I Became The Pope, Now What? - Chapter 31: 31. The Soul Tree

A young man sat on a chair and looked out at the ocean. With one wisp of Spirit Qi, he could point anywhere on this vast and expansive world, pointing at any place that didn’t look right.

Hundred contestants.Hundred days. A single rule……survive.Every year, people vanish.Some are criminals.Some are poor and desperate.The chosen are gone, traded away like a currency and never seen again..They are taken to the Recall Trials: a live-streamed, underground competition watched only by the elites.In a fractured future where society is divided into sectors ,walled cities built on wealth: Sector A (elite) to Sector D (the swamps). The elite live in technological luxury, while the outer sectors rot in poverty, crime, and sickness.To control the masses, a secretive elite group known as The Aetherions created a deadly underground reality game called The Recall Trials.The prize?Fortune and a place among the elites.The cost? Everything else.Players are forced to survive by solving deadly puzzles, facing brutal betrayals and sometimes, finding forbidden romance, all while knowing death could come at any second.When Vincent Aston, heir to one of the richest families in Sector A loses everything, he falls into a world he was never meant to see, a world that wasn’t made for people like him. A world where memories kill, and even money can’t buy his way out..Will the golden boy of the elite beat the system or will the game be rigged from the start?In the Recall Trials, the greatest enemy isn't death…. it's the truth.There are no heroes.Only survivors.“When the countdown begins,all that matters is who survives the bloodshed.”Spoiler Alert! The main character’s flaws consume him, and will eventually turn to the dark side. Nobody’s perfect, and he’s no exception.Get ready for the Recall Trials! Music and epic promo video dropping soon!

“For a long time, we humans have been like the chosen race, without any natural enemies, and have long been at the top of the food chain. Unfortunately, I have to tell you...” “When there is only one bird in a forest, then the forest is basically fake, and the bird was put there by someone...” “No matter how a fish swims, it can never meet any of its kind, which only means that the fish is kept in a fish tank...” “Yes, we are the birds in the forest and the fish in the tank.” “Yes, the world we live in is virtual!”

Word went around that no one that had ever knocked on the esteemed Eleazar family’s doors seeking shelter were turned away.Fleeing the prince of Lustris no less, Arabella Sterling held out hope that those weren’t mere rumors as she crossed the border over to Umbraria, home to all creatures of the night. A land where noble blood like hers was a highly coveted delicacy.As such, she wasn’t turned away, but since the Eleazars ran no charity, Arabella was compelled to become the sole blood provider to the heir of the family in exchange for safety.Though never, in a million years, did she imagine that what had started as a simple trade off, could morph into a swirl of tangled passion when the cold and stoic vampire she served showed interest in the young woman beyond the crimson nectar coursing her veins.