Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters - Chapter 954 - 34: The Hunt (Part 5)_2

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.

[ WARNING: EXTREMELY MATURE CONTENT ]“If I see you again, I'll ravish your body while you bleed, Prince!”Rosina, a woman haunted by a dark past, developed a dangerous obsession that led to a trail of blood and corpses. A predator that liked to enjoy her prey before taking their lives.She has always despised the idea of having a mate until she was compelled to attend the annual mating season. Harboring a deep desire for freedom, she detested any association with royalty.During the mating event, she encountered a mysterious man wearing a blood-red mask.Draco was portrayed as a carefree Third Prince who sought only amusement and avoided the responsibilities that came with the crown.However, his encounter with Rosina ignited a change within him. He realizes that in order to win her hand in marriage, he must become a King.That transformation set Draco on a path of self-discovery and growth as he strived to prove himself worthy of Rosina's love.Would their encounter change their fate or push them to ruin?

[Warning: Mature content, lemons, comedy, face-slapping, and a smart protagonist!]“So many beautiful girls!”After an unfortunate science experiment gone wrong, 25-year-old virgin Ren Kisaragi, wakes up in a strange new world.A world where curses manifest as eldritch horrors, bringing destruction with every breath.A world where female weavers command the very laws of reality and bend the elements to their will, while male warriors, blessed with monstrous strength, can shatter mountains with a single blow.It doesn’t take long before he realizes he has reincarnated into “Mystic Chronicles”, a fantasy novel he once read and dropped out of boredom.However, he isn't the protagonist or even a side character, he’s just a nameless extra, a mere background figure destined to fade into obscurity.But there’s one problem. He’s somehow enrolled at Imperial Academy, the most prestigious weaver academy in the kingdom… which is supposed to be an all-girls school!And as the only male weaver in an entire academy of talented (and terrifying) female weavers, his existence alone is enough to shatter the balance of the world.With a suspiciously broken cheat, an entire school of powerful and competitive girls watching his every move, and curses lurking in the shadows, Ren must navigate this chaotic new life before he gets caught up in a story that was never meant to include him.But maybe—just maybe—he can turn this anomaly into an advantage. And if fate allows, fulfill his lifelong dream of being surrounded by beautiful, ambitious women while he's at it.Can he survive this world where he's the ultimate anomaly?

Blessed by the heavens, Su Yang was born with an extraordinarily handsome appearance that could sway even the coldest beauties and innate sword talents that would make even the Sword Emperor green with envy.Su Yang thought for the longest that he would spend his life swinging a sword, but little did he know that fate had something entirely different in store for him.Instead of swinging a sword, he would be thrusting a different kind of ‘sword’. Rather than perfecting his sword techniques, he would be learning massage techniques.This is a story of how a sword prodigy ended up walking the path of dual cultivation and becoming the most powerful dual cultivator under heaven.--------------Note: This novel is the prequel to Dual Cultivation, but it doesn't require any knowledge from Dual Cultivation to understand so anyone can start reading without worry. Some terms/plots might differ from Dual Cultivation.