Reader - Chapter 82: Delay

Chen Lun transmigrated to the year before the game’s public beta, becoming an NPC in the game world. Thus, a new version was born... Steam punk, Mysterious Objects, Church, Shelter, the pathways of the Sequences of the Seven True Gods... He placed his black top hat on his head, standing atop the ruins. Behind him stood the villain bosses from former game versions, the silent Nun Floey, Bloody Painter Noah, Swordsman Antonio, the delusional clown Alec... Chen Lun said, “Players grind monsters, I grind players, it makes perfect sense...” ... Also known as “How to Rationally Use Players as a Sustainable Resource,” “These Bosses Are Really Strong But They Are All My Underlings,” “No Way! So I Can Be A Deity, Too?!”

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”. However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of dungeons, the “World’s Weakest”. Having no skills whatsoever to display, I barely earned the required money by fighting in low-leveled dungeons… at least until I found a hidden dungeon with the hardest difficulty within the D-rank dungeons! In the end, as I was accepting death, I suddenly received a strange power, a quest log that only I could see, a secret to leveling up that only I know about! If I trained in accordance with my quests and hunted monsters, my level would rise. Changing from the weakest Hunter to the strongest S-rank Hunter!

“Only by enduring 2¹⁴ trials can one awaken the ancient power sleeping within the Key of the Star Prison, and become the most powerful being in the universe.”Timothy, the youngest Demon Lord in the history of his race, saw these words emerge after he touched the Key of the Star Prison, the most powerful artifact of the demon race, handed to him just before the old Demon Lord's death.According to the demon race's records, no Demon Lord had ever achieved this.However, over a span of a hundred thousand years, Timothy had easily passed 16,383 trials.Now, once again, he turned the Key of the Star Prison, and an unknown force mistakenly sent him to a brand new world, transforming him into an unknown and seemingly worthless demonic cultivator disciple.And the formidable opponent he was about to face in this world was the powerful Goddess Sylvia.When Goddess Sylvia received the challenge Timothy handed her, her cheeks flushed...“My dear Sylvia, I want you to know how deeply I love you. My heart belongs to you, now and forever.”

In a not-so-distant future, Earth is thrown into chaos by a weird alien ship that crashes and starts leaking spiritual energy all over the place. This energy messes with the planet’s ecosystem, making everything mutate—animals, plants, even people. It’s like nature’s gone wild, with some folks getting crazy supernatural powers while others struggle to survive against mutated creatures and power-hungry groups trying to take control.In the middle of all this craziness, Amira Hailen—a tough-as-nails ex-special forces assassin with a complicated past—gets a second shot at life. Thanks to a mysterious ally’s Mental Transference powers, she’s sent back in time, waking up with the ability to control ice. Determined to keep humanity afloat, she gathers her old crew and turns them into a reliable team amid all the chaos.Meanwhile, Aiden Emberstorm—a fiery elite operative—gets fed up with the government’s weak response to the crisis. With his own fire powers blazing, he ditches the bureaucracy and teams up with his battalion to protect innocent lives. He becomes a symbol of resistance, taking on mutated beasts and rogue factions while trying to restore some order.When Amira and Aiden cross paths, it’s not exactly love at first sight. Their icy and fiery personalities clash, but they can’t deny the need to join forces. They both want the same thing: a sanctuary where survivors can be safe. So, they decide to work together, hatching a plan to take down the alien ship before it can call in reinforcements for a full-scale invasion.Amid epic battles, unexpected alliances, and a budding romance, Amira and Aiden must face both their inner demons and the alien threat. It’s a fight for survival in a world that’s gone wild, with everything at stake—including their own hearts.