A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special (WN) - Chapter 234: A Subsurface War (11)

The world had started doomsday, and I struggled for a year, before I died under an enchanted beast’s claw. Heaven has given me another chance, back a day before the end happen. Will I be able to change my fate, and that of my loved ones? Now, I will start my journey on becoming the strongest on the planet that the Gods have changed into a game world.

- Description from Novelupdates

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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Dear readers! Without any ads, maybe you will prefer .

The war between justice and evil has lasted for thousands of years.

The evil alliance headed by the five-color dragon is retreating steadily in the war against humans.

The old continent has been lost, and the five-colored dragons have retreated to the new continent to survive. The human side has won a great victory. At the point of the long sword, the evil race is defeated and defeated.

Plains, mountains, seas, ice fields, underground, deserts, plateaus, forests, all the places in the world that can stand, there are human beings everywhere.

Even swamps, a world where human beings cannot live at all, are decreasing day by day under the persistent policy of human beings to fill in swamps and reclaim land.

In this moment of despair.

In the dark swamp, three dragon eggs left behind by a certain female black dragon in order to escape slowly hatched.

…

Ace wakes up from the darkness and learns that he is about to face a dire situation for the entire human world.

Rack your brains to survive.

Rainforest grafting, swamp planting, absolute militarization, exhausting all methods to farm desperately to improve combat effectiveness.

In the face of the enemy, you can’t be soft, your genes are deteriorating, your will is weakened, and you can eat away at every step.

Hundreds of years later, the black wings covering the sky enveloped the world, and tens of millions of dark legions rushed towards the human world like a tide.

With a population of tens of millions and three million soldiers, the empire is left with only a dying force, which is overwhelmed by the tide-like army of monsters.

The millennium-old empire collapsed, the sculptures of heroes turned into dust, and the magnificent temple was burned.

Among the ruins, the world crowned Ace.

Readership (anyone can apply)

828633016

- Description from novelbuddy

After his parents died, Alex Roth had a plan: become a wizard. Through hard work, he was accepted into the world’s greatest university of wizardry—but fate had another plan.

On his eighteenth, he is marked as one of his kingdom’s five Heroes, chosen to fight the land’s great enemy. But his brand is 'The Fool', worst of the marks.

Rather than die or serve the other Heroes like Fools in the past, he packs up his little sister, his childhood friend and her cerberus, then flees for the university in hope of refuge, magic and to unravel the truth about his land’s evil.

There’s one small problem: The Mark tries to ruin magic while enhancing skills outside of divinity, combat and spellcraft.…

…that is, unless he can learn to exploit the hell out of it.