Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 1077: Enemy(4)

Some exist with pride, others struggle with pride, some compete with pride, and there are those who fail with pride, but very few can walk away with pride.Congratulations, for as you read these lines, you have witnessed the whole lives of many great basketball players.This pronunciation was embodied when Stephen Curry, after facing defeat in 2021, claimed that no one would want to face them the following season; When Tim Duncan was convinced before the start of the 2014 Finals that they would not mess up; When Kobe Bryant promised at Old Buss's memorial to take the Lakers to the playoffs; When Nowitzki, shedding his label as a soft player, retreated to the locker room in tears at night; When Kevin Garnett let out a skyward howl after holding the championship trophy; When the 2004 Detroit Pistons won and the F4 Lakers lost…Our story begins in an era when pride still mattered.

Derek Carter never asked for a System, an apocalypse, or the pressure of being humanity’s so-called “last hope.”He was just trying to survive the daily struggles of being an orphan in Paleview City—dodging bullies, scraping together meals, and lying his way into school. Life was already hard enough.Then, one day, a blue screen pops into his vision:[Warning: The world is doomed. Try not to die.]Yeah, great. Just what he needed—cryptic doomsday messages and no instruction manual.Now, monsters are creeping into the city, reality is unraveling, and Damien’s “legendary” starting stats are barely above zero. The System promises him power, but there's just one tiny problem—he’s never won a fight in his life.Armed with sarcasm, questionable decision-making skills, and the sheer refusal to die, Damien is about to embark on the worst (and possibly last) adventure of his life. Because if the world really is ending… he’s at least going to make it someone else’s problem first.After all, heroes are overrated—survivors get to tell the story.

There were three rules to working for CEO Karsten Chevalier.First, bring his coffee brimming hot and black like a starless night.Second, park your attitude outside his office door—his broody demeanour has the room covered.Third, never say ‘No’ to whatever he demands. Not even when he asks you to become his fake girlfriend?(Synopsis)Arata's fiance dumped her through a text on the day of their engagement party. The reason? She is too curvy for his taste!He only entertained her because of her prestigious family name.“Do you think men want a fatso like you? You're nothing without your family's name!”A heartbroken Arata sets out on a journey to discover herself without revealing she is the daughter of a billionaire. She moves to another city, away from her beloved family.‘How dare he insult me? I love my curves and I will show him.’ Arata is not a damsel; her parents have raised her strong, and now it is time to become independent.Her heart is ablaze with newfound goals.One: to see how people will treat her if she acts like an ordinary girl and hides her identity.Two: to bag a bigger fish than her stinking—joke of an ex-fiancé.She will prove that a man will genuinely love her irrespective of her curves and surname!Arata's new life begins as the secretary of Karsten Chevalier, the CEO of a multinational clothing brand who is renowned for his dashing personality and enigmatic persona. Not much is publicly known about this man.Doused in mystery, the man has his own goals and hidden agenda which will topple Arata's world.Unfortunately, Karsten's handsome face becomes a punching bag in Arata's mind because of his ruthlessly demanding personality and ego larger than Mount Everest.Arata eases her frustrations by going to meet Twisted Rider, the currently popular yet mysterious, masked internet sensation.Both tangle under the sheets and he becomes her safe space as she complains and opens up about her boss.“Will you act as my girlfriend?”Karsten's proposal to become a fake girlfriend for his family events surprised Arata!How will Arata juggle the piling demands of her boss, her own heartbreak and the seduction traps of the masked man she loves to watch in her spare time?Will sparks fly between Arata and her colder-than-Arctic ice boss? Or, will she continue to complain to the masked man that her boss probably has a small PP?This is my entry for WSA 2025, please support it with your power stones.The book is a sequel to my previous novel “The CEO of My Dreams Returned To Me.” But it can read as standalone.A special thanks to Author Hansora for the overwhelming support and encouraging me to publish this book and helping me with the book cover.Want to chat or have any questions regarding the book? Find me on Instagram, Facebook and Discord with the same name.

Soma, a college student and also an orphan, who is on his way back after finishing his part-time job, plus his college in the morning, made his life feel monotonous. Still, of course, he didn't have any complaints about the situation he is currently in.To distracted his exhausted body and mind, Soma always finding some times to enjoy the web novels.As a person who likes to immerse himself in the world of novels to find some enjoyment, every day at night, he always reads a web novel he has read for years, and it is called Chronicles Saga.***Chronicles Saga is one of the many web novels that were serialized years ago, and it's already nearing its end game with a couple of final chapters.The story was depicted in an alternate Earth where Magic, Dungeons, Sword, and System exist.It tells the story of a young man who holds high justice in his heart named Leon, who has been chosen as a savior trying to save the world from the incoming disaster in the future by the great Demon Lord.***Then, an unimaginable thing happened to Soma when he suddenly got transmigrated inside the story he read for years. Not as a protagonist who led the story or a Villain but as a 'Side Character'.Soma was transmigrated inside the body of a young man with the same name.To make things much worse, he is being transmigrated into one of the crucial scenes, which becomes a turning point for one of his favorite Heroines in the novel.Then, one thing led to another as Soma was thrown into multiple events. He discovered that the boy named Soma had an unexpected mysterious background and past coming from a ‘Side Character’ who had no role in the main stories.Follow Soma’s story inside the novel world he transferred into as a Side character that will overthrow the story and the world, with his reliable comrades.