MTL - Chapter One of the Night - Chapter 9 Island Records

Summoned after an unfortunate accident in hopes they could protect the world from a coming threat, Ben and his classmates are gifted another chance at life. With fame and fortune promised to whoever is willing to fight for the sake of the world it doesn't seem like a bad deal, there's just one small problem. Ben wasn't blessed with any magic or combat skills, just crafting and enchanting. While the skills themselves aren't useless they also aren't seen as being necessary to the coming war. Now not needed and alone Ben tries to find a place in the world while meeting some of its colourful characters along the way.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, “Ari” Ariel Matisse lived in the slums of Los Angeles, also known as Skid Row.One night, on his way home, he was killed while witnessing an old man getting beaten.When he woke up, he had been thrown into a dumpster, and a strange screen flashed across his eyes, and no matter how he looked at it, it reminded him of a status window in a game.[System Integration Complete!][Become a Global Music Superstar!]For some reason, he gained a system that wanted him to join a survival show and become a globally famous idol.If he refused to complete his given tasks, he would die.But if he succeeded, he would have the money and power to change his life as well as get revenge against the person who killed him.P.s. this story is kind of a love letter to LA and the amazing blend of cultures (American, Asian, Hispanic, African, etc) that can be found there. I hope you all fall in love with the area as much as I love it.

To care for her ailing sweetheart, college student Lu Chenchen gave up her white-collar office job and chose the higher-paying caretaker profession instead. Going around in circles, she ended up at the Mao family’s home.

The Mao family background was complicated. Old Madam Mao was not her son Yanning’s birth mom, but his young aunt. His wife was Old Madam Mao’s first love’s daughter, spoiled and pampered. Despite over ten years of marriage, husband and wife were distant.

To repay Old Madam Mao’s kindness in raising him, and for the sake of his three children, Mao Yanning endured again and again – not just a loveless but outright destructive marriage.

Lu Chenchen walked on eggshells among these people – carefully serving young and old, currying favor with the lady of the house without offending the man of the house, while also worrying about his sweetheart’s illness and missing “his” elders and children back home. Her heart was like a cookie flattened between the pages of life, living a difficult and cautious existence.

However, as the saying goes, “You reap what you sow.” A life that has been polished will eventually shine with a brilliance that ordinary years cannot compare.

Rex was an ordinary salaryman, resigned to a dull life of monotony in a towering megacity. But his world shatters when he’s conscripted by Nexum Dynamics, a ruthless megacorporation, and thrust into a brutal war for a barren, alien world. The planet holds unimaginable riches, but it’s also swarming with the Krhyssari, an insectoid race that dominates the surface with their hive-mind precision and relentless aggression. Amid the carnage, Rex had an extraordinary encounter with Cleo, an ancient AI, a survivor of a long-extinct civilization. Cleo isn’t just an artificial intelligence; she’s a consciousness imbued with memories of her people’s interstellar empire and equipped with advanced bio-nanotechnology. Offering Rex a new purpose and unmatched power, she transforms his fragile human body into a hybrid of living metal and flesh, making him the ultimate weapon. But Cleo is more than a tool of war. As she journeys alongside Rex, her cold, logical algorithms evolve, shaped by his humanity. Together, they form a bond that transcends the boundaries of man and machine, discovering love in the midst of chaos. As Rex and Cleo fight for survival, they uncover a shared ambition, to rise as intergalactic overlords, uniting or conquering the galaxy.