I Made A Deal With The Devil - Chapter 24 -

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

Leon Cromwell was hit by a truck and died. He thought he would never open his eyes again, but when he did, it was not what he expected.

“What? Black bones?! What's going on? Where am I?!”

He had been reincarnated into a world of magic and war! With his new situation, Leon had to find a way to get strong quickly and be able to hold his ground against the countless enemies that will come his way!

Follow the black skeleton, Leon, as he explores this new world, makes friends, finds love, and gets down to the bottom of his sudden death.

The traitor Gu Mang returned to his home kingdom again. Everyone rejoiced in his banishment. It was said the one who hated him most was his closest friend – the cold and stoic Young Master Mo.

A rumour: Young Master Mo prepared three hundred and sixty-five methods of torture to try on Gu Mang, enough to play with him for a year without repetition.

But what’s the truth then?

Well the truth is even more unspeakable–

Mo Xi’s identity: the most abstinent commander of the empire.

His relationship with the traitor Gu Mang: they’d slept together before.

- Description from Novelupdates

In the heart of the Azure Continent lies a legendary establishment known as Origin Mall.This extraordinary store offers goods beyond imagination: a sip of its cola can instantly replenish one's vitality; its spicy snacks grant the strength to overcome powerful foes; the games it offers can accelerate cultivation progress; and its novels impart profound techniques and insights.Origin Mall boasts a vast array of offerings, catering to leisure, entertainment, dining, and training needs alike.However, there’s one rule that all visitors must remember: never cause trouble in the store. The owner, though unassuming, is unimaginably powerful.