Shadow's Hand - Chapter 5: Velgrave Livery & Transport Co.

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.

Marcus Manfred dreamed of joining the United States Army. That dream ended the day an accident took his life.But he woke up and met a Goddess who told him that he can be reincarnated with a weapon system. He accepted it and was reincarnated in another world.The Military Weapon System, grants him access to modern weapons and equipment. Rifles. Tanks. Fighter jets. Even warships. But everything has a price.To grow stronger, Marcus must take on requests from towns, nobles, and kingdoms: clear monster nests, hunt demons, repel invasions. Each completed quest earns him funds to expand his arsenal.But this world is not Earth.Magic bends the rules. Dragons rule the skies. Demon armies march in the dark. And medieval kingdoms do not take kindly to a man building a private army beyond their control.In a world of swords and magics, can Marcus survive using his modern weapon cheats? Or will magic crush modern firepower?

#######[The Cold and Deaf Beauty VS The Paranoid and Flippant Rogue]The First Time: He said the experience was too poor and boring. I don’t want to come back for a second time.The Second Time: He looked at her as if he wanted to swallow her whole.Natalie Kendall: Wasn’t it boring?Natalie Kendall knew Isaac Vaughn was not a good person, but she was still deceived by him in both body and heart.Isaac Vaughn thought this little deaf girl, Natalie Kendall, was really easy to fool. The love he casually spoke of, she believed it to be true.Finally, one day, Isaac Vaughn went too far.Natalie Kendall: “Shall we break up?”Isaac Vaughn: “Why don’t I just die.”Later, the event of Second Young Master Vaughn eloping with his own little uncle's fiancée became the biggest scandal in the circle.Isaac Vaughn always took advantage of Natalie Kendall’s inability to hear.At first, she couldn’t hear his lies, and later, she couldn’t hear his love.