Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch - Chapter 424 - 408: Mom, she’s cheating!

Perhaps the paintings in a museum are subjected to more nonsense than you would hear anywhere else in the world.The language that comes out of an artist’s life is the painting itself. It contains the most ordinary lives that know failure, desire, recoiling in fear, and compromise.Learning is about understanding that language. We miss much of what the paintings speak because there is no way to ask the long-dead painters about the philosophy of their lives.In an alleyway in the residential area of Jongno, there’s a peculiar art gallery. This place enables us to transcend such limitations. By sheer coincidence, I ended up visiting that place and began living an entirely different life.

Xiao Shan is a famously profligate prince, the kind that makes his emperor father angry just by being seen. Xiao Shan’s greatest wish in life is to be a salted fish who lives without any worldly strife, until his father bestows upon him Xie Zhui, a ger who has been mixing with men, to be his bride. Xie Zhui took his brother’s place in the army at fourteen, achieved great merits by successfully defending against enemies outside the northern border city at sixteen, and was discovered to be a ger after being seriously injured at eighteen. After returning to the capital, the emperor pardoned Xie Zhui’s crime of deceiving the monarch and bestowed him to Xiao Shan as his rightful spouse. Everyone says that Xiao Shan has married a ger who came out of a pile of men, with a vast grassland above his head. They think about how much the emperor must dislike Xiao Shan to have given him such a troublesome marriage.

Elias “Grim” Kingsley, a nine-year-old orphan with a hardened heart and sharp tongue, dies alone from pneumonia in an overcrowded orphanage. Known for his perpetual scowl and biting remarks, he's labeled a “problem child” by caretakers and “damaged goods” by potential adopters. Years of rejection have built thick armor around his young heart.In death, he encounters the God of Balance who offers him a second chance at life in a different world—this time as Grim Van Ambrose, son of a noble house. Balance explains that every soul deserves to know love and connection, something Elias was cruelly denied in his first life.Promised the family and belonging he never experienced, Grim begins his new life only to suffer an immediate tragedy: his mother dies moments after his birth. This cruel twist of fate reinforces his belief that loss is inevitable, leaving him with a distant father and the mysterious voice of a “Guidance Assistant” in his head.As Grim grows into his new identity, he struggles with his dual nature—the emotional scars of his past life bleeding into his present one. His difficult personality and sharp tongue remain, now paired with noble privilege and expectations. Despite his outward brashness, he carries the deep wounds of his first life and the fresh loss that welcomed him into his second.What begins as one orphan's second chance evolves into an epic journey through a world of ancient beasts, elemental magic, and deadly political intrigue. As Grim uncovers the truth about the Ambrose Clan's fall from grace and the conspiracy that framed them for treason, he faces increasingly dangerous adversaries—both human and monstrous. His quest for revenge against those who destroyed his family's legacy will challenge him to master forbidden techniques, forge unexpected alliances, and ultimately decide whether to rebuild the Ambrose Clan as it was, or transform it into something entirely new.In a realm where power determines survival and ancient secrets lurk beneath noble facades, Grim must learn that sometimes the greatest battles aren't fought with swords, but with the choices that define who we truly are.

In the apocalypse, Bai Junjun and her arch-enemy wiped each other out fighting over resources.When she opened her eyes again, she unexpectedly found herself in ancient times.The apocalypse's big shot had turned into a refugee fleeing famine.War, famine, plague, bandits... dangers lurked everywhere.Fortunately, her Special Ability had followed her.The Wood-series Ability was incredibly useful in fleeing war and famine.Facing famine, a flick of her fingers made food grow wildly.Facing plague, by casting a Healing Technique, she became immune to all diseases.Facing bandits... as long as... as long as she aligned with the strongest Seven-Person Team, who would dare to attack?There was just one problem—the leader of the Seven-Person Team was her ex-fiancé, who was one foot in the grave. That was a bit awkward.They used each other for their mutual benefit,She provided food, and he ensured her safety.But... the ex-fiancé was a bit of a glutton, wasn't he?Until an accidental intimate encounter,Bai Junjun suddenly saw a vast Space.Wait a minute!The food that she had grown with her Special Ability... was it all in here?This guy actually had a Space!...They broke off the engagement at the height of prosperity, and they reunited amidst chaos.When both the male and female lead have changed their hearts...Two max-level bosses meet on a narrow path in ancient times, eventually joining forces in a story of internal spiraling competition.