Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition - Chapter 81: Story : The Haunted Gallery

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

Lin Mu was pushed down the cliff, but he did not die and arrived to a magical world instead.

A huge python with wings and can fly, alright, just think it as the legendary Mayan Snake God;

A gigantic centipede that can fly in the sky, alright, he kinda seen it before in ‘Journey to the West’;

A mighty big wolf with a body as humongous as an elephant, en, just think it as a mutant;

….

Although the animals in front of him were a little strange, they are still animals but why did all of you suddenly turned into humans? Coming across wild beasts, Lin Mu still can accept it, but coming across ‘*yaojins’, Lin Mu became . . . . . . excited instead. What? You guys are the infamous drifter beastmen? I don’t know anything about that. You guys did a lot of heinous crimes? I don’t see that either.

And so, Lin Mu began a hard but satisfying life of building a home in a another world.

*Yaojin/妖精 doesn’t have a proper English equivalent word. The nearest meaning would be supernatural being or Yokai (Japanese).

- Description from Novelupdates

What is luck? Walk to pick up money? Buying a lottery ticket will win the jackpot?

Qin Yun picked up a copper coin and activated the wealth luck system.

“The balance has reached 10,000, and you can open a first-level fortune-gathering array every month. To open a second-level wealth-gathering array, you need a balance of 1 million…”

(The group has been established, group number: 614799090, interested book friends can join and discuss the plot together.)

In a world where failure is almost guaranteed, the game I now find myself in has a staggering 99.9% chance of defeat. Every choice brings chaos, and every road leads to disaster. No one has ever beaten it—it's infamous for being impossible to clear. But somehow, against all odds, I've transmigrated into this cursed game.Worse yet, I've taken over the body of Max, a minor character whose role is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. In the original story, Max is destined to die—nothing more than a forgettable extra lost in the background, a mere footnote in the epic tale of others.Frustration hit me hard as I realized I was trapped in this dead-end character. My doom felt inevitable, and every instinct told me to give up. What hope did I have in a world where even the strongest could barely survive?But just as despair was about to swallow me whole, a System suddenly activated, turning everything on its head. Along with the System came a peculiar ability:[Charm]It wasn't some overpowered skill designed for combat or survival. No, it was something entirely different, yet equally powerful in its own right.[Charm: Increase favorability as more women are captivated by your presence.]This was my key to survival.Through this strange, almost ridiculous skill, I realized that I could change my fate. The powerful female characters, once unreachable in the original storyline, could now be influenced. If I could make them favor me, their strength, influence, and protection would be mine.But it wouldn’t be easy. Each of these women had their own complex personalities, histories, and goals. They were dangerous, capable of crushing me in an instant if I misstepped. But with charm on my side, I might just be able to win them over—and in doing so, alter my destiny.What was once a game of certain death had now become a gamble of life and affection. Every conversation, every interaction, would determine whether I live or die. My charm was my weapon, and it would be the only thing standing between me and the grim fate that awaited Max.Now, with my new plan in motion, I’ll have to navigate the intricate web of relationships and alliances while avoiding the countless threats looming over me. The odds are still stacked against me, but for the first time since I arrived, I can see a glimmer of hope.If I can make the right moves, charm the right people, and avoid the pitfalls, I might just survive this nightmare.Or better yet, thrive.This is my one chance at life in a world of inevitable ruin, and I’ll do whatever it takes to change my story.