MTL - Card Room - ~ Chapter 013:

In the year 2090, technology has advanced to the point where Simulation Boxes, (Sim Box for short) are common place, allowing for the user to link up their brain's neural network to a full dive Simulation. While initially used for educational purposes, recently a large gaming company, Averon, released a fully fledged immersive MMORPG simulation where users can become anyone they desire, level up, choose their class, and become a hero or a villain. The name of this simulation is The Shattered World Online.

Eli Winters had no interest in playing it. His father, a jobless bum who spent his entire life playing games in the hope of becoming a famous player or streamer, was able to use the release of The Shattered World Online to gain wealth and fame, quickly becoming the number one player and a household name as the game took the world by storm. He immediately abandoned Eli and his mother in favor of being with someone from his guild, despite his mother having worked two jobs to support them and raise Eli by herself. Eli had nothing but spite for his father and the game.

When Eli's best friend convinces him to try out the game, his father's fame begins to interfere, culminating in him being singled out and shunned by his peers, and his father offering to pay for his university tuition in return for Eli hiding their relationship and quitting the game. Instead of complying with his father's wishes, Eli decides to prove to everyone how useless a guy his father is by challenging him that if Eli is able to surpass him in the game world he must delete his account and quit his streaming career. His father accepts the challenge believing his son to be useless at games - but Eli will soon show him just how ambitious a spiteful person can be.

“What? The wild chickens I raised are pure blood phoenixes? ““What? The carp I raised are true dragons?”With a wave of hand, the river was cut off; with a slight stamp of foot, the mountain collapsed.A group of incredibly powerful cultivators knelt in front, worshipping and calling ‘senior’.“What the hell wrong with this world?”Li Fan shouted,” Oh no, that’s impossible!”“How could I possibly be a Supreme Master?!”

Manchester United, once a dominant force in world football, finds itself struggling under Erik ten Hag despite having the financial power to rebuild.Big-money transfers fail to restore the club’s glory, forcing Ten Hag to shift his focus to homegrown talent.Among the overlooked prospects in the U18 squad is Leo Calderon, a 17-year-old central midfielder buried deep in the pecking order.Lacking physicality and dismissed by teammates as weak, Leo endures constant ridicule from those who dominate with strength and athleticism.But during one ordinary training session, everything changes—Leo suddenly sees passing lanes no one else can, angles of play invisible to even the most talented prospects.Yet, there’s a problem. His vision surpasses his ability. The passes he attempts don’t connect, his technique unable to match his newfound awareness.Coaches dismiss his efforts as sloppy, and his struggles continue. But one unexpected observer—a visiting League One assistant coach—notices something different.He watches Leo’s movements, seeing potential where others see failure.As Leo fights to prove himself in an unforgiving system, the question lingers—can he refine his raw talent before the club moves on without him?

Joanne Smith, weighed down by significant debt and humiliated by Jeffrey Winchester's cruel rejection just a day before their wedding, transformed her life into that of a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, allowing love to fade into memory.Joanne had one rule in life: money first, emotions later. She built an empire from the ground up, balancing her booming logistics company with the peace of her family farm.When a rugged stranger shows up, desperate for a place to stay, Joanne reluctantly takes him in as a paying guest. But little does she know, he’s not just any guest. He’s the man who brutally rejected her years ago, the one she’s long since forgotten.And he remembers everything differently.Now, living under her roof, he’s fueled by the sting of his own downfall and a hunger for revenge.Will the truth tear her world apart—or bring a reckoning neither of them saw coming?Join me on this incredible journey to find out!I will provide daily updates, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Please consider leaving a review and supporting me with GTs, Power Stones, and gifts.I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it!