madness? Yeah, that’s not on her to-do list.Armed with a sharp tongue that could flay egos, the street smarts of a broke college grad, and the petty audacity of someone with nothing left to lose, Lidia decides she was ripping up the script. Holier-than-thou saintesses? Screw ’em. Self-righteous alphas? They can eat dirt. If this world insists on casting her as the villain, she’s going to own it—on her terms.One chaotic scheme at a time, Lidia’s ready to rewrite her fate—and if she has to break a few rules (and maybe some noses) to do it, so be it. Villainesses don’t play nice, and Lidia is just getting started.

Talent.As a demon born into a prestigious family like the Tenebris, Cale lacked nothing, except talent.Talent, to surpass his twin sister, who was better than him in every way.Talent to earn the approval of their mother, the cold and ruthless Matriarch.It wasn’t mere rivalry; his very life depended on it.But, no matter how hard he trained or how low he stooped, using forbidden methods to grow stronger, he never succeeded. He couldn’t awaken his bloodline, nor defeat his sister in a single duel.“Just give up already. You’re only making it more painful for yourself,” she would say every time.He was pathetic, and he knew it.But giving up on life was never an option.“One more time... I’ll try it one more time.” That was how he always responded to her scorn.Was it ego? Or a desperate desire to prove everyone who waited eagerly for his downfall wrong?Cale didn’t know. But he always stood up again.No matter what they said, he refused to surrender.Not to his mother.Not to the world.Not even to his sister.If the world stood against him, then he would crush the world.-------------------------“Wow. That’s an incredible backstory for a villain.”I flipped through the worn pages of an old book, my only functional eye open wide.“But where did this come from? It wasn’t here before.”I’d read this romance fantasy novel back in my childhood, and as far as I remembered, Cale Tenebris never had a backstory.“Did I grab the wrong book?” I tilted the cover to check the title.[Curse of the Crown]It was the same one.“Did I skip this chapter before?... Whatever.” I shrugged, turning the page again as I slowly lost consciousness.And then I died.

The age of darkness has arrived.

Ren thought getting sacrificed and becoming a holy spirit was rock bottom—until he discovered his divine wife, the Goddess of Magic, is completely broke on faith power. That means his remaining soul would completely disappear.Turns out magicians are the worst believers ever!Ren has a crazy idea: if magicians won't pray willingly, make them pray to access the internet.Starting with a simple magic forum, Ren introduces this fantasy world to the addictive power of online connectivity. Want Q&A sessions on spell theory? Pray first. Need to livestream your dragon research? That'll be one prayer, please. E-commerce shopping for rare magical components? Prayer required for checkout.The moment Ren becomes the God of Technology, this world's whole vibe goes haywire.What begins as a desperate faith-farming scheme spirals into something far bigger. Soon dragons are running delivery services, apprentices are binge-watching magical tutorials, and even gods are competing for subscriber counts. Magic cars cruise the streets, magic trains thunder across continents, and when apprentices start wielding magic ray guns against seasoned magicians, everyone realizes this world has changed forever.From a simple forum to consciousness uploading and biological immortality—when technology crashes into magic, the explosion reshapes reality itself.After all, why choose between science and magic when you can have both?