Shadow Being System - Chapter 116 - 15

In the Canglan Continent, there existed a rule: only those who managed to awaken a Martial Spirit were able to pursue the path of cultivation, and a Martial Spirit’s rank was determined when it was awakened. Born in Linshui City, Qin Nan was a peerless genius who possessed great talents and was highly anticipated to become a great cultivator in the future. However, things changed when he ended up awakening the lowest-grade Martial Spirit, resulting in him being considered trash.

[Mature Content] Divorced and in debt, Elena decides to become the contract wife of three rich and famous men. A fair exchange begins between a woman disillusioned about love and men with their own demands and desires. But when they demand for more than her body, she discovers many dark truths as the past slowly catches up to her.

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.

Read the first six chapters, and you won’t be able to stop.Elliot Crown was just an ordinary teenager......boring life, average grades, nothing special. But one day, he unlocked a terrifying ability: he could hear people’s thoughts… but only if he knew their name and age first.At first, he treated it as a game, exploiting secrets, manipulating people, and bending reality to his will.But then, the nightmare began.One night, he fell asleep in his world—only to wake up in another. No explanation. No way back. Just an unfamiliar world filled with danger.He tried using his ability, desperate for answers.And then… he died.But that wasn’t the end.He woke up again........in a different world. New body. New identity. Same fate.Over and over, the cycle continued. Sometimes a prince, sometimes a slave, a soldier, a sorcerer, a demon… but every time, he met the same cruel fate.Yet Elliot didn’t care. As long as he had his power, he would manipulate, deceive, and twist the world to his will. If the universe wanted to play games with him… then he would play to win.