My Beautiful Mother Like Smoke, The World's Richest Person - Chapter 44 - 45

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?

Within the dream of the dreamer, the one who was dreamed of awoke.

… Borges

“I exist in the sunlight, the wind, between the heavens and the earth, and also in dreams.”

One night, Yu Hao, a college student who was at his wits’ end had an unexpected encounter with a mysterious visitor – “General” – who had dream travelled. He led Yu Hao in solving the countless riddles that abounded in the realm of the conscious, and lit up the fire beacons on the meandering Great Wall.

Thereafter, the darkness retreated, the sun rose, and when the long night was thoroughly lit up, the him who existed in reality was reborn.

The black dragon that roared, the lighthouse and demonic eye on the coastline, the rain forest before Chichén Itzá, the fierce beasts that wreaked havoc in the Colosseum…the bizarre projection of reality in one’s consciousness reflected the hidden place that the sunlight in reality couldn’t touch – the innumerable sins of the human heart.

The journey of seizing dreams continues, and one can only hope that the sun will continue illuminating the human heart.

…

Fire beacons on the Great Wall were lit up to signal a border invasion.

- Description from Novelupdates

Ava’s marriage was nothing like she had anticipated. Despite being married to the man she loved, she had endured nothing but humiliation and misery from her husband for the past five years.She put up with everything in the hopes of one day carving out a space in his heart. But her husband ultimately drove her to the breaking point when he handed her the divorce papers on their fifth anniversary, claiming that he loved someone else. He had taken all her family assets her father had left for her.The shocking truth that the man she had been in love with for ten years had caused her father’s death was the blow Ava couldn’t take it.Devastated, Ava didn’t want to give birth to his child in her womb.------“I loved you with all my heart and gave you everything, but you ruined me and my family, Dylan Brooks. I won’t give you this baby. This baby belongs to me and will go with me to the grave. A cruel man like you don’t deserve to be a father,” Ava said as she slit her wrist.“I regret loving you, Dylan. I wish I’ll never see you again in my next life.” These were her last words before she drifted into the lap of death.-------She thought this was the end of her life. But fate had other plans. She woke up in the past, four years ago, on the day of their first wedding anniversary.Since she was given another chance to rectify her mistakes, she vowed to protect her father and the family business. She resolved to cut all ties with her ruthless husband.But wait! Why did Dylan act so possessive and caring? Why did he declare she was the only one he wanted as his wife?Should she believe him and give him another chance? Or should she take revenge on him for what he did in her past life?--------“Please, Ava…come back to me,” Dylan pleaded with Ava on his knees. “I’m ready to atone my mistakes. I’ll do everything to make you happy. Just don’t leave me, okay? Tell me, what can I do to get your forgiveness?”Ava stared coldly at the man who had ruined her in her previous life. “Do you want my forgiveness? Then hand over everything to me, Dylan. I want you to feel the same agony I did.”

“You must take her place... Just tonight!”****Aria Thorne is an Omega—lowest in the pack and lowest in her own home. Abused by her mother, hated by her twin sister Celeste, and treated like nothing more than a burden, Aria’s life has been nothing but pain and survival. But everything changes the day the Alpha’s royal guard arrives with a scroll in hand and a single, shocking message: the new Luna must come from Aria’s family… and she must be a virgin.Celeste can’t qualify. Aria does. But instead of celebrating her fate, Aria is forced to impersonate her sister in a cruel scheme—just to save her own skin and earn a sliver of love from the mother who blames her for the death of an unborn child. Dressed in her sister’s skin, Aria is sent to marry a powerful Alpha she’s never met. But what happens when the Alpha senses something’s off... and ends up claiming the wrong Luna?What starts as a lie soon sparks something deeper. A connection. A bond. A war.Can Aria survive in a world built to break her? Will the Alpha protect her once the truth comes out—or destroy her like everyone else ever has?