Cultivation: But Not a Game - Chapter 3: Basic Settings

When the last prodigy level esper on Earth disappeared, Earth was in deep trouble of becoming another species’ colony. The ordinary Han, with his intelligence and hardworking character, was able to make a fortune after “accidentally” stepping into the world of dark net, later purchasing an esper power crystal that brought him the ultimate power that changed the fate of the universe.

Dark net is a subset of the Deep Web that is not only not indexed by traditional search engines, but that also requires special tools like specific proxy or authentication to gain access. Dark net is not restricted by any law or morals, so the dark net market has everything that is prohibited by the law. Drugs, slaves, firearms, uranium, bioweapons, rare animals, human testing, assassination, and the list goes on. During the year of 2075 on Earth, Han Lang logged into the largest hyperspace dark net market, and our story begins.

- Description from Novelupdates

Themes: Black Market Trading, Global Crime Networks, Boundaries of Human Nature and Morality, The Struggle Between Truth and SurvivalStory Background:In a modern metropolis, the surface level of prosperity conceals the darkness and corruption lurking beneath. Ethan, a highly skilled detective, spends his life navigating the shadowy corners of the city, uncovering the hidden secrets buried beneath the mundane facade of everyday life. When he is drawn into what initially seems like a simple suicide case, he becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving the global black market, power struggles, and transnational crime.Main Characters:Ethan (Protagonist): A seasoned, calm, and intuitive detective who excels at finding the truth in complex cases. On the surface, he is a quiet, solitary man who prefers to avoid social interaction, but deep down, he is haunted by unresolved cases from his past. Faced with dark forces, he is both determined and full of doubt.Lila (Female Protagonist/Key Ally): Ethan's investigative partner, an intelligent and resourceful intelligence officer with a mysterious background. Her past is also shrouded in secrecy, and she seems to have an undisclosed connection to the “Black Angels” organization. She provides crucial assistance in Ethan's investigation, but her motives remain unclear, casting suspicion on her true intentions.Victor Saville (Antagonist/Main Adversary): A charismatic yet dangerous businessman, who appears to be a successful entrepreneur but is, in fact, one of the central figures of the global crime syndicate “The Black Angels.” Cold-hearted, clever, and ruthless, he controls a global black market network, overseeing arms trafficking, human trafficking, and drug smuggling. He is not only a key figure in Langley's death but also the biggest obstacle in Ethan's investigation.The Mysterious Woman (Key Character): An elusive woman who repeatedly appears during Ethan's investigation, warning him not to delve deeper into Saville and the “Black Angels” organization. Her identity is unclear, but it is evident that she holds vital secrets about Saville and his network. Her appearances leave Ethan bewildered—whether she is an enemy or his only ally remains uncertain.

In the grand world of Nova, many different races exist such as elves, humans, dwarves and beastmen and through years of war, strife and competition the world has grown, becoming home to great empires and countries throughout the oceans and five continents. However, to the great creators the world has become stagnant and boring, ever since the calamity that was the Church of Light and their Holy White empire.

Now the Dark God has created a new race after years upon years of dedicated effort. A species that is like none other and his hope for Nova’s future….Dungeon cores, beings that have the ability to reshape the very world itself, entering the domain of the gods.

Join Frost a newly born first generation Dungeon core as he embarks upon his journey within Nova and carves out his place in the world. How will the world’s current denizens react to his birth? Will they be friends or foes? And most of all how the Light God react to this new addition to the world, will he accept them or seek to destroy them?

This novel incorporates dungeon building and management but most of that won’t fully take off until the later volumes when Frost has much more floors and money to play around with. This is not a solely dungeon story as the MC Frost will have to explore and interact with the world of Nova much like how an adventurer would and forewarning the story is slow. There’s a lot of details and avenues which the story goes into, not simply battles, wars and action, it follows all aspects of Frost’s life, his growth and interactions with Nova not only as a Dungeon core but also as a person.

When a satellite photo of the Arctic was sent back to the countries, the people of the earth were shocked by the content of the photo.They saw thousands of wolves in the Arctic, which even included hundreds of polar bears and Arctic silver foxes, all uniformly looking obedient.On the top of the snowy mountain, a giant Arctic wolf, whose size exceeded everyone's imagination, was looking down on the Arctic ice field from a high position.