A Wish to Grab Happiness - Volume 1, Chapter 10: Tavern Duel

Excerpt:“Are you satisfied?” he asked, walking to the fire where she already sat. “Can you yet call yourself the greatest knight?”“Not until I can beat you,” Irene argued.Despite how serious he looked only moments before, he cracked a smile.“But you saved my life,” he insisted.Synopsis:With a second chance given to her after a pathetic ending to a life she didn’t want, Irene Litharion decides that she will follow in her father’s footsteps and become a knight.Waking up in the body of her eleven year old self, she’s reinvigorated to follow her heart. She has the rare blood of ancient warriors in her veins and promises to not turn her back to it anymore.Prepared for the sacrifices she will have to make to live the life she wants, a new challenge is presented when the only way she can become an apprentice knight is to turn her back on femininity altogether. The years she spent being forced to attend etiquette lessons go out the window and instead, daily sword practice takes place.Her father does all he can to get her into the knighthood, but it’s up to her to show her strength and skill to stay in it.However, it’s different than she expects when the Monster War ravages her homeland, she learns the sting of loss, and secrets of her own blood present themselves the more she leans into the thrill of battle.

When Logan and his classmates are suddenly transported to a world teetering on the brink of destruction, they find themselves thrust into a desperate battle against a relentless demon invasion. In this new realm of magic and peril, each student discovers unique powers to aid humanity's fight for survival. However, Logan's ability to tame creatures is deemed the weakest among his peers, earning him scorn and ridicule.Despite the doubts of those around him, Logan's determination never wavers. As he bonds with mystical beasts and uncovers their hidden strengths, he begins to realize that his power might be the key to turning the tide of war. With every creature he tames, Logan grows stronger, proving that true strength lies not in raw power but in the heart and courage to stand against overwhelming odds.Logan's journey is not just about battling demons; it's also a personal struggle against his own loner personality. Having always been an outsider, Logan must learn to trust and connect with others, both human and beast. His solitary nature is challenged as he forms unlikely friendships and alliances, discovering that unity and cooperation are essential in the fight for survival.

Anger issues was never a problem for Rio, but how can he say that after he swiped away his system in anger when the crystallization began on earth.With portals popping up and monster storming out of them how can Rio be expected not get angry at his lack of a level up tool.Armed with just an axe, as the days go by, Rio has a rapidly building peeve against his never present system and the last virtue on his list is tolerance.“System”“......... ”“System”“...…..”“Grrrrr!! Grrrr!!”With loud menacing growls the wolf like creatures approached, but Rio was busy looking for what spot in the room had better connection and would let him access his system.“If you guys don't shut up, I'll kill you.”Normally, worlds undergoing crystallization should be struggling to get stronger and survive the brutal process but on earth it is different as they are rather focused on pleasing their brutal and unforgiving Tyrant

In the year 2090, technology has advanced to the point where Simulation Boxes, (Sim Box for short) are common place, allowing for the user to link up their brain's neural network to a full dive Simulation. While initially used for educational purposes, recently a large gaming company, Averon, released a fully fledged immersive MMORPG simulation where users can become anyone they desire, level up, choose their class, and become a hero or a villain. The name of this simulation is The Shattered World Online.

Eli Winters had no interest in playing it. His father, a jobless bum who spent his entire life playing games in the hope of becoming a famous player or streamer, was able to use the release of The Shattered World Online to gain wealth and fame, quickly becoming the number one player and a household name as the game took the world by storm. He immediately abandoned Eli and his mother in favor of being with someone from his guild, despite his mother having worked two jobs to support them and raise Eli by herself. Eli had nothing but spite for his father and the game.

When Eli's best friend convinces him to try out the game, his father's fame begins to interfere, culminating in him being singled out and shunned by his peers, and his father offering to pay for his university tuition in return for Eli hiding their relationship and quitting the game. Instead of complying with his father's wishes, Eli decides to prove to everyone how useless a guy his father is by challenging him that if Eli is able to surpass him in the game world he must delete his account and quit his streaming career. His father accepts the challenge believing his son to be useless at games - but Eli will soon show him just how ambitious a spiteful person can be.