MTL - Stepmother - Chapter 13 on the pirate ship

When 18-year-old Kyle Conner arrives at his aunt's for a summer holiday, he expects relaxation and freedom. Instead, his life is forever altered when he crosses paths with Lilith, the demon of lust and second-most powerful entity in the underworld.Forced into a dark pact, Kyle is transformed into a demon and gifted with a mysterious system that promises immense power. But this newfound strength comes with a deadly price: Kyle must hide his true nature and navigate the treacherous world of demons, all while being hunted by Lucifer and other malevolent forces.As Kyle struggles to control his newfound powers and unravel the secrets of the system, he discovers his ultimate goal: to overthrow Lucifer and bring about a new era of peace. But with the forces of darkness closing in, Kyle must confront the darkness within himself and make impossible choices to survive.Will Kyle be able to master his demonic powers, outwit his enemies, and fulfill his destiny? Or will the weight of his newfound responsibilities consume him, dooming humanity to eternal darkness?

All humans transmigrated to a parallel world, where every one of them was a king with the territory.

They participated in a game called The Ranking of Kings and fought to become the best nation.

The rankings were determined based on various aspects such as military, technology, commerce, culture, and religion.

In the game, the kings would awaken different attributes of the land.

Someone exclaimed, “My Renewable Resources attribute allows me to enhance raw materials such as timber and minerals. I want to build the strongest empire of commerce!”

Another king challenged, “My King of the Undead attribute allows me to summon dead souls to fight for me. Who dares to stand in the way of my troops of one million undead?”

The third king declared, “My Integrated Production attribute will ensure that technology is being implemented efficiently. You foolish barbarians, watch as my nation advances a few centuries ahead of yours.”

The fourth king said, “My Miracle Summon attribute can increase the efficiency of evangelism by 1000%. I look forward to the day when my nation becomes the top religion in the world.”

…

Li Xiang revealed a pondering look as he looked at his attributes shown on the virtual data panel.

[Attribute 1: Devils’ Den (SSS rank, unique)]

[You acquired the original birthplace of the Dragon Clan. All the legendary dragons are now under your command.]

[Attribute 2: Devouring Lands (currently A rank, evolvable)]

[When you annex the territory of other kings, you seize their attributes as well. Furthermore, you can level up these attributes to even higher ranks.]

Ten years of marriage.Known since childhood.Yet, he felt he had never known her.What he saw was a loving and gentle wife. But what he heard about her from others had always been different.One said she married him for his money.One said she seduced a Prince behind his back.One said she spiked her sister and sent her to a man’s bed.One said she tortured the servants behind his back.One said…He had heard many such things but never believed anyone.Until one day, he saw how she scolded his brother, slapped his sister-in-law in the face, and pushed his nephew into the pool.He couldn’t take it anymore and asked for a divorce but she rejected to his face.Then he heard the news that she obtained the shares of their company and was about to overturn his brother’s position.“How did she turn into a scheming wife?” he asked, not really expecting any answers.But he got a chance. He woke up to the day he got married.He thought it was his chance to get rid of the woman from his life. He would save his brother and his family from his ‘wife’. He will get a divorce from her.But…Why couldn’t he get rid of this wife at all?Had she been so scheming all her life? Clearly not.In this life, he started seeing her life the way he had not seen before. From her perspective, she had shed tears without him knowing.He realized that he had been a bad husband all along.Suddenly his life changed from trying to divorce her to changing her ‘fate’.Who would win in this battle?Her fate of becoming a scheming woman? Or his determination and … love?

In the year 2100 humanity was introduced to the revolutionary full dive VR game called 'Omega', however, the game was not a technology made by humans but one granted to humanity by a higher power to prepare them for the first awakening.

It was only a tutorial and a means to smoothly transition the primitive species from thinking that they were alone in the entire universe, to being integrated into the true wide universe.

When the average user level in the game exceeded the predetermined threshold the tutorial finally ended and planet earth underwent a catastrophic event called the 'First Awakening ', as mana started to flow freely in the real world as it did in the virtual world and the real universal stage game called 'Sigma' was unveiled.

'Sigma' was governed by the omnipotent A.I. the universal queen, and was the grand stage where races from all across the universe fought together for territory, resources, and honor.

Set in a universe where fantasy races such as elves, dragons, and vampires are not a myth but real power players, humans quickly found out that they were one of the weakest races to play 'Sigma'.

In such desperate times, humans turned to their best professional players for salvation.

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Max, was a genius in the world of Omega and deemed the hope of mankind after the first awakening. However, an accident crippled his mana veins and caused him to be assessed as a manaless trash in Sigma!

Deemed hopeless and irredeemable, he quickly went from hero to zero, and the world ignored him.

For ten years since the first awakening, he lived the life of a manaless trash and became a bottom feeder in society, slowly losing his pride, his possessions, and eventually his identity.

In the end, he faced a tragic and painful death while failing to save his young nephew and niece from assailants.

However, it was not the end of Max's story but just the beginning as he was reincarnated back in time to the day before the first awakening before his downfall started!

Armed with the knowledge of the future, watch as Max reaches for the apex in his second life and fights against his destiny with grit and tenacity.

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Cover edited by the very talented bird of paradise