The Alpha King's Witch Bride - Chapter 148: _Shatter All Reassurance

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.

Living in this apocalyptic world full of zombies and monsters, the rich rely on technology and the poor rely on mutation.

Shen Shanwu, 13 years old in appearance but 31 years old in reality, is a mutant that can alter his own appearance. Although he looks like a child on the outside, his wisdom is not very good. One day, he was just passing by when he was suddenly forcibly adopted by a major general, whom he didn’t know where he came from.

He resisted, but when he looked up, it turned out to be an old acquaintance.

The little boy, who could only hide behind him and cry, transformed into the unsmiling, cold, and tough man in front of him. And that expression of seeing a dead beloved is really unsightly…

Shen Shanwu: Can you smile?

Jing Huan: After Shanwu died, I couldn’t smile anymore.

Shen Shanwu: …Who? Who do you think is dead?

It took a long time before he found out about it. He found Jiang Huan crying and holding Shen Shanwu’s nameplate in the middle of the night and told his adopted son how good Shen Shanwu was… All of this…was seen by Shen Shanwu himself!

Jiang Huan (raising his gun): Since you have seen my embarrassing side, then I can only marry you or kill you.

Shen Shanwu: …

Shen Shanwu: Marry, marry, marry! I will recruit 800 zombies to carry you home!

- Description from Novelupdates

“That monster’s prefix is two hundred meters long?!”“It’s back. Who can stop it?”Isaac never planned for Celestia: The Eternal Realms to change his life. The game promised 100% immersion, a completely realistic world powered by quantum brainwave interfaces. But the moment he entered the game, Isaac was thrown into an entirely new world, no longer the player, but the played. His character, a “Lesser Hyena-Wolf,” came with the dreaded “Weak” prefix, reducing his stats by 20%.Isaac quickly realized that this wasn’t a game he could simply log out of. It was his new life, and there was no escape. To survive, he had to evolve, to fight, and ultimately, to conquer. He knew the game inside and out, but this wasn’t the same reality he’d logged into. This time, he would have to become the monster, instead of fearing it.Every step he took, Isaac grew stronger. He realized that monsters weren’t bound by the same rules that governed the players. He could evolve, gaining new powers and unlocking Monster Reputation. With every kill, every victory, he unlocked a new level of power. The prefixes that marked his growth—Normal, Strong, Especially Strong—were a testament to his evolution. And the players began to whisper.

Mathew survived the entire two weeks of the apocalypse. A great score for someone blessed with brains over the brawn. Yet, even he fell after just fourteen days, giving his all to save the one person he cared for.

But why does a death looks like watching himself from the third person perspective? Is this the purgatory to watch over his own shoulders at the mistakes he made? A punishment for Mathew's sins to repeat those mistakes over and over again?

But wait, what are the three clocks in the corner of his vision, one of which only five minutes away from ticking out?