The Bird and the Wyrm - Chapter 37: Cracks

Accidentally, Ye Xiaochen became new generation of Heavenly Farmer (Shen Nong), the treasure in the eyes of deities of three realms.

As his contract-marriage wife, she just wanted to fulfill the mission given by his mother—having a baby. They didn't love each other, so he always used contraception before they got laid. She had been obedient to him, only to find that he had gone too far! He actually didn't care about their child at all! She couldn't stand it anymore, so she handed him the divorce papers and left, noting: “The world is so huge that I can surely find a better man.”Looking down at her, he retorted, “Come on, your purse strings will tighten up first before you find anyone.”

Renji was nothing special. No wealth, no fame, no grand ambitions—just a 23-year-old gamer wasting his days in a cluttered apartment, escaping reality through the immersive world of Eternal Realms. In the game, he was powerful, respected, a leader—the elven king, commanding armies and shaping the fate of kingdoms. But outside the screen, he was just another nobody.That all changed the moment his world shattered.What started as a routine gaming session took a terrifying turn when his screen flickered, reality twisted, and an unnatural force yanked him from his chair. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his apartment anymore. He was in a world of towering forests and ancient magic. He was wearing regal robes, a golden crown resting atop his head. And before him stood four elven women, their expressions filled with reverence and concern.They called him King.Memories not his own flooded his mind—battles, alliances, the weight of a kingdom’s future resting on his shoulders. It wasn’t just a game anymore. This was real. And the fate of the elven race now depended on him.But Renji wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t a warrior. He was just a gamer who had no idea how to rule a kingdom, let alone survive in a world teetering on the brink of war.But Just as he was pondering on it a mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.