Pause System: Harem In The Apocalypse - Chapter 42

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.

The sky was painted gray forever. The light of the sun was restrained. The darkness of the night was deeper than ever. At such a time, he belonged to a class people didn’t even recognize as ’human’. He was at the bottom of the social stratum, a slave. And when his only family was taken away from him... he no longer had a purpose in life. Yet, he clung to life because of his promise. And he set an impossible goal for himself, just so he’d have an excuse to live. When he finally reached a place he never expected to be, in pursuit of a purpose he expected to fail and die miserably trying to fulfill... he awoke to a night that would change his entire life. He was an insignificant fly, a mere speck in the destruction of the Empire. But he... survived. And, despite being a slave, he gained the blessing of a king. Or rather, the curse...

He has returned to the past. And this time he will live up to his role as a young master, which he lost in the past.

He will use all the resources of his family to his advantage. He will cheat the world itself.

This is a harem and intrigue story, where he will get what he wants, he will build his own super hidden power and he will protect his loved one's this time.

...

The character's sheet... If you got lost. Be careful though, it is full of spoilers

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P_mYCR3G-WOPiRvJBj1v6g5mlQXOtyJuivGdfWou38U

P.S.

- I may be editing this novel continuously and some times will need to change some details to accommodate later chapters.

- I am publishing this on RR and WN, but the first release is always here.

I added a ko-fi account, so if you want faster chapters, consider a little donation, It would help me a lot.

The chronicle of a swotter reincarnated as a muscle brain, aspiring to be a magician!Synopsis——I, who had always longed for the world of sword and magic, found myself reincarnated into another world. But wait, why the hell was the new world just as academically focused as the last.……Whatever, what matter was I was in the world of magic.Reincarnated I was, I strived to live like the wind, free and whimsical while working hard for the elite course but a shocking twist was awaiting for me—What, I don’t have a talent for magic? I only have the talent for Body-Strengthening magic (musclebrain)?No, Impossible, absurd! I am obviously from the sage clique!No matter what, I will not be bound to the competitive society in this life! With unwavering determination, I set out on a quest to discover how I could become a mage at the prestigious academy in the royal capital. But little did I know, my talent in Body-Strengthening magic was a double-edged sword, leading to misunderstandings and an ever-escalating series of mishaps……However my will is unshaken! I will absolutely live the way I want in this life!