Rise of the Alchemy God - Chapter 22: Bruise on the Forehead

“Mana to breathe, mana to eat, mana to fucking live,”Inhale: -0.001 MP… oops! You're out of mana points.(Pay-to-breathe RPG.)Humanity's last walled stronghold._____In the world Elio lives, every gasp of air comes at a price.A floating indestructible book for every human, a magical system that turns survival into a pay-to-breathe RPG.Here, poverty isn't just being broke, it's choking.Surrounded by barren land and a sea of monsters on top of it (No water, just literal monsters), each day is a suffocating dance of survival, a balancing act between mana for air and mana for food.In this economy, holding your breath isn't just a game, it's a retirement plan.Driven by desperation (and the city's miserly rulers that don’t cut anyone a break), Elio dives into the Book System’s trials to save his family.Along the way, he unlocks powers he didn’t ask for and starts to figure out... Who he really is.Immerse yourself in an adventure where one young man's stubborn refusal to become a statistic could spark a revolution. Who knew being a pain in the system's rear could change the world?Because in Elio's world, breathing is just the beginning of the revolution and... he's gasping for change.But hey, who said saving the world had to be all doom and gloom? Join Elio as he kicks monster butt, uncovers ancient secrets, and maybe, just maybe, figures out how to grow a tree or two along the way.__________Warning:May contain traces of world domination, an unhealthy obsession with the periodic table, damage points, progression math, and yes, even a sprinkle of that old “power of friendship” magic. Because sometimes, you need a buddy to help you remember which element does what or even help you calculate those sweet, sweet stats.A quick heads-up:Despite what the cover might suggest, this isn’t a hack-and-slash adventure. Think more along the lines of a turn-based RPG, where strategy and choices matter as much as action. Get ready for a different kind of challenge!If you want to know more about the cover:Yep, that's our first FL crying and crossing the transparent barrier straight into a pixelated, indistinguishable sea of monsters. Because why not mix emotions with chaos? She's crazy like that! (Not really... or is she?)Discord to check the visuals: https://discord.gg/W3CjfC2cw4I’m still working on it in the little moments I find between writing, editing, making more character images, etc.Little by little, we’ll have a Poked... uh, a full SummonDex! Meanwhile, you can check out the ones on Fandom with their... funny descriptions? Or at least I hope so... orzWarning 2 (Privilege 4 and 5):I just wanted to stick to the novel’s level system, so I had to add those '0s'!!! Don’t be an elephant... unless you’re an enormous one... A whale! Seriously, nooooo!You’re going to make me die from the pressure, and I’ll feel terrible!! It’s just one chapter!!! You can wait... But if you’re dirty rich and really, Really, REALLY want to support, well... okay, though I’ll still feel bad!!! orz

Xiao Feng, the protagonist of the story was an ace at online games. By accident, he knew a game called Mystery which can reduce human’s energy consumption and improve the space-allocation on the earth. In this game, he hit monsters, increased his levels and met a lot of friends. However, at the same time, he was inevitably drawn into the struggle within and outside the labor union. What should he do? And what difficulties would he face? The following are his inner monologues.

I was killed in the game and asked him/her to fight offline only to find that she was a girl. What should I do?

I wanted to be a support and carry my team-mates only to find that all of them were newbies, what should I do?

Please don’t court death and let me kill the boss with the hammer!

To conclude, this story is about a support who would have liked to carry all his team-mates. However, after realizing that support could not save the world, he resolutely picked up the hammer and killed the boss in the game.

Xia Wei transmigrated as the prettiest woman in a book, but she was merely the evil cannon-fodder female supporting character. This was a novel about showbiz. In the novel, Xia Wei was the female lead's best friend. Due to Xia We's beauty, the female lead had always been secretly envious of her, but Xia Wei also kept her guard up against the female lead.Although she knew she was pretty, any man who came into contact with the female lead would eventually fall in love with her instead. Hence, Xia Wei began to keep her distance from the female lead. After that, she capitalized on her looks to get into showbiz. She also started a relationship with her boss.Just as she thought she'd finally moved away from the female lead's shadow, she suddenly discovered that the female lead had also become an artist at her boyfriend's company. Moreover, the female lead had a romantic relationship with her boyfriend.Xia Wei was triggered and began to go against the female lead. She wanted the female lead to know her place and back off by leaving the company and her boyfriend. However, not only did Xia Wei fail, but her boyfriend also dumped her, and her reputation in showbiz plummeted. Xia Wei finally panicked. She went on a dating show with her ex-boyfriend and the female lead to salvage their relationship and her own reputation.However, several male participants on the show were Xia Wei's ex-boyfriends. They all befriended Xia Wei's ex-boyfriend, who had just dumped her, and the female lead. The only guy remaining was a bigshot actor with countless resources but was deemed cold and unapproachable in showbiz.Xia Wei, who transmigrated into the novel, knew he was way out of her league. Hence, she began to do as she pleased on the show. She waited for the male and female lead to hold each other's hands so that the show would end and she could retire from showbiz.However, to her surprise, the storyline went in a different direction. The other male participants all came to confess their feelings for her. Unfortunately for them, Xia Wei wasn't interested in any of them.Later, the actor, who was way out of her league, posted a photo of them on his social media account. “I'm yours, @XiaWei.”Xia Wei responded with her own post. “Please maintain your image as a cold and unapproachable person!”

[The End of Full Text]“From just now, you've been looking at me with such malicious intent. Are you perhaps reminiscing about...the old dream of the night before last?” Liang Chen forcefully pulled Jing Haohao into the washroom.“I told you, what happened a few days ago was an accident. I'm not the kind of woman you can just casually touch!” Jing Haohao shook off the hand he had grasped onto her wrist, turned to leave, but was abruptly caught by Liang Chen. He lowered his head to her ear, a mischievous smile on his lips, cryptically saying: “Don't worry, if I can't casually touch, then I'll be serious when I do!”