MTL - After Hitting 200 Million - Chapter 20 Xiaocheng is off

The most successful businessman of his time, who started from being a homeless orphan, died indignantly because of being plotted against by his most trusted aid, his own brother.

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

Ethan Carter never thought much about heroism—until the night he pushed a girl out of the way of a speeding truck and felt cold steel and shattering bones instead of pavement. He expected to die. Instead, he woke up in a hospital, completely healed, with a strange blue screen floating in front of him.[System Activated.][Welcome, User. Your journey begins now.]At first, he thinks he's hallucinating. But when his body starts changing—his strength skyrocketing, his reflexes sharpening—Ethan realizes this is real. The System grants him quests, skills, and rewards, pushing him to break human limits. And yet, there’s more. Locked away in his interface is something called *World Travel*—but it remains inaccessible, its conditions unknown.As he grows stronger, Ethan catches the attention of powerful forces—some eager to recruit him, others determined to stop him. And amidst the chaos, women drawn to his power and charisma begin to enter his life, each with their own mysteries.But one question haunts him: *Why was I chosen?*The answer lies beyond this world. And when the time comes, Ethan won’t just step into new worlds—he’ll conquer them.

Linky transmigrated to the Magical Land and became the third young master of a noble family. Just when he thought it was time for him to enjoy a life of luxury.

He was sent out for the family’s tribulation, and had to set off to the “Land of Death”

— Black Wind Castle! Here, dark elves, frenzied orcs, and blood-thirsty dragons were regular occurrences! Everyone thought that Linky would surely die, and had even prepared to collect his body.

But just then, Linky awakened the [Super Gourmet System]. As such, things changed.

The Elf Queen loved his fruit salad, while the Orc Saint couldn’t get enough of his grilled steak. The Sorcerer of the Holy Palace couldn’t live a day without the “Linky Brand” whiskey.

Even the Vampire Prince Nikolas would sacrifice anything to get a long-term order of Linky’s fresh blood coffee.

Until one day, when a gargantuan dragon that blocked out the skies came to his door…