Unsheathed - Chapter 4: Oriole

It’s 2100, and Vincent Carter – Ying – is a twenty-year-old virgin with a penchant for profanity, he has but three guiding principles:“In a world where honour and valour seem like unaffordable luxuries, cowardice remains the pragmatist’s ultimate virtue. Spinelessness isn’t shameful, it’s simply self-preservative romance.”“Doubt is unironically the cheapest superpower a person can have, after all if it’s human, it’s probably plotting something. And if it’s plotting something, it’s probably hiding something. And if it’s hiding something… well, you get the idea. So question everything, one sceptical step at a time.”And lastly,“Muscle heads – because who needs brains when you can just flex your way through life? Couldn’t be me, I’ll tell you that much.”Armed with nothing but these… questionable (?) values, as well as experiences shaped by a hellish life in the slums, Ying dives headfirst into the latest VR sensation – Cultivation Climax, a world brimming with great magic, ancient mysteries, and blood-curdling conspiracies just waiting to be unravelled.However, because Ying’s life is just that kind of special, he is greeted with a rather ‘lovely’ surprise upon opening his eyes to the new world…Ding![Your misfortune is truly astounding!][You have awakened the absolute WORST talent for Cultivation!]‘…’“…W-what?!”Yes, what indeed.

“Your Highness, there’s something I’d really like for my birthday.”

“What is it?”

“Will you promise to listen?”

Then the man blatantly laughed.

But who would point out his arrogance – a young Northern Duke who’s not even afraid of the Emperor? He could even get a throne if he wished for it.

But it was just a sweet lover’s birthday wish.

“Alright. I swear.”

So, Juliet spoke lightly,

“Please break up with me. I don’t love you anymore.”

A fiance just for show. A succession of meaningless nights.

Now is the time to end seven years of unrequited love.

Hao Ren was born in another world and has lived for over twenty-two years being nothing but a definition of the word, average. After a high school reunion, the young man sat down on the beach shore, and mumbled to the sky, “God of Novels, you are unfair. I spent forty years of my life doing nothing but reading books and stories written by others. I worked hard to manifest this rebirth, and yet you did not bless me with anything. Why?”A voice echoed in his mind, “Host, you have the Omnipotent Husband System.”Hao Ren scoffed and scolded the system, “What is the use of having you when you are not even active? Are you shitting with me, you bastard?!”The system replied, “Host the condition for activating the system is to get married.”Hao Ren could not handle it anymore and cried out loud as he complained about this condition. He was not good-looking, and neither was he wealthy, who was going to marry him?Tired, he spent the on the beach. When he was returning home, he passed by the marriage registering center. He sighed for his fate but suddenly, a beautiful lady asked him, “Hey, do you have any identity card on you?”Hao Ren nodded in a daze, and the lady dragged him inside the office. The young man was yet to register what happened to him when an automated voice sounded, “Host, congratulations on getting married. Omnipotent Husband System is now activated.”...Years later, Hao Ren became an entity many people wished to meet. However, Hao Ren never stayed outside, to everything he had one reply, “I have to go home and cook for my wife.”Would you like to know his journey from an average to an over-achieving person standing at the apex of power and prestige?

In a world where power is dictated by gangs, cities, and families ranked from Tier 1 to Tier 6, only the strongest survive. In the Tier 4 city of Blackridge, fifteen-year-old Elijah struggles to find his place. With his mother working tirelessly and his younger sister depending on him, he has always kept his head down.Determined to rise above the chaos, Elijah and his best friend Kai decide to create their own gang from nothing. But strength in this world isn’t given—it’s taken. The gangs that rule Blackridge won’t tolerate competition, and even the weakest gang has more resources, manpower, and experience than they do. With no money, no reputation, and no clear allies, they must navigate a brutal world of betrayals, violence, and ambition, where every decision could mean life or death.But Elijah is different. He possesses a mysterious system that offers him power—at a cost. As he slowly uncovers its secrets, he realizes that survival is not enough. To protect those he loves, he must become stronger than anyone else. He must climb the ranks, crush the opposition, and seize control of Blackridge’s underworld.But in a world ruled by kings, warlords, and ancient families, the price of power is steep. And when the past comes back to haunt him—when whispers of a forgotten night resurface—Elijah must confront not only his enemies but the truth about himself.In the gang world, the strong rise, the weak perish, and only the ruthless reign supreme.And Elijah? He plans to reign at the very top