Otherworldly Evil Monarch - Chapter 1256: Gentlemanly Demeanor

I put all the warning tags to give myself creative freedom, but the story isn't filled with excessive gore or swearing.This is my first time writing other than for school projects. The gender-bender tag is only for the beginning because I wanted to try writing from a female's perspective and needed an excuse for why my MC reads a little tomboyish. The gender-bender fades into the background over the first few chapters; please don't let the tag keep you from trying out my story.Synopsis:Second chances are rarely earned and even rarer given. Follow a new life in a new world where anything is possible. Our MC wakes up, stuck as a baby, needing to decide how she will live her new life. Let's see what future she can forge when hard work rewards her with status points and skill levels.Author's Note: I'm currently slowly going back and rewriting my earlier chapters, so if you're starting to read this for the first time, try not to be alarmed if the quality suddenly goes down after reading a few chapters. I started writing this story almost three years ago, and I think I've improved as a writer since then. I appreciate your understanding; enjoy.

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.

Hadica was built around one of five Towers, an infinite structure filled with floors of monsters, magic, and treasures that the city plunders like clockwork. Most of the city, at least. Growing up in Westhill, Micah's family abstained from all of their Tower's bounties. He became an [Alchemist] at an age younger than most and just wanted to level in peace, but soon ran out of mundane ingredients to brew into potions. Ryan is a budding [Fighter] with the strange ability to mimic beasts, including monsters, but he doesn't understand it or even himself. After a Tower climb goes horribly wrong, their lives and the world around them begin to change as they try to figure out who they want to be.The Salamanders is a slow-paced story about characters growing up in and exploring a fantasy setting. It updates sporadically. Please mind the tags.

In an alternate world, a demon disrupts dynasties, harvests souls, and refines a banner of ten thousand souls.Under the heavenly tribulation, his body and soul are destroyed, but the Ten Thousand Souls Banner protects his undying spirit. Unable to possess a body, he's countered instead.A laid-back young man in society, wielding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, roams the human world.With the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in hand, I refine a Golden Core with good deeds.A slice-of-life story with no ambition for conquest, helping the departed fulfill their wishes, gaining merit to repair the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and enjoying a laid-back life.