Gilded Ashes - Chapter 2: Holding Hope

Lin Yu finds himself transported to the world of Honkai: Star Rail.Equipped with a divine mobile game development system, his first project is creating “Honkai: Star Rail.”Soon, his game captures the attention of the entire universe.As players reach the Cocolia boss battle, the song ‘Wildfire’ begins playing.“Woah?! This is a turn-based game; how dare you make it so intense!”“The moment this music kicked in, I felt like I was about to take down an Aeon!”Progressing further, they encounter Dan Heng’s sea-parting scene.“I thought ‘Wildfire’ was intense enough, but there’s even more fire here!”“Dan Heng, still denying you’re Imbibitor Lunae? Now you’re a five-star limited character!”Arriving at Penacony:“Huh? Have you listened to ‘WHITE NIGHT’?”“Acheron’s power has been tested – fellow gamers, feel free to pull for her!”“Duke Inferno: Children, this isn’t funny.”“Before experiencing the story: Aventu**ne? Just another profit-driven fraud! After the storyline: May the Mother Goddess thrice close her eyes upon thee…”“What Aventu**ne?! He’s clearly my unfortunate yet loyal bro!”

He’s her stepbrother, her sin and her biggest mistake waiting to happen.Catherine Brown thought moving in with her mother’s new husband couldn’t be harder until she met the cold, arrogant and sinfully attractive Julian Vaughn, her stepbrother.He hates her, teases her and gets under her skin everyday. He’s everything she should stay away from, off-limits and untouchable.But when his anger turns into something darker and hungrier, when he looks at her like he wants to ruin her innocence, Catherine realizes danger has a new name.And no matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop wanting the one man she’s not supposed to have.When hate turns to desire, who’s really in control?EXCERPT✨“You’ve never had sex before?” Julian asked, disbelief flickering in his eyes.Catherine hesitated, then nodded, staring at the floor instead of him.He bit his lower lip, trying to rein in the thoughts crowding his mind. Goodness, she was too innocent for her own good.“So all you did with your previous boyfriends were just kisses and smooches?”She immediately stood, her cheeks flushed. “There are no boyfriends,” she blurted. “I’ve never even been kissed. Please don’t laugh at me.”Laugh? Hell no. Julian wasn’t laughing. He was fighting the urge to pull her close. Knowing she’d never been touched only made his hunger worse.She didn’t realize he’d moved until his breath brushed her ear, his voice dropping low and dangerous.“Catherine, just say the word and I’ll show you what it means to be touched by a man.”Her heart stuttered in her chest and he could hear every beat.

A thousand years ago, a Rain of Evolution fell, and the world entered the Era of Evolution.Animals, plants, and humans all gained the potential to evolve into higher-level life forms.However, the human method of evolution is unique; they must absorb the extracts of higher-level life forms to complete their evolution, and each time they absorb an extract, they also acquire a skill from the extract's original owner.Absorb the extract of an “Undying Salamander” and gain the ability of limb regeneration;Absorb the extract of an “Iron Armor Oyster” and possess a flexible gender;Absorb the extract of a “Forest Giant Cockroach” and transform into an unkillable cockroach;Su Ze has come to this world, but before he can begin his evolution, he must solve his life-and-death crisis.“My name is Su Ze.”“I originally thought I had transmigrated and become a scion of a powerful official, but I never expected that I was just his clone, a scapegoat for him to escape punishment, a tool used for him to fake his death and get away.”“What's worse is, I'm scheduled to be executed tomorrow, but my cheat has not yet arrived...”

Waking up in nothing but a cage would make anyone wonder: What the hell is going on?But fortunately, you’ve been reincarnated with a cheat—a system designed to help you escape this dire situation.Now, with the gacha system to guide you, navigating this dangerous world of Marvel becomes a little more manageable. After all, you never know when a certain guy might kick off a population control program, another might decide to play humanoid chess, or yet another starts scheming to rule over everyone.Wait… wasn't that last one kind of the same? Anyway, it's a perilous world, and you were thrown into it without even being asked.So, good luck to me!*******A fanfiction set in the Marvel Universe with gacha elements.It's slow life at first and then it paces.