The Grandmaster Strategist - Volume 6, Chapter 25: Sailing a Skiff

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.

Torn apart and eaten alive by zombies, Jiao Lizhi died filled with regret and hatred. As darkness engulfed her, she opened her eyes—only to find herself back at the beginning of the apocalypse. Crawling back from hell, she sought revenge and fought to live a better life.Watching his loved one torn to pieces before his eyes, he lost his sanity. To avenge her, he destroyed humanity’s last hope with his own hands. On the day the world was swallowed by darkness, he took his own life as the last man standing on Earth. When he opened his eyes again, he vowed never to lose her again!As the world turns into a living hell, will they be able to undo the regrets of their past lives?TRIGGER WARNING!Gore, Violence, Graphic scenes, Abuse.

Qu Mao, who hadn’t had time to cut his sister out of class and experience the degenerate university life, woke up and found that he had come to a strange and cruel new world, and it seemed that young people from all over the world came to this world together…

The world channel was full of shouts and curses. Except for a tattered lord’s order, everyone didn’t even have a whiteboard novice weapon at the beginning…

But Qu Mao is not worried or in a hurry, because he has a cheating system with him, and he just wants to save some cheating points. With cheating points, he has everything.

Who would want to cheat if they could win by cheating?

- Description from novelbuddy

As one of the first players to gain access to World of Falan—the first immersive game worldwide—Roland creates his character as a Mage.

However, playing as a Mage is not as fun and easy as he thought. His head even explodes after he casts the very first spell in the game.

Stubbornly sticking to his class when most Mages decide to create a new character, Roland gradually discovers tricks of the trade and his unusual talent. This allows him to change people’s stereotypes on Mages and to explore the deeply-buried secrets of this game…