Cronus' system: Against the gods - Chapter 12: Descent into Tartarus

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.

Meet Alex Knight, a hardworking young man burdened by crushing debt and a bleak future. When his new boss turns his life into a waking nightmare, Alex finds himself trapped in a job he can't escape, his future held hostage by the whims of a tyrant.Just when he believes he has one anchor left—his girlfriend's love—a devastating betrayal leaves him utterly broken.But then the world changes. The system descends, dragging everyone into a chaotic new reality. Alex becomes the first to sync with it, earning a mysterious title:[Apocalypse Baby][You have awakened the skill: Exploding Touch][Anything you touch turns into a bomb.]Armed with a deadly gift, Alex rises from the ashes of his former life to become an unstoppable force in an urban fantasy world where power rules and vengeance drives him forward.

Everything has to be studied to understand its meaning.

The traveler Chiba Shiroishi picked up a book called “The Will of Fire”.

When I opened it, the things on it had no nourishment, and the history of Konoha Village had no age, but the words ‘Will of Fire’ were written on every slanted page.

Shiraishi couldn’t sleep, so he took out the book “The Will of Fire” and read it carefully in the middle of the night, only to see the words in the cracks. The whole book was written with two words – pyramid selling!

Shiraishi felt hesitant and fearful for a while, and he decided that sooner or later, he must escape from this MLM brainwashing organization called Konoha!

(PS: Anime, Doujin, Naruto, Slow Heat, Not Brainless, Pseudo-Invincible)

- Description from novelbuddy

A Few Words : All the love that is not worth the applause is rogue and unrestrained.

Shen Qi : If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Gong : Papapa!!!

- Description from Novelupdates