Within a Hollow Heart - Chapter 27: Volume 1, : "Threads of Fate"

A phrase about his merits startling the Emperor, it led the Invincible God General to become a prisoner at the feet of others.A phrase about his origins as a commoner turned a vow as steady as mountains and as deep as seas into something less than a beast.He was once the greatest general of all time in the Great Shang Dynasty, celebrated for quelling the disturbances of the Seven Countries. Yet, during the victory banquet, he was framed by the Emperor of Great Shang and his beloved Ninth Princess. They destroyed his Dantian, crippled his meridians, and exiled him to the frontiers.In his icy and hopeless heart, he received meticulous care from his newlywed wife and unexpectedly unlocked the Ten Thousand Beasts Sky Prison, becoming the Master of Ten Thousand Beasts.He resumed his training in Martial Arts, and the wild beasts were unleashed!

Kaelen Dragonyx, a boy who lost both his parents and his mentor in the most ruthless way possible, decided in his heart to become the strongest swordsman in the world to protect the last remaining family he had, which is the only child of his mentor and his childhood friend.But along the line, he discovered that he is the most talentless boy of the generation which made his road towards being the strongest swordsman to be much further away and daunting than he could imagine. Be he didn't give up until he stumbled upon a sword that drastically changed his fate.

Jeong Jiheon was once a promising swimmer, but retired early due to an injury and is now working diligently at a sports agency. Currently, the greatest interest in the sports market is none other than Kwon Jaekyoung, and numerous agencies are fighting fiercely behind the scenes to scout him.In the meantime, Jiheon is ordered by his boss to somehow arrange a meeting with Jaekyoung, and he miraculously succeeds thanks to their insignificant and brief relationship of going to the same swimming center 10 years ago.However, when they agree to meet for the first time in a long while, Kwon Jaekyoung is not interested in the terms of the contract. He just suddenly asks about Jiheon’s traits….

In the year 2100 humanity was introduced to the revolutionary full dive VR game called 'Omega', however, the game was not a technology made by humans but one granted to humanity by a higher power to prepare them for the first awakening.

It was only a tutorial and a means to smoothly transition the primitive species from thinking that they were alone in the entire universe, to being integrated into the true wide universe.

When the average user level in the game exceeded the predetermined threshold the tutorial finally ended and planet earth underwent a catastrophic event called the 'First Awakening ', as mana started to flow freely in the real world as it did in the virtual world and the real universal stage game called 'Sigma' was unveiled.

'Sigma' was governed by the omnipotent A.I. the universal queen, and was the grand stage where races from all across the universe fought together for territory, resources, and honor.

Set in a universe where fantasy races such as elves, dragons, and vampires are not a myth but real power players, humans quickly found out that they were one of the weakest races to play 'Sigma'.

In such desperate times, humans turned to their best professional players for salvation.

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Max, was a genius in the world of Omega and deemed the hope of mankind after the first awakening. However, an accident crippled his mana veins and caused him to be assessed as a manaless trash in Sigma!

Deemed hopeless and irredeemable, he quickly went from hero to zero, and the world ignored him.

For ten years since the first awakening, he lived the life of a manaless trash and became a bottom feeder in society, slowly losing his pride, his possessions, and eventually his identity.

In the end, he faced a tragic and painful death while failing to save his young nephew and niece from assailants.

However, it was not the end of Max's story but just the beginning as he was reincarnated back in time to the day before the first awakening before his downfall started!

Armed with the knowledge of the future, watch as Max reaches for the apex in his second life and fights against his destiny with grit and tenacity.

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Cover edited by the very talented bird of paradise