The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm - Chapter 76 - Dine ‘n’ Dash

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.

Sophia was adopted when she was a kid, a dream come true for orphans. However Her life was anything but happy, her fiance whom she harbored intense love for 10 years cruelly exploited her and used her as a prawn to lure a deranged murderer targeting his lover.It is a horrible thing for your loved one to betray you, especially in a tragic manner. It seemed she was spurred by the complete despair over having nothing and no one to live for. Therefore, she surrendered without a fight. However, after her death.One would not expect a woman like Sophia, someone small as a caterpillar or even a dung beetle to be reborn, But here she is—perhaps she might have saved a kingdom in another life, or maybe God pitied her. She finds herself reincarnated as a timid and obedient wife of a billionaire.Sophia decides she wants revenge that could ruin her fiance and lover's life.And the only way to do that was to get pregnant with her billionaire husband's child!Dexter Black was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family, their marriage was nothing but a benefit for the two families. He could choose anyone to be his bride but the moment he laid his eyes on her,he knew she was the one he wanted. Dexter knows that there is something mysterious going on around her. She got a mystifying background. But he doesn't care about who she was in the past and why they keep attacking her. All he can think of is loving her, cherishing her, locking her up so that she will never return to her past. Because he knows that he won't be able to live a moment away from her.Would their marriage be a romantic tale or utter disaster?~ Except~“Wait, let me get this straight,” she says, her voice rising.“You want me to get pregnant?”Alexander's face remains impassive. “They, yeah.”Sophia stares at him, searching for signs of a head injury or a hidden camera crew. Finding neither, she decides this must be his twisted form of play.“You're going crazy,” she announces, grabbing her things. “I'm leaving.”She's halfway to the door when his words stop her cold.“It's either you get pregnant, or they won't allow you to leave until you are,” Alexander says calmly.She pauses to process his words.

After a night, surprisingly I acquired a husband!

Well, the fact is that after a one-night stand, I unwittingly signed a marriage agreement.

There isn’t a bad in-law relationship but instead a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law alliance.

The purpose of our alliance: Make my husband interested in women!

Frankly speaking, a man who isn’t interested in a woman … is he gay? Having a husband who is suspected to be a gay, I will fight for him and not let him go astray.

So I raise my eyebrows and with a wicked smile: My dear husband, wait and see how I am going to teach you to be a real man!

- Description from Novelupdates

After finding himself a poor man in a world of Cultivation, Magic, and infinite possibilities, William has to do everything in his power to survive. But with the knowledge of modern books, movies, and a System granting the ability to upgrade his talents, William is prepared for anything! Or...is he?Follow William, his Potential System, and his chaotic character as he improves his strength from Peasant to Primordial Being!Don't worry, he won't cause too much chaos...right?