Becoming the King of A New Filthy World - Chapter 4 4: Something’s Strange

“There are no heroes. In life, the monsters win.”

...

In 2106, [Mayhem Online], a fully immersive VRMMO game, was released. Soon, it dominated the world's economy when people could exchange the in-game currency with real-life currency and vice versa.

In the year 2107, Flynn Grey, a 22-year-old college dropout with an ambiguous history, joined in the fray of billions of people that had already started playing [Mayhem]. Hoping to uncover the game's secret and earn a fortune, he spent months on adventures without fruitful results.

For better or worse, Shura, Flynn's in-game character, ends up in a great Wyvern's den, acquiring a hidden class and a monstrous race. Join him as he defeats his past and paves his way into becoming a true legend in both worlds.

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

Nan Yu was brought by the Nan Family back from the countryside to pretend as the fake heiress, being forced to marry the paralyzed and tyrannical young master of Huo Family on behalf of the real heiress.Before the marriage, she was just a fake heiress who had been abused since childhood, despised by everyone, and had nowhere to call home.After the marriage, she became the heiress who was coveted by many, lavished with love, and had countless brilliant hidden identities.Such a perfect person, the only pity was having a disabled husband.Everyone advised her to kick him out and find someone better.But a few days later, they saw the man who had been in a wheelchair stand up and become the rich and powerful ruler of the Huo Family.He then pinned Nan Yu in a corner, held her by the waist, and with a hint of red in his eyes, and said, “Sweetie, I heard that you want to divorce me?”Remembering his wildness in bed, Nan Yu shook her head violently, “No! Those are all rumors. You are the only one I want to spend my life with!”

Sometime after ‘Gates’ appeared in this world, humanity was divided into two: [User] and [ordinary human beings] Lee-kyung was able to awaken into a user and choose a [Class]…but, in momentary misjudgement, chose to be a [Necromancer], the worst of all classes.

Lee-kyung, searching for the materials to evolve his skeletal servant, ‘Lackey,’ was barely able to participate in a high-level raid for [Tower of Command] Dungeon. In an accident, he falls down alone to uncover a hidden conspiracy.

Injured and desperate to survive, Lee-kyung called out to anyone…and reached a vengeful spirit. “Please, I’ll do anything….Please form a contract with me and save me!”

–-You’ll do anything?….

TW: Depictions of mental health