The Tin Knight - Chapter 58: The Tin Knight and The City of Clockwork — Act 2 (7)

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.

Being able to see into people's past has no real appeal for the teenager this story is about, letting him use it only as amusement and to show off when he was drunk.Never watch into someone's past beyond a superficial level.Never try to find out more than you should.NEVER. EVER. LOOK. INTO. THE. FUTURE.But everything changed the moment he was forced to look into the future, was forced to investigate a murder, and was forced to make the acquaintance of the victim's twin brother('s fists).The more time passed, the more it appeared that the primary reason for this murder wasn't a local problem, but a global one.This single, marred corpse was the beginning of a threat that would shake the world.(MC looses a screw when he enters the prison)BL, first-person view; MC is shuo (perhaps even a reversible couple); love interest falls in love first; both MC and ML are straight, mutual bending, Enemies to Lovers

In his first life, Victor was lazy, poor, and the ultimate gambler, but the Goddess of Envy gave him a chance.

[ Die and go back four years into the past to restart your life. ]

Victor lost all hope and killed himself, and so began his second and also the most miserable life.

He became rich and successful but soon his girlfriend betrayed him and took away all his fortune, having decided on a desperate act Victor came up with a plan to avenge himself.

Although his plan was successfully executed, Victor hoped that this time he would die once for all and forget the despair that followed him through his two lifetimes.

Yet as if to deny him of his salvation, he suddenly heard a feminine voice once again, but a different one this time.

[ Goddess of Lust, surprised by your actions, grants you a gift ]

[ Yandere system activated! ]

It was a turning point for Victor.

From now on whether it is a Goddess, a Vampire or a Succubus, no matter who it is I must seduce you or I will surely die this time!

Li Quangqing traversed to the cultivation world and became a family fisherman, starting with twenty acres of fish ponds.Unexpectedly, every time spiritual fish were harvested, a reward orb could be obtained.[Harvested one adult big green fish, received a lower-grade water arrow talisman!][Harvested one adult iron bone crab, received the “Gengjin Sword Technique”!][Harvested one adult longevity turtle, received the “Gui Sui Shou” pill, prolonging life by twenty years!]...Since then, Li Quangqing watched the tides rise and fall in the world, the wind and clouds changing, wanting only to raise fish and become immortal peacefully.Until thousands of years later, a certain Water Virtue True Immortal appeared out of nowhere, shaking the immortal realm, capable of covering the sky with one hand.“Since the Milky Way is also a river, it's okay for me to use it for fish farming, right?”