Merchant Crab - Chapter 134: Burdens

The Great Norther Wall. The Dragon Knights. The Lords of the Winter Mountains. The Descendants of the Primordial Dragon. These are the various titles of the Grand Ducal Clan Ragnar, which boasted a rich, thousand year history. Theo Ragnar resolved himself to aiming for the throne of that very same clan. ‘These cursed chains weren’t something I could slip out of. They were meant to be broken with strength.’

Shao Xuan joins a friend in his expedition to a recently discovered archaeological cave. After he picks up an ordinary looking stone he is teleported to a different world and wakes up in the body of a small orphan child. The world he is in now is still in its stone age with primitive tools made of stone and the ways of the people are savage. Savage isn’t the only thing special about the people though, because they have superhuman strength, jump higher than trees and punch stones. In short, they are able to cultivate their bodies. Despite all this, it is a real struggle to survive because of the scarcity of food. Together with Caesar, his pet wolf, he tries to survive in this cruel world.

Tenjou Yuuya has been a bullied boy since the past.He lives in the home of his beloved grandfather while he goes to school. As usual, he receives a harsh bullying, and he takes an extended absence from school to have some time to heal his wounds.While on this long time of absence, he takes the opportunity to clean his grandfather’s house and goes to a room he never went before, where his grandfather keep many different objects that he gathered from his travels around the world. While he was arranging the objects, he found a door not on a wall among the objects.Out of curiosity he opens this door, what he found on the other side was…

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.