JACKAL AMONG SNAKES - Chapter 13: A Prince’s Penalty

A pill, a tiny capsule encased in a biologically harmless water-soluble shell; A shell whose very existence is a result of a century of research and technological advancement. A manmade synthesis of Chemicals and product of complex processes.

And in the end, a means to an end.

A way to deliver a concoction of other Chemicals for an agenda; Vitamins for nutrition, medication for treatment, or… perhaps more.

We trust that what we eat won’t do us harm, and trust that those who are responsible for its creation had the best of intentions. But in the end, it is difficult or perhaps impossible to truly tell what lies within a pill.

That is until one day I entered a research institution as a test subject. All I did was swallow a pill I was told to be a health supplement.

You guys shine.So it’s okay to vent a little, isn’t it?

In the year 2022, gamers rejoice as Sword Art Online-a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) like no other-opens its virtual doors, allowing players to take full advantage of the ultimate in gaming technology: NerveGear, a system that allows users to completely immerse themselves in the game world by manipulating their brain waves to create a wholly realistic gaming experience.

But when the game goes live, the elation of the players quickly turns to horror as they discover that, for all its amazing features, SAO is missing one of the most basic functions of any MMORPG-a log-out button.

Now trapped in the virtual world of Aincrad, their bodies held captive by NerveGear in the real world, users are issued a chilling ultimatum: conquer all one hundred floors of Aincrad to regain your freedom. But in the warped world of SAO, “game over” means certain death-both virtual and real…

In every being, a soul, a spirit, or a core, exists that tethers the consciousness into the solid plain. Witness as how a little spark from who was once a blazing flame, regained what once was lost.“I died and..” grins “...that started my life”What happens when an assassin transmigrated to a cultivation world?They rise through a mountain of corpse to reach the skies.But....What of an assassin whose enemy turns out to be themselves?A world where magic and cultivation co-exist?People say “Keep moving forward”.What if the way forward, is to go back to where she begun?