Sword Among Us - Chapter 54: Blue Figure in the Valley

Lao Chen was just an old, underpaid security guard in a rundown apartment complex, living a miserable life under a stingy, ungrateful boss.His wife left him, his daughter wanted nothing to do with him, and poverty was his only constant companion.In the end, death came in the form of a drunk driver, leaving him broken and forgotten on the cold pavement.But fate wasn’t done with him. In his final moments, he prayed—desperate, pleading to any deity who would listen.And someone did.The God of Wealth and Love took pity on his wasted life and granted him a second chance.Wake up again as Zhao Yiming, a 25-year-old gambler and alcoholic drowning in debt with nothing but a good face and a strong body to his name, he was given the Affinity Money Maker System—a mysterious power that let him gain wealth and influence by forming relationships, whether as lovers, friends, or even enemies.Before he knew it, he had stumbled his way into unimaginable riches.But things never go as planned. One moment of recklessness—one affair with the wrong woman—led to an unexpected murder.Now, the system has thrown him onto a new path: The Villain Route. With a negative perk that keeps the police off his trail but tightens the noose around his future, Zhao Yiming is faced with an impossible choice.Will he claw his way to the top and become the billionaire he was meant to be? Or will his second life end behind bars, just as tragic as his first?

Imagine a life where you have a home, a loving family, and loyal friends; where the days flow smoothly and brightly. This was the existence of twenty-two-year-old William Farrow from Pennsylvania. He was studying at university, dreaming of earning his diploma, finding a job that would provide a decent income, and continuing to live a simple, peaceful life.But then, one day, everything changed. Whether it was fate or a series of quiet coincidences—who can say? A trivial delay became the first domino in a chain reaction that thrust William into a world of mysteries, a string of murders, and dark supernatural phenomena. Since then, he has felt like a pawn in someone else's game, caught in a struggle against forces so powerful that he still struggles to find the words to describe them.And it gets even more intriguing. He discovered that the world is not as it seems. Do you believe in Bigfoot? William would have laughed too… until he encountered one in real life. Vampires? Ghosts? Demons? Name the creature—and William would simply shrug: “Yesterday, that thing tried to eat my neighbor.” As if that weren't enough, a heavier surprise awaited him: it seems he is not entirely human. Something foreign stirs beneath his skin, awakening in the dark, and the world responds to it with an unfamiliar echo.Now, all that remains is to learn the new rules and figure out how to navigate the world he has unexpectedly become a part of.

“I curse you to never die in peace!”

Thus, Shang Ke started a never-ending (forced) cycle of constantly throwing away his miserable life.

He would always show himself as a martyr while letting others cry over his death.

It was because of a woman’s curse that Shang Ke was hit by a car and turned into a human vegetable. This led to him becoming bound by an unlucky system in which he was cursed to die. The most unfortunate part was that he never cheated on anyone’s feelings. The reason for why he was cursed by a woman was because of a guy named Qi Chen. Qi Chen was a ladies man, and he would always use Shang Ke as an excuse to break up with any woman that he was with. As a result, Shang Ke was always blamed for the breakups. Since then, the main character could only be forced to cross into different worlds. He would thus experience for himself, the hero’s “thrill”.

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