Another Cliché Cultivation Story - Chapter 27

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.

Have you heard of it?In the dead of night, if you turn on a music player, put on earphones, hide under the blanket, and listen to a single on loop…After it loops forty-four times, you will fall asleep. If you are unlucky when you open your eyes again, you will no longer be lying on your bed, but you will enter a strange space completely isolated from reality.That space… On the surface, it looks like the places we usually see—your bedroom, living room, underground parking garage, bathroom, basketball court, construction site, and so on. But if you observe carefully, you will discover that they are different… Everything is different.***This is the experience of an ordinary person who, after acquiring superpowers, transforms and grows step by step in Dead Ends to reach the peak.

Young and skilled warrior Jincheon finds himself at the heart of chaos when his hometown is suddenly attacked. Amid brutal and deadly battles, he faces an impossible choice – life or death.Surrounded by the flashing, glowing swords of his bodyguards and the shadows of the attackers, Jincheon desperately searches for an escape, only to realize that in this world, there are no easy answers. As he tries to flee through the kitchen of a small, strange, and unusually dark inn, he discovers an even greater danger: the exit is hidden, and the only way out is through a dirty, old drain.But his path is not so simple. Along the way, he encounters a mysterious man whose intentions remain unclear, but who seems to know exactly how to help Jincheon. With time running out and death looming ever closer, Jincheon must decide whether to trust this stranger or face even greater dangers alone.How far is he willing to go to survive? And who will turn out to be an ally, and who an enemy, when every step is a battle between life and death?