The CEO Who Hates Me - Chapter 1: Her Best Shot

Kai is a broke streamer with nothing left to lose, except his dying sister.When Ascension Online, the most realistic VR game ever created, launches, he dives in to survive. Views mean money. Money means treatment. Treatment means hope.But during his very first broadcast, something impossible happens.A system awakens.Not part of the game.Not part of the code.A system that rewards influence, impact… and domination.> [Milestone Achieved: First Viral Stream][Reward Granted: SSS-Ranked Skill]The stronger his legend grows online, the stronger he becomes in-game.Then the changes begin to follow him offline.And Kai realizes the terrifying truth,Ascension Online was never just a game.It was a selection.

[WSA 2025 ENTRY]“What is this for??”Draven, a Pentagon champion, searches for a real challenge that will test his true strength. However, all his opponents bore him.Then, without warning, he's thrown into a magical world. Here, everything your power, status, and even your worth depends on the color of your Status System I.D.His given goal? Protect the Verdant and lift the curse using his skill, the Veilbreaker.Sounds easy for the likes of him?Think again.Verdants are cursed worse than commoners who have not even the slightest ability!He will bleed every time he lifts a curse!And he has to face beasts, monsters, high-breed animals, higher I.D.s and even gods![You unsealed Naisha skill: Stealth][You obtain Stealth skill.]Challenge accepted!

The Coinbound System lets him buy spells, skills, and stat boosts like a magical vending machine...But nothing comes free.Every fireball costs gold.Every body enhancement? Taxed.Even getting a suggestion comes with a convenience fee.While nobles train for years to master a single flame spell, he can just buy it off the System. From summoning spirit beasts to crafting forbidden runes, his power grows with every coin he scrapes together… and every unnecessary expense he dodges.But in a world where magic is passed down through noble bloodlines and ancient family grimoires, a broke outsider with a price tag on every spell has no business rising through the ranks.Still, he’s surviving. Thriving, even.So long as he tracks every copper and refuses to overspend on fireballs, he just might make it out alive.They call him cheap.They call him stingy.But one day… they’ll all remember the name:The Frugal Mage.

The Republic of San Magnolia.