Heavens' Laughter - Chapter 20: Engagement

Zhou Mu finds himself remaining in a single-player VR game despite having decided to quit after platinum-ing the entire game. However, he realizes that the world has completely changed. Realizing life in the game is better, he continues on with his in-game name, William Kane.

“Why is the world united under my name? And what’s with the religion that honors me as their god? The royals are claiming to be my descendants? Was there ever such a function in the game? What have they done for the past 1000 years when I was gone?”

Zhou Mu was completely lost.

“Are you calling me a traitor? Aren’t you guys the ones who have been doing evil deeds in my name? Behold, for you shall witness this lost forbidden spell!”

Leif Vin is mortally wounded and left for dead at the conclusion of a devastating battle.The squad he commanded have either fallen or abandoned the fight and all around are the cries and wails of the dying.With both armies all but wiped out vultures and parasites stalk the aftermath, one such creature finds Leif as the last of his lifeblood stains the muddy ground.Implanted with the essence of a carnivorous and corrupting tree, Leif loses his levels, memory and humanity.Reborn as a sapling in the newly formed wilderness that sprung up among the fallen, Leif must piece back together the fragmented shards of his soul and identity.But before that he must do what all trees must.Put down roots, stay still and grow. ===Hey, author here! Here's a few things about Hyperion Evergrowing to make seeing if this is something you might be interested in easier:This story follows a young man reborn as a carnivorous tree and missing all but one of his marbles. The plot focuses on his progression from feeble sapling to world striding legend. Utilising a litrpg system to quantify stats and skills Leif must engage with the system to evolve his monster class in a never seen before direction.There are certain advantages to his fairly unique circumstances, though these advantages do not instantly make him a demigod of war capable of defeating all foes with hands tied and eyes closed.One of the protagonists initial goals is to discover and reclaim his lost humanity, this puts him on the path away from sitting in the ground and doing tree things forever. Progress in this direction starts fairly early on so if you're not interested in seeing a monster attempt to reintegrate into civilised society and all the struggles involved this might not be for you.Time passes, due to his nature as a monstrous tree Leif has a much longer lifespan than most people. Leif will witness the rise and fall of nations, see the beginning of new eras and observe the very planet change as time marches inexorably onwards. There will be some light kingdom building, but it isn't the focus of the story.Oh! There's also a subplot involving the origin of the system itself.Three chapters a week, with updates happening at times convenient to an Australian. Enjoy!

“Shameless Xia Ping, not only did you steal my martial arts manual and medicinal pills, you even took my fiancée! We’re not finished!”

Bai Xiao descended, lifting his head to not only see the bizarre and magnificent world but also the professional modifier he had downloaded before crossing over.“Drain all experience from my sub-occupations, 'Biological Mecha Master', 'Mystic Explorer', 'Special Hypnotist', transforming it into one million potential points, all enhancing my main occupation, 'Fighter'!”“I... have obtained the golden ultimate occupation, 'God of Martial Combat'!”The largest urban agglomeration in the world, a night of torrential rain.On the ground, countless Killing Ghosts and Fighters fought to the death, while hordes of metal Mechas and Biological Armors exploded and self-destructed. Blood and flame intertwined, plunging everything into primordial violence and chaos.Atop a high tower, Bai Xiao stood silently amidst the rainy darkness, like a stiff and terrifying statue. His crimson eyes looked down below, restrained yet bloody, cold yet hiding madness.He leaped down with his trench coat wildly dancing.The God of Martial Combat descended upon the final battleground!A cold voice echoed across the city skyline.“Next, I will kill everyone present! If you have the ability, try to stop me...”A modern city of extravagant luxury, an era of entertainment and consumption supreme.Beneath seventy years of peaceful façade, lied another mad and bloody Inner World.Fighters, masters of their martial traditions, and Killing Ghosts, controlled by combat modes, engaged in a frightful, relentless slaughter.Metal Mechas with terrifying energy and Biological Armors extracted from monstrous cells commenced a brutal struggle between old and new technologies.In this era infested with machinery and altered by external entities, to proclaim the power unique to humans might be an unimaginable romance...