Merchant Crab - Chapter 189: Delivering Delays

❗[Current Writing Contest-WebNovel Spirity Awards 2025 Fantas]❗Flain grew up in a futuristic world. When he was born his parents didn't want him because he didn't live up to their expectations and so he ended up very badly.Flain was employed as a slave. He was forced to mine radioactive iron deep in the mines. It was drilled into his head that he existed only to obey orders.Young Flain was obedient. He doubted some of it but knew nothing else. For years, he never saw a single ray of light; light was only spoken of among the others as a legend.The routine was the same: in the morning, he would take a nutrient tablet and water. Then he would mine all day, sleep eight hours, and repeat.Flain worked like this from childhood until he was ten years old. He even found a friend, but that friend died of radiation poisoning right in front of Flain. Flain couldn't stop mining. He kept mining with tears streaming down his face.Before bed, Flain cried. “I will become the strongest. I will kill you all, and you will become my slaves.”Flain stopped crying, stared blankly at the rocky ceiling, then looked ahead. A manic grin appeared on his face, one that would often adorn it from that moment on.At the age of ten, Flain was assigned to a military camp due to his endurance in the mines and his survival against radiation.In the camp, Flain was trained. The regime was much looser; he even had an hour of free time each day. However, Flain didn't make any more friends. Even during his free time, he trained with a smile. He would achieve his goal at any cost, even if it meant training himself to death.Experiments were conducted on Flain. He lost his hair, two long gray arms grew on his back, and a third red eye appeared. Flain became a mutant.Flain was then sent to war. He fought with sharp katabas. He performed quite well in the war, earning himself command of ten soldiers and becoming a small commander.But one day, everything changed.Flain then dies, is swallowed by darkness, and Flain refuses to die, thus appearing as a skeleton in a fantasy world.

Attention: This is not a furry story!____________________________________An unfortunate guy found himself stranded inside a forest with a questionable system that turned his gender upside down. He will have to scavenge and survive in this hostile place, meeting many enemies and few friends. He will have to navigate a Cultivation Society that either hates (Kills) or wants to 'contract' Beasts.Will he find his place in this world or will he become someone's pet? Will his system help him Evolve into Divine Beasts? Or will he change into a Human to explore this world?____________________________________I'm new to this kind of thing, so any advice or criticism would be welcome. (Especially grammar, I can get most words right, but I can't hear where to put ',' or how to separate sentences nicely.) I have searched the web for any image that could properly portray our protagonist while keeping it free. I have found a very nice picture that was close to what I was going for, but it IS AI-generated and I have no idea how copyright works. I do not own that image, I have simply searched for a free picture describing her features and found this... if you are the owner of this picture, please write me a message and I will take it down as soon as possible. (The Image is temporary and I will commission an artist later for a more accurate depiction~)

The fallen ones, strange monsters that showed up on earth with the sole purpose of destroying everything and ruling over humans.Only one man remained during the onslaught, his name, was Rashin Montero.“Do you wish to live or die?”The question appeared before him.“Kill me assholes!”He died.A hundred years passed and Rashin finds himself alive in the future.It turned out he was saved by a stray angel, and was granted a powerful energy that allowed him to stand on equal footing with the monsters that once wanted to take over earth.In his new future, the world has been restored to what it ones was, a huge shield was placed around the world to keep the Hakiaas out.Heroes were summoned to defend the world against these monsters during the Countdown, while the monsters could not be killed or harmed, they could still be sent back to their world.Or at least, until Rashin arrived.[Blacksmith System activated. Welcome host.][Initializing core functions... Complete.][Congratulations, you have gained a new blue paint (Large sword.)][Stella blade has passed all requirements to evolve.][Evolving to human form can now be processed.][Congratulations, you have gained a unique core, your weapons can now undergo fusion.]Having a system that allowed him to craft weapons of all kind, Rashin enters this new world trying to survive while also remembering part of his memories.Not just that, he can also turn every weapon he makes into beautiful overpowered maidens capable of killing the Hakiaas aka fallen ones.

Due to his own carelessness, Duanmu Huai finds himself transported into the world of the game “Star Ocean Online.” Starting from a humble core capsule, Duanmu Huai ventures across the starry sea to countless worlds. He awakens powers that have long been dormant, confronts threats lurking in the depths of the universe, and sets his sights on dominating the galaxy!