MTL - They Regretted it After Their Hearts Turned to Ashes - Chapter 78 backing

Ethan's head throbbed violently as he opened his eyes, his vision hazy and unfocused. A dull ringing filled his ears, drowning out his thoughts.“What’s happening…?” he thought, his mind sluggish, struggling to catch up with reality. One moment, he was asleep—or at least, he thought he was—and the next, searing pain forced him awake.His vision swam, shapes blurring together in a disorienting mess. But then, muffled noises filtered through the haze—frantic, panicked sounds. Someone was trying to scream, their voice smothered, choked by something.A cold shiver ran down his spine.As his sight gradually sharpened, Ethan's breath hitched.He was on all fours, looming over someone. A girl.Her body twisted and writhed beneath him, ropes biting into her wrists and ankles. Her mouth was gagged, muffling her cries. Her wide brown eyes, brimming with fear and fury, glared up at him.Ethan's body locked in place, his blood running cold.“What the…?” His mind reeled, thoughts slamming into each other in chaotic disarray. “What kind of bizarre dream is this?”Panic clawed at his chest. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps as he scrambled backward, only to realize his limbs felt sluggish, uncooperative, like they didn’t belong to him.“Is this… is this some kind of twisted fantasy I never knew I had?” A sickening thought slithered through his mind, making his stomach churn.The girl's frantic squirming slowed for a moment, her gaze flickering with confusion as she took in his expression—his trembling hands, his wide, horrified eyes. But the fear returned just as quickly. She struggled harder, her body arching, her muffled screams rising in pitch.Ethan wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but before he could force out a word, a glowing blue window materialized before his eyes.His breath caught.A translucent, hovering screen?“What…?”Lines of glowing text scrolled across its surface.---[System Activated…][Host Confirmed.][Simulating Previous Data…]Ethan awakens in a mysterious world, shackled by a curse that clouds his judgment and drives him toward choices he never wished to make. Burdened by guilt and responsibility, he must navigate the fallout of his actions while unraveling the truth behind the curse—and his place in this enigmatic new reality.

When she wandered the border of life and death at the age of three, Cordelia realized that she had been reincarnated into a game she had used to play as a high handed noble girl. A dark future would await her if she fell in love with the Prince. Therefore, for the sake of a normal life, there was no road but to avoid the powerful prince and the heroine…… But just doing that would be boring. She finally was blessed with a beautiful appearance so she resolved to polish herself, firstly by beginning to study herbology…… This is that kind of story.

In the Sky Sword Continent there are thousands of sects and strong cultivators as common as trees. In order to prevent his older sister from being forcefully married off, Lu Xuan had no choice to but to unceasingly cultivate and enter a sect to ask for a favor. By chance, a sword-shaped crystal of mysterious origins entered into Lu Xuan’s body, containing countless top-class martial skills, powerful martial arts, and everything you could wish for! A martial legend starts here…

- Description from Novelupdates

Within the popular VRMMORPG «New Genesis», there was a ranker by the name of Arthur Holmes, commonly known by his in-game alias «Merlin».