Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord - Chapter 109: Something in the Sea

The jeers followed her like a persistent shadow. “Murderer!” the crowd screamed, their faces contorted in a grotesque parody of the adoration she once commanded.Just months ago, they had screamed her name, their voices a deafening roar as she shimmied across the stage, a beacon of light and pop perfection. Now, their cheers had morphed into venomous hisses, their eyes burning with a hatred that chilled her to the bone.Noelle clutched her lawyer's arm, his face a mask of grim determination. The cameras flashed, capturing her every move, every tremor of fear. The headlines screamed: “Pop Princess Plummets: Noelle Accused of Murder.” The irony wasn't lost on her. Her life, once a carefully constructed fairytale of fame and fortune, had become a grotesque tragedy.The trial was a circus. The whispers, the sneers, the relentless scrutiny – it was a constant assault on her senses. Her once loyal fans, the ones who'd plastered her face on their bedroom walls, now reveled in her downfall. They devoured every salacious detail, every whispered accusation, every tear she dared to shed.The verdict was a foregone conclusion. Guilty.Noelle watched the judge pronounce the sentence, her mind a whirlwind of disbelief and despair. Death by lethal injection.‘At least they did not give me the electric chair’ she thought to herself in a poor attempt at humor.Months later, a solitary figure knelt at her grave, the wind whipping at his hair. Rain lashed down, mirroring the tears that streamed down his face.“I'm sorry, Areum,” he sobbed, his voice hoarse with grief. “I'm so sorry I was too late.” He clutched a single, wilted rose, its petals stained crimson, a poignant reminder of the life that had been brutally extinguished.Noelle is a bright star who has the world at her feet, she feels no guilt about being the other woman coming between a husband and his wife. After all, Evan had been in love with her since they were teenagers. The only reason he married Ma-Ri was because his family demanded it, if he had a choice he would surely have picked her…When she gets wrongfully accused of murdering Ma-Ri, she loses everything and is sentenced to death, everyone including Evan turn against her and she is left to die a miserable death.She is reborn and this time she faces the humiliation of being the woman who is being cheated on. She is determined to end the cycle and not let the future she had seen come to pass, she decides to step out of the picture and focus on her career.In doing so, everything changes, Evan clings to her and refuses to let her go, a mysterious stranger who has been studying her also steps in and decides to fight for a chance to be with her.

Perhaps it is the choice of fate. As a senior otaku, Qian Lingfeng got the “steel shell system”. However, when he swept the world with the system, became a local rich man, made all kinds of beautiful women, opened a harem, and realized the ultimate fantasy of thousands of otaku, he found that things seemed far from simple!
When the end comes, biochemical zombies suddenly come down, fierce beasts are in power, bloodthirsty zerg roam to kill the world, and human lives are comparable to dirt. Where will weak human beings go in this world? Is humanity going to be extinct? Or … can an otaku save the fate of the human race?

- Description from Novelupdates

Harry was just an ordinary young man—until he stumbled upon a hidden world where the strong reign supreme, and Cultivation is the way to power.But fate had greater plans for him. Granted a God-tier system, he soon discovers a terrifying truth—his path to power lies in slaying beasts.[Congratulations, you have slain the Deathless Dragon.][You have reached Elemental master Realm][Congratulations, you have slain the Lion Emperor.][you have reached celestial sage realm.]While others were busy cultivating for years to level up.Harry was killing beasts.“You beasts are nothing but free exp”With each kill, his Cultivation increase, his abilities evolve.But Humans are not the only race in the vast universe, Earthlings got in fight with Dakis that gets strong by eating humans.Will Harry lead the Humans to victory or will get devoured by a daki.

From quiet grind to legacy brew.Jun had nothing—no café, no followers, not even a bed. Just a secondhand kettle and a broken dream.Then came the Barista System.No shortcuts. No instant success. Just slow, intentional tasks... and a promise:Brew. Grow. Endure.Every pour sharpens his skill. Every cup deepens his path.From street corners to pop-ups, from whispered praise to a space of his own—Jun’s grind is just beginning.This is a story of stillness, patience, and the quiet pursuit of mastery.Because greatness isn’t given.It’s brewed—one cup at a time.