Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse - Chapter 72: Suit-up!

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

Ethan possessed everything one could desire, wealth, happiness, luxury cars, and a loving girlfriend.He had never fought a day in his life, but then suddenly, he woke up in a different world.A world were destruction and bloodshed was the norm. A world where the weak had no place to survive.Ethan now possessing the body of a boy who had failed his awakening twice and was on his last try, now stood in this world.Can Ethan who never fought a day in his life survive in a world where battles and death occurs every second, minute, hour and day.Would he rise through the ashes of the world, or would he burn with it.

A broken man who ended his own life finds himself reincarnated into the game he used to play. However, instead of becoming the protagonist or a powerful antagonist, fate places him in the role of a minor villain—a mere stepping stone for the protagonist in the game's first arc.

Nicholas Marjan, known as Niels, was an Asian football-obsessed loner in the modern world. A master of FIFA Career Mode, addicted to YouTube tactics videos, and followed every twist of the transfer window like it was life or death, he lived the beautiful game from behind a screen.Until the day he died.And woke up in the late 2000s, in the body of a once-promising young player at a lower-league English club. A player whose career had been cut short by a brutal ACL injury. With his playing career over before it could truly begin, his second life offers no glory on the pitch.But Niels still has one weapon: his mind.Armed with future knowledge of football's evolution, and guided by a mysterious, almost cheat-like instinct for scouting raw talent, Niels steps into the world of coaching. As an assistant at a struggling lower-league club, he begins to reshape the team from within challenging outdated tactics, unearthing hidden gems, and reigniting hope in the dressing room.His methods are unorthodox. His instincts, uncanny. And soon, whispers about the “young coach with a gift” begin to spread.This isn’t the story of a player chasing glory. It’s about someone reborn to change the game from the sidelines. From forgotten training grounds to Europe’s biggest stages, Niels is on a mission,not just to win, but to rewrite what it means to lead.He once dreamed of lifting trophies as a player.Now, he'll do it as a coach.