The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR) - Vol 1 Chapter 53: Contact (4)

I never expected my life to change so drastically. One moment, I was a woman with dreams, deeply in love with a man I thought I’d spend my life with. The next, I was betrayed and heartbroken, walking in on him cheating without a hint of remorse.That night, overwhelmed with pain and too much alcohol, I made a reckless decision, a one-night stand with a stranger who, to my shock, turned out to be my new boss.Arec, the vice president of Denco Groups, was desperate. To secure his future as CEO, he needed a wife, and in a twist of fate, he offered me a contract marriage. It sounded absurd, but his desperation mirrored my own need to escape the wreckage of my life.It was supposed to be simple: no emotions, no strings attached. A business arrangement, nothing more. I thought I could handle it, that I could keep my heart out of it.I was wrong.What started as a deal quickly spiraled into something far more complicated. As our fake marriage blurred into real feelings, the world around us began to close in. Disapproving family, old enemies, buried secrets, scheming rivals, and even an attempt on my life threatened to tear us apart.This is my story, a journey of heartbreak, unexpected love, and a fight to protect what we built together. In a world filled with lies and deceit, can a marriage born out of necessity become something real?---

In his past life, he climbed to the 69th floor, and reached the limit of his potential.

Now, reborn, he has returned to the past, when the almighty Tower first summoned him. He will work his way up again, step by careful step.

This time, he will climb to the top.

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In the year 2090, technology has advanced to the point where Simulation Boxes, (Sim Box for short) are common place, allowing for the user to link up their brain's neural network to a full dive Simulation. While initially used for educational purposes, recently a large gaming company, Averon, released a fully fledged immersive MMORPG simulation where users can become anyone they desire, level up, choose their class, and become a hero or a villain. The name of this simulation is The Shattered World Online.

Eli Winters had no interest in playing it. His father, a jobless bum who spent his entire life playing games in the hope of becoming a famous player or streamer, was able to use the release of The Shattered World Online to gain wealth and fame, quickly becoming the number one player and a household name as the game took the world by storm. He immediately abandoned Eli and his mother in favor of being with someone from his guild, despite his mother having worked two jobs to support them and raise Eli by herself. Eli had nothing but spite for his father and the game.

When Eli's best friend convinces him to try out the game, his father's fame begins to interfere, culminating in him being singled out and shunned by his peers, and his father offering to pay for his university tuition in return for Eli hiding their relationship and quitting the game. Instead of complying with his father's wishes, Eli decides to prove to everyone how useless a guy his father is by challenging him that if Eli is able to surpass him in the game world he must delete his account and quit his streaming career. His father accepts the challenge believing his son to be useless at games - but Eli will soon show him just how ambitious a spiteful person can be.

It is an age where monsters walk the earth and animals mutated by an extraterrestrial microorganism from Mars. Humanity is decimated and retreats to its last few cities, clinging on to survival. However, in the greatest moments of despair, there is hope. The Warriors, an elite group of humans who have defeated the monsters and gained powers that bring their abilities beyond that of humanity, stand in defence of the species. Yang Tian is a young man with dreams of becoming the greatest Warrior.

After suffering a setback in his dreams, he found a dragon egg that belonged to his grandfather. Amazingly, the egg hatches, and Yang Tian is suddenly granted the power of a pet dragon! However, the world is cruel and dangerous, and Yang Tian must overcome not only the threat of monsters, but also of other Warriors who want to see him fail. Can Yang Tian and his pet dragon overcome the numerous challenges in this brave new world?