Picking Up a Gorgeous CEO for a Wife - Chapter 9 - 00: Feigning Retreat to Trap the Enemy

An AI calling itself Schema has assimilated earth into its system. As a consequence, everyone gained access to status screens, power-ups, and skills. This AI turned these concepts from fiction to fact. It's easy to become intoxicated with leveling up and becoming stronger. To some, it's too good to be true like living out a dream.

For Daniel, however, it's closer to a nightmare.

He's in a bit of a predicament. Cracks in our dimensional fabric have unleashed terrifying beasts from dark, abyssal places. Schema organizes these cracks into dungeons, giving the native species of the planet a chance to fight back. Daniel finds himself trapped in one of these dungeons. Not long after, he discovers there's only one way out.

Eli Turner had perfected the art of coasting through life, gaming, lounging, and vibing with no grand ambitions beyond the next high. But his laid-back existence is upended when his laptop inexplicably transforms into a gateway to another world. What starts as a surreal escape becomes a perilous journey as Eli finds himself wielding a mysterious system that allows him to level up, fight monsters, and gain abilities beyond his wildest dreams.At first, the portal world feels like a haven, offering purpose and adventure Eli never knew he craved. Guided, or manipulated, by Azrael, a mischievous god orchestrating the game, Eli rises as one of the system's chosen players. But as the quests grow more dangerous and Azrael’s true intentions begin to surface, Eli struggles to balance the fantasy world with his life back home. His girlfriend, Sara, and his friends are left grappling with a version of Eli they hardly recognize, as the lines between his two lives blur.When the system expands to players worldwide, Eli crosses paths with others drawn into Azrael’s cosmic experiment: Yumi Tanaka, a fiercely disciplined Japanese student with a perfectionist streak, and Arjun Mehta, a charming Indian playboy with secrets of his own. Each carries their own burdens and ambitions, but all three must face the harsh truth: Azrael’s game is far more than it seems.As alliances are forged, rivalries ignite, and the stakes escalate, Eli must confront not only the dangers of the portal world but the growing rift between the person he is and the hero he’s becoming. In a game where every move is a test and every choice ripples across both worlds, the question remains: can Eli, Yumi, and Arjun uncover the truth before the system consumes them all?

Edmund Oakforest is expelled from his family after having a relationship with the king's daughter, who was already engaged to the navy commander. To avoid his execution, he is exiled to the unknown with 10 ships and 100 elite soldiers from the oakforest family, with other workers included. After days of travel, he finds himself in an unknown archipelago. Follow Edmund on his great explorations and the rise of a new empire.

In this world, there exist Confucians, Daoists, Buddhists, Demons, and Arcanists.Xu Qi’an, a police academy graduate, suddenly finds himself waking up in a prison, set to be exiled to the frontier three days later…His initial goal was to protect himself in this world with no human rights and to be able to live a leisurely life as a rich man.…Many years later, Xu Qi’an looks back on the past, with long-dead enemies and friends, as well as the numerous bones he has left behind.As the Yangtze River flows eastward, the waves wash away the heroes; right and wrong, success or failure will all turn into nothing but history.However, just like the sun’s rays gleaming over the towering mountains, after each sunset, a new sun will rise.