Crownless Kings: Court of Fire - Chapter 8 – The Step That Doesn’t Work

One scam package,That's all it took to drag the 17-year-old Cail into the world of the void....He thought he had ordered a limited-edition sneakers. But what came was a shady-looking package on his front gate. It smelled like rotten egg and sulfur. Inside the package was a strange box.It's filled with eccentric junk. They looked very intricate and mysterious. He thought, “I probably got someone else's package, a package from someone that was very interested in mysticism.”An old coin, a cracked compass, a ring with an ugly center stone, and some other weird looking trinkets.So he did what any broke student would do:He sold it. He figured someone might want them for cosplay or something. Well, except the gold-rimmed glasses that seemed to fit him very well.“Damn, I paid 7,000 nu for that sneaker; I better get something out from this scam package.”Then all hell broke loose. Strange people started approaching him.People brought that junk. Very strange people wearing suspicious get up trying to buy those stuff in the sketchiest manner possible.As he kept selling, he realized that the box was refilling, it seemed to have an endless supply of those strange stuff. Those people called it 'artifacts'.Then one day he woke up with a strange tattoo on his arm; inside the tattoo was an independent space containing the box. It is basically inseparable from him.“I didn't ask for any of this to happen. But now, strange people come to me with desperate offers. Money, memories, and even soul.”He's just trying to survive high school while earning some money!He had no idea what was going on, but apparently, this thing that he got? It's not just an artifact. It's a contract.As Cail navagates school life, part-time jobs, and otherworldly clients, he starts asking the real question:When did I become an artifact dealer?!By day, he is just an ordinary student, a NPC character.And by night? He is The Dealer. Selling ancient items and dealing with people that he probably shouldn't be talking to.“Since I'm already in this mess, might as well profit off of it.”

When Kim Seojin opened his eyes, he found himself three hundred years in the future.In the last three hundred years, humanity went through a lot of changes. Science had developed, cities became more modern, and space travel became a reality. But all of that came at a cost.The world had become a plaything of gods. Every year, humans were selected to represent their race in a devilish game, all for the entertainment of the gods.Kim Seojin was one of the thousand people selected in a timeline where he didn't belong.There was one more person. A Regressor burdened with the memories of countless failed timelines and the knowledge of the destruction to come, was also a part of the game…

She was the little chief secretary at Huo Yunting’s office, who carried out jobs both on the table and “under” the table.

She was also his obedient wife at night, fulfilling his needs.

It was a repentance, a redemption to her sin, Lu Zhaoyang was swallowing all these humiliations as heaven forbade, her mother was the other woman in this ugly affair with the wealthy Huo family, and eventually shattered the entire family, droving Huo’s mother insane.

It was probably the fairest, also the most horrible bargain of Lu’s life as Huo Yunting raided their house one day.

“You would compensate with your body. On daily basis.” The offer was made and she could not say no.

“If you think you aren’t having enough fun… Well, perhaps we could play the divorce game, then we could have another marriage, making the same vow with you always as my bride. I can do this, again and again. Again, and again. Isn’t that sweet, honey?”

Was it heart-moving, or simply tear-moving?

ISN’T IT OBVIOUS?

Huo Yunting, he’s a devil, both body and soul a devil!

Join the Fifty Thunders of Huo Yunting!

As you see dominance occurs in the classic office romance taken place in modern world with a hint of quirky comedy and heart-wrenching episodes!

- Description from Novelupdates

A full dive VR game has been released, A New World. While it is not the only VR game in the world, this one has one advantage over others:

Being able to play it even while sleeping.

Like one would think, many people jumped to try and claim the first headsets. Mostly gamers, but some other types of people too. Our MC, Eldrian, is naturally a gamer who could not wait but to try it.

Quickly he and everyone else who bought the headsets found themselves in a world, not just a game. While realism is nice and all, the amount they were given was just too much...

Players started taking emotional tolls from playing the game, and when the company made a shocking announcement. This was amplified.

--------------------------

AN:

I started this(July2020) just about a year ago now(June2021) as a newbie writer, and am proud with what it has become.

I will warn people that the game and real-world is truly integrated, as well that the story is slow.

Things don't magically happen for the sake of the story, I always try to figure out what would happen if this was reality. (Though I might fail sometimes in achieving this.)

I also try to be interactive with my readers, maybe too much... So do comment, I read all the chapter comments and most of the paragraph ones.