MTL - Age of Empires From Scratch - Chapter 16 Orojanagi

The most precious things in the world are priceless. Ordinary men tend to turn a blind eye to this fact. Apart from the treasured air, sunlight, and familial love, there is still one more thing that’s extremely valuable. It’s right beside you and can be easily obtained.

- Description from Novelupdates

Ripped from a dead-end life and plunged into a world where danger lurks behind every smile, Xiulan must learn to thrive in a realm ruled by ruthless ambition and deadly secrets. When Li Mei dies in a traffic accident after another soul-crushing retail shift, she awakens in a familiar yet dangerous world—inside her favorite game, . Now inhabiting the body of Lin Xiulan, the scorned second daughter of a noble family, she finds herself thrust into a nest of vipers where her very existence is an offense to those around her. Armed only with her knowledge of the game and the wounds from a lifetime of dealing with entitled customers, Xiulan refuses to play the role of the family’s punching bag. Determined to rise above, she’ll need to master immortal alchemy, tame arcane spirit beasts, perfect her martial arts, and face off against her scheming sisters and stepmother. But in Arinthia, a land where power reigns supreme and the weak are swept aside, Xiulan must do more than just survive and fade into the background. With the knowledge of a devastating future that awaits the realm’s beloved Crown Princess, she’ll need every ounce of her modern wit and growing abilities to prevent a catastrophe that would ruin the entire realm—assuming she can survive her own family long enough to do anything about it. Only by transforming herself into a force of reckoning can Xiulan hope to protect those she comes to care about—and survive the darkness that awaits.

[Sexual Content and lemons warning]This novel has smut but is not smut focused.It has Plot and story, developing relationships. Though it may feel a bit slow in the beginning it will pace up soon.No NTR.18+-----------------------------With her sitting on me, I could feel her thighs, so soft and I didn't want her off of me but this was not the time for that.“I wouldn't betray you like this Jennifer, you know this” I said, shifting my gaze from her thighs to her eyes.“You were with Renn all along.” She said as she drew a blade to my neck. “You can't tell me you don't have a hand in this”At that moment, there was nothing I could say to please the beast who had me in chokehold. I just laid there and prayed for a miracle.—-------------------------In a world where every player controls five versatile avatars, Contrario Williams is cursed with just one avatar.Mocked, outclassed, and labelled “One-slot player,” Contrario enters Irish Valley, a faction known for chewing up the weak. But when his last avatar, named Stray, really bonds with him, everything begins to change. What starts as a desperate struggle to survive quickly grows into a chaotic rise through ranked raids, underground brawls, and deadly bounty missions.With 290 days until a tournament that will shake the game world, Contrario is thrown into brutal training simulations, tangled love interests, and savage battles with elite bounty hunters and mercenaries like the infamous Kyra and Axel. Killer twins who fight for who can pay them the most, and who just might hold the key to Contrario's haunted past.But in a world built on stats, politics, and power, what happens when the most underestimated player becomes the most unpredictable? How would Contrario handle opening up to people who later betray him?And how far will Contrario go to prove that one slot is all he needs?