Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 990: Developments(5)

Intellectual Villages are old fashioned rural villages recreated with cutting edge technology. Those villages attract the Japanese monsters known as Youkai.

The high school boy Jinnai Shinobu lives in one of those villages and has a Zashiki Warashi living in his house. He tends to run across Youkai with unnerving frequency and this often leads to trouble for him.

After waking up in the world of ancient Greek mythology, I became a stunningly beautiful young shepherd boy named Eros.Life was carefree, there was always enough to eat and wear, but it was, well... painfully lonely.Until one day, I met her by the river.A girl whose beauty and personality both struck straight into my heart like lightning.We fell in love instantly, sparks flying between us.Then came the twist.After one steamy encounter, the sky suddenly darkened.A majestic figure appeared before me, none other than the Queen of the Gods, Hera herself.“Who are you?” I asked in shock.But the girl in my arms answered before I could finish.“She is Queen Hera,” she said with a mysterious smile.I was stunned. My mind raced.“Then who are you?” I asked nervously.“Are you Hebe, the Goddess of Youth? Or some other goddess?”She shook her head.“No,” she said softly. Her lips curved into a teasing grin.“I’m Zeus, the King of the Gods. So... wanna be my (XXXX)?”***This is a translation all credits to the author***Book cover not mineNote:Some readers might feel that “genderbending” contradicts the mythological setting, so here’s my explanation:First of all, Zeus has always been fluid in gender representation as were many of the early Greek deities.Also, the protagonist’s name isn’t random.Eros, the original primordial god of love symbolized the raw force of love and desire that brought life into being. Before Eros existed, the gods reproduced asexually, without love or union.So in this story, we’re following a timeline where Eros was never born, and Gaia modeled Uranus on herself instead.This is that alternate world.

One day, two forum posts titled “I Seem Unsuited for Dating” appeared on Promontory Forum’s Feelings board nearly at the same time.

User A: 「I have a severe case of mysophobia and possessiveness. I cannot accept it if my girlfriend has had relationship experience. I went to see a psychiatrist, but I haven’t improved. I might truly be unsuited for dating.」

User B: 「I think I might be unsuited for dating. I very much enjoy the ambiguous phase of sounding out each other’s feelings, but after becoming official, if they want to hug me, or perhaps kiss me, I will immediately feel nauseous.」

Internet User: 「I beseech that the two of you be together. Don’t go and harm anyone else.」

- Description from Novelupdates

Rhian Locke only wanted strength.To face the monster that slaughtered his parents while he watched, helpless.“I never asked to be your savior. So why should I care?”All he hoped for was to reach a decent rank, hunt that beast down, maybe become a monster hunter, and retire in peace.“I’m not a slave to the gods. I don’t exist to do their bidding.”But the world had made its decision long before he was born.“Patterns are meant to be broken.”------“Boy, I’ve bathed in the blood of your kind. I’ve crushed those stronger than you.”Lightning cracked across the sky. A hammer flew to the hand of a god.“I won’t let a deceiver’s spawn and a whore’s bastard son, stand before me and declare my end.”Rhian stepped forward, blood trailing from his mouth, eyes locked.“I’m not here to declare your end,” he said coldly. “I’m here to fulfill it.”....