thief of fate - Chapter 15: Recovery 1

(Warning Mature Content R-18)After a catastrophic plane crash, a group of college students find themselves marooned on a mysterious, uncharted island teeming with an ancient, aphrodisiacal energy. As they adapt to their new reality, the island's seductive influence heightens their libidos, awakening latent powers alongside primal urges of lust, envy, and avarice.Beneath the paradise-like facade, the island proves to be a manipulative prison, thriving on their deepest desires and fears. Survival hinges on more than just overcoming the island's perils; it demands they confront the beasts within, where every alliance is tested by temptation, and every passion could lead to their ultimate downfall.

“Su Jingzhen, you’re not young anymore, and your sister-in-law has come to ask you. Do you want a Dao Companion or not?”“Sister-in-law, who is it?”“I…”As a male cultivator, Su Jingzhen had always thought that he would live a peaceful life in the immortal world, but unexpectedly, he became the hardest whetstone to sharpen others.

Eric Maddox, a 70-year-old American retired football coach once hailed for his tactical brilliance, now forgotten by time—closes his eyes for what he believes is a normal nap in his quiet Florida retirement home.But when he opens them, he's not staring at ceiling tiles, instead, he's on a touchline.Wearing boots in the rain.With players running on the pitch, fans jeering behind barriers, and the smell of cheap turf pellets in the air.“What the hell is this?”He’s twenty-five again, but it’s not Earth. It’s a world where football reigns supreme. A world where the sport is religion, its practitioners, deities in cleats. Coaches are revered, players are worshipped, and even the kit man gets treated like royalty.But there's one catch: none of it is familiar. The clubs, the players, the leagues, the competitions, and even the currency—they're all different. Alien. Like waking up in a dream where the rules are the same, but the language is foreign.As if that wasn’t enough, the body he’s now in? A youth coach with a laughable win record, a looming divorce, and a measly fifty thousand in the bank that his ex-wife is fighting tooth and nail to take. All of it.Just when the spiral seems inevitable, a monotone chime pierces the noise.[Initiating Golden Finger…][…45%… 75%… 100%][System Integration Complete.][Welcome, host. You are now bound to the Pro Manager System. Objective: Dominate the Football World. A new era begins]From washed-up has-been to chosen one of destiny, Eric Maddox is about to trade arthritis pills for tactical boards, and shuffleboard for Prestigious Cup glory.Because in this world, tactics are power.And on this touchline, he’s about to become a god.

The Xie Family all studied law, possessing the fine qualities expected of a scholarly family. Xie Shang too had them: elegance, deep learning, a Fragrance Connoisseur versed in classics, also skilled in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.But he was mad, capable of reciting the scriptures while holding a Buddha statue, as well as breaking people's hand and foot bones, very gentle, yet very cruel.Xie Shang didn't become a lawyer but opened a pawnshop instead, where you could pawn anything as long as the story was compelling.One day, someone came to the pawnshop and told a story:In Fragrant City, there was a family with the surname Wen, where daughters took their mother's surname. The daughters of that family could cast spells, the kind that bewitched men, leaving their lovers either buried with them or taking vows of celibacy; in short, either dead or destined for a lonely life.Xie Shang's uncle had died in Fragrant City, which is why he accepted this particular pawning business.Bewitched, confused, thrilled, deeply in love, but love unattained, and a pain so intense it made life unbearable. — This was the script Xie Shang had prepared for the deaf boy Wen Changling.In the end, it was Xie Shang who ended up with this romance-addled script.Wen Changling: Are you surprised, Mr. Xie Shang?(This isn't a book transmigration story, it's a contemporary sweet romance. The 'script' in the book title implies deliberate plotting.)