Chronicle of the Eternal Nexus - Chapter 5: The Echoes of the Past

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

I am the sword.

Killing a man amidst a thousand miles, no one dares take ten steps.
Killing a man amidst a thousand miles, no one can take ten steps.
Killing a man amidst a thousand miles, ten steps? Not possible!

I am the sword, the sword is me,
On the path towards heaven, each shall wield their own.

- Description from Novelupdates

He was only an ordinary Chinese youth. Because of the strong refusal of his soul, he unexpectedly arrived in this strange world. He ardently loved peace; yet, he had no choice but to become a Demon God. If cultivating to the peak could lose person’s human nature, then all living creatures will weep with grief, waiting to be slaughtered. Can he still remain calm after this? In the vast wilderness, a handsome youth carrying the wisdom of “Daodejing”, step by step would rise to prominence in this world. Condensing and cultivating his bloodline to the supreme. Controlling and commanding the rivers. Swallowing and spitting the sun…

Tl: 1.Daodejing also mean as “The classic of the virtue of the tao” was a book of dao by Lao tzu, a sacred text of Daoism.

- Description from Novelupdates

Ghost stories descend, binding national fate.People enhance themselves and their nation's luck by constantly participating in Analog Horror.Mental patient Jiang Xiao is initially selected to enter a nine-star level mental hospital Analog Horror!However, he bizarrely finds out that he seems to be the most seriously ill one...Jiang Xiao: “I sign a pact with the ghost stories, the weirdness is my grandson!”Participating in the seven-star level Analog Horror “Where Did Daddy Die”.A peachy-cheeked son with big eyes blinking asks: “Do you want to be my daddy?”The chosen one: “Yes!”Son: “Then I have a tiny request, which is to beat you to death!”One chosen daddy after another is smashed into pulp by the son right from the start.Facing the rebellious son charging forward, Jiang Xiao smiles coldly: “Dad, I'm actually your son!”