Eighteen Again: The CEO's Wife was a Delinquent - Chapter 299: What Could Have Been

In the year 2090, technology has advanced to the point where Simulation Boxes, (Sim Box for short) are common place, allowing for the user to link up their brain's neural network to a full dive Simulation. While initially used for educational purposes, recently a large gaming company, Averon, released a fully fledged immersive MMORPG simulation where users can become anyone they desire, level up, choose their class, and become a hero or a villain. The name of this simulation is The Shattered World Online.

Eli Winters had no interest in playing it. His father, a jobless bum who spent his entire life playing games in the hope of becoming a famous player or streamer, was able to use the release of The Shattered World Online to gain wealth and fame, quickly becoming the number one player and a household name as the game took the world by storm. He immediately abandoned Eli and his mother in favor of being with someone from his guild, despite his mother having worked two jobs to support them and raise Eli by herself. Eli had nothing but spite for his father and the game.

When Eli's best friend convinces him to try out the game, his father's fame begins to interfere, culminating in him being singled out and shunned by his peers, and his father offering to pay for his university tuition in return for Eli hiding their relationship and quitting the game. Instead of complying with his father's wishes, Eli decides to prove to everyone how useless a guy his father is by challenging him that if Eli is able to surpass him in the game world he must delete his account and quit his streaming career. His father accepts the challenge believing his son to be useless at games - but Eli will soon show him just how ambitious a spiteful person can be.

When I just started college, my mobile phone navigation can automatically find treasure!

Complete the treasure hunt navigation, and you can also get rich rewards!

“92 kilograms of stolen money were detected, complete the treasure hunt navigation, and reward a set of 100 million Zhongtian lake view villas!”

“It is detected that the big star Xia Qiu is about to be in distress, complete the opportunity navigation, and reward 100 million in cash!”

“A piece of 10 jin*head gold is detected, complete the treasure hunt and navigation, and reward Yuanfang Wenchuang with a value of 600 million yuan to purchase 60% of the shares!”

“…”

Looking at the mobile phone’s continuous automatic treasure hunt and the rich rewards after completing the treasure hunt navigation, Ye Feng said:

“From today onwards, the four famous words of the four great masters will come out of my mouth!

- Description from novelbuddy

Aric Valerian was born a curse.The fourth prince of the Valerian Empire. A bastard. A cripple. A forgotten shadow in the court, mocked as a stain on royal blood.But when the gods reached down, healing his body and allowing strength into his veins, Aric tasted hope for the first time. He fought for honor, clawed for recognition—only to be betrayed by the brother he trusted most. Cast into a slaughter pit, abandoned to die.And in the moment when despair and death should have claimed him, the world offered something else.[Would you like to change your fate?]From that line, Aric Valerian was reborn—sent back to the past not as the forgotten prince, but as a weapon. A sovereign forged in agony, guided by a system of relentless ascension:[Ki Circulation Mastered: Strength +10][System Upgrade: Tactical Genius Acquired][Hidden Fortress Constructed: Security +15%]Every scar became a push. Every betrayal, a reason. With blood-soaked hands, Aric began carving a path through enemies, kin, and gods alike. The empire that spat on his name would kneel or burn. The brother who betrayed him would drown in his own crown.Yet with every victory came sacrifice. Every step forward dragged him closer to the abyss, until vengeance and damnation became one.But Aric does not care.Because the cursed prince has only one destiny left:To rise as the sovereign who will shatter gods, break empires, and tear fate itself apart.Or die trying—and take the world with him.

In the grimy Black Hound Tavern, disgraced hunter Kael Veymar drowns his failures in ale, his father’s shattered crest a noose around his neck. When a Fallen beast attacks him—spewing acid and cryptic threats about the Harbinger—he’s saved by Lyria, a rogue huntress with a deadly smile and a glowing amulet: the Fractalis, stolen by Kael’s father.Their reunion is cut short by Dren, Kael’s former brother-in-arms, who slit Garrik’s throat for the Guild. After a vicious alley fight, Lyria helps Kael escape, but not before a Fallen’s ooze sears his flesh, leaving veins of corruption that **pulse with the Harbinger’s voice.Seeking answers, they flee to Ms. Miller, an old ally who gifts Kael a sword and a warning: “Find Torin. The skulls will whistle your name.” But the Guild is closing in. At Celestis Rise Dren is humiliated for his failure, while the Dozen Vanguards receive a bone-chilling letter—its author dead, its ink fresh.The stakes sharpen:- The Fractalis is not what it seems.- And Garrik Veymar’s shadow stretches long from the grave.Now, Kael and Lyria ride toward Godsgrave, where Hunter blades go to die—and where the Harbinger’s eclipse waits to rise.