Interspecies Trader - Chapter 11 – Small Payback

Having spent her childhood confined in chains, Alice was a child who knew neither love nor joy. Scorned by her family while being tortured in the name of the greater good for years, she grew numb to all feeling and thought. That is, until one day, a man in black offered her a chance to escape.There were once rumours widespread of an endless hell, a land of glorious death and dreadful opportunity. Fools went in search of it, and the clever never ventured into it. Only when its baleful mysteries spilled unto the earth did all hear its name — the Abyss.A single drop of its blood could give someone the power to control shadows, move faster than sound, or strength greater than the strongest man. Yet, it all came at a cost; the blood would always make sure those who consumed it became part of the Abyss, with one exception — Alice. Cast away by her own blood, it was her destiny to rot in a gilded cage.But, that fateful day changed everything. Gifted a second chance at life, a chance to turn her life around and claim vengeance against her family, a chance to dive deep into the Abyss and gain the power to govern her own fate, Alice took his hand, unaware of the destiny unfolding before her.

They stole his future. Now, he’s rewriting reality.Ryan was at the top—champion of the world’s biggest VRMMO, but one wish changed everything.“I wish I could start over.”The Orb of Wishes granted it. Literally. Time snapped backward. The world unraveled. And Ryan woke up years in the past, holding his younger sisters close in a rotting apartment, broke and desperate.This time, he’s not starting from scratch.He remembers it all. Every hidden boss. Every bugged quest. Every game-breaking secret. While the world waits for the launch of Kingdom Forge, Ryan prepares to tear through it like a storm.But when he logs in, something glitches.His old character is locked. His class is reset. His power? Supposedly gone.Then the system flashes something strange:[Access Granted: Legacy Bank Synced][Warning: You were never meant to exist.]Ryan grins. He doesn’t need a strong class. He doesn’t need fair odds. He has what nobody else does—endgame knowledge in a beginner’s world, and an account holding gear, gold, and exploits that broke the game once before.He’s done being a pawn.This time, he’ll become the glitch the system can’t contain.

The mid-level boss of my company’s AAA-game.

Eli Turner had perfected the art of coasting through life, gaming, lounging, and vibing with no grand ambitions beyond the next high. But his laid-back existence is upended when his laptop inexplicably transforms into a gateway to another world. What starts as a surreal escape becomes a perilous journey as Eli finds himself wielding a mysterious system that allows him to level up, fight monsters, and gain abilities beyond his wildest dreams.At first, the portal world feels like a haven, offering purpose and adventure Eli never knew he craved. Guided, or manipulated, by Azrael, a mischievous god orchestrating the game, Eli rises as one of the system's chosen players. But as the quests grow more dangerous and Azrael’s true intentions begin to surface, Eli struggles to balance the fantasy world with his life back home. His girlfriend, Sara, and his friends are left grappling with a version of Eli they hardly recognize, as the lines between his two lives blur.When the system expands to players worldwide, Eli crosses paths with others drawn into Azrael’s cosmic experiment: Yumi Tanaka, a fiercely disciplined Japanese student with a perfectionist streak, and Arjun Mehta, a charming Indian playboy with secrets of his own. Each carries their own burdens and ambitions, but all three must face the harsh truth: Azrael’s game is far more than it seems.As alliances are forged, rivalries ignite, and the stakes escalate, Eli must confront not only the dangers of the portal world but the growing rift between the person he is and the hero he’s becoming. In a game where every move is a test and every choice ripples across both worlds, the question remains: can Eli, Yumi, and Arjun uncover the truth before the system consumes them all?