Gearbound: Cyberpunk 2077 - Chapter 251

Winner of the 2017 Joara Novel of The Year Contest-

In a world plagued by Morgellons, a deadly disease that turns humans into non-human creatures, people have chosen to abandon their humanity in order to fight against the bloodthirsty corpses. In the end, there will be no humans left on Earth.

But that harsh world is, in fact, a world fabricated merely for entertainment. A world for humans to live in exists neither inside nor outside.

This is the story of a boy who, while living a miserable life, stares at the stars as he desperately tries to keep his humanity.

Lu Zheng possessed a jade seal which allowed him to transmigrate to an alternate world freely.Initially, he thought that the alternate world which he frequented was but an ordinary ancient civilization. With no particular ambition in mind, he planned to become a merchant and enjoyed the casual life of a rich man. He would find a few pretty maidens to accompany him while he explored the place and enjoyed various delicacies. That would be his ordinary and mundane life.His boring life lasted until the day he gave a beggar who showed up at his doorstep a meal. His jade seal obtained a strand of luck because of his action.Since then, he encountered a fox demon visiting him during the day and a beautiful ghost looking for him at night.The members of the Quanzhen Sect paid him tribute while some Buddhist monks stood in his path.So, it turned out that this world was not ordinary.

Somebody once told a joke.A man ran in place all his life. He worked a job he didn't love for people he couldn't stand. But at the end of the day, the number in his bank account went up.That man got a second chance at life. He woke up in another world, full of adventures and romances and monsters and gods. And floating above his head he saw the number “1”. So what did he say?“Gosh I better make the number go up.”Not today. Not for this old soul. Reborn as a beast of battle meant to live a short life and die screaming, Garek refuses. He puts the madness of skills and levels behind him and sets out to found a little farmstead. He grows crops. Maybe someday he'll get a pig, and have bacon.It's a shame the world won't let him be. It's a shame that the warmongers and level-grinders hate nothing more than a soul at peace.He put down his sword for a plowshare, but when trouble comes calling, he'll pick it up again.

The poor aristocrat Viola suddenly received an unexpected marriage proposal from the prestigious noble household of Duke Physalis. An average noble daughter and the handsome duke. She had been confused, thinking that nothing made sense, but the duke had his own personal reasons. A political marriage with ulterior motives, both having their own circumstances. Will this path lead to happiness or sorrow?