Crusader King - Chapter 5: Artificer Test 2

Lin Xiao was an orphan who strived to get stronger while living with his sickly younger brother in an unnamed small village.

I had transmigrated into my favorite game, as an extra who died before the story even began.In a world where Sigils dictate power, I found myself in the body of a boy who had already died on the battlefield.Yet, as I drew breath in his place, his Sigil changed. A power never meant for him, never meant for me.Kidnapped by a shadow organization that didn't exist in the game, I spent three years in the dark, forced to learn under a so-called teacher.I move forward, not as the extra I was meant to be, but as one who chooses their own path. A path to supremacy.Yet the deeper I walk, the more I realize… this world holds secrets that game had never shown.-----------------Additional tags:[Sword Companion], [Hidden Identity], [Artifact Power], [Slow Reveal], [Secret Society], [Survival]

-- WSA 2025 Entry --“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.[Updating home-world 39515’s version][Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode][Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?][Yes] [No]“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…

“P-please let me go..” I stammered and before I knew it, I was word vomiting while crying. “—I won’t return. You won’t ever see me again. I know you don’t want me as a mate. You hate me, so please let me go.” I cried out.Cain’s jaw tightened with each word that left my lips “What gave you the idea that you have the power to choose what you want?” His voice was low, “You don’t get to decide what, how, and when you leave. Only I get to do that. You don’t get to leave me, you don’t get to run! You only leave when I want you to.”“I didn’t ask for this,” I whispered, trembling. “I didn’t ask to be your mate.”Cain stepped back, “Neither did I,” he muttered under his breath. “But the bond doesn’t give us a choice, does it?”~~~~As the only child of her late Alpha father, Avery Jae was meant to inherit her family’s legacy. But on the day of her arranged marriage to Alpha Lucian, her world crumbles. Rejected, humiliated, and cast aside for her own cousin, Avery barely escapes with her life only to find out a much deeper secret. One that changes everything.When Avery awakens, she finds herself in a foreign land, caught by the ruthless guards of the Vehiron pack, led by the infamous Alpha Cain. Tall, broad and as dangerous as the army he commands.Alpha Cain has a reputation that sends chills down the spine of even the most dangerous warriors. Haunted by his dark past, he has vowed never to take a mate, yet the moment he lays eyes on Avery, everything changes.With a single word, Avery is bound to Cain—whether he wants it or not. In a world where betrayal runs deep, can Avery ever trust the alpha who might just be her worst enemy.