Living with the Dangerous Beast - Chapter 30: Life without Dohwi

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.

In the realms above, supernatural beings of unfathomable magnificence exist, far beyond mortal comprehension. These divinities wield unimaginable power, capable of obliterating worlds with a mere breath.However, what unfolds when these gods meet their demise?Set in a remote corner of the vast universe, long after the apocalyptic Thousand Millennium War of the Heavenly Beasts and Deities, this tale delves into a forgotten world. Here, the ashes of fallen gods descend upon an insignificant pebble, adrift amidst the cosmic tapestry of space and time.Their impact alters the life of a proud young man, who embraces the abrupt changes thrust upon his world. Refusing to yield to the clutches of fate and karma, he dares to defy the heavens themselves.Will he triumph over an insurmountable destiny, or succumb to fate like gods of unimaginable might did before him?The dreams of a deceased deity and the fate of a dying world hang precariously, hinged upon the future of this young man. He treads upon an endless bridge, forged from the corpses of the fallen.Unlock this epic saga of death, sorrow, war, blood, love, vengeance, and triumph with your own eyes.

This is the story of a boy who lived a secluded life in the mountains, tending his farm, rearing his fish, and dreaming his dreams. Eh? Did I suddenly conquer all worlds and become the big boss? Or am I still in a dream?

Listen here, because I've seen it with my very own eyes.William Oh was born on the hundredth floor of The Tower, to the greatest Climbers of the ancient world, steeped in the Tower's lethal miasma from the moment he drew breath, giving him strange and unnatural powers.They say he is an immortal being who circles the dreams of mortal men, resurfacing wherever the need is greatest. Those who disparage him will fall into despair, but if you're a Climber in a tight scrape, look to the sky and say a little prayer.Maybe he will appear?Odds are probably better if you pay for my drink.- Rumor overheard on a 1st Floor Tavern. Originator did not pay his tab.