Tunnel Rat - Chapter 33: The Dragon is Wounded

A Consort seeks prosperity.A Shepherd cloaked in yellow wages war.A Prosthesis-wielder cries out for retribution.Shadows tremble in the depths, encompassed worlds obscuring the many dangerous secrets of history. Might they be unraveled, all ways of life would be threatened. But to climb higher requires risks, to seek the light requires a Gambit of Lifetimes.Only when one determines themselves capable of risking it all, can all prosper.

He fell, but he did not die.At least, not in the way he expected.The world he hated spat him out into another, a place where the sky bleeds, where gods are fractured, and where names weigh heavier than lives.Here, he is someone else.Someone cursed.Someone forgotten.Yet in the ruins of memory and the echo of laughter that was never his, a strange truth coils:that death is not an ending,but a beginning far crueler.A book without pages.A family without love.A body that doesn’t belong to him,and a voice in the dark that whispers of eternity.

Earth was supposed to be a safe haven.And for a time—it was.Until one night, golden stars lit up the sky like cosmic flames. The heavens swirled, the winds howled, and the world braced for its end. But just as quickly as it came... the phenomenon vanished.Weeks later, everything changed.Humans began to awaken powers once thought to exist only in fantasy. Skills—mystical, world-shaking abilities. Some used them for good. Others unleashed devastation.What could a gun do against a man who could turn into a living bomb?Portals tore through the sky, connecting Earth to monstrous realms. Beasts, demons, and nightmares poured into the world. Amid the chaos, powerful humans rose to fight back—and won. The survivors called them one thing: Heroes.Among them, one boy was left behind.Han Trystan—orphaned during the Sendok Calamity—carries the burden of rebuilding his parents' legacy, protecting his three younger siblings, and finding a cure for his dying aunt. But all of that hinges on one thing: awakening a powerful Skill.And when his time finally comes…> Name: Han TrystanSkill: Book FormationRank: EThe lowest rank. A joke. Practically powerless. Hope? Shattered.Until Han discovers the truth.His skill isn’t “Book Formation.” It’s something far greater.Creation. Not just of weapons or armors. But artifacts, pills, barriers—even other Skills.The world labeled him weak. But he was never meant to follow their system—he was meant to break it.Years later…> “Did I see that right...?”“Yeah. He just wiped out hundreds S-Rank monsters—alone.”“So the title ‘White-Black-Haired Monster’... it wasn’t exaggerated after all.”In a field of fallen beasts, one man stands untouched. Eyes calm. Power immeasurable.> “Weaklings.” Han mutters.Follow Han Trystan’s journey from the lowest-ranked misfit to one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse—and witness the rise of a legend the system tried to erase.

When Jasmine’s fated mate Elliot rejects her for the Lycan Chairman’s daughter, she is left broken, humiliated and alone. To make matters worse, her father gets arrested for embezzlement, and Jasmine needs to raise ten million to release him.Desperate to save her father from a wrongful conviction, Jasmine takes the only job she can find—tutoring the bratty daughter of a rich werewolf family.But she never expected her employer to be the Lycan chairman himself: Gareth Laken. He is ruthless, dominant… and her ex-mate’s future father-in-law.Gareth thinks she’s a threat. A bitter ex-girlfriend out for revenge, waiting to harm his own daughter. But the more he watches her, the more he sees a woman refusing to be shattered by the world that betrayed her. A woman he can’t stop wanting, despite the huge age difference.Now, Jasmine is caught between two powerful men—one who destroyed her, and one who might destroy everything she has left to protect.Excerpt“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Gareth said, voice low, his towering frame just inches from mine.“I didn’t come here to play,” I shot back, even as my heart pounded. “But you should be asking Elliot why he keeps showing up at my door. I’m not the one chasing ghosts.”His eyes darkened, his gaze dropping to my lips. “He’s not the only one haunted by you.”I froze.I should have walked away.Instead, I whispered, “Then why do you look at me like you want to hate me and kiss me at the same time?”He didn’t answer.But his silence spoke louder than any lie.