Extra Pages: The Author's Odyssey - Chapter 15: First Day At Academy (3)

Mathew survived the entire two weeks of the apocalypse. A great score for someone blessed with brains over the brawn. Yet, even he fell after just fourteen days, giving his all to save the one person he cared for.

But why does a death looks like watching himself from the third person perspective? Is this the purgatory to watch over his own shoulders at the mistakes he made? A punishment for Mathew's sins to repeat those mistakes over and over again?

But wait, what are the three clocks in the corner of his vision, one of which only five minutes away from ticking out?

An avid Xianxia reader suddenly has his dream come true—he wakes up in a world of cultivation. The only problem? Maybe it wasn’t really his dream after all.Now, faced with the daunting reality of countless cultivation realms to climb, countless worlds to ascend through, and countless arrogant young masters to deal with, despair begins to settle in.Fortunately, a glimmer of hope appears amidst the chaos: a mysterious system that could change everything.Armed with elders, ancestors, and a sect leader—who are all actually his own avatars—he no longer feels completely overwhelmed.“At least I don’t have to do it all alone… well, technically, I do. They’re just avatars, after all.”

One day in the faraway Blue Boorish Mountain inexplicably appeared groups of scoundrels who came to reside there. It was said that those scoundrels came from the You Kingdom, Yen Kingdom and many others due to their failures in battle. And due to its dangerous terrain, no one had dared to conquer the Blue Boorish Mountain. As a result, this place obviously became a paradise to the scoundrel and thieves. They resided there and ruled the place.

They had also built up the Illusory Perennial Domicile, which meant a place that was their lifetime home. There was a group of scoundrels who had appointed themselves the Great Nine Bandits, and they were seen as the best baddies in the area. They built up a school in which the children of the Illusory Perennial Domicile would come and study only survival skills.

In such a small place appeared an orphan student named An Zheng who also came to study there. He was really a useless orphan in the people’s eyes due to his cowardice. They even said that he was a chicken who did not dare to do anything for himself even in fighting for himself, and no one cared about such a coward except a ten-year-old child, Du ShouShou, his only friend. As a result, he was the center for such baddies to cause trouble.

However, no one knew that orphan An Zheng would change his life forever as he went to a dead end.How powerful was that orphan? How much effort did An Zheng have to make in order to satisfy his passions of the devilish elimination? How would the life of his friend, Du ShouShou change after his after death spawn? And might the Great Nine Bandits be the invincible ones? Was he good or evil? Was his power strong or weak?

Was his world in perfect order or chaos? They were all questions that the little child An Zheng needed to discover during his journey.“Bring happiness to loyal people but chide the evil. However, if the treatment goes wrong, law will become a tool for the evil to force the good, preventing executors. Find a repugnant gateway to pass. Great things win cruel tricks. We learn from the idea of God but we reject the power of Him.”

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.