The Bookkeeper - Chapter 7: Assassin

[Mature Content]
'He was sin. A sin she was not supposed to commit to.'
—

The body of a mermaid is a vault of treasures. Their tears formed the most splendid of pearls, their exquisite blood a euphoric drug for vampires, their luscious hair woven into the finest of silk, and their tender meat sought after by werewolves more than Heaven’s ambrosia.

The creatures of night mingled within human society, fleeced in the wool of aristocracy, veiled in their portrayed innocence and nobility, their savagery continued to predate on the weak and powerless.

Genevieve Barlow, Eve for short, was an exceptionally strange young lady. She had an alluring and beguiling nature, where for her twenty-four year old self had barely changed in appearance since her eighteenth birthday. She had fooled the administration and had gotten a degree so that she could have a better life.

Most odd of all was that Eve had a secret she shared with no one.

She enters the house of Moriarty, not just to earn but also to find answers on what happened to her mother nearly two decades ago.

Unfortunately, things do not always proceed as one planned. Despite her cautious nature and desire to stay out of sight, a cold pair of eyes falls on her, that soon refuses to leave her out of sight.

Jiang Chen, son of the Heavenly Emperor, unexpectedly reincarnated into the body of a despised young noble, thus embarking on the path of the underdog trouncing all commoners. No one has the right to call himself a genius in front of Jiang Chen, as no one has a better understanding of the heavens than the son of the Heavenly Emperor. “Genius? He who adheres to me shall ascend. Those who oppose me can find solace in hell!’

The rule had always been this way: the strong over the weak, the rich over the poor. Mark knew this, he'd even experienced it.After his boss fired him for discovering the affair with his girlfriend (who also worked at their small gaming company), Mark vowed never to be humiliated like that again. He wanted to rise above everyone, to become the world's top player, the one who made the rules and decided everyone's fate. But that was wishful thinking. He was just a heavyset, nerdy guy with some programming skills and a large appetite. What else did he have going for him?Hit hard by this reality, jobless and dumped, Mark withdrew into gaming, which also became his source of income. One day, after leaving a bad review for a game he played and streamed, he received a strange reply from the game's creator. Suddenly, Mark found himself transported to Aetherium, the world of that same game, as Magnus Lancaster, the young lord of a crumbling territory.Now, with this new beginning, he vowed never to be weak again, never to leave his fate in someone else's hands.

-- WSA 2025 Entry --“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.[Updating home-world 39515’s version][Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode][Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?][Yes] [No]“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…