Reborn as a DRAGON - Chapter 422: Human life II

Xu Shulou dreams she’s a character in a bizarre storybook.The male lead is Long Aotian, a man with a “Dragon Overlord” script: treasures fall into his lap, beauties vie for his heart.The first heroine is his delicate junior apprentice sister. The second, the Demon Sect’s saintess. The third… the fourth…Where does Xu Shulou rank? She flips through the plot and realizes—despite being Long Aotian’s official fiancée, she’s nothing but a disposable pawn.In the story, her sect elders dote on her fragile junior sister.“Shulou, yield this treasure to your sister. She’s weaker and needs it more.”“Shulou, don’t be unreasonable. Your gentle sister deserves care.”Even Long Aotian prefers the junior sister. He’s a flirtatious mess, forcing Xu Shulou to compete with other women, her jealousy twisting her into a villain. Meanwhile, the junior sister blossoms into a pristine lotus.But Xu Shulou refuses to play along.When the script demands she and her junior sister be kidnapped, Long Aotian saves the “weaker” girl, saying, “Shulou, you’re stronger—you’ll understand.”In reality? Long Ao Tian arrives just in time to see Xu Shulou slaughter the villains, scoop her sister into her arms, and vanish into the sky—without sparing him a glance.When demons attack, the story expects Long Aotian to leave his fiancée and lovers in the sect’s care. The elders protect only the junior sister, letting Xu Shulou be humiliated.In reality? The elders sneer: “Our senior sister dominates the cultivation world. Why would we need you to worry about her?”When the story’s Long Aotian coaxes the Demon Saintess into betraying her clan for him…In reality, the Saintess timidly asks Xu Shulou: “You’re a righteous heroine. I’m a hunted demon. Why would you want to befriend me?”In the script, Xu Shulou claws at other women in jealous rage.In reality, she’d rather live in peace—until Long Aotian pushes too far. Then she draws her sword.In the story, Long Aotian reigns supreme, surrounded by beauties.In reality, Xu Shulou steals his allies, hoards his treasures, and occasionally beats him up—while he sulks.“My sword saves the world and shields the innocent. It’s not for fighting over men.”“See? Dreams lie. I’m the one holding the Dragon Overlord script.”

“His novel. His rules. His fight to take it all back.”Who would have thought Tavian would end up trapped inside his own novel?Not the chosen one. Not the villain.Just a forgettable extra with laughable stats and no place in the story he once ruled.And the protagonist he shaped into a perfect weapon?He’s real—and hunting him.Armed only with the knowledge of the world he created, Tavian has one choice: exploit the system he built… or be devoured by his own creation.He knows how the story is supposed to end.And he won’t let anyone else decide his fate—especially not the characters he once controlled.

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.

[Sweet, Fiery, Refreshing, powerful couple, Cultural Heritages]Ye Wanlan's body had been possessed; after the transmigrator turned her life into a complete mess and left abruptly, she finally regained control of her own body, only to be trapped in the same day, repeating in an infinite loop for 999 years.No matter what she did, everything would start over, and she was forced to become a madwoman possessing numerous skills.The day she broke free from the loop, facing the disastrous aftermath, everyone laughed at her powerless efforts to restore order, until her past life was unintentionally exposed—Ye Wanlan leapt down from a height of thirty feet with her qinggong, unscathed.Some explained: She must've used wires.Ye Wanlan's rendition of “Battle-Breaking Music” left none injured yet many dead.Some defended: It's all post-production special effects.Ye Wanlan performed the Taiyi Divine Needle anew, miraculously healing others.Some covered up: It was all pre-written in the script.Afterward, long-lost martial arts secret techniques, Kesi silk skills, and operatic arts resurfaced in the world...Big shots making up excuses for her: ...Can you tone it down a bit?They're running out of excuses!·Suddenly, Ye Wanlan found she could hear the conversations of antiques and inadvertently mastered gossip from all ages and nations.【Absolutely no one knows that beneath the Fengyuan Pagoda lies the Tianqi ceremonial book】The next day, the Huaxia book of the Tianqi ceremony was brought to light.【I am Great Ancestor Ning's personal sword, and I won't tell you where the treasure is】The following day, international news reported the discovery of Great Ancestor Ning's treasure.The antiques who were slow to catch on finally sensed something was amiss: ???Ye Wanlan reached out her hand: I will take you home·The treasures of Shenzhou shall return to HuaxiaIn the new era, she is the sole torchbearerHe gambled his life on a Shenzhou golden age with her in it